By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY — Participating in the ecumenical Season of Creation, Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of September is “for our relationship with all of creation.”
In his monthly video, distributed Sept. 2 by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, Pope Leo prays to God: “Help us to discover your presence in all creation, so that, in fully recognizing it, we may feel and know ourselves to be responsible for this common home where you invite us to care for, respect and protect life in all its forms and possibilities.”
The Season of Creation, a time of Christian prayer and commitment to safeguarding the earth, runs from Sept. 1 through the Oct. 4 feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology.
After reciting the Angelus prayer Aug. 31, Pope Leo called on Catholics to join him in marking the Sept. 1 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.
He told people gathered for the Angelus prayer that Pope Francis had established the day of prayer for Catholics, accepting an invitation Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople had made to all Christians. The Orthodox Church began the observance in 1989, including ecological responsibility in their Sept. 1 liturgical feast of creation, which ponders the mystery of God creating all things.
Marking the day of prayer “is more important and urgent than ever,” Pope Leo said, adding that the theme, “Seeds of Peace and Hope” will be contemplated throughout the Season of Creation.
In the spirit of the Canticle of Creation, which St. Francis of Assisi “composed 800 years ago, we praise God and renew our commitment not to ruin his gift but to care for our common home,” the pope had said after the Angelus.
In the video released by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, Pope Leo recites his own prayer linking the 800th of the Canticle of Creation and the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” the network said.
Pope Leo prays in the video:
“Lord, you love everything you have created,
and nothing exists outside the mystery of your tenderness.
Every creature, no matter how small,
is the fruit of your love and has a place in this world.
“Even the simplest or shortest life is surrounded by your care.
Like St. Francis of Assisi, today we too want to say:
‘Praised be you, my Lord!'”
