The Writings of Francis of Assisi: Letters and Prayers

Praises for all the Hours

PraISES FOr all ThE hOurS laurENT gallaNT As Francis deepened his experience of the Gospel message for what it really is – “Good News” – his attitude toward God and Christ became more and more focused on praise and thanksgiving. His Praises for all the Hours represents a summit in this development, illustrating as it does how Francis entered seven times a day into the heavenly concert of praise which surrounds God and the Lamb, and how from this position he calls on all of creation to join in so that it may become a truly ‘cosmic’symphony of praise. I. ESTablIShINg ThE TExT The PrsH1 are present in three of the early “canonical” collections of Francis’s works: Assisi Ms 338, Avignon, and Portiuncola.2 This manuscript tradition suggests that the PrsH would have been composed in at least two stages.3 1 The FA:ED edition did not provide an abbreviation for this writing (see vol. 1, 32). The one used here (PrsH) is taken from Edith van den Goorbergh and Theodore Zweerman, RespectfullyYours: Signed and Sealed, Francis of Assisi (St. Bonaventure, NY: The Franciscan Institute, 2001), 405. 2 Théophile Desbonnets et alii, François d’Assise, Écrits, Sources Chrétiennes 285 (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1981), 10-12. 3 The modern editions propose a reconstruction of the text in its final and complete stage; see, for example: Kajetan Esser, ed., Die Opuscula des hl. Franziskus von Assisi. Neue textkritische Edition (Grottaferrata-Rome: Editiones Collegii S. Bonaventurae ad Claras Aquas, 1989), 313-21, especially 319-21; Kajetan Esser, Gli Scriti di S. Francescod’Assisi.Nuovaedizionecriticaetversioneitaliana(Padua:EdizioniMessaggero, The Writings of Francis of Assisi 292 1) The first stage is found in three manuscripts and in the five extant older editions.4 This first version, inspired by the commemorations or “suffrages” that were routinely added to Lauds and Vespers of the canonical Offices,5 was composed of an Antiphon (vv. 1-3, without the refrain), followed by six Verses (vv. 5-10) and their Response and a concluding prayer (“All-powerful, most holy …, supreme God …”).6 In accord with its “commemoration” model, this first form of the PrsH would have been added at the end of the canonical offices of the day as indicated in at least two of the manuscripts which give this first version.7 The other manuscripts of this family do not give any indication of when Francis prayed this text. And none identify it as Laudes (Praises). 2) Practically all the manuscripts that give the second, complete version, as found in the modern editions of Francis’s writings, identify it as “Praises.” Possibly because he became more aware of the fundamental praise dimension of all the liturgical Hours, Francis would have decided to transform his first text from being an adjunct to the praise prayers of the Church to become a means of entering into it more totally. And in fact, many manuscripts of this group indicate that he prayed it before the canonical office, and even before the office of the Blessed Virgin. In this hymn-like version each of the ten verses is accompanied by the Response or refrain “Let us praise and exalt him 1982), 384-95, especially 391-93; Laurent Gallant, Dominus regnavit a ligno: l’Officium passionis de saint Francois d’Assise (Paris: Institut supérieur de liturgie, 1978), 196-202. The FA:ED translation (vol. 1, 161-62) follows Esser’s text. In my edition, I proposed a two stage evolution, the suppression of Et (And) at the beginning of the Refrain: “Let us praise and exalt him …” and, in v.7, the Gallican Psalter’s illum instead of eum as found in the Roman Psalter. For this last choice, see footnote 8 below. 4 Mss N5, OC and PN and in the 1621 Cimarelli (Cim), the 1512 Firmamenta (fir), the early sixteenth century Monumenta (m), and the 1509 and 1513 Speculum (sp1 and sp2) editions; see Esser, Die Opuscula, 33-36 and Gli Scritti, 51-54. 5 See Stephen van Dijk, The Ordinal of the Papal Court from Innocent III to Boniface VIII and Related Documents (Fribourg: University Press, 1975), 162-63. 6 Most of the sources in question identify the Verses as such (V.) and also the Response (R.), which is the refrain of the PrsH: [Et] Laudemus et superexaltemus … ([And] Let us praise and exalt him …). Normally, the commemorations have only one Verse and Response. The idea of adding more could have been suggested to Francis by...