Nature as a Mystery in a Problem Oriented World: Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Creatures

As part of NTT JTSR's series on Key Texts, the present article discusses the Canticle of the Creatures or Canticle of Brother Sun as a song that can change the way people perceive themselves in their natural environment. Francis of Assisi, who had turned away from 'the world,' had learned a different way of perceiving. Where the world perceives the environment by grasping, taking control, and solving problems, Francis had become sensitive to the way in which the environment communicates itself: as a mystery. Purified by humility, his senses testified that the environment, down to its elementary level, is praising the One who created it and guarantees its meaning and value. But rather than praising the Creator for his creatures, the hymn prays that the Creator lets Himself be praised by His creatures. This praise of the creatures is a reverberation, strengthening, and colouring of God's blessings. The role of Francis is to lend his own voice and language to these heavenly praises as they are resounding in his environment. His message is, with words quoted from the Encyclical Laudato Si' of Pope Francis, that our environment is not a problem to be solved, but "a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise".