Holiness of Life

by St. Bonaventure

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Although written primarily for women living in Religion, Saint Bonaventure's treatise on Holiness of Life (De Perfectione Vitae ad Sorores) will strongly appeal to every Catholic heart. Its value as a manual of spiritual reading, at once elevating, inspiriting and practical, can hardly be over-estimated. It opens an easy way to a sound and profitable self-knowledge; it wins the soul to Christian humility, and to an unworldliness which is the secret of a contented and joyful heart; it teaches a method of contemplation on the Passion of Our Lord, full of devout attractiveness; it reveals the secret of fruitful and heartfelt prayer. In a word it treats of the great and permanent things in spiritual life and practice, and does this with such living fervour that it sets our hearts on fire. There are no gloomy spaces darkened by the shadow of that Calvinism that was to come; no hard lines of rigour to remind us of Jansenism. Everywhere we find the cheerful seriousness of Catholicism, the reflection of the soul of a saint who lived in the bright and spacious days of that glorious and supremely Catholic century, the Thirteenth.

Book Summary

This book is a spiritual guide written for a religious sister (likely a Poor Clare) on the path to perfection. It outlines the virtues and practices necessary to achieve a holy life, beginning with internal self-assessment and culminating in a perfect, persevering love for God.

Summary

1. The Foundation of Holiness: Self-Knowledge and Humility Bonaventure begins by establishing that the path to holiness starts with rigorous and honest self-examination. The soul must turn inward to identify its failings, categorizing sins as arising from negligence, passion, or malice. This unflinching self-knowledge is not for self-condemnation but to foster true humility. He defines humility as the virtue of seeing oneself as worthless in light of God's greatness and Christ's own profound humiliation. Citing Saint Francis and the Virgin Mary as exemplars, Bonaventure argues that humility is the essential foundation for all other virtues; without it, even great deeds are empty, and it is only through humility that the soul becomes receptive to God's grace.

2. The Essential Practices for a Devout Life After laying the foundation of humility, the treatise details three core practices for the religious life: poverty, silence, and prayer. Perfect Poverty is embraced by emulating Christ, who was born, lived, and died with nothing, thereby making poverty a precious state. This virtue frees the soul from earthly attachments and fosters complete reliance on God. Silence is presented as a crucial discipline to prevent sin, particularly of the tongue (detraction, gossip, lying), and to cultivate the inner peace necessary for contemplation. It allows the soul to turn from worldly conversation to communion with God. Finally, The Practice of Prayer is the soul's direct line to God. Bonaventure instructs that prayer must be built on sorrow for sin, gratitude for God's blessings, and total, undistracted focus, which elevates the soul into a state of loving, ecstatic union with the Divine.

3. The Goal of Union: Contemplation, Love, and Perseverance The final section shifts from practical disciplines to the ultimate goal: perfect union with God. The most powerful way to inflame the heart, Bonaventure explains, is through the constant Remembrance of Christ's Passion. By meditating on the disgrace, bitterness, and completeness of Christ's suffering on the cross, the soul is transformed by a profound love and gratitude. This leads to The Perfect Love of God (Charity), which is the soul of all virtues. This love must be all-encompassing—with the whole heart, soul, and mind—leaving no room for competing worldly affections. This entire journey, however, is meaningless without Final Perseverance. The treatise concludes by emphasizing that all virtues must be practiced faithfully until death to earn the "crown of life," which is the eternal joy of being united with God in the perfect fellowship of Heaven.