About the holy man Brother Bonaventure of Montereale, Priest

Brother Bonaventure was from a little place called Monte Reale situated in the mountains under the dominion of Aquila. He was born to honest and very God-fearing parents. At an early age he attended school until he learned to read and write. His mother nurtured him very much in simplicity and taught him to have the fear God, by using childlike examples, as is done with children. When the good little boy did something naughty, in order to correct him his mother put small ember from the fire in his little hand and made him hold it. She would say to him, “Does it hurt?” He answered with a great cry and told her that it hurt him very much. His mother would reply to him, “My child, how would you go if you had to be inside a fire? Don’t you see that anyone who sins will be put in a fiery furnace by Our Lord God; and that any one who does such and such (here she would tell him all the kinds of sins he could do as a child) will be put into the fire? Therefore, be careful.”

Therefore with these simple instructions he was nourished in such simplicity that when he something wrong he was so frightened about being sent to hell that he could not calm down until his mother told him that God had forgiven him. Once he was working on a walking stick one Sunday. Immediately his mother applied the little ember. Because of this he was so fearful that while he was in the world he never wanted to do anything on Sunday no matter how small it was.

When he reached about eighteen years of age he heard about the fame of the holy man Brother Vincent, a Lay Friar of the Congregation of Zoccolanti Fathers, who was doing many miracles. Because of this there came upon him such a desire to become a Religious that from then on he could never rest until they received him. He did his novitiate with great simplicity. Then a short while later he was appointed to the fraternity in the friary at Aquila. Because he was very simple by nature he was not promoted for learning but did the office of the Cleric with great humility. His simplicity pleased everyone so much that they all commanded him and he obeyed them all. So it turned out that the poor fellow was always swamped with hard work. When the blessed Vincent became aware of this he often called him to himself and comforted him with many good words. That Brother Vincent was on of great austerity and had exercised himself at holy prayers for a long time, during which the enemy had many battles with him and often beat him in different parts of his body. Because of this he remained crippled in his hands and feet, and also since he was old he needed help. Brother Bonaventure was the one who helped him very much with such charity as if he were Jesus Christ. Brother Bonaventure received from that holy man many wonderful admonitions about how he should practise true observance of the Rule in the Order, saying to him, “My son, one cannot arrive at any degree of holy perfection without moderate abstinence accompanied by holy humility, practising holy prayer as much as human frailty allows.” This servant of God Brother Bonaventure took these instructions and holy words to heart and memory so assiduously that for as long as he lived he always kept abstinence and never changed this style and manner of living. He later wrote a book about the examples of that holy man and added other different saints as he thought fit. So when he heard that Montereale was in the Province of Saint Francis, out of devotion to the Saint he managed to come to that Province.

When he found that the Congregation of Capuchins appeared, while he was Guardian at Citobola, he took the Capuchin habit. His holiness and simplicity were such that when he told a certain Superior that he wanted to change habits, infuriated the Superior took a piece of wood and hit him many times. When the Superior had beaten him as much as he wanted and went off in a rage, Brother Bonaventure went after him, asking for forgiveness and saying to him, “Sir, forgive for I have made you become scandalised. If I had know that you would have become angry, I would not have said it.” Kneeling and with many tears he asked forgiveness and was not thinking about the beatings he had suffered. He only felt sorry that he had made that Superior angry. When the Friars spoke with him about it the holy man always excused him saying, “do not be scandalised. The poor fellow was not himself.” From then on he always prayed to God for him. Nor did he want to leave him until that Superior forgave him.

This great servant of God led a marvellous life in the Congregation of Capuchins for he continuously practised holy prayer and he never missed saying every day the Office of the Dead and the seven psalms many times every day. When he found Clerics who were about to talk, he used to call them to himself and say, “My sons, we do not have time to waste. Have you given food to the dead?” When they said no, he replied, “You have eaten well, however.” He immediately intoned the antiphon of the dead. He was so accustomed to the holy prayers that after he slept about three hours he got up straight away and went to the church and staid at prayer until Matins. Once when the Vicar Visitator came he was told the this holy old man’s slept was so little that he could have easily lost his mind because when Matins and the prayer was finished he never went to rest; instead he staid in the church until dawn and waited so that he could finish at dawn when the day began to break. There was a window there from which he could see the sunrise and sometimes he would have opened and closed it thirty or forty times. He did this because of certain spiritual daughters of his whom he taught to get up for prayer when they heard the dawn bell. They also took the discipline three times a week and always led a holy life, living in virginity in their own homes. The holy old man was so pleased about having those poor women do such a good thing that it was something out of the usual. The Father Vicar ordered him not to get up before Matins because he was very old. The holy old man observed the precept three or four times and then continued as before. I said to him, “Old Father, you are not doing as you were told.” He replied, “Oh, what did I do?” I said to him, “Don’t you remember what the Father Vicar told you, that you should not get up before Matins?” He answered, “Oh it is true, my son. Forgive me. I am not aware of it until I get to the church. I have been doing it this way for more than forty years. When that hour comes I can no longer stay (asleep). It is necessary for me to go to praise my Lord, and I remember nothing.” This happened because of a good habit that he had acquired. He was so regular that when that hour came when he was obliged to sleep, it was impossible for him to stay in bed any longer.

I was aware often that he had a book that spoke about the passion of our Lord. The old man used to open that book and read four or six verses from it, until he felt overwhelmed. Then he quickly shut the book and would weep so profusely over the passion of Christ it was as if the Crucified was right before his eyes. Sometimes he remained with his arms crossed for a period of two or three hours while he wept. Because he could not stand a long time without leaning on something, he leaned on the chancel in front of the Most Blessed Sacrament. In the morning he hardly ever said Mass without taking the discipline. When he couldn’t do this in the church because the Friars were there, the holy old man used to go out into the woods discipline himself rigorously. Then he said his Mass, persevering [indecipherable word] in either vocal or mental holy prayer.

This holy old Friar said, “In the Order it is impossible to acquire a true spirit unless one strips himself first of self-love. I have known of many who had the love of their relatives that never settled and great a lot of trouble to the Order. With time nearly all of them came to ruin.” I have known of many who had the love of their relatives and who never settled. They gave a lot of trouble to the Order and in time nearly all of them were ruined.” He gave one example. He was in a friary near Aquila which has all its woods enclosed by a wall. There was a young friar there [ … ] said Mass. One night after [ … ] he went out walking along a little path in the woods. He was saying the office of Our Lady. The light of the moon was bright and beautiful. Then saw his secular uncle in front of him. On greeting him the friar asked him what he was doing going about like that at night, and where did he get in. The uncle answered, “I came in through the wall because I do not want the Friars to see me. The reason why is this: you know about the poverty of your nephews, sons of our dead brother. I have found a great fortune of hidden treasure, but I cannot remove it unless a priest is there. Because of this I have come to you. Let’s go, so that we can do it quickly and then return without anyone knowing about it.” The friar answered, “I can’t come without the permission of the Father minister who is in the house.” The uncle said, “You do something that we will be discovered; you know the pain that is there.” The Friar answered, “I don’t want to go against conscience.” The uncle said, “You have no charity. Do you know how those poor girls can marry? This is not done through spite. With a little effort on your part and you will be the cause of so much good. Your good intention is enough. Let’s go and linger no longer.” He led him out through the walls and so the Friar went off with his uncle who was always talking about the things of the world. They went up some very steep mountains. Tripping on stones the friar fell many times but the uncle comforted him saying, “We only have a little way to go.” When they reached the summit of a great precipice, the Friar stumbled and fell to the ground on his back. Because of the pain he cried out loudly, “Jesus, Mary, Francis! Where have you brought me?” Turning towards that which looked like his uncle said to him with a horrifying look, “ You scoundrel, if you had not called that name by now I would have made you fall headlong down these cliffs.” Immediately he disappeared and left the Friar in so much terror that he was about to drop dead. Yet nonetheless comforting himself in the mercy of God as best he could, he returned with great trembling and saying psalms. “And in the morning in my presence,” said Fra Bonaventura, “the minister absolved him from the excommunication, and he trembled so much that he could not stand upright on his legs.”

See what the love of relatives brings to the servants of God. The greatest good that we can do for them is to pray for them. Our Lord also says this: One cannot serve two masters.

He also said that he saw the blessed Vincent do many miracles. That holy man was very zealous about holy poverty.

When the feast of some saint occurred the blessed Vincent would have the saint’s legend read to Brother Bonaventure and he would expound on it with many tears, giving him many beautiful and devout instructions through the life that the saint had led. When he realised that Brother Bonaventure was putting the candles and oil lamps on the altar without cutting off the consumed cotton he called him to himself. By way of instruction he said to him, “I am aware that you put the oil lamps on the altar without cutting off the consumed cotton from on top. Hear, my son, that there is no thing, however small, that we dispose of badly for which we will not have to give a strict account to God because we profess most high poverty. That consumed cotton us useful for putting in lamps or in ink and for other purposes.”

This servant of God was very austere about eating for usually, while he was young, he rarely ate more than once a day. However on the vigils of Our Lady he always fasted on bread and water. He usually did the fast of the forty days of Saint Michael the Archangel. He always wore a completely patched habit and when he saw some part of it wear out he felt very sorry about it and would say to the Friars, “If the poor had this piece they would not despise as we do. Instead they would sew it onto their clothes. Nonetheless they have not promised poverty like we have.”

Lax Friars displeased him very much. He said, “Any one who does not take the little things in account will easily err in the big things. When the poor have bread they do not care about anything else. However when they have an abundance of bread they desire other foods as well. The Friar Minor should never fulfil his desire for coarse foods because when we satisfy ourselves with these rough things, we will easily desire fine foods.”

When he was gravely ill with a painful ailment in the friary at Monte Malbi the Friars thought he would never get up again. Nonetheless when the Friars were eating in the refectory the holy old Friar got up from bed. Crawling along as best he could without anyone being aware of it, he arrived at the refectory. Going to his knees, with tears he asked forgiveness of all the Friars, saying to them, “Fathers and Brothers, I want to leave you. I feel that my Lord is calling me and because I have always been an ungrateful and bad Religious because of the bad example I have given you and because of the many inconveniences you have suffered for me in this illness of mine, I ask you all for forgiveness and beg that you pardon me and that you would deign to pray to God for my soul although I do not deserve it.” Then he removed the discipline, the rosary beads, the Rule and the handkerchief that he had in his sleeve and gave them to the Father Guardian and said to him, “I give these things you have lent me while I had the need. Because I will no longer have any need for them I leave them with you.”

All the Friars wept when they saw with how much zeal the holy old Friar stripped himself and with how much resignation he resigned himself to his Superior, preparing himself for the passage of death. Getting up from table they led him by the arm back to bed. It pleased the Lord God that he should not die from that infirmity and after rehabilitating somewhat he returned straight away to his earlier way.

His simplicity and love of God were such that his heart overflowed because he could continue in his longing to be able all the penances that he had done in his youth. So when he wanted to practise the same fasts and when the Prelates saw him so extenuated and old they commanded him not to fast. The holy old Friar replied, “I cannot fast because you do not allow it.” When they told him that he was too old, he replied, “All the more reason that you should let me do good now that I am closer to death.”

The time came when it pleased the Lord God to call this servant of His from the miseries of this world. When he was in the fraternity in the devout friary of Saint Anne near Spoleto he fell gravely ill. He bore the infirmity with a marvellous example of patience. In that illness, as serious as it was, he never wanted to miss the Office and prayer. The Lay Brother Angelus of San Martino in Poggio took care of the holy old Friar in his infirmity and never left him. He thought that as he was the holy old Friar would pass away in silence as if he had gone to sleep. Once when he was worse than usual he did not want to leave him. The holy man asked him, “Tell me Brother Angelus, what is the time? What are our Friars doing now?” Brother Angelus answered, “It is just on the hour of None. The Friars are praying in the church.” The old man replied, “Please close that window for me because I want to pray too. Go to the church.” Brother Angelus replied, “I do not want to leave you because you are worse.” He replied, “There is no time to lose. Therefore allow me to do good while I can.” Brother Angelus replied, “You are near to death and you want me to go away?” The old man said to him, “It is all the more necessary that I prepare myself.” He wouldn’t settle until he had closed that window. Leaving the cell he stayed alert still so that the he would not die without anyone being aware of it. The holy old man began to sigh and weep. Brother Angelus could not understand any more of what he said. Then a little later Brother Angelus called all the Friars. Just when they arrived in his cell, and since he had already receive all the most holy sacraments, that holy soul passed away to its Creator just as if he had fallen asleep.

His body was buried in front of the church because a tomb had not yet been built. Five years later one of his brothers came to Spoleto and ask the Friars where the body of Brother Bonaventure lay. He was told that because there was not tomb they had buried him in front of the church. Saddened by this his brother gave scudi to a friend of his to build a tomb for him. When it was finished the Friars came with many hoes to exhume the body. It was a miracle of God because although there had been a lot of rain, they found the body unchanged and very fragrant. So that everyone would know that the Lord God had preserved that holy body miraculously, one of the Friars struck it on the foot imprudently with a hoe and from that blow came a lot of blood, bright and fresh.

He did some other miracles. He predicted many things that really happened. However because I do not have adequate knowledge of these things I am not writing them down. It is enough that everyone know how many merits he had before God. He entered the sacred Order as a virgin – as I know quite well about this because I had had a close acquaintance with him – he served the Lord God for many years in the true observance of the Rule and adorned with ….