The Season of Creation begins September 1 with an opening day of ecumenical prayer and ends on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, October 4. In 1989 the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I proclaimed 1 September, start of the Orthodox Church year, a day for the Orthodox Church to pray for creation. The Orthodox church year begins on that day, with a reading from the Book of Genesis.

Later, the World Council of Churches recommended extending the celebration for a season, from September 1 until October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

 Pope Francis included the Roman Catholic Church in the celebration in 2015.

Christians throughout the world come together to renew their relationship with our Creator and all creation in this season through prayer, reflection and action.

We need to take action to care for creation, but as Pope Francis reminds us we need to begin by looking at creation in a deeper way:

“The best antidote against the misuse of our common home, creation, is contemplation. If someone has not learned to stop and admire something beautiful, we should not be surprised if he or she treats everything as an object to be used and abused without scruple Creation is not a mere ‘resource’. Creatures have a value in and of themselves and each one reflects in its own way a ray of God’s infinite wisdom and goodness. Its value and ray of divine light must be discovered and to discover it, we need to be silent, we need to listen, and we need to contemplate. Contemplation heals the soul.” 

In our chapel we have a small Mary Garden the mirrors creation. Soil, rocks, a fern recalling the beginning of plant life 400 million years ago, an herb, Basil, and a flowering plant recalling the plant life that made possible the appearance of humans.

A statue of Mary with her Son holding in his hand a globe of the world stands in the midst of creation. The statue is from Kenya, a gift from Father Gilbert Omolo, CP.

Join the Passionists in celebrating the Season of Creation at https://www.passionistsolidaritynetwork.org