According to various legends, St. Bonaventure owes his name to an incident that saved his life as an infant.
The "Seraphic Doctor," St. Bonaventure, is among the more well-known Franciscan saints, next to St. Francis and St. Anthony.
He was born a few years before St. Francis' death in 1226, and it is recorded that his life almost ended shortly after he was born.
Miracle at the hands of St. Francis
St. Bonaventure himself narrates the events of his youth in his biographies of St. Francis:
God does not cease to glorify his servant by numberless miracles wrought in various parts of the world, as I myself can vouch from personal experience. For as I lay dangerously ill as a child, I was snatched from the very jaws of death, and restored to healthy life owing to a vow my mother made to the Blessed Father Francis.
Pope Benedict XVI similarly recounts this episode in a a general audience he gave in 2010:
An episode that occurred when he was still a boy deeply marked his life, as he himself recounts. He fell seriously ill and even his father, who was a doctor, gave up all hope of saving him from death. So his mother had recourse to the intercession of St Francis of Assisi.
According to various legends, it was this miraculous healing that led to his name.
It is written that his mother, anxious about the health of her son, took him to St. Francis. He then took the child in his arms, raised his eyes to Heaven, and prayed for his healing.
When St. Francis returned the child to his mother, he said out loud, "O buona ventura! Oh, good luck!"
His name then became Bonaventure.
The truth of this second part is difficult to verify, but it does appear that the first part, his healing from the intercession of St. Francis, did happen.
Later on, St. Bonaventure would encounter the Friars Minor and be inspired to join their ranks.
