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Wednesday, September 1, is the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. It is also the start date for the Season of Creation, which continues through October 4, the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology.
What follows is based on a OCP blog post about Saint Francis and his love for all of God’s Creation:
Six years ago, on June 18, 2015, Pope Francis published his second encyclical, Laudato Si´. The title comes from the first line of Saint Francis’s Canticle of the Sun (also Canticle of the Creatures). Pope Francis begins his encyclical with Francis’s words: “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit, with colored flowers and herbs.”
Through Laudato Si’, Pope Francis invites all Catholics everywhere to take care of our Earth, to be more conscious of “our common home” and how we, as human beings, are now accountable for it.
While taking care of the environment includes appreciating all the gifts that Mother Earth shares with us, Pope Francis also motivates us to prioritize the way we interact with nature and “to be protectors of God’s handiwork.”
Please join us in praying this beautiful prayer and consider how you will encourage the children in your life to care for our common home.
Saint Francis’s Canticle of the Sun
O most High, almighty, good Lord God,
to you belong praise, glory, honor, and all blessing!
Praised be my Lord God with all creatures;
and especially our brother the sun,
which brings us the day, and the light;
fair is he, and shining with a very great splendor:
O Lord, he signifies you to us!
Praised be my Lord for our sister the moon,
and for the stars,
which God has set clear and lovely in heaven.
Praised be my Lord for our brother the wind,
and for air and cloud, calms and all weather,
by which you uphold in life all creatures.
Praised be my Lord for our sister water,
which is very serviceable to us,
and humble, and precious, and clean.
Praised be my Lord for brother fire,
through which you give us light in the darkness:
and he is bright, and pleasant, and very mighty,
and strong.
Praised be my Lord for our mother the Earth,
which sustains us and keeps us,
and yields divers fruits, and flowers of
many colors, and grass.
Praised be my Lord for all those who pardon
one another for God’s love’s sake,
and who endure weakness and tribulation;
blessed are they who peaceably shall endure,
for you, O most High, shall give them a crown!
Praised be my Lord for our sister,
the death of the body, from which no one escapes.
Woe to him who dies in mortal sin!
Blessed are they who are found walking by your
most holy will,
for the second death shall have no power to do
them harm.
Praise you, and bless you the Lord,
and give thanks to God, and serve God
with great humility.
(Saint Francis of Assisi, 1182–1226)
Image credit: Randy Greve (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr.com
