2023-12-23 17:33:51
Canticle of Brother Soleil, Francis of Assisi
Translated and presented by Sylvain Piron
PUF, 2024, 9 €.
A new translation of Song of Brother Sun produced by the medievalist Sylvain Piron offers a renewed look at the exceptional ecological intuition of the human aspect of the saint of Assisi. In his introduction, Sylvain Piron proposes the term ecophilia to designate in François this “unconditional love of all beings that make up the biosphere”.
In addition to a new translation, the work offers an extract from the work of the first hagiographer of Saint Francis and a testimony from his friend and confessor Brother Leo. Both allow us to grasp the concrete relationship that united Francis with creation. We thus discover him befriending a rabbit, recommending fish to no longer get caught in nets, or preaching to birds. This marvelous ode to creation was imagined in the dirt of a gloomy room where François lived, affected by an illness which blinded him, a year and a half before his death. An extreme destitution which perfectly suits a man who refused any contact with coins, but which contrasts with the beauty and inspiration of the song.
The key to the testimony of Saint Francis is this attention to the poorest which extends to all of creation, and leads him to call the smallest insect brother or sister. It immerses us, says Sylvain Piron, “at the heart of the Franciscan relationship with the world”considering that“no appropriation, no domination is possible”. A message yet to be heard.
#Francis #Assisi #love #poor #creation