Dear brothers, dear sisters,
May the Lord give you peace!
This year, as we celebrate the feast of St Francis, we also conclude the eighth centenary of the Canticle of the Creatures (Canticle of Brother Sun) and look forward to the centenary of the Pasch of St Francis, to be celebrated next year (2026).
We find a link between the Canticle and the death of St Francis in the ancient account of the Compilatio Assisiensis, where, on hearing of the approach of his death, St Francis said:
"If I am to die soon, call Brother Angelo and Brother Leo that they may sing to me about Sister Death." Those brothers came to him and, with many tears, sang the Canticle of Brother Sun and the other creatures of the Lord, which the Saint himself had composed in his illness for the praise of the Lord and the consolation of his own soul and that of others. Before the last stanza he added one about Sister Death. (AC 7)
St Francis himself, then, encounters death accompanied by the singing of the Canticle. Only a short time earlier, he had added a verse about forgiveness, with the purpose of urging the Podestà and the Bishop of Assisi, who were in conflict, to be reconciled with each other.
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