ENTER OUR VIDEOS
RECEIVE OUR WORK
Enter the full collection of our
tributes to Saints on YouTube.
Be notified quietly by email of our prayers,
reflections and new videos, free of charge.
Prayers to Bonaventure of Bagnoregio
O Saint Bonaventure,
who climbed by the path of humility,
and burned with the fire of divine love
—teach us not to seek brilliance, but surrender;
not to chase glory, but to kneel before Truth.
Help us ask for grace, not instruction;
for desire, not understanding.
Guide us upward, not by pride,
but by the way of the Cross, that we may see
the Light which no eye can see
—not the light that dazzles,
but the fire that inflames.
Amen.
Saint Bonaventure—Franciscan bishop, cardinal, scholastic,
philosopher, doctor of the Church, and faithful servant of Christ.
Prayer to Saint Bonaventure for Students
O Saint Bonaventure,
faithful teacher and guide of those who seek to learn,
you know the struggle of study,
the weariness of the mind,
and the burden of understanding what is difficult.
Stand beside all students who labour in their studies.
Help us find clarity when confusion clouds our thought,
help us persevere when the work is hard,
and help us remain steady when fear and doubt press in.
When our knowledge is insufficient and we stumble,
help us rise again with courage,
teach us to humble our hearts,
and to trust the long process of learning.
Teach us to learn from our mistakes,
to view them as steps forward and not only as failures,
and to know that a humble attempt is better than proud silence.
Keep us from comparing our progress to others,
that we may walk our own path without envy or despair.
Give us the courage to ask when we do not understand,
knowing that honest questions honour truth
more than false certainty.
Teach us that striving for excellence need not mean fear of error,
and that growth comes through trial, not perfection.
When our minds grow weary and words blur on the page,
teach us to accept rest without guilt,
trusting that even rest serves learning.
Pray for us before examinations,
that our hearts may be steady
and that we may show what we have learned
without terror clouding our minds.
Pray for us,
that we may learn not for our own glory,
but to serve truth and grow in love of God,
and that our studies may bear fruit
in wisdom, charity, and faithful service.
Amen.
Sancte Bonaventura,
ora pro nobis.
Prayer to Saint Bonaventure for Spiritual Ascent
Prayer to Saint Bonaventure for Humility in Wisdom and
Wisdom in Humility
Prayer to Saint Bonaventure for Young Students
O Saint Bonaventure,
Seraphic Doctor and minister of eternal salvation,
you who guided souls on their
journey to God,
blending tender piety with clarity of thought, devotion with knowledge,
teach us to seek the Lord in all things.
Help us to walk the path of contemplation,
ascending from earthly things to heavenly,
from the visible to the invisible,
from created beauty
to the uncreated Light.
Intercede for us,
that our thirst for divine Wisdom
may be ignited,
not through cleverness of mind,
but through a humble heart
attentive to His voice,
until knowledge yields to love,
and love is set aflame.
Pray that we may rise beyond understanding,
into the fire that purifies desire,
consumes all that is not God,
and draws the soul upward
in burning rest,
that we may reach at last the heights where God dwells—
not as spectators of the Light,
but as hearts transformed within it,
finding our home in Him alone.
Amen.
O Saint Bonaventure,
Seraphic Doctor and holy teacher,
the Lord filled you with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, yet you walked humbly, knowing that knowledge without love is empty.
You taught that the mind must bow before it can rise, that learning begins in wonder, not in mastery, and that true wisdom is found not in the proud, but in the poor of spirit.
Intercede for us,
that we may seek understanding
with humble hearts,
knowing that God hides His mysteries from the clever
and reveals them to the small.
Pray for us,
that we may root
our wisdom in humility,
and let our humility bear
the fruit of wisdom,
so that what we learn
may lead us not to pride,
but to the foot of the Cross,
where all knowledge bends the knee.
Amen.
O Saint Bonaventure,
holy teacher and friend of students,
watch over me as I learn.
Help me to listen well,
to ask when I do not understand,
and to work with care.
Teach me to learn with joy,
and to use what I know to help others.
Pray for me,
that I may have patience
when lessons are hard,
and when I make mistakes,
pray that I may have the courage
to try again.
Amen.
Honor Saint Bonaventure with us in prayer and scripture.
This video tribute invites you to meditate on his witness,
unite your petitions with his intercession, and remember his steadfast faith in Christ.
