The Canticle of the Creatures: Context

As we start a new year, we are also starting a new series for Ongoing Formation.  January 2025 marks the start of the third of four consecutive Centenary years that are being observed across the entire Franciscan family.  The first year focused on the Later Rule and the Christmas celebration at Greccio.  The second on the Stigmata.  This year the emphasis is the Canticle of the Creatures.  The four-year-long commemoration will then culminate in 2026 by remembering and honoring the 800^th anniversary of the Easter of St. Francis in 1226.

This month we will start our examination of the Canticle of the Creatures by returning to the scene of the last two years of Francis’s life.  We spent considerable time there last year as we immersed ourselves in the suffering that was integral to the Stigmata and the other illnesses that Francis endured at the end of his earthly life.  The idea now is to make sure we have a firm understanding of the background and situation that led Francis to compose his great masterpiece.

For each entry in the series, the formation materials will include the Canticle itself, which can be found here:

-Canticle of the Creatures

For this month we will also read and consider these two excerpts from the Franciscan source materials:

-The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul [Chapter 161] (pages 384-385 in the link.)

-The Assisi Compilation [Number 83] (pages 184-187 in the link.)

 After reading the full material several times, please expend some effort concentrating on this passage:   

In His mercy He has given me, His unworthy little servant still living in the flesh, the promise of His Kingdom.  Therefore for His praise, for our consolation and for the edification of our neighbor, I want to write a new “Praise of the Lord” for his creatures, which we will use every day, and without which we cannot live.

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It is no accident that the Centenary for the Canticle of the Creatures follows the one that focused on the Stigmata.  As the readings demonstrate, the suffering that Francis endured during the last two years of his life was the catalyst that led him to the Canticle.  Without the Stigmata and the associated suffering, it is highly unlikely the Canticle could have come into being.

In this month’s readings, we see that Francis’ anguish culminated in a very human moment:

One night, when he was more worn out than usual because of various serious discomforts from his illnesses, he began to feel sorry for himself in the depths of his heart.

I think we can all identify with this scenario.  There have definitely been points in my life where I have experienced enough sorrow and distress that I reached the point where I began to feel sorry for myself.  I did not understand why my life had taken such a negative turn and I just wanted everything hard to go away.  My energy dropped and I faced the very real possibility that I could become stuck in my distress for an extended stay, perhaps even permanently.  Confronted with a bottom such as this, it can be very hard to find the way back to health, joy and positivity.

In the very next sentence, Celano reminds us that Francis possesses the outlook of a saint.  Therefore, he demonstrates a strength and determination that might be hard for the rest of us to muster:  

……. lest his willing spirit should give in to the flesh in a fleshly way even for a moment, unmoving he held the shield of patience by praying to Christ. 

Because of his holiness, Francis does not get bogged down in his despondency.  He identifies the truth.  Feeling sorry for himself is an indication that his being is oriented strictly toward the world.  He steels (shields) himself against the danger by reaching toward God via the mechanism of prayer.  If you doubt what I am suggesting, note that the word flesh appears three times in these three short quotes. Francis is obviously setting himself against the earthly concerns of his body.

The power of his prayer transports Francis firmly to the spiritual realm, where he encounters God directly.  This moment is the culmination of a lifelong pursuit of closeness to God.  The idiom says “Practice makes perfect.”  Francis practiced prayer hour after hour, day after day, year after year. The accumulation of this effort made his prayer perfect.  That perfection then allowed him to encounter God personally when he needed the support of God the most.       

During this encounter, God makes a promise to Francis.  The reward, not just for enduring anguish, but also for patiently pursuing proximity thru purposeful prayer, will be nothing less than an eternity spent in the presence of God in His Kingdom.

“Rejoice, then,” the Lord said to him, “for your illness is the pledge of my Kingdom; by merit of your patience you can be firm and secure in expecting the inheritance of this Kingdom.”

Next, Celano says this:

Can you imagine the joy felt by one blessed with such a happy promise?

There were many turning points in the life of Francis, but this is perhaps the final and most dramatic.  In one last act of Penance, Francis turns incontrovertibly away from worldly focus and anchors himself in the spiritual realm.  From this point forward, he has only one concern.  The balance of his time on earth will be spent in joyous praise of God for the great promise of the Kingdom He made to Francis in the midst of his suffering.

All the hardship is thus forgotten and washed away as Francis focuses on the surety of the future joy he will experience in the Kingdom.

As the first quote indicates, the need to praise that will dominate Francis’ outlook going forward will find its final and fullest expression in the Canticle of the Creatures.  At its core, the Canticle is a joyous hymn of praise to God.  In response to the promise of salvation given by God, Francis determines that he will teach the entirety of Creation to praise God as it is rightfully obligated to do.  

• Is it comforting to know Francis faced the same kind of low points that we do and that he was able to translate his hardship into something as spectacular as the “Canticle of the Creatures?” 

• Do you agree that Francis’ personal encounter with God in the midst of his suffering was the culmination of a lifetime spent in continuous, prayerful pursuit of a close relationship with Jesus?  If you rely on Him, will Jesus help you muster a prayer practice worthy of Francis? 

• Do you hope that someday you will have the same kind of direct experience of God that Francis achieved at the end of his life?  What does that mean for how you organize your life going forward?  How can you embrace Penance and set aside bodily and worldly concern? Can you focus on the spiritual now so that you might have an experience like Francis later, when you are most in need of it?

Proceed to Next Reflection