rother Bonaventure,"
writes Blessed Francis of Fabriano, "was a most eloquent man,
wonderful in his understanding of the Sacred Page and of the whole of
Theology. He was also an excellent lecturer, a very fine preacher and
in his presence every tongue was hushed."

Bonaventure occupied this post from 1245 to 1257, and during that time
acquired those stores of knowledge which he at first communicated to
his pupils in the form of lectures, and then, with after-thoughts,
corrections and additions bequeathed to {13} the world in the four
folio volumes known as "The Commentary on the Sentences of the
Lombard". His love of God growing in proportion, Bonaventure
ultimately reached those sublime heights of contemplation which earned
for him the title of Seraphic Doctor. To the Saint his youthful age
seemed unequal to the fulfilment of such a task. His superiors,
however, in laying on him the burden of obedience, felt assured that
he would more than justify the wisdom of their appointment. And indeed
so exceptional were the natural and supernatural gifts of this
Seraphic Doctor that Sixtus IV. could say of him in his Bull of
Canonization: "Such things he uttered on sacred science that the Holy
Ghost would seem to have spoken through his mouth." And again,
"Enlightened by Him Who is the Light, the Way, the Truth and the Life,
in the space of a few years he attained to incredible knowledge".

The timidity with which his humility undertook the work contrasts
strangely with the universal appreciation it has received at the hands
of others. Thus at the end of the third volume, he writes: "I render
thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, that taking pity on the poverty of my
knowledge and ability, He has enabled me to come to the end of this
work. I beseech Him to aid me to go forward in my work unto the merit
of obedience and the welfare of my brethren--for which two motives
alone this task was undertaken." And again in the {14} Introduction to
the second volume, "By the help of God's grace I have ended the
Commentary on the first book, and at the instance of the Brethren must
needs begin the second. . . . I do not intend to propound new opinions
but to reproduce those that are generally admitted. Nor should anyone
think that I wish to be the author of a new book; I am sincerely
conscious and acknowledge that I am but a poor and faulty compiler."

This is the language of profound humility which is all the more
striking in view of posteri