Such Is The Power Of Love

Taken from the acclaimed and best-selling Francis of Assisi: Early Documents set, this collection contains Saint Bonaventure’s Major and Minor Legends of Saint Francis as well as his Sermons about Saint Francis.

Bonaventure, the Seraphic Doctor, writing about Francis, the Seraphic Saint: such is the nature of this volume. The enigmatic Pseudo-Dionysius considered seraphs “fire-makers” or “carriers of warmth.” Expanding upon Dionysius, Hugh of Saint-Victor interpreted “fire” as “the fire of love.” Because love is superior to knowledge, the seraphim rank as the highest of the choirs of angels. “Such is the power of love,” Hugh wrote, “that it transforms the lover into the beloved.”

Continuing the thought of his predecessors in the mystical tradition, Bonaventure was the first to call Francis “seraphic.” Therein Bonaventure discovered the secret of Francis and established the guiding principle of his portraits of and reflections on his “Seraphic Father.”

“This translation makes the texts from this fascinating period in Franciscan history available to a wider audience, while the notes and introduction do not compromise on scholarly standards.”

Calvin Theological Journal