The title of the papal encyclical Laudato Si’ is taken from the refrain of the Canticle of Creation by Francis of Assisi. But what did the Saint really mean by using this phrase?
In 2013, when the newly elected Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, chose the papal name Francis after one of the most beloved saints in the Catholic Church, St Francis of Assisi, hopes rose among environmentalists worldwide. To some degree, these hopes appeared to be fulfilled when the title of the 2015 papal encyclical, Laudato Si’, was revealed. Laudato si’ was the refrain of the famous Canticle of Creation, written by Francis of Assisi in 1224–25.
But what did the saint really mean by using this phrase? And did his poetry align with the interpretations offered by Pope Francis and his Vatican minions nearly 800 years later?
St Francis – a gifted play-actor
In his lifetime, Francis was not merely a beloved spiritual guide, but also the instigator of a new kind of Christian re-enactment of the message of the Gospels, which spread like wildfire both before his death and in the decades and centuries that followed. Today, his message reverberates not only in the minds of the millions who make pilgrimages to Assisi each year. It resonates equally among Christians throughout the world, Catholic or otherwise.
The essence of this message was his experience of being called to both “walk the walk and talk the talk” in a very early Christian, apostolic sense. To be yoked to Christ meant, in his view, following in the footsteps of the disciples, as recounted in Matthew 10:9–10 (or Luke 9:3): “Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support.” Their objective was, of course, to spread the Good Word, the Gospel. [1]
Thus, St Francis was called to live in this world, not in splendid isolation from it, as ascetic mystics and later monks and nuns did. In this sense, he was a true renovator – at once traditionalist and innovator.
St Francis – a nature mystic
But how do you live in this world while renouncing its less palatable – worldly – forms of life? One way, of course, is to adopt an organic way of thinking about the world. Francis’s call was to partake in the world rather than denounce it.
Out of this grew a particular form of mysticism, which found one of its most prominent expressions in the Christmas miracle at Greccio, where St Francis set the scene by creating one of the earliest Nativity scenes, complete with the attending animals – an ass and an ox. Having arranged the scene in a grotto in this remote part of Lazio, the Christ Child naturally came to life amidst the adoring congregation of peasants and mute creatures.
The life of Francis was resplendent with such vignettes, recounting how he basked joyously in the midst of Creation, reaching a perfect union through the first recorded instance of stigmatisation at La Verna.
The Canticle of Creation
It is generally accepted that the precious song of St Francis, the Canticle of Creation, was a late poetic rendering of this way of thinking about the world. It is also generally agreed that the first twenty-five strophes came into being in the winter of 1224–25, while strophes 26–30 were composed somewhat later, and that the final strophes concerning “Sister Death” were added only a few days before his death.
Here we find the refrain from which the title of both the poem and the encyclical was taken: “Laudato si’, mi Signore”. The question has long been whether this should be understood as an acclamation of God for his Creation or as an invocation to Creation to praise the Lord. The issue turns on the interpretation of the small word “per”, which appears in the tenth strophe – “Laudato si’, mi Signore, per sora Luna e le Stelle” – and is repeated in strophes 12, 15, 17, 20, 23 and 27.
The word “per” may be understood as an Italian rendering of the Latin “propter”, meaning “for”: “Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon and the Stars.” This would mean that St Francis wished to call upon us to praise God for Creation and its qualities. This is known as the “causal” interpretation.
Another interpretation, however, understands “per” in the sense of the French “par”, meaning that the lines should be translated: “Be praised, my Lord, by Sister Moon and the Stars.” This translation would imply that Creation, including humanity, is called upon to act as an active agent participating in praise.
The controversy over the meaning of this small word can be traced back to early reflections on the saint and his overall message.
There is no doubt that Thomas of Celano and Bonaventure [1], who wrote the official Vitae of the saint, understood his poem in the latter way: as an invocation to nature to participate in the chorus of praise. Just as the birds were urged to praise the Lord in the famous vignette later painted by Giotto, so the Canticle was to be sung as an exhortation to the whole of Creation – including humans – to assume a prayerful posture.
A further argument was that the known models for the Canticle – Psalm 148 and the Canticle of the Three Young Men – also carried this understanding. These liturgical texts were undoubtedly part of the daily and weekly liturgies of the first Franciscans. They echoed an ancient and venerable idea: that Creation should be understood as a harmonious chorus, albeit one with an active role to play – namely, praise. To be part of this chorus was to sing in unison with the rest of Creation and thereby experience the possibility of mystical union with God, as in the Stigmata. In short: to participate actively in a daily alignment with the world.
St Francis was many things. According to this interpretation, however, he was called to align himself with the birds, bees and wolves to which he preached.
It is, however, well known that these early Franciscans laboured intensely after the death of the saint to sanitise his life and teachings. It appears that the “unofficial” understanding of the Canticle and of the saint’s life and work, as recorded in the suppressed legend, may have differed profoundly from this interpretation, leading instead to the conclusion that Francis wished through his text to praise God for his Creation.
It is also well known that only fragments of the unauthorised tradition were preserved for posterity. One of these surviving texts is the detailed and informative legend written by some of his closest friends and companions. According to this account (LP 43), “Francis received a vision in the night”, which admonished him to be “glad and joyful in the midst of your infirmities and tribulations: as of now live in peace as if you were already sharing my kingdom”.
Upon this happy thought, the story tells us, the saint began to compose his Canticle concerning those creatures which “minister to our needs every day; without them we could not live; and through them the human race greatly offends the Creator. Every day, we fail to appreciate so great a blessing by not praising as we should the Creator and dispenser of all these gifts.” And he sat down, concentrated for a moment, and then cried out … [2]
This understanding of the poem – the “causal” interpretation – is also substantiated by the grammar employed by the saint, a point made unequivocally by Sorrell. “Laudato si’” is grammatically a passive imperative, rather than the ordinary imperative that would have provided the most straightforward way of invoking Creation itself to participate in the earthly chorus.
According to Sorrell, there is no doubt that St Francis specifically wished to invoke humankind to praise God, give thanks for his creatures, and leave them space to fulfil their place in the world. In his Canticle, these creatures were glorified as particular gifts of God – useful, beautiful, merciful and more.
Sorrell also finds here the explanation for why Francis, on this occasion, wrote in his native Umbrian. His intention was to popularise the invocation by spreading it among his fellow townspeople and peasants – exhorting his brothers to encourage ordinary people to join in human praise for Creation.
His was – perhaps – a slightly pantheistic vision, which later theologians emphatically sought to erase by reversing the discourse. Yet apart from silencing the saint, this had the significant side-effect of turning humans into passive agents, reduced to members of a voiceless chorus. By contrast, the exhortation to humanity explicitly to praise God for his wonderful, useful and beautiful Creation called upon humans actively to uphold that Creation and thereby participate in the natural dynamics of the ecosystems of which we are part.
“Laudato Si’” in the twenty-first century
It is apparent from the opening paragraphs of the papal encyclical, presented in 2015, that it is precisely not this organic understanding of humanity and its relationship to God and his Creation that resonates in the Pope’s “eco-encyclical”.
Here, the Pope and his minions write that “Saint Francis of Assisi” reminds us that our common home, the Earth, is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. It is this “sister” who now “cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her”.
In short, there is discursive strife in this earthly sanctuary because we have absconded from our “family” rather than aligning ourselves with it in praise. However, the “minions” have clearly recognised the need to perform a balancing act. Tiptoeing into the conundrum, the encyclical renders the central quotation from St Francis in its English translation as follows: “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.”
It appears, then, that the Pope subscribes to the official rendering of the worldview of St Francis, reducing nature to instrumentality. By using “through”, the translators attempt to play on both sides of the court.
‘In this version of St Francis, harmony will, it seems, be restored when we step ascetically aside or backwards, repenting our sins while simultaneously joining the heavenly chorus of Creation and singing God’s praise together with the angels.
In short, we should align ourselves with Mother Earth, Mother Church and Mary, Queen of all Creation, while tending to Her as we would our garden.
It is in this light that we should read the final remarks in the introduction to the encyclical, where the Pope writes: “All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each according to his or her own culture, experience, involvements and talents” (Introduction §14).
The point here is to bestow upon humans an active role as caretakers, aligning nature so that it may once again sing in perfect harmony. However, this was apparently not the view held by St Francis, who wished us to embed ourselves as “partners in crime”, allowing nature to move forwards by releasing and rewilding it as best we can.
Conclusion
We may think that this distinction has little practical relevance. Here is a Pope doing his best to persuade humanity to care and act in the face of increasing numbers of hurricanes and droughts, animal extinctions, and blatant acts of destruction inflicted upon the Blue Planet, of which climate change is one of the most prominent symbols – and, to a considerable extent, a direct cause.
As such, the encyclical has already stirred up a multitude of hornets’ nests. When a Pope attempts to rally his flock, 1.2 billion people are no minor matter.
This becomes particularly apparent in chapter six, “Ecological Education and Spirituality”. Here, we are called upon to curtail our compulsive shopping and turn our backs on our consumerist lifestyle; instead, we are urged to reach out to “the other”. To bring this about, the Catholic Church calls for widespread “environmental education” aimed at creating an “ecological citizenship” and laying the foundations for an “ecological conversion” towards a communitarian understanding of the world.
There is no doubt that the encyclical is beautiful and uplifting for Catholics. It may even lead some politicians and businesspeople towards much-needed repentance and conversion. But written in the spirit of St Francis of Assisi, it is not. Rather, there is a decided whiff of the Jesuit in the air, stressing the call for very active human intervention to repent for and restore what has been broken.
Of course, the question then remains: what might St Francis have suggested had he lived in our own time?
Following Sorrell, we may perhaps speculate that he would have urged us simply to slow down and take the time truly to enjoy the wilderness and creatures great and small, with gratitude and in prayerful contemplation of their fulfilment of their own destinies.
To rewild ourselves and our surroundings rather than remaining so busy, busy, busy with restoration. To live in nature, rather than for nature. Perhaps that might even be the best way of saving our Mother, the Earth.
The legacy of St Francis
Even during his lifetime, Francis of Assisi was a controversial figure. Only the intervention of his friends preserved him from the fate of other contemporary lay preachers who were condemned as heretics.
Later, the legacy of Francis of Assisi reverberated in manifold ways throughout the following 800 years. He has repeatedly played the role of “a man for all times”, both used and abused by the many generations that followed in the footsteps of this little, great man.
It appears that he continues to play that role.
Karen Schousboe
Written in fond remembrance of Brother Clark Berge and his brothers and sisters, who came to Copenhagen in 2009 during Cop 15 and with whom I spent some peaceful hours in St. Alban’s.
NOTES:
[1] Thomas of Celano: Life of St. Francis. Quoted from: Francis of Assisi. Early Documents, Ed. by Regis J. Armstrong. New York City Press 1999, Vol I.
[2] Legend of Perugia § 43 Quoted from: Francis of Assisi. Early Documents, Ed. by Regis J. Armstrong. New York City Press 2000, Vol II: p145
NOTES:
[1] Thomas of Celano: Life of St. Francis. Quoted from: Francis of Assisi. Early Documents, Ed. by Regis J. Armstrong. New York City Press 1999, Vol I.
[2] Legend of Perugia § 43 Quoted from: Francis of Assisi. Early Documents, Ed. by Regis J. Armstrong. New York City Press 2000, Vol II: p145
SOURCE:
St. Francis of Assisi and Nature. Tradition and Innovation in Western Christian Attitudes toward the Environment
By Roger D. Sorrell
Oxford University Press (1989) 2009
Lettera Enciclica Laudato si’ sulla cura della casa comune
Published in Arabic, French, English, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and German
HEAR MORE:
It stands to reason that YouTube presents us with a virtual cornucopia of videos with Franciscans performing the Canticle of Creation. Here is a favorite, tacky yet lovely: