 Welcome to The Spiritual Masters, a podcast from Tan Books and Tan Direction in which we look at the greatest and holiest writers from Catholic history. Join us as we explore the life and times in which they lived, an overview and study of their greatest works, and how we as Catholics can look to these masters as models for our own holiness on our journey to heaven. Well, welcome back on our conversation on the great Seraphic Doctor, St. Bonaventure in our continued series on the Spiritual Masters. And our last episode, we had a great conversation about Bonaventure's tremendous work on the Seven Last Words of Christ, and we dove into that in detail. And we began, of course, with his biographical information. So today, let's just recap. And Father, I don't know when people are tuning in to this podcast to hear, but let's recap why Bonaventure is such an important saint for people in today's world. Why do Catholics today need to have a devotion to Bonaventure? Well, Bonaventure really exemplifies a person who puts his whole heart into whatever he does. And this was both in his studies, in his role as the leader of the Franciscan Order, and then in his role as a cardinal and bishop. He lived with huge intensity, he lived a comparatively short life, 53 years or so. But during that time, he was absolutely aflame with everything he did. And how did he achieve this spiritual energy was by uniting himself spiritually with Christ, with Jesus, and the Blessed Virgin Mary at a very personal level. So what what, you know, you have many of his works, you've read many of his works. What would you say one of your favorite works of his might be? It's hard to choose. But yeah, it is, it is. One of his favorite, one of my favorite is a poem written by him entitled The Nightingale. And this work is describing the last day of a nightingale, which according to legend, ascends a tree and sings this magnificent song. And he relates that to the death of Christ upon the cross, and also the ascent of the soul into heaven. So that is a particular favorite of mine. This guy's a real poet then, isn't he? He is. I also love his meditation on the Salve Regina work, which hasn't been translated at this point in time. No, Alfonso LaGorre's work, Hail Holy Queens, or what's the work called? Oh, yeah, his his great Magnus Opus on Our Lady, I think it's just going through the Salve Regina very slowly. And a glories of Mary, that was called the glories of Mary. And you look through it, the table of contents, it's going through the Salve Regina. And that's what it is. So, you know, so apparently, you know, others have done that too. But I would love to see, you know, Bonaventure's commentary on that, that'd be spectacular. Yeah. Yeah. So are you going to work on that one? I will. I'll do some work on that sometime. That's awesome. So, you know, for somebody getting introduced to Bonaventure, where they begin, I mean, I think the seven last words of Christ, it's not complicated. It's insightful. It's easy to read, but you can meditate on it for hours. Is that a good place to start? It is, absolutely. And it's such a touching work and contains the seven last words contain the whole essence of the Gospel. So, you know, I think anyone who reads this work is going to be changed by it. There's something about it which really touches the heart. And this is highlighting the great power of the words of Jesus and St. Bonaventure's commentary and meditations is like a magnifying glass, which intensifies So, a lot of our customers are stay-at-home moms with a bunch of kids homeschooling, they're, you know, driving a soccer practice, making lunch, teaching the kids to read. I mean, it's, I know that life, you know, I got one of those wives at home and, and, you know, it's, it's a hard life. And so it's easy for them to relate to maybe a Therese of Lisieux or, you know, I mean, there's, there's certain kinds of saints that they kind of zoom in on. How does, let's just take that example. How does a stay-at-home mom with a bunch of little kids, how do they relate to Bonaventure? You know, I think that a person in that situation could really put into practice the message of each of those seven last words every day, forgive them for they know what they do. That's true. First start and certainly. Why has thou forsaken me? Why has thou forsaken me? And hopefully at the end of the day, also, it is consummated when we, when, when things just work out as we said so were meant to. So, yeah. So then at the end of the day, you say, I, into your hands, I come in my spirit. It's a great prayer to say before you go to bed. It is, it is, it is. You're exhausted at the end of the day. Isn't that probably the best nighttime prayer? I, to your hands, Lord, I come into my spirit. Yeah, you can't do any better than that. Because you might not wake up. Absolutely, absolutely. Wow, that's amazing. We should, we should work on the seven last words for stay-at-home moms, you know, that's really good. Oh, yes, yes, indeed, indeed. I love that idea, actually. I'm going to go work on that now. Oh, whoa, very good. So that's, that's great. And, you know, so, you know, what do you think Bonaventure's legacy is going to continue to be? I mean, he's, he's a doc. He's a doctor of the church. You know, he's got this great resume. We're adding saints every day to the calendar, you know, of saints. But, you know, what in 500 years, people are still going to be, if we're still around, if the end has not come, people are still going to be, in some form or fashion, talking about Bonaventure. So what do you think they're going to be saying 500 years from now about it? Absolutely. You know, I think, well, interestingly, the, the prominence of these saints actually varies a little bit. When the Vatican press was first established back in the 1500s, they first published a Bible. The second publication was the complete works of Saint Bonaventure, not Saint Thomas Aquinas, not Saint Bernard, not Saint Augustine. Wow. And he is a saint whose, his appeal is perennial. And I think in 500 years from now, people are still going to be touched by these works, especially his, his more mystical works, which really are filled with this tremendous inspiration and really cannot fail to touch the heart. Yeah, it's beautiful. And, you know, as we mentioned in our first episode on Bonaventure, this was a saint who they said about him. He was a theologian who did his theology on his knees. And I guess that just rings true to me because as a publisher, I'm not a professional theologian. I'm not sitting around doing theology, but I definitely work with these great books and I work with these saints and I work with smart authors. And, you know, that's what we do as a Catholic publisher, but it's important to remember that it's not just a job for me. I have to try to kind of do, do my job here on my knees, so to speak. I mean, otherwise, it just becomes an act of the intellect and a financial transaction, a logistical issue, but is this a spiritual endeavor for me or not? And so that, I guess that's why I relate to it in particular is because I have to do this, this job on my knees in a sense and to help my customers and my employees, you know, grow closer to God through this work and through our products. And I think every, even if you're not a Catholic publisher, that, that idea applies to every walk of life. We have to, we have to live our lives on our knees and whatever job you have, whatever station in life you have, you know, I think that spirit of Saint Bonaventure, where he's aiming for intimacy with our Lord, not just an understanding of our Lord, that's the primary goal. That's why he's called this Seraphic Doctor. And it just seems to, you know, relate perfectly to every walk of life. It does. It does. And most of his works, he'll begin with a prayer with an invocation of God's grace, which I think is a very good policy for everyone, no matter what you're doing, to pray at the beginning of every work you do, to consecrate it to God, to ask for God's help, you know, and a little prayer, five minutes of prayer could often bring about better benefits than one hour of solid hard effort. Yes, absolutely. Inspiration. God can do anything and we can do anything if he's working through us. Well, this has been a great miniseries on this spiritual master. I thank you for your devotion to Bonaventure. I thank you for your scholarship and your passion that enabled you to translate this amazing work on the seven last words of Christ. I'm honored to be your publisher and your friend. So thank you very much for all of this and to all the Tan fans out there. I plead with you, go and invoke the intercession of Bonaventure in your life and you will not be disappointed. Fair enough. Absolutely. Thank you. All right. God bless you, Father. Thanks for being here. God bless. This has been an episode of The Spiritual Masters, a podcast brought to you by Tan. To follow the show, learn about more inspiring holy men and women and to support the Spiritual Masters and other great free content from Tan. Visit spiritualmasterspodcast.com to subscribe and use coupon code masters25 to get 25% off your next order, including works by Saint Bonaventure and countless more Spiritual Masters to strengthen your faith and interior life. And thanks for listening.