The Ecumenical Patriarchate has long set aside September 1st as a day of prayer for God’s creation and now Pope Francis has instituted a World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation for the Catholic Church. As Christians, we at A Rocha would like to affirm that the first day of September is a day of prayer for God’s creation and all people of good will.

This page is offered to assist those who would like to participate with others or by themselves in this day of prayer, knowing that thousands upon thousands around the world will also be praying.

We invite you to join us on Tuesday September 1, 2015.

We will join the Evangelical Environmental Network’sΒ prayer conference call.

  • When: Tuesday September 1, 8:00 – 8:50 PM Eastern (5:00 – 5:50 PM Pacific)
  • Call-in Instructions: DialΒ 1-302-202-1106 – Conference code: 381142 (Kindly mute your line upon connecting.)
  • Who is Involved: Representatives of the World Evangelical Alliance, the Lausanne evangelistic movement’s Creation Care Network, Care of Creation, Climate Caretakers, Sojourners, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, A Rocha Canada, the Christian Reformed Church, the Presbyterian Church and Christians for the Mountains, among many others.
  • How Can I Participate:Β Download this PDF prayer guide and join numerous speakers in scripture readings, devotions and prayer for our world, for repentance, for those in power, and for the church. And forward this email to your friends, small group members, pastors, family members and the like. There’s room for everyone to join in prayer!

Additional Ways to Observe the World Day of Prayer for God’s Creation:

  • Spread the word and encourage others to pray on Tuesday September 1; tweet a link to this page; post this link up on Facebook;send it in an email. We’ll be using the hashtags #LaudatoSi #Pray4Climate #Pray4Creation
  • Pray with others on Sept. 1st. Invite one or more individuals to join you in person, via the Internet (e.g. Skype), or on the phone; combine these, e.g. two in person and more via the Internet.
  • Consider finding some time with fellow Christians (Catholic and Orthodox) to pray or reach out to a local parish or congregation.
  • Conduct your prayer time right before a meal, and then eat your meal with your prayer partner(s).
  • Have your prayer time outdoors in a natural setting close to you, such as a park, your own backyard, or simply by a tree.

Here’s some details as to the origins of September 1 from the website of the Ecumenical Patriarch:

In 1989, Patriarch Demetrios, the immediate predecessor of Patriarch Bartholomew, who was his closest adviser, published the first encyclical letter on the environmentΒ 

[8]. Demetrios was known for his meekness, and so it was fitting that during his tenure the worldwide Orthodox Church was invited to dedicate a day of prayer for the protection of the environment, which human beings have treated so harshly. This encyclical, proclaimed on the occasion of the first day of the new ecclesiastical calendar, formally established 1 September as a day for all Orthodox Christians within the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to offer prayers for the preservation of the natural creation. A similar encyclical is published annually on the first day of September[9].

As Pope Francis recently said:

We are to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live. The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will offer individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation.

Suggested prayers, guided by the words of Pope Francis

  • You made us in Your image to reflect Your love in our care for Your creation, and we reaffirm our calling to be Your stewards of the Earth, whose bounty provides us life (Gen. 1:26; 2:15).
  • We thank you for Your creation, this wonderful handiwork of Yours, which You entrusted to our care. As the Psalmist said: β€œO’ Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” (Ps. 8; cf. Ps. 104).
  • We implore Your help as we seek to reflect Your care and protection for Your creation; we ask for Your forgiveness for the ways we fall short in our creation-care calling, including the sins committed against the world in which we live (Isa. 24:5). Help us by the power of Your saving grace and the guidance and encouragement of Your Spirit to be conformed to the image of Christ in our care for Your creation (Rom. 8:26-29).
  • We offer up these prayers from our hearts: _____________.

Each participant should offer up a brief prayer whether silently or aloud as he or she feels led.

Reading of Scripture

Read one or more of the Bible texts cited above and supplied below (NIV).Β  For those who feel led, offer a brief word of reflection upon the prayers and Scripture.

Genesis 1:26 – β€œThen God said, β€˜Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’”

Genesis 2:15 – β€œThen the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.”

Psalm 8 β€“β€œ O’ LORD our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! … When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is humankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”

Ps. 104 – β€œPraise the LORD, O’ my soul … How many are your works, LORD!Β  In wisdom you made them all … I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.”

Psalm 111:2β€”β€œGreat are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.”

Isa. 24:5 – β€œThe earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.”

Rom. 8:26-29 – Β β€œIn the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Β And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.Β  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Β For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Commitment

In light of our calling by God to be His caretakers of His creation, offer up one action that you will take in the month of September.Β  Suggestions include:

Share what you have committed to do with each other and pledge to pray for one another that you will remain faithful to your commitment

Closing

In closing read the final words of the Pope’s Encyclical, which are a prayer to God:

God of love, show us our place in this world
as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth
for not one of them is forgotten in your sight.
Enlighten those who possess power and money
that they may avoid the sin of indifference,
that they may love the common good, advance the weak,
and care for this world in which we live.
The poor and the earth are crying out.
O Lord, seize us with your power and light,
help us to protect all life,
to prepare for a better future,
for the coming of your Kingdom
of justice, peace, love and beauty.
Praise be to you!

Amen

 

***The above text is adapted and used with permission from EEN’s website: http://creationcare.org/world-day-of-prayer-for-gods-creation/ )

[8] Cosmic Grace, pp. 37–39.

[9] This is significant inasmuch as 1 September is also the opening of the Orthodox church year, known as the Indiction.