The Season of Creation @StC

“Dear Mother Earth, who day by day, Unfoldest blessings on our way, O praise him, Alleluya!”  (From St Francis Canticle of Creation)

In 1989 the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople initiated September 1st as a prayer day for the care of Creation for Orthodox Churches. In 2015 Pope Francis  joined this initiative, extending the day to the Roman Catholic Church, and inviting other Christians to join too.

Pope Francis has written: “living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.” He has gone on to say ““the life of the spirit is not dissociated from the body or from nature, but lived in communion with all worldly realities..”

For us at St Chrysostom’s September 1st marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, which we are observing in our parish liturgical cycle. The season extends to the Feast of St Francis, October 4th, a day of special thanksgiving for God’s gifts in creation. During the season we will encourage wonder at the beauty and variety of our world and universe, and a spirit of reverence and care for the whole earth and all of  God’s creation on our planet.

A prayer for our earth of Pope Francis

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,

so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace.

Amen.

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