Canticle of Brother Sun

Jacques Dalarun, Philippe Yates

Description

Cosmic ode, poetic masterpiece, spiritual summit, prayer for peace, call to fraternity: the Canticle of Brother Sun is known by all, or at least its title is, and it has been celebrated in many ways, set to music so many times. Yet, there is something in it that resists, which is why it will never completely be a classic. It continues to vibrate with its initial transgression which pushes it towards the universal while remaining in the assumed particularism of a vernacular dialect. The call to peace is also a coup de force and its profession of fraternity rises from an infinite solitude of suffering. The Canticle is pri-marily a cry. Let us listen to it with "the ear of our heart."

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology
• Catholic Church
• Reference work
• History of religions
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: The Franciscan Institute
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781576595343
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 8 Mo

Extrait

T he C anTiCleof B roTher S un

f ranCiSof a SSiSi r eConCiled

JACQUES DALARUN

TRANSLATED BY PHILIPPE YATES

f ranCiSCan i nSTiTuTe P uBliCaTionS © ALMA EDITEUR, PARIS, France 2014

Published in the United States by Franciscan Institute Publications St. Bonaventure University, 2016

© ALMA EDITEUR, PARIS, France 2014

ISBN 13:978-1-57659-382-0 eISBN 13:978-1-57659-383-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, elec- tronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover design by Jill M. Smith

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dalarun, Jacques.  [Cantique de frère Soleil. English]  TheCanticleof Brother Sun : Francis of Assisi reconciled / Jacques Dalarun ; translated by Philippe Yates. -- First [edition].  pages cm  ISBN 978-1-57659-382-0 (print : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-57659-383-7 (ebook) 1. Francis, of Assisi, Saint, 1182-1226. Cantico di frate sole. 2. Christian poetry, Italian--His- tory and criticism. 3. Spirituality in literature. 4. Nature--Religious aspects--Christianity. 5. Chivalry in literature. I. Title.  BV489.F74C373313 2015  242’.72--dc23  2015000707

Printed and bound in the United States of America. Franciscan Institute Publications makes every effort to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials in the publishing of its books. This book is printed on acid free, recycled paper that is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certiîed. It is printed with soy-based ink.

F rAncisAs A uthor

TABLE OF CONTENTS

5

5

4

x

i

I ntroduction A bbreviAtions

t rAnsgressions

T he C anTiCleof B roTher S un

1

2

9

3

3

5

t he C anTiCle t rAdition

F rAnciscAn c hronology

1

2

h Armony

v

s econd A ct

F irst A ct

7

9

t he g enesisoFthe C anTiCle

r econcilliAtion

8

3

3

6

103

t hird A ct

INTRODUCTION

 In the prologue to his study of the life of St. Francis, Raphael Brown included a charming and instructive litany of all those who had ever authored sources for the life of St. Francis or a modern scholarly biography worthy of study. I remember reading that litany just after beginning my own academic studies forty years ago at the Franciscan Institute of St. Bonaventure Uni- versity. For a new student overwhelmed by initial encounters with medieval sources and unfamiliar vocabulary, I could take comfort that I was familiar with a respectable number of the modern biographers. At the same time, the ancient experts and their contributions were stillterra incognitafor me and I understood that the course ahead of me would not permit such ignorance to last for long.  If that same litany were to be developed today it would include a litany of 20th- and 21st century fraternitas of modern names—the lumi- naries of the last forty years. If the Franciscanists of our time were asked to nominate a “top ten” from among those experts, it would surely include in a prominent place —if not the îrst place-- the name of Jacques Dalarun.  Dalarun has held positions of great inuence in medieval studies in Europe including Director of Medieval Studies at l’Ecole francais de Rome and of l’Instiut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes (CNRS), Paris. For one year he served as the Joseph Doino Visiting Professor of the Franciscan Institute of St. Bonaventure University and has spent a number of short residencies at the same Institute.  During these American sojourns at the Franciscan Institute, he helped us to further the international agenda of selection, promotion and completion of projects critical to medieval history with its endless parade of new “Franciscan questions.” It has been within this extension of schol- arly solidarity that English-speaking students and readers have enjoyed the privilege of his presence as a teacher and the richness of his unique expertise mediated through the English translations of several of his major studies.  This newest of his analyses of Franciscan texts, theCanticle of Brother Sun, is a jewel whose contemplation will provide endless moments of intellectual stimulation combined with a certain refreshment of spirit. What Dalarun accomplishes in this study is a symphonic combination of textual criticism, linguistic analysis, historical contextualization, theological intuition

v

viThe Canticle of Brother Sun and poetic—and often provocative— exegesis. He pushes the reader to a new encounter with theCanticle created by Francis of en-Assisi. This counter makes prior efforts at interpretation appear pale and only partially accurate.  The book is a kind of theater in which the prose of its author yields regularly to the images (culled from multiple manuscripts ) that illustrate his points and emerge as far more than decorative after-thoughts. His ample notations permit a chorus of other voices to interrupt his and set up a vital dialogue of scholar-to reader-to scholar again.  That he prepared this study and published it in alignment with the release of the encyclical of Pope Francis,Laudato si, adds a special sense of immediacy, of motivation for work to be done. Major international bodies, principally the United Nations, clamor for response to the continued threats to our environment. A Pope with mass appeal calls for a Christian conver- sion to this task by citing the ancient words (Laudato si…..Praised be you my Lord….) of Francis of Assisi whose namesake he has become. (And whose modern embodiment he seems to incarnate.) And in this conuence of ap- peals, Jacques Dalarun offers us a magisterial account of how a thirteenth century saint created a poem, a song, a drama that is powerful enough to inform this vast planetary project of our times.  Truth demands that I admit that the place and timing of my îrst encounter with Dalarun’sIl Canticohas much to do with the pervasive sense of awe and gratitude that I feel obliged to express when recommending it to your careful perusal. First, I read the Italian translation over many days. My reading took place while visiting friends whose home sits on a small lake in western New York. It is ringed by gentle hills crowned with sloping pastures and îr trees. Each morning as I read, the fog cloistered me on the lake shores. Gradually as the pages turned, the scarves of mist shifted revealing a îsherman in a boat, ducklings paddling after their mother near my dock, a heron gliding silently over the water. Finally, as my hour of daily study ended, the îrst rays of sun would penetrate the fog, slicing it away bit by bit until the shimmering lake emerged, etched in every detail of its procession of small wonders. Nature’s simple beauty and nature’s daily contests of “eat or be eaten” paraded before me. The immediacy of all of the facets of our life-long conversatio with our Mother Earth framed these reections. The setting and the study fused into an extended literary retreat.  Abandoning all pretense at scholarly detachment, I urge: Choose the time and place of your reading with care. Jacques Dalarun, master of the sacred and secular pages of long ago, offers you what Gerard Manley Hop- kins described as “the dearest freshness deep down things” of the genius

i ntroduction vii ofFrancesco Bernardonewhen noise is muted and. This freshness reveals itself light is diffused. These deep down things become clearest in a communion of kindred spirits. That gaggle of spiritual kinsfolk chases the ecstatic but wounded Francis down the valleys and highlands of the years still asking “Why after you? Why does the whole world run after you?” Dalarun knows. He has done his best to explain it many, many times. May you proît from this little portion of his voluminous answer and may you enjoy the hours immersed in these pages that await you.

Sr. Margaret Carney St. Bonaventure University

ABBREVIATIONS

1C - The Life of Saint Francis by Thomas of Celano 2C - The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul 2LtF - The Second Letter to the Faithful 3C - The Treatise on the Miracles by Thomas of Celano AC - The Assisi Compilation Adm - Admonitions AP - The Anonymous of Perugia BlL - A Blessing for Brother Leo CtC -Canticleof the Creatures CtExh -Canticleof Exhortation ER - The Earlier Rule (Regula non bullata) ExhP - Exhortation to the Praise of God FAED - Francis of Assisi, Early Documents L3C - The Legend of the Three Companions LCh - The Legend for Use in the Choir LJS - The Life of Saint Francis by Julian of Speyer LMj - The Major Legend by Bonaventure LMn - The Minor Legend by Bonaventure LR - The Later Rule (Regula bullata) LtL - Letter to Brother Leo LtR - A Letter to the Rulers of the Peoples MP - The Mirror of Perfection OfP - Ofîce of the Passion PrH - Praises for All the Hours PrsG - The Praises of God RH - A Rule for Hermitages Test - Testament TPJ - True and Perfect Joy VL - The Versiîed Life of Saint Francis by Henri d’Avranches