On 15 November 2025, we held a retreat with Fr. Dr. Paul Zahner OFM on the theme of ‘Eight Hundred Years of St. Francis’ Canticle of the Sun’.

Did you know that…?

• …the original text of the Canticle of the Sun was preserved in Assisi in the Library of San Francesco around 1240?
• …the Canticle of the Sun was written in the winter of 1224/25, when Francis was ill and lying in a hut near San Damiano?
• …Francis of Assisi suffered from an eye disease that left him in darkness (a kind of photophobia) when he wrote the Canticle of the Sun?
• … the Canticle of the Sun comprises 33 lines in the original text?
• … the Canticle of the Sun begins with the word ‘Highest’ and ends with the word ‘Humility’?
• … the word ‘per’ (= with / through / across) is the central word in the Canticle of the Sun?
• … that St. Francis calls all creatures “brothers” and ‘sisters’?
• … in the Canticle of the Sun, there is a fundamentally positive tone when speaking of the individual elements of creation, and that negative elements that exist (e.g. drought, storms, floods) are not mentioned?
• … that no animals are mentioned in the Canticle of the Sun (only fruits, flowers, herbs)?
• … that in the Canticle of the Sun, the sun is referred to not only as ‘brother’ but also as ‘lord,’ and the earth not only as “sister” but also as ‘mother’?
• … Francis added the verse of reconciliation to settle a dispute between the bishop and the mayor of Assisi, and the verse about ‘Sister Death’ when he himself was dying?
• … death for Francis is a ‘transitus’ – the transition to the fulfilment of the Lord?
• … Pope Francis wrote the encyclical ‘Laudato si’ (‘Praise be to you’) in 2015, which went down in church history as the first ‘ecological’ encyclical?

The Canticle of the Sun is a hymn of praise to the reality of creation and the Creator behind it. We recognise in the elements of creation the image of the Creator, sometimes unclear and tarnished, yet always present and true.