In 2025, we commemorate the 800th anniversary of the composition of the Canticle of the Sun by Francis of Assisi, a centenary that is part of a journey that began last year with the remembrance of the stigmata and is set to conclude in 2026 with the anniversary of Francis's death, which occurred on October 3, 1226, followed by another milestone in 2028, the centenary of his canonization, proclaimed by Pope Gregory IX on July 19, 1228. The Canticle is not only Francis's most widely known and studied text but is also the author of a substantial corpus of writings, but it has assumed a prominent value in the realm of medieval Italian literature. Moreover, Francis's words are universally known as a hymn to creation, so much so that Pope Bergoglio, who chose – as the first pontiff in history – the name of the saint of Assisi, explicitly drew inspiration from the Canticle for his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si' on the care for our ordinary home, focused on environmental protection, the need for a collective commitment to an integral ecology that becomes a new paradigm of eco-social justice, in which the defence of nature and equity towards the poor can be united.

Unable to account for, even summarily, the wealth of studies from various fields on the Canticle, I would like to focus on two points: to recall, albeit briefly, the moment and context in which Francis wrote it; and to present, among the many initiatives that will characterize this centenary, a fundamental conference organized by the International Society of Franciscan Studies and the Interuniversity Center for Franciscan Studies (of which the University of Padua is a part). While the Canticle represents a hymn of joy, happiness, and gratitude for the beauty of creation in all its elements (the sun, the moon, the stars...), the period in which Francis composed it, between winter and spring of 1225, about a year before his death, was one of extreme and terrible suffering. In the complex and lush hagiographic tradition centred on the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, the Compilatio Assisiensis primarily offers us the most detailed account of the Canticle's origin. Composed in the last decades of the 13th century, the Compilatio gathers materials from previous Lives, but it mainly incorporates stories from the tradition of the first companions. According to the anonymous author, Francis was staying at San Damiano while afflicted with a severe eye disease, suffering exacerbated by the conditions of his little cell, infested with mice. In that moment of difficulty and pain, a vision comforts and reassures him, prompting him to write "a new praise of the Lord's creatures." He then composes this text, which, by his will, was also to be sung by the friars, true "ioculatores Domini" (jesters of God). The source gives us further clarification on the context and motivations behind the stanza on forgiveness: in Assisi, a violent dispute breaks out between the bishop and the podestà (definitely not an unusual circumstance in the 13th-century urban context); Francis is deeply affected not only by the conflict itself but by the fact that no one – neither ecclesiastic nor layman – was concerned with making peace between them. He then composes this stanza and sends his friars to sing the entire Canticle in front of the bishop and the podestà, who reconcile, finding their lost harmony. The Canticle's suffering, illness, death, and conflict are reshaped into their opposite, in a reversal characteristic of Francis's religious choice from the beginning: a Christian proposal that goes against the grain of the criteria and judgments of the urban environment, in full economic development, but where social, economic, and cultural disparities were becoming increasingly and dramatically marked.

I come to the scientific initiative on the Canticle, organized, as anticipated, by two prestigious institutions that have been protagonists of Franciscan studies for many years, and also engaged in some crucial projects funded on the occasion of the centenary, including the National Edition of Franciscan Sources. Among the various initiatives, the Society and the Center organize an annual conference dedicated to different topics in the history of mendicant orders in the medieval period, not without some projection into the modern age. This year, the theme is dedicated to The Canticle of Brother Sun. The conference will be held in Assisi on October 16, 17, and 18, with the presence of Italian and foreign specialists who will confront the theme of the Canticle from various points of view: a dense program, opened by the intervention of Carlo Delcorno, one of the most refined scholars of medieval Italian literature texts, member of the National Academy of Lincei, who will address the overall issue of the text's interpretation. Over the three days, contributions will alternate focusing on the manuscript tradition (Lino Leonardi), on the medieval para liturgical tradition (Maria Sofia Lannutti), on Francis and the vernacular of the early 13th century (Rita Librandi), on the Canticle in the context of Francis's lauds (Jacques Dalarun), with deep dives into specific themes – death (Enrico Menestò), forgiveness and peace (Marco Bartoli) – up to more general interventions such as Francis and the friars as "ioculatores Domini" (Carla Bino), the Bible and poetry in the "Latin Middle Ages" (Francesco Stella), celestial bodies in medieval Latin literature (Jean-Yves Tilliette). It will be a key conference, destined to draw a scientific balance of great significance, but also an opportunity, as always happens in quality research, to open new itineraries and further insights. The SISF website (www.sisf-assisi.it) and the Facebook page (@sisfassisi) will broadcast the conference live.