The year of Our Lord 2025 marks the 800th anniversary of Saint Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures (also known as the Canticle of Brother Sun), and to honor this momentous occasion we will devote the next several issues to it.
The Canticle was a groundbreaking achievement. Written in the Umbrian dialect, it is believed to be the first work of literature by a known author in the Italian language. The Canticle inspired Franz Liszt (1811–1886) to compose several pieces entitled “Cantico del sol di Francesco d'Assisi” for solo piano, organ, and orchestra. And William Henry Draper’s English hymn, “All Creatures of Our God and King,” is a paraphrase of the Canticle. The Canticle beautifully encapsulates Saint Francis’ profound spiritual worldview and has an admirable poetic style.
The Canticle of the Creatures consists of thirteen stanzas. After addressing the Lord, Saint Francis mentions Brother Sun, Sister Moon and the Stars, Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, Sister Mother Earth, and Sister Bodily Death. The Canticle concludes with a warning about dying in mortal sin and a call to serve God in great humility.
The tone of the Canticle is overwhelmingly joyful, which is ironic given the circumstances in which it was written. In 1225, Saint Francis returned to the church of San Damiano, a place close to his heart. It was here that he received the calling from God to repair His Church, and it was here that he foresaw the establishment of the Order of Poor Clares, who now had custody of the church. But Francis was not in good condition. His body was racked with pain because of the austerities he inflicted on himself and because of the stigmata he had received on Mount Verna a few months earlier on September 13, 1224. The Poor Clares had built for him “a little cell made of mats,” but the cell was infested with mice and the weather was dreary, making it difficult for him to sleep. To top it all off, Francis was going blind from trachoma, which he may have contracted when he visited Egypt to convert the Muslims.
One night, as he was reflecting on all his ills, he received an assurance from God of “the promise of His kingdom.” Relieved, the next morning Francis told his spiritual brothers how grateful he was for this consolation, and that he should rejoice in all his troubles. He resolved to write a “new praise of the Lord for His creatures” with a threefold purpose: to praise God, to console ourselves, and to edify our neighbor. After meditating for a while, Saint Francis then dictated most of the Canticle. He added more stanzas later, including the stanza about Sister Bodily Death as he lay dying in October 1226.
It may seem strange that a canticle of joy should be the product of pain and misery, but as St. Augustine observes, man has an inbuilt desire to praise God, and that doing so brings him joy. Such is the case even in the darkest of times, which affords a heightened opportunity to let go of oneself fully and to let in God. A French Franciscan priest named Eloï Leclerc wrote a beautiful book entitled the Canticle of Brother Sun, which he concludes by stating that the hymn first came to life for him in a crowded freight train headed for the Dachau death camp, when a fellow friar who was dying of hunger and exhaustion sang it.
This article appeared as “Praised Be You” in the Messenger of St. Anthony 127:2, international edition (February 2025), p. 21. Many thanks to its editors for allowing its publication here.
