In this second part of eco-philosophical vision of St. Francis of Assisi, Fr. Dr. AJ Sebastian, SDB, explores St. Francis’ unique relationship between men, animals, birds, plants and the universe.
St. Francis believed in the universal brotherhood of all creation. He found a unique relationship between men, animals, birds, plants and the universe. He took great joy in beholding the sun, the moon and the stars. He was delighted to contemplate the beauty of flowers and was mesmerised by their fragrance (Englebert, 1979, p. 135). When he walked over stones, he did it with reverence, remembering Jesus the rock. He even avoided trampling over water out of sheer respect. He never let smoking firebrands be tossed aside as he respected it as ‘brother fire.’
He forbade his friars from chopping down trees exhorting that every thing should be allowed to grow (Ibidem, 135). He never trampled upon worms, instead would pick them up to prevent them from being crushed underfoot. During winter he used to give warm wine and honey to the bees. He built nests for doves to lay eggs and multiply (Ibidem, p. 135-6).
The legend of the wolf of Gubbio vouches for his love for a ferocious creature. That particular ferocious wolf attacked and devoured men and animals. Francis went out to meet the demonic creature. With the sign of the cross he ordered the beast, “Come here, brother wolf!… In Christ’s name, I forbid you to be wicked” (Ibidem, p. 137). The wolf obeyed and surrendered at his feet. He exhorted the beast, “Brother wolf…I am very sorry to hear of the dreadful crimes you have committed in these parts, going even so far as to kill creatures created in God’s image… But I want you to reconcile you with them…If you agree to make peace, brother wolf, I will tell the people to feed you as long as you live” (Ibidem, p. 137). The wolf bowed in agreement and sealed the pact by placing its paw in the saint’s hand and wagging its tail.
It was in the midst of ill health, blindness and the stigmata he suffered, that the saint sang his Canticle of Brother Sun.
Most High Almighty Good Lord,
Yours are praise, glory, honour and all blessing.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong,
And no man is worthy to mention You.
Be praised, my Lord, with all Your creatures,
Especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is daylight, and by him You shed light on us.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour.
Of You, Most High, he is a symbol.
Be praised, my Lord for Sister Moon and the Stars.
In heaven You have formed them clear and bright and fair.
Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Wind
And for air and cloud and clear and all weather,
By which You give Your creatures nourishment.
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Water,
For she is very useful, humble, precious and pure.
Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Fire,
By whom You light up the night,
For he is fair and merry and mighty and strong.
Be praised, my Lord, for our Sister Mother Earth,
Who sustains and rules us
And produces varied fruits with many-coloured flowers and plants.
Praise and bless my Lord
And give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility (Ibidem, p.251-2).
Francis speaks of a vibrant relationship of interdependence in the universe by which the various elements contribute to sustain the cycle of life. He addressed brother Sun as the symbol of a life-giver. As Ian Bradley has very aptly said:
The sacramental approach to nature of Teilhard de Chardin… new insights gained from quantum physics and process of philosophy; the increasing sense of awe and wonder with which scientists gaze on the universe; recovering traditional Christian themes like the great chain of being, the dance of creation and the music of the spheres: all of these may help us to see… that God is engaged in a continuous and reciprocal relationship with all his creation ( Bradley, Ian, 1990, p.50).
Man cannot stay apart from creation as an onlooker, exploiting its resources since he came from its dust and shall return to that very dust of the earth (Genesis 3:19).
I find an excellent parallel to the Canticle of Brother Sun in Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “God’s Grandeur” where the poet projects his sacramental vision of nature. It gives further insights into the chain of being and the music of creation which St. Francis portrayed. The natural world glorifies God constantly. But it is only man, the apex of God’s creation, that can render Him glory consciously. He can render God glory seeing nature in a sacramental way. He can attain union with God through creation, which is the sacrament of God’s presence. Hopkins is concerned about the two modes of the divine impact on mankind, beginning with the grandeur of storm and ending with the reassuring beauties of sunrise.
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not wreck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared, with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
(God’s Grandeur)
The grandeur of God is manifested in the universe, and the energy and beauty in it reveals the face of God. We come across the poet’s reference to all things charged with God’s grandeur: ” All things therefore are charged with love, are charged with God and if we know how to touch them give off sparks and take fire, yield drops and flow, ring and tell of him.” (Devlin, Christopher, 1959, p.195). The presence of God in the world is like the electric power. Sometimes it flashes out brilliantly’ like shining from shook foil’. The image of the foil brings out the message powerfully.
Again, the grandeur of God, though great and impressive, begins to show itself in little ways and ‘it gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil / crushed’. The world is full of Divine power, love and beauty, but the industrial man has utterly lost touch with nature. The poet is puzzled when man does not become subservient to God’s supreme authority. He is convinced of man’s ultimate destiny in God. His life is to give glory to God. But sinful man does not acknowledge the Maker of the universe. Hence, the poet laments about the evils of Industrialism as ‘all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil’. Nature has been disfigured and ‘the soil / Is bare now’. But man cannot destroy the essence of God, which is expressed by the inscape of each thing in nature.
Man withers and burns everything in his greed; unlike nature, which ‘flames out’ God’s glory. For the ‘dearest’ gift by which nature itself, as well as man, is kept from becoming bankrupt is to be found in Christ’s Redemption, literally, his buying-back-again of man and nature with his life (Mariani, Paul, 1970, pp. 96-7).
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs-
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! Bright wings.
(“God’s Grandeur”)
Despite the insensitive destruction of the beauty of nature, ‘nature is never spent’, as there is constant renewal and growth in it. The poet believes in the renewal of life, just like the way sunset and darkness of the night brings in the daybreak every morning. The final couplet strengthens the poet’s hope for the world. In the Holy Spirit, there is regeneration and life for the warped world in sin. The Spirit of God hovers over the world hence ‘ broods with warm breast and with ah ! bright wings’. The lines evoke reference to Genesis 1:2: ‘…and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters’ and Luke 13:34: ‘How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood.’ Increasingly Hopkins was drawn to acknowledge shapes of natural force as vessels of God’s finger – the Holy Ghost sustaining the universe…(Heuser, Allen, 1958, p.36). Hopkins celebrates the world of nature with its varieties manifested in manifold ways, like St. Francis.
To be continued next Friday…
Dr. A.J. Sebastian, SDB (b.1953) is a Catholic Priest belonging to the Salesians of Don Bosco, Dimapur Province. He is Professor (rtd) & Former Head of the Department of English, Nagaland Central University, Kohima Campus, Nagaland, where he taught the Post Graduate, MPhil & PhD Students of English Literature for 16 years. A Gold medallist in M.A.(1988), he was awarded PhD (1992) in the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins. The research was undertaken in collaboration with the G.M. Hopkins’ Centre at the Gonzaga University, Spokane, U.S.A. He also holds a P.G. Diploma in Psychological Counselling.
He has authored / edited 21 books/ Anthologies and has authored over 90 papers and articles for National and International Journals and Anthologies. His interests include Indian Writing in English, Motivation, Career and Management Studies. Currently he serves as Resource Person at Don Bosco Institute for Development & Leadership, Dimapur, animating teachers and students of Schools, Colleges and Universities. He operates a student helpline website for assisting school and college students: www.studenthelpline.co.in.
He can be reached on 07005022503 & email: [email protected]