Klöster im Hochmittelalter

88 | Timothy J. Johnson
echoes, and pictures; they are sensible signs signifying the invisible realities of God
since the Creator is the origin, exemplar, and terminus for all that exists.
Leaving the physical world behind, the pilgrim ascends into the Holy of Holies
of the soul where the divine signs are located in the natural powers of memory,
intelligences, and will. ¹⁸ These are more than vestiges; they are either images or
similitudes. As images, memory, intelligence and will signify the Triune God or as
similitudes the soul transformed by the three theological graces of faith, hope, and
love. Having arrived where a creature is most exalted and introduced to Christ, the
sojourner becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit. Only two ascending steps remain.
In the presence of the two Cherubim before the Ark, God as Being and then God
as Love are contemplated. ¹⁹ This two-fold reflection suggests the journey of transcendence
is seemingly over, yet, there is still the possibility of a transitus. This is
not a stage identifiable with the six wings of an angel; instead, it is the dies requiei.
Steps are not taken; rather the contemplative is taken up with Francis of Assisi into
an intimate encounter with the Crucified Seraph. Quoting Dionysius, Bonaventure
urges the reader, “[…] leaving everything and separated from all things, you will
ascend to the super-essential ray of divine darkness […]”. ²⁰ To do so is to enter into
the unitive conflagration of Christ’s fiery passion, where death leads to life, here the
contemplative at long last may enjoy the peace of Jerusalem and leave this world in
the reductio to the Father.
The transcendent path to the heavenly Jerusalem marked out by Bonaventure in
the Itinerarium requires viewing the world as pictura and appreciation of God as
artifex. ²¹ First of all, pictura can be understood simply as a picture or as an image.
The former fosters a deviation on the journey because the beauty of each creature
can become the beginning and end of contemplation, while the later allows
this beauty to be ascribed ultimately to God, the artisan of creation. Indeed, all
noble qualities found in creatures are attributed to the Creator in contemplation.
This manner of transcendence is grounded in analogy, not univocity. Correlating
distinctions between the creature and the Creator necessitate analogy. ²² Absolute
or complete knowledge is impossible for equality of being is nonexistent between
18 Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, Itinerarium (note 13 above), cap. 3, n. 1, p. 303a–b; cap. 4, n. 1–2, p. 306a–b.
19 Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, Itinerarium (note 13 above), cap. 5, n. 2, p. 308b; cap. 6, n. 1, p. 310b.
20 […] ad superessentialem divinarum tenebrarum radium, omnia deserens et ab omnibus absolutus, ascendes.
Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, Itinerarium (note 13 above), cap. 7, n. 1, p. 313a.
21 Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, Commentarius in I. Librum Sententiarum (note 11 above), distinctio 3, pars
1, articulus unicus, quaestio 2, conclusio, pp. 72a–73b.
22 For a discussion of analogy as analogia fidei and analogia entis in Bonaventure, see Ulrich Gottfried
Leinsle, Res et signum. Das Verständnis zeichenhafter Wirklichkeit in der Theologie Bonaventuras
(Veröffentlichungen des Grabmann-Institutes zur Erforschung der Mittelalterlichen Theologie und Philosophie.
Neue Folge 26), München 1976, pp. 96 –101.