On April 7-12, 2025, for the second consecutive year, the General Definitory conducted its annual spiritual retreat at the Capuchin friary in Frascati, Italy.
Sister Marzia CESCHIA led the retreat. She is a professor of spirituality at the Theological Faculty of Triveneto based in Padua, Italy. The chosen theme—almost inevitable given this special Centenary year―was the Canticle of the Creatures, which St. Francis composed eight hundred years ago at San Damiano in Assisi, while he was a guest of St. Clare and her sisters. He was ill at that time and almost completely blind. Sister Marzia concentrated on what was then happening in St. Francis’ life (a situation clearly described in the Assisi Compilation (FF 1614 and following). She guided the Definitors through a deep reflection on the Canticle, verse by verse. Each passage was illuminated by related writings of the Seraphic Father, especially the Admonitions, and by the insights of Franciscan biographers, particularly Thomas of Celano. The retreat culminated on the final day with a focus on the four key imperatives that seal the Canticle: praise, bless, thank, and serve (with great humility).
The Canticle outlines a true path of discipleship—it expresses the journey of a reconciled man who, through a renewed encounter with the Crucified Lord, rediscovers his place in the world and within his fraternity. Thus, he can finally sing to the Most High, Almighty, Good Lord with the great chorus of creation and of brothers and sisters who know how to forgive, cope with infirmity and pass through sister bodily death, choosing to enter into bliss (blessed are those who…).
May St. Francis teach us how to sing life in all its seasons, through the schools of the Gospel and creation, through which the Lord reveals Himself!
Friar Giovanni VOLTAN
