“The first thing Francis learned there, after his arrival, about the affairs of his native town” (we quote from Jörgensen’s St. Francis of Assisi) “was that an open feud had broken out between the Podestà and the Bishop. The Bishop had pronounced an interdict against the Podestà; the latter, in his turn, had forbidden the burghers all traffic with their spiritual head. ‘It should greatly shame us,’ said Francis to his brethren, ‘that none of us is working for peace here!’ And, eager to do what was in his power, he wrote two new strophes of his Canticle of the Sun, and thereupon invited the Podesta to the episcopal palace where he lay bedridden, asking at the same time the Bishop to lend his presence. When the two enemies, and all others Francis had wanted to be present, were gathered in the Piazza del Vescovado (the same place where, nineteen years before, Francis had given his sumptuous robes back to his father), two friars of his brotherhood came forward and sang the Canticle of the Sun: first its original text, then the addition newly written by Francis—

Laudato si, Misignore, per quelli ke perdonano

per lo tuo amore

et sostengo infirmitate et tribulatione,

beati quelli ke sosterrano, in pace,

ka da te, Altissimo, sirano incoronati.

Praised be Thou, O Lord, for those who give

pardon for Thy love

and endure infirmity and tribulation;

blessed those, who endure in peace,

who will be, Most High, crowned by Thee!

“While the two friars sang, all stood there with folded hands as when the Gospel is read in church. But when the chant was ended, with the last Laudato si, Misignore still in everybody’s ears, the Podesta made a step forward, knelt down to Bishop Guido, and spoke: ‘For love of our Lord Jesus Christ and His servant Francis I forgive you from my heart and am ready to do your will, as it pleases you to bid me!’ The Bishop then bent down, and drawing his former enemy to him, embraced and kissed him, and said: ‘According to my office, it would befit me to be humble and peaceable. But of my nature I am inclined to anger; therefore thou must beat with me.’ And the brethren went in and told Francis of the victory he had achieved with his song over the evil spirits of strife.” “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”

In every one of us the desire must be alive to attain inward peace, to keep peace, and to serve the peace of others. As the disciples of Him about whom St. Paul says, “Christ is your peace” and whom the Church at Christmas calls Princeps pacis (“Prince of peace”), we must possess, irradiate, and spread peace. We must always stand witness to this primary word of the Gospels, thus giving proof that we are true disciples of Christ: “Taste and see that the Lord is sweet.”

In truth, he alone who has tasted the sweetness of the Lord can imagine what true peace is, and burn with desire for that peace. They alone can be truly transformed in Christ who say with St, Augustine (Confessions 10.27): “Thou hast called me aloud, and pierced my deafness; Thou hast shone and sparkled, and chased away my blindness; Thou hast spread a sweet perfume; I have breathed it in and am longing for Thee; I have tasted, and now I hunger and thirst; Thou hast touched me, and lo! I burn with desire for Thy peace.”