St. Bonaventure's Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

St. Bonaventure's Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, credited to Saint Bonaventure, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of St. Bonaventure's Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Saint Bonaventure. Read in English by Eduardo Seeing himself as "unequal to so great a task", St. Bonaventure nevertheless endeavored to introduce his readers to the practice of "the most beneficial of all devout exercises, and that which is most capable of leading [them] to the summit of Christian perfection": the contemplation of the life of Our Lord. By "frequent and habitual meditations on that divine subject" even "very illiterate persons" have been raised to such "familiarity, confidence, and love of him" that they have become "profoundly versed in the most sublime mysteries of God". What better way "to arm our breast against the flattering, yet fleeting vanities of the world; to render us steady amidst tribulations and adversities; and finally, to preserve us from vice, and facilitate the possession of every virtue"? He addresses his reader in "plain and unpolished" language, "that you may the more easily comprehend the matter here treated, and study rather to improve your mind and heart than flatter your ears." "I hope still more, that if you are but diligent in the exercise of this devout study, that the Lord, whose life is here treated of, will become your master and instructor." - Summary by ekortright

Recording facts

• Recording title: St. Bonaventure's Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
• Author credits: Saint Bonaventure
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 86
• Listed recording duration: 13:01:24

Catalogue topics

• life of christ
• christian meditation

Opening tracks: first 24 of 86

1. 00 - St. Bonaventure's Preface — 12:02
2. 01 - Chapter I. The Angels intercede for Man's redemption — 14:25
3. 02 - Chapter II. The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and her seven petitions to God — 10:27
4. 03 - Chapter III. The Incarnation of Christ, and the angelical salutation of the Blessed Virgin — 17:58
5. 04 - Chapter IV. Our blessed Lady visits her cousin St. Elizabeth, in whose house the Magnificat and Benedictus were composed — 9:46
6. 05 - Chapter V. St. Joseph thinks of dismissing the Blessed Virgin, and God suffers his beloved to be afflicted — 9:16
7. 06 - Chapter VI. The Nativity of Jesus Christ — 24:50
8. 07 - Chapter VII. The Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ — 10:53
9. 08 - Chapter VIII. The Epiphany, or manifestation of our Lord Jesus — 16:19
10. 09 - Chapter IX. The Blessed Virgin remains at the crib at Bethlehem, till the full term of forty days is expired — 4:22
11. 10 - Chapter X. The Purification of our blessed Lady, or Candlemas-day — 10:11
12. 11 - Chapter XI. Christ's flight into Egypt — 26:31
13. 12 - Chapter XII. Our Lord's return from Egypt — 11:58
14. 13 - Chapter XIII. Our Lord remains at Jerusalem — 12:02
15. 14 - Chapter XIV. Our Lord's life from his twelfth to his thirtieth year — 21:47
16. 15 - Chapter XV. The Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ — 34:07
17. 16 - Chapter XVI. The fast and temptation of Christ; his return to his mother; the four means to attain to a perfect purity of heart; the great advantages of prayer; the resistance to be made to gluttony; why, and for whom God works his miracles — 20:35
18. 17 - Chapter XVII. Christ opens the book in the synagogue — 5:38
19. 18 - Chapter XVIII. He calls his disciples — 3:55
20. 19 - Chapter XIX. The conversion of water into wine at the marriage-feast — 13:37
21. 20 - Chapter XX. The sermon of our Lord on the mount, which he begins by poverty — 8:37
22. 21 - Chapter XXI. The servant of the centurion and the son of the prince cured — 2:26
23. 22 - Chapter XXII. The paralytic brought in to our Lord by the house-top and cured — 3:26
24. 23 - Chapter XXIII. Our Lord cures Simon's mother-in-law — 1:49

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.