Saint Bonaventure once set before the eyes of his mind a tree. The Seraphic Doctor - friend of Aquinas, second founder of the Franciscans - imagined the whole life of Christ as a Tree of Life standing in the paradise of God, bearing twelve fruits in three branches: the mysteries of Our Lord's Origin, His Passion, and His Glory. To meditate on them, he taught, is to gather and eat the fruit of the Tree, and to draw its sweetness into the soul.
The Life of Christ walks that tree over twelve days. It is a guided retreat, not a reprint:Twelve fruits in three mysteries - the Incarnation, the Nativity, the Magi, the hidden years; the Kingdom, the Agony, the Cross, the opened Heart; the Resurrection, the Ascension, Pentecost, and the life of glory
Each day's reading drawn verbatim from the old Life of Christ, with a Sanctified Souls reflection, Douay Scripture, and a prayer
A life of St. Bonaventure, and his one counsel: be present at the mystery
A treasury of prayers to the Life of Christ - the Anima Christi, the En Ego, the prayers of St. Bonaventure and St. Francis
Full-color plates - original Sanctified Souls paintings with two public-domain masters (Hofmann, Velázquez)
A journaling section - a page for each fruit of the Tree
All doctrinal content follows the constant teaching of the Catholic Church.
Taste, and see that the Lord is good.
