Thomas of Celano and other contemporaries tell us that St Francis of Assisi was often moved to joy and sang in French. On one occasion he picked up a stick and played air violin with it. He composed the first poem written in Italian (The Canticle of the Creatures).
I am not the first writer of hymns to be inspired by St Francis.
Please enjoy the hymns I am collecting on this site. I have written nearly all of them, and they either are about St Francis, or express Franciscan themes. You are free to reflect on their words, or sing them in worship with appropriate attribution.
Please let me know if you need help finding the best tunes to match these words.
Ted Witham tssf
November 2009
Franciscan hymns 
Would you happen to know where I could get the words of Troubedour of the great King?
From:
Imelda
Dear Imelda
I am not sure where you can get the words, perhaps on the insert with the CD version?
Sorry I can’t help you.
Peace and joy
Ted
Thanks very much, don’t worry about it. Peace and all good.
Imelda
Not to worry, I’ll have a look on Google. Thank you for your reply. Peace and joy
Imelda
I just wanted to say, your hymns to St Francis and St Clare are really beautiful. May the Lord bless you always.
Many thanks, Imelda, I appreciate your comment. And don’t forget that you can use the hymns in a worship setting if you would like (please make sure that they are attributed to me).
Peace and all good
TEd
Yes, of course I will. I have added them to my facebook page, I hope you don’t mind.
Peace and all good
Imelda
Hello, I’m directing music at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Linden, NJ this fall. I’ve been looking far and wide for hymns to use on Elizabeth’s feast day in November. May I use your beautiful words for “St. Elizabeth of Hungary?” It would fit perfectly to the hymn tune TRURO, and we would give grateful attribution to you as author of the lyrics on any program or publicity (it’s still being planned).
God bless-
Jim
Hello Jim,
I would be honoured for you to use the words for my hymn for St Elizabeth of Hungary. It certainly will go well with the tune “Truro”. I imagine you will omit verse 5 as those words are particular to us in Western Australia. I hope the liturgy goes well.
Blessings to you,
Ted WItham
Wonderful! Thanks, Mr. Witham. This is the church’s Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/St-Elizabeth-of-Hungary-Church-Linden-NJ-609977046082026
We plan to do the song twice – once at the 4PM (Eastern Standard time) Vigil Mass on Saturday, Nov. 14 (a celebratory Mass to be said by Bishop Elias Lorenzo) and again at the 12 Noon (EST) Mass on the feast day itself, Tuesday Nov. 17. Both will be livestreamed on the Facebook page, and will then remain on their timeline for later viewing. I hope you can tune in to see your words help us celebrate St. Elizabeth! Thanks again.
-Jim Keefe
PS – you’re correct that we won’t sing verse 4. I was tempted to “personalize it” to:
Benedictine brothers in the East
honoured her name in New Jersey
but it just doesn’t flow very well. 🙂