As we prepare for the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi this Sunday, Oct 4, I thought you might enjoy reading his Canticle of Creation, and my twenty-first century Canticle of Creation for Today.

Canticle of Creation

By Francis of Assisi

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, 

Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing, 

To You alone, Most High, do they belong, 

and no human is worthy to mention Your name. 

Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, 

especially Sir Brother Sun, 

Who is the day and through whom You give us light. 

And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; 

and bears a likeness of You, Most High One. 

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, 

in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful. 

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, 

and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather, 

through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures. 

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, 

who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste. 

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, 

through whom You light the night, 

and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong. 

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, 

who sustains and governs us, 

and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs. 

Praised be You, my Lord, 

through those who give pardon for Your love, 

and bear infirmity and tribulation. 

Blessed are those who endure in peace 

for by You, Most High, shall they be crowned. 

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, 

from whom no one living can escape. 

Woe to those who die in mortal sin. 

Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm. 

Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks 

and serve Him with great humility.

Canticle of Creation for Today

By Linda Lysakowski, MTS-FT

Most revered Creator, Loving Cosmic Christ, and Powerful Spirit, Friend to all people, and to all creatures in the universe, generous Lover, we praise you and bless You for the gifts You have given us.

You have given us the cosmos, the galaxies, the stars, the planets, and the Heavenly bodies we see through the most powerful telescopes, the stars including our radiant sun, and our own earth.

We have squandered, abused, and under-appreciated your gifts.

We ask your forgiveness of our ignorance, self-centeredness, and selfishness.

We have neglected and abused Sister Earth. We build highways for our convenience, and destroy the habitat of desert turtles, deer, and other creatures because we feel we have dominion over the animals.

We have polluted Sister Water. We have thrown our trash into her oceans, we have dumped harmful chemicals in her rivers, we have not even preserved our own drinking water, resulting in us filling Sister Earth with plastic water bottles. 

We have used Brother Fire for destruction. We created nuclear bombs that destroyed countless numbers of your creatures, humans and other forms of life, as well as Sister Earth.

We fail to appreciate Brother Wind when he whispers truth in our ear through his gentle murmurings, and even when we know we can harness his power into creating alternatives forms of energy. 

We have destroyed your many gifts of vegetation, the ancient trees, the flowers, the good and helpful plants. We have displaced Your creatures, the bumble bee, the endangered mammals, the fish of the sea, and even our fellow human beings 

We have torn down the rain forests because of our greed and avarice. We destroy the very plants and animals through which we could cure human sickness. We fail to think of the next generations of humans and other creatures. Can they survive if we don’t renew our respect for all life?

Help us, blessed Creator, to open our eyes, to act before it is too late.

Let us trust science, and You, to show us the truth. Let us not dwell only on our future home with You, but to act now on behalf of future generations.

We know that your omnipotence and never-ending love for humankind will show us the way. Let us act on behalf of Sister Earth, and all the generations of creatures who will follow us, after we give ourselves over to Sister Death.