When we are tired or grieving, feeling a failure or overstretched, can we too find a window on nature – an opening to the wild world?
In 1224, almost blind and broken in body and mind after contracting an illness in Egypt, St Francis of Assisi sat looking out across the Umbrian plain. He needed space and time to heal…
As Francis sat gazing out of the window, a song of praise began to form in his soul. It has become known as ‘The Canticle of the Sun’ or the ‘Canticle of the Creatures’. Below is the first part:
‘Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honour, and all blessing.
To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no human is worthy to mention Your name.
Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour;
and bears a likeness of You, Most High One.’
Ponder on this song of love for a moment if you like. Perhaps try saying or singing the words.
Francis began his adult life as a partying, nouveau-riche young man, but Francis was called to leave behind his old life: changing class from the majore (superior), to the minore (inferior). He called his new order the brothers of the lower class – the order of friars minor.
The deeply transformed Francis then sang out a love song to the Lord, and to all His creatures, with whom he now felt a familial connection, even infirmity and death are part of it all:
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us,
and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs’
‘Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no one living can escape’
Like St Francis, maybe you have received an invitation from Christ to find a green window and settle by it day by day, to gaze at the mystery of creation.
This picture might help, as you reflect:
Photo by Gabriel Tenan on Unsplash
How often do we stop to gaze at nature and ask ourselves: how am I really feeling? What have been my delights, my desolations – today, or in days gone past?
How often do we allow ourselves to fall in love with the ‘world through the window’ – to let it take all of our feelings and return them to us, even as beloved relatives?
Do you feel inspired to write your own Canticle to the Creatures?
Here is an extract from a piece of writing Sheffield based poet Adrian Scott penned after just such a contemplative exercise.
You are welcome to enjoy this piece of music by Salt of the Sound as you continue to reflect on your own personal invitation to celebrate the mystery of creation this autumn.