(For not renouncing eight statements, Bruno was burned at the stake on this day, February 17, in the year 1600 at the Campo de’ Fiori, Rome)
I refuse to renounce my writings. Words revolve around worlds. I refuse to renounce my beliefs. Each leans along the other. I refuse to renounce the work of my mind. My teachers lived and died to shape what I know. I affirm: the beautiful earth rounds the fiery sun. The light moved across my face this morning as I lay in my cell. I affirm: the world has a soul and all matter derives therefrom. My mother and I screamed together when my soul-full body arrived. I affirm: all reality is accompanied by a spirit and an intelligence. The breezes crossing the seven hills of Rome bring voices from Tuscany. I affirm: the bread and the wine are bread and wine. Sister Paolina’s slipper-shaped ciabatta tastes of heaven. I affirm: the earth moves. How many times have I injured the bare ground when falling? I affirm: the infinity of the stars and the infinite number of planets. Counting the lights in the endless night sky never ends. I affirm: the spirit and the body are one. Cut by a knife, I bleed. Cut by a word, I bleed. I affirm: the stars are messengers and interpreters of the ways of God. Just look up. “Perchance you - who pronounce my sentence - are in greater fear than I who receive it.” May the fire of my burning body in the Field of Flowers flare brighter than the sun on that day.
