Saint BonaventureVicarDoug
St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Feast day-July 15) St. Bonaventure was born Tuscany, in 1221.
He received the name of Bonaventure in consequence of an exclamation of St. Francis of Assisi, when, in response to the pleading of the child's mother, the saint prayed for John's recovery from a dangerous illness, and, foreseeing the future greatness of the little John, cried out "O Buona ventura"-O good fortune!
At the age of twenty-two St. Bonaventure entered the Franciscan Order.
In Paris he became the intimate friend of the great St. Thomas Aquinas. He received the degree of Doctor, together with St. Thomas
At the age of thirty-five he was chosen General of his Order.
He was nominated Archbishop of York by Pope Clement IV, but he begged not to be forced to accept that dignity. Gregory X obliged him to take upon himself a greater one, that of Cardinal .
He died while he was assisting at the Second Council of Lyons, on July 15, 1274.
