Saint Francis of Assisi is an opera in 3 acts by Olivier Messiaen. This first volume is focused on the Act 1  1. La croix, 2. Les laudes, 3. Le baiser au lépreux. It depicts the moments when Saint Francis explains what is the Perfect Joy according to the love of the Christ, his request to God to meet a leper and to be able to love him, and, finally, his meeting with a leper, assisted by an Angel. The leper is cured from this meeting.

Based on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, this opera is set in Italy and is composed as per below:

Act I:
1. La croix
2. Les laudes
3. Le baiser au lépreux

Act II
4. Lange voyageur
5. Lange musicien
6. Le prêche aux oiseaux

Act II
7. Les stigmates
8. La mort et la nouvelle vie

This opera was played at the Paris Opera in 1983.

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was a French organist and composer passionate about Ornithology and one of the most important composers of his century. Inspired by Japanese music, he had a very special way of composing and his work can be identified by its complexity, its diatonic aspect, its harmony with limited transposition, its colour and its additive rhythms. He composed many works related to ornithology and birdsong, including the 'Bird Catalogue' in 7 volumes and the 'Treatise on rhythm, colour and ornithology' in 7 volumes.