"In AD 1221, one of the Church's greatest saints was born in Bagnorea, Italy. His baptismal name was John, but we know him by his religious name, Saint Bonaventure, which means "Good Things to Come." He was born only four years before his friend, Saint Thomas Aquinas, the "Angeli...

"In AD 1221, one of the Church's greatest saints was born in Bagnorea, Italy. His baptismal name was John, but we know him by his religious name, Saint Bonaventure, which means "Good Things to Come." He was born only four years before his friend, Saint Thomas Aquinas, the "Angelic Doctor", another one of the Church's greatest saints. As a young child, Saint Bonaventure was healed from a dangerous illness through the intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi. At the age of twenty-two, he entered the Order of Friars Minor, following in the footsteps of Saint Francis. Bonaventure excelled in all his studies, including Latin, philosophy, theology and rhetoric. He laboriously copied the entire Scriptures with his own hand, not once only, but twice, and thereby committed virtually all of it to his capacious memory. In 1257, he was elected as the seventh Minister General for the order, and later he was elected Cardinal-Bishop of Albano. Because of his writings, life, and teachings, he is referred to as the "Seraphic Doctor," for he sought to love Christ as the Seraphim do. He died on July 15, 1274. Today the Church celebrates this Doctor of the Church's feast day on July 15.

In 1156, Arnold of Bonneval was born in France. He became a monk at a Benedictine monastery in the diocese of Chartreuse, France, and was elected abbot there in due course. He was a beloved friend, biographer, and correspondent of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who esteemed his writings very highly."