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Canticle of the Creatures

3 min

Most high, omnipotent, good Lord,

Praise, glory and honor and benediction all, are Thine.

To Thee alone do they belong, most High,

And there is no man fit to mention Thee.

Praise be to Thee, my Lord, with all Thy creatures,

Especially to my worshipful brother sun,

The which lights up the day, and through him dost Thou brightness give;

And beautiful is he and radiant with splendor great;

Of Thee, most High, signification gives.

Praised be my Lord, for sister moon and for the stars,

In heaven Thou hast formed them clear and precious and fair.

Praised be my Lord for brother wind

And for the air and clouds and fair and every kind of weather,

By the which Thou givest to Thy creatures nourishment.

Praised be my Lord for sister water,

The which is greatly helpful and humble and precious and pure.

Praised be my Lord for brother fire,

By the which Thou lightest up the dark.

And fair is he and gay and mighty and strong.

Praised be my Lord for our sister, mother earth,

The which sustains and keeps us

And brings forth diverse fruits with grass and flowers bright.

Praised be my Lord for those who for Thy love forgive

And weakness bear and tribulation.

Blessed those who shall in peace endure,

For by Thee, most High, shall they be crowned.

Praised be my Lord for our sister, the bodily death,

From the which no living man can flee.

Woe to them who die in mortal sin;

Blessed those who shall find themselves in Thy most holy will,

For the second death shall do them no ill.

Praise ye and bless ye my Lord, and give Him thanks,

And be subject unto Him with great humility.

About this prayer

St. Francis of Assisi's song of praise to God through Brother Sun, Sister Moon, wind, water, fire, earth, and even Sister Death — the creatures that tell of their Maker.

History

St. Francis composed the *Laudes creaturarum* in his Umbrian vernacular around 1225, ill and nearly blind, in a hut beside San Damiano; it is one of the earliest poems in Italian. According to the *Speculum Perfectionis*, he added the strophe on pardon and peace to reconcile the bishop and the mayor of Assisi, and the strophe on Sister Death as his own death approached in 1226. The oldest text is in Assisi, Biblioteca Comunale, MS 338.

Paschal Robinson, *The Writings of Saint Francis of Assisi* (Philadelphia: Dolphin Press, 1906), "The Canticle of the Sun", pp. 152–153, translated from Assisi MS 338 — [Wikisource](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Writings_of_St._Francis_of_Assisi/The_Canticle_of_the_Sun). Original: St. John Lucas, *The Oxford Book of Italian Verse* (Oxford, 1910), no. 1, pp. 1–2 — [Wikisource](https://it.wikisource.org/wiki/Laudes_creaturarum_(Lucas))

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