Today, July 15, we celebrate the Feast Day of our patron saint, St Bonaventure.

St. Bonaventure was born in the small town of Bagnoregio inTuscany, Italy in 1221 and received the baptismal name of John. An event that occurred when he was a boy profoundly influenced his life. He had a serious illness and not even his father, who was a physician, believed that he would survive. His mother prayed for the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, who had been canonized a short time earlier. And John was cured.

At the age of twenty-two, John entered the Franciscan Order and was named Bonaventure. After he made his vows, he was sent to Paris to continue his studies in theology and philosophy. In Paris he became a close friend of St. Thomas Aquinas and received his Doctor of theology degree, together with St. Thomas Aquinas. Like St. Thomas Aquinas, he enjoyed the friendship of the holy King, St. Louis IX.

Known as the Seraphic Doctor because of his burning love for God and his great zeal to do God’s work, St Bonaventure is usually depicted reading and or writing. His symbol is a red Cardinal’s hat.

He taught us that “when we pray, the voice of the heart must be heard more than that proceeding from the mouth.” Wise words indeed.

To celebrate our Feast Day, all staff and students were treated to a cooked breakfast to start off the day. A special celebratory mass will take place too before pupils are dismissed for the summer holidays at 12.25pm.