ing the head of our Saint was buried for
safety in a secret place. This time, however, the holy Religious died
without divulging his secret, and all subsequent searches to find the
relics have proved unavailing.

[Illustration:
_Photo. Alinari_.

ST. BONAVENTURE.

_Church of St. Maria degli Angeli, Dintorni (Tiberio d Assisi)_]

{115}

CHAPTER XV.

CANONIZATION.

From all that has hitherto been said it is evident that Bonaventure
was eminent amongst his contemporaries. He excelled in holiness and
learning. His greatness was religious. The service of God, the
sanctification of his soul and the welfare of the Church were the sole
ends to which his life was devoted. He achieved them with remarkable
success. His contemporaries perceived it and they regarded him as a
saint. A saint is a man whose life is virtuous in a heroic
degree--whose spiritual excellence is indisputable. Such excellence is
worthy of recognition, and the Catholic Church, with its true
appreciation of what is right, has adopted suitable means of
expressing it. These are embodied in the process of canonization. In
the early ages of the Church there was no special form of
canonization. It appears to have consisted in the unanimous belief of
the Faithful--at first merely tolerated, but in time positively
approved of by ecclesiastical authority. In the eighth century we come
across the liturgical ceremony of solemnly enrolling the Saint amongst
the number of the Blessed in Heaven.

This is not the place to discuss the dogmatic significance of such
procedure. Suffice it to say, {116} it would be rash to imagine that
the Church could err in so important and truly religious a matter.

Although the holiness of the Saints was recognized by their
contemporaries, and continued to be the object of devout veneration by
succeeding generations, still the Church's authentic recognition of it
has sometimes been postponed for long centuries. The Church moves
slowly in such matters. She is guided by the attitude of the Faithful.
If these, through successive generations, maintain a traditional
cultus of the Servant of God and eventually demand his canonization,
the process is usually entered upon. The utmost caution is observed in
the procedure. A most careful study is made of the life of the
individual. The heroic nature of his virtues, the constant devotion of
the Faithful towards him, the miracles attributed to him must be
judicially proven. All evidence i