Saint Francis of Assisi was born in either 1181 or 1182. He died on 3 October, 1226. He accomplished a great deal in his short life span of 45 years. At the age of twenty-eight, he founded the Franciscan Order of monks. He also wrote some magnificant poetry. In today's "thought," I am particularly interested in his prayer "Canticle of the Sun."

Francis had a great love of God's creation. For him it was not merely a sentimental attraction, but he saw the "Presence of God" in nature. For that reason he held all of creation in awe. We are familiar with his practice of blessing the animals. In this canticle, we see the depth of love that he held for the elements of creation. He even addressed them as his brothers and sisters. By doing this, he elevated all of creation as the very expression of the presence of the creator. It is said that he wrote this poem on a hot summer day in 1225 about a year before his death. He was very ill at the time and had already suffered the loss of his eyesight.

The text of the well-known hymn, "All Creatures of our God and King," is based on this canticle. You may want to look at the text of that hymn and compare it with the text of the canticle that follows in this article.

Although I have read the "Canticle of the Sun" in the past, I have recently become interested in it again because the choir of the Lancaster Church of the Brethren, in which I sing tenor, is rehearsing a version of this canticle written by Arlen Clarke. The arrangement was published by Lorelei Music.

I find it interesting that in the ancient past, a religious giant like Francis developed such a love of creation, yet today we treat nature as simply our supply house to serve our every need. Of course, that is not surprising, when such a large portion of Christianity uses God as simply the one who gives us what we want like a giant Santa Claus in the sky. How can we have reverence for the Creator if we do not even have reverence for his creation?

Scenes from the Canticle