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Canticle of the Sun

The Canticle of the Sun, also known as Canticle of the Creatures and Laudes Creaturarum (Praise of the Creatures), is a religious song composed by Saint Francis of Assisi. It was written in an Umbrian dialect of Italian but has since been translated into many languages. It is believed to be the first work of literature written in the Italian language with a known author. It was composed in San Damiano, Assisi and in the Vescovado (for the last two stanzas).

Overview

The Canticle of the Sun in its praise of God thanks Him for such creations as "Brother Fire" and "Sister Water". It is an affirmation of Francis' personal theology as he often referred to animals as brothers and sisters to Mankind, rejected material accumulation and sensual comforts in favor of "Lady Poverty".

Saint Francis is said to have composed most of the canticle in late 1224 while recovering from an illness at San Damiano, in a small cottage that had been built for him by Saint Clare and other women of her Order of Poor Ladies. According to tradition, the first time it was sung in its entirety was by Francis and Brothers Angelo and Leo, two of his original companions, on Francis' deathbed, the final verse praising "Sister Death" having been added only a few minutes before.

A legend which emphasizes the topos of "brightness" says he did not physically write the Canticle, because of his blindness from an eye disease; but he dictated it and he did it looking at Nature through the eye of the mind. Father Eric Doyle wrote: "Though physically blind, he was able to see more clearly than ever with the inner eye of his mind. With unparalleled clarity he perceived the basic unity of all creation and his own place as a friar in the midst of God's creatures. His unqualified love of all creatures, great and small, had grown into unity in his own heart. He was so open to reality that it found a place to be at home in his heart and he was at home everywhere and anywhere. He was a centre of communion with all creatures".

The Canticle of the Sun is first mentioned in the Vita Prima of Thomas of Celano in 1228.

Text and translation

Original text in Umbrian dialect:

Notes: so=sono, si=sii (be!), mi=mio, ka=perché, u and v are both written as u, sirano=saranno

English Translation:

Influence and alternative versions

  • Franz Liszt (1811–1886) composed several pieces titled "Cantico del sol di Francesco d'Assisi", with versions for solo piano, organ, and orchestra, composed or arranged between 1862 and 1882.
  • The hymn "All Creatures of Our God and King" contains a paraphrase of Saint Francis' song by William H. Draper (1855–1933). Draper set the words to the 17th-century German hymn tune "Lasst uns erfreuen", for use at a children's choir festival sometime between 1899 and 1919.
  • American poet Robert Lax titled his 1959 poem "The Circus of the Sun" in tribute to The Canticle.
  • San Francisco organist-composer Richard Purvis, who presided at Grace Cathedral, wrote a St. Francis Suite in 1964 which featured Canticle of the Sun as its concluding movement.
  • British composer Howard Blake composed a setting (as "The Song of St Francis") in 1977.
  • Polish composer Maciej Prochaska in 2025 composed an oratorio entitled Canticle of the Sun (to celebrate its 800th anniversary), which was first performed in October 2025 in the Franciscan Church of St. Anthony of Padua in Poznań, Poland.

See also

References

External links