The Canticle of Brother Sun, as the title indicates, is not only a poem, but also a song. Franciscan history retained precisely the fact that the words of the poem and the melody came forth spontaneously from the mouth of Francis with these first words: “Most high, all-powerful, good Lord”. It is therefore a poem and a song to the divine Transcendence.
We can regret that the melody of this Canticle composed by Saint Francis of Assisi in the spring of 1225 did not survive to our day. Knowing the structure of the poem that goes, strictly speaking, from high to low, from the summit to the base, from the glory of the «Most High» to the «great humility» of the servants of the Lord, we can think that the melody of Francis must have begun on the highest note possible to descend the whole octave to the lowest note. The first stanza of the Canticle follows this movement:
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 man is worthy to mention Your name.
Meditating on these first words of the poem, one can see Francis prostrate before God The Most High and all-powerful to confess his own unworthiness, but one must not forget that at the base of all prayer there is a conception of man and of God: the radical poverty of man and the superabundant goodness of God. Thus the poverty of Francis does not prevent him from raising his praise to the good Lord.
The key to interpreting the Canticle comes to us from Francis himself: I want to compose a new Praise to the Lord regarding his creatures. «This canticle,» writes Thaddée Matura, «is not a praise of creation, but a doxology addressed to the Most High, All-powerful and good Lord; whose name no man is worthy of mention. To Him alone belong all praises by and for all his creatures who reveal something of his radiant glory.» The words of this doxology (expression of praise to God): You are worthy of praise, honour and power do not come directly from Francis; they were taken by him from the book of Revelation by Saint John (Rv 4,11). This doxology was familiar to Francis. We find it in several passages of his writings, especially in his Praises to be said at all the Hours: You are worthy to receive praise and glory and honour and blessing…
«This first stanza of The Canticle of Brother Sun» writes Eloi Leclerc, «translates the upward movement of the soul of Francis toward the supreme objet of his desire, the only One worthy of praise. The only one within his capabilities, we are inclined to add, if the thrust of his soul did not clash here with profound consciousness, that which is expressed in the last verse of the stanza: and no human is worthy to mention Your name. Let us not take these word lightly, seeing in them a pious way of expressing oneself, a sort of pious exaggeration. They spring from an experience… And because all of us wretches and sinners are not worthy to pronounce Your name, writes Francis in his Earlier Rule. God has his own mystery that is beyond our understanding. The Most High does not exist on the same level as we do. No one can speak his mystery.» Give glory and eternal praise to the Lord! (Dan 3, 57)
Fr. Georges Morin ofm
