The Canticle of Brother Sun: A Song of Christ Mysticism

STUDIES THE CANTICLE OF BROTHER SUN: A SONG OF CHRIST MYSTICISM In the year 1225, a year before his death, Francis of Assisi composed the Canticle of Brother Sun, a rich lyrical poem in which God is praised through the works of creation. Although the text is relatively simple in composition, the Canticle encompasses a profound inner meaning that transcends creation prima facie, the elements of which comprise the body of praises.1 The Canticle can be identified as a hymn of light composed by one who experienced the true light of God revealed in Christ. Yet, paradoxically, at the time of its composition, Francis was virtually blind, in constant physical pain and approaching the end of his life. The praises of God expressed in the Canticle, therefore, point to a deeper meaning of Francis's life in relationship to God. Since he had already received the stigmata by the time he composed the text, his unique relationship to God can be identified in his conformity to the Crucified. The thesis of this paper is that the Canticle of Brother Sun is a testimony of Francis's mystical union with Christ. It is a cosmic Christie hymn in which Francis, united to Christ, sings of his union with all creation in Christ. The eschatological tone of the hymn resonates the melody of the new paradise in which Christ stands as center and eternal mediator. One way to approach the inner meaning of the work is by way of Bonaventure's doctrine of Christocentricity, since the Canticle is composed after Francis's ecstatic experience on La Verna, the dynamics of which Bonaventura describes in the last chapter of the Itinerarium mentis in Deum.2 The notion of Christ as center is a 1TKe English translation of the Canticle ofBrother Sun used in this study is found in Francis and Clare: The Complete Works, trans. Regis Armstrong and Ignatius Brady (New York: Paulist, 1982): 38-39. References to the critical edition of Bonaventure's works are found in the Opera Omnia, ed. PP. Collegii a S. Bonaventura, 10 Vols. (Quaracchi: Collegium Sancti Bonaventurae, 1882-1902). All references are listed by volume number and page number in parentheses. Franciscan Studies 52 (1992) 2 ILIA DELIO, O.S.F. prominent tenet in Bonaventure's theology because it underlies the significant relationship between the human person and the world. The doctrine of Christocentricity is developed in both the Itinerarium and the Collationes in Hexaëmeron where the doctrine is summarized in the first collatio.3 In the Itinerarium Christ is center of the soul; in the Hexaëmeron he is center of the universe and history. The parallel between these two works with regard to Christocentricity suggests a unifying relationship between the individual, the microcosm, and the world, the macrocosm. This relationship is borne out in the concept of the new paradise which is expressed in the Canticle. The historical circumstances of Francis's life and the tenor of the Canticle as fraternal communion with all creation indicates that only in union with Christ, the new Adam, is the new paradise revealed. RELAHON TO THE NEW PARADISE According to the Legenda perugina, Francis composed the Canticle in the spring or summer of 1225, approximately six to ten months after he had received the stigmata.4 It is likely that he composed it at the convent of San Damiano.5 The author of the text indicates that at this time Francis, nearing the end of his life, was in poor health and nearly blind. The immediate circumstances are described as follows: 3Collationes in Hexaëmeron (Hex) 1, 11 (5:331); Hex. 1, 10 (5:330-31). ''rpise enim' mediator Dei et hominum est, tenens medium in omnibus ut patebit." agenda perugina (Leg. per.) 43 (Scripta Leonis, Rufini etAngelí, Sociorùm S. Francisci, ed. and trans. Rosalind B. Brooke [Oxford: Clarendon, 1970]: 163-69)V See Vittore Branca, "Il Cántico di Frate Sole," Archivum Franciscanum Historicum 41 (Í948): 3-87. Branca discusses the critical sources of the Canticle and indicates thïrf there is evidence of redaction among texts. The Canticle is of interest to philologists Because ii is composed in the Umbrian dialect and demonstrates...