800 Years of St. Francis · Day 13 of 31 · Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Be praised, my Lord, for all your creation, and especially for our Brother Sun, who brings us the day and the light.
The Canticle is among the first great poems written in the everyday Italian of its time rather than in Latin. Francis wanted ordinary people to be able to sing it. And the words he chose were family words: Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, Sister Earth, our Mother.
This wasn’t sentiment. It was Francis’s actual experience of reality. He had learned to live in such harmony with creation that he could call the sun his brother and death his sister. Harmony was not something he achieved on his own. It was something he took part in.
That is quite different from how most of us relate to the world. We tend to treat creation as scenery: a pleasant backdrop for the human drama, or a resource to be managed. Francis would not have understood either idea. For him, the created world was kin. He stood in a family relationship with it, and family comes with belonging, obligation, and delight.
The difference shows up in small ways. We walk past scenery. We stop for kin.
Notice today: What part of creation have you been treating as scenery? What would change if you greeted it as family?
We walk past scenery. We stop for kin.
At San Damiano: The gardens and hillside paths are open to walkers most of the time. Come and meet some of our Franciscan family. sandamiano.org
Day 13 of 31 · 800 Years of St. Francis: A Daily October Companion · spiritualbreak.com
Reflection © 2026 Michael J. Cunningham OFS.
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