20250111 Opening VIII Centenary Canticle of the Creatures
Opening of the VIII Centenary of the Canticle of the Creatures
On January 11, 2025, at the Sanctuary of San Damiano in Assisi, the VIII Centenary of the Canticle of the Creatures will officially begin. Present at the event will be the General Ministers of the First Order and those of the Third Regular and Secular Orders, along with the President of the Conference of Franciscan Sisters.
Celebrating the Canticle of the Creatures 1225–2025
By the time Francis of Assisi composed the Canticle of the Creatures, he was almost completely blind. Yet, with a gaze of faith filled with gratitude, he contemplated the wonders of creation and recognized the presence of the Creator who gives them meaning. All creatures, reflections of divine perfections, are brothers and sisters because they are the work and gift of the same Creator. Together, they form the choir of creation, which contemplates, praises, and thanks God the Creator, “that great Almsgiver” who gives abundantly and with goodness (2 Celano 77, FF 665).
The Canticle is the expression and final confession of the life of the Poverello, summarizing his entire journey of conformity to Christ, the beloved Son. His faith in the fatherhood of God becomes a song of praise that proclaims the fraternity of all creatures and their beauty. Indeed, “Francis, in beautiful things, contemplated the Most Beautiful, and following the footprints imprinted on creation, sought everywhere the Beloved. Of all things, he made a ladder to climb and grasp Him who is most desirable” (Legenda Maior 9, 1, FF 1162).
Celebrating as the Franciscan Family
Celebrating the Centenary of the Canticle of the Creatures as the Franciscan Family calls us to a radical change in our relationship with creation, shifting from possession to care for our common home. Each of us must sincerely answer these questions: How do I wish to live my relationship with other creatures? As a dominator who arrogates the right to do with them as he pleases? As a consumer of resources, seeing them as opportunities for personal gain? Or as a brother who pauses before creation, admires its beauty, and cares for life? We face an anthropological and ecological challenge that will determine our future, as it is intrinsically connected to the future of our Mother and Sister Earth. We are invited to offer contemporary society “the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world” (Laudato Si’ 11).
The current ecological crisis reveals that “the human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together” (Laudato Si’ 48). This awareness allows us to understand that the human environment and the natural environment must be safeguarded and enriched together, in the same way. Caring for our common home without tending to our inner home—our heart—is not the right path: a conversion that is both ecological and integral is needed. For, as stated in Laudato Si’, “the ecological crisis is a call to a profound interior conversion” (Laudato Si’ 217). Indeed, the final stanza of the Canticle reminds us that only those with a free heart, capable of halting the logic of hatred and vengeance through forgiveness, can become instruments of reconciliation and harmony, a prophecy of fraternity, like Francis himself, who lived “in a wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature, and with himself” (Laudato Si’ 10).
Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong, and no human is worthy to mention your name.
Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day, and through whom you give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars: in heaven, you formed them clear, precious, and beautiful.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather, through which you sustain your creatures.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is very useful, humble, precious, and chaste.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you illuminate the night. And he is beautiful and cheerful, robust, and strong.
Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Praised be you, my Lord, through those who give pardon for your love and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, they shall be crowned.
Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no living man can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death finds in your most holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord and give him thanks, and serve him with great humility.
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