The Last Canticle of St. Francis is a play in two acts. There is a ten minute intermission. The play runs one hour and thirty minutes. If necessary, a shorter version is available for school audiences.
The play opens with Saint Francis lying on a cot in Portiuncula. He is on his death bed. Though quite reluctant, he concedes to telling his life story to a group of visitors, you, who beg for a remembrance.
So he begins. He is weak and sick and blind and tired, but as he begins to reflect on his blessings, he regains energy. He recalls a moment earlier when some of the brothers carried him outside to "glimpse the setting sun" how it was so beautiful it inspired him to sing. "be praised, my lord, for our sister, bodily death, whom non can escape who has drawn breath..."
He describes how beautiful his hometown is and a little of its significance historically before he is brought to the memory of how its residents shunned the lepers and made them live outside of its walls. The road to his vocation is recalled through the memory of the moment that he met the leper in the road, how God spoke to him in Spoleto, until finally the moment in Portiuncula when Jesus spoke to him from the Cross and said, "Go, Francesco! Rebuild my church for it is about to fall into ruin."
The renown moment when in front of the Bishop he renounced all the possessions he received from his Father and even renounced the name of Bernardoni to take the name of "Father, Who art in Heaven" in its place.
He loved work, hard work with his hands. He begged, he fasted, and he prayed.
Saint Francis' rule was founded on a verse he read in the Bible in the company of the original brothers. The verse is from Matthew chapter 10 verse 7. "As you go preach, saying, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the leper, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely ye shall receive, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver, nor brass, nor script for your journey, neither two coats nor shoes yet staves. for the workman is worthy of his meat."
Francis explains how he and the brothers did nothing less but to live this rule totally and completely by denying the world and seeking only the promise of heaven.
All of the moments that we recall so fondly about Saint Francis' life are in the play. But not so much about his love and affinity with nature, but about the foundation and the evolution of the Franciscan Order. In the end Saint Francis was being urged to soften the rule. To allow influences in the order that he vehemently opposed. Finally during a speech he delivers to the general chapter, he admonishes the brothers and sisters in the strongest way to adhere to his rule and not be tempted away from it. This is a very powerful speech and will stand as his legacy.
In the end Saint Francis discovers through a beautiful vision his gift of heaven is realized, and he passes away peacefully.
