St. Bonaventure Novena – Day 1 St. Bonaventure you have said: The life of God – precisely because God is triune – does not belong to God alone. God who dwells in inaccessible light and eternal glory comes to us in the face of Christ and the activity of the Holy Spirit. Because of God’s outreach to the creature, God is said to be essentially relational, ecstatic, fecund, alive as passionate love. Divine life is therefore also our life. The heart of the Christian life is to be united with the God of Jesus Christ by means of communion with one another. The doctrine of the Trinity is, ultimately, therefore a teaching not about the abstract nature of God, nor about God in isolation from everything other than God, but a teaching about God’s life with us and our life with each other. Dear St. Bonaventure Cardinal, Bishop, and Doctor of the Church, you chose a life that embraced mortification and great humiliation. Choosing to serve those individuals who were rejected and sick you risked illness for yourself. You made your life a continuous prayer and spent hours meditating on the wounds of Christ. Please pray for us that we may have a sincere and humble heart. Pray that we may not lose sight of Jesus’ wounds and thus walk on the straight path to eternal salvation. All-powerful Father, through the intercession of St. Bonaventure we ask that you hear the intentions we hold in our hearts for this novena may we always benefit from his wisdom and follow the example of his love. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. For the complete 9-Day St. Bonaventure Novena visit here