St. Bonaventure begins chapter nine of the Life of St. Francis in the usual way, with a long poetic series of verses outlining the theme he will cover during the chapter. A set of lines from this introductory poem of chapter nine sticks out to me:
St. Bonaventure writes, “In beautiful things / he saw Beauty itself / and through his vestiges imprinted on creation / he followed his Beloved everywhere, / making from all things a ladder / by which he could climb up / and embrace him who is utterly desirable. / With a feeling of unprecedented devotion / he savored / in each and every creature – / as in so many rivulets – / that Goodness / which is their fountain source” (Life of St. Francis, 9.1).
Before even going into the theme of this chapter, which I plan to do next week, I have to comment on these lines – they are absolutely incredible!
Central to these two poetic sentences is the idea that we can come to a knowledge of God and have an experience of God in and through the things he has created. This language is very dear to the heart of St. Bonaventure, who writes in depth on this theme in his most famous text, “The Soul’s Journey into God.” We can see God in his creatures insofar as he dwells there and he is in them, and we can see God through them as through a window or mirror. Clearly, the concept so central to St. Bonaventure’s work came right out of the lived sainthood of his great model St. Francis, who learned it from Christ himself.
The word, “vestiges,” used above signifies God’s “footprints.” The imprints that God has made in creation are seen clearly as created things reflect qualities of God himself. For example, there is a beauty in the sunset – I see God in and through the sunset’s beauty; there is beauty in another human being – I see God in and through that person’s beauty (and this goes for both physical beauty and beauty of soul); there is goodness in a person’s kind action – I see God in and through that action; There is truth in a word or in someone’s speech – I see God in and through that speech.
Was St. Francis captivated by the beautiful things of this world? He was allured by them? Well… sort of, yes. He was captivated and allured by these things – but not by the things themselves. No, he was captivated by the beauty which was the source of their beauty. He was captivated by them because they revealed God to him. He was allured by them because in them he found a “ladder” to the source of all beauty.
And this image St. Bonaventure uses – incredible! A “fountain” and its “rivulets.” To carry on this image, we can say, in a word, that God “flows” himself into his creatures. This is not to say that we are God in a pantheistic sense, but that he is flowing in and through us by forming in us his attributes – virtues, goodness, beauty, truth, charity, simplicity, piety, etc. And this “flow” can be understood by those who pay attention.
St. Francis paid attention.
And “he savored in each and every creature… that Goodness which is their fountain source.”
So, stop and smell the roses. Slow down. Slow. down. Slow … down… and don’t just smell them! Savor in them the Goodness of God who is the source of their goodness, beauty, truth, simplicity, etc. Savor in your friend, husband, wife, co–worker, person on the street; savor in the birds, the sky, the trees, the grass; savor in these things God’s perfections.
St. Francis, pray for us so that we might pay attention to God’s “vestiges” in his creation!