Cantico di frate sole

Cantico di frate sole. St Francis (ca. 1181/2-1226). This hymn, ‘Canticle of brother son, praise of all creation’, (‘laude della creatur’) is believed to be the earliest Italian Laude spirituale. It may have been written over a period of time, and finished (with the reference to death) in 1225, at a time when St Francis was suffering greatly in mind and body. It has affinities with Psalm 148, but adds its own uniquely affectionate wording, praising the elements of the creation in terms of sisters and brothers: ‘lo frate sole’, ‘sora luna e le stelle’ (‘sister moon and stars’), ‘frate vento’, ‘sor aqua’ (‘brother wind’, ‘sister water’), with the earth as our mother, ‘nostra matre terra’. It...