Prayer Walk for Families
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Prayer Stations
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Praying a Psalm in its Nature Setting
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Walking Prayer – a Nature Walk with God
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A Prayer for Our Earth 
Encyclical: Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home 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. 

Canticle of the Creatures

All praise be yours, My Lord
through all that you have made.

And first my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day...
How beautiful is he, how radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon and Stars;
In the heavens you have made them, bright and precious and fair.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air...

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Water,
So useful, lowly, precious and pure.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom you brighten up the night...

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Earth, our mother,
Who feeds us...and produces various fruits
With colored flowers and herbs...

Praise and bless my Lord, and give him thanks,
And serve him with great humility.

- Attributed to St. Francis of Assisi

Prayer to Care for Our Common Home

 
Father of all, 
Creator and ruler of the universe,
You entrusted your world to us as a gift.
Help us to care for it and all people,
that we may live in right relationship-- 
   with You,
   with ourselves,
   with one another,
   and with creation.

Christ our Lord,
both divine and human,
You lived among us and died for our sins.
Help us to imitate your love for the human family
by recognizing that we are all connected—
   to our brothers and sisters around the world,
   to those in poverty impacted by environmental devastation,
   and to future generations.

Holy Spirit,
giver of wisdom and love,
You breathe life in us and guide us.
Help us to live according to your vision, 
stirring to action the hearts of all—
   individuals and families,
   communities of faith,
   and civil and political leaders.

Triune God, help us to hear the cry of those in poverty, and the cry of the earth, so that we may together care for our common home.

Amen.
 

Your Creation

O Lord, grant us the grace to grow deeper in our respect of
And care for your Creation.
Lord, hear our prayer.

O Lord, help us to recognize the sacredness of all of your
Creatures as signs of your wondrous love.
Lord, hear our prayer.

O Lord, help us turn from the selfish consumption of
Resources meant for all and to see the impacts of our
choices on the poor and vulnerable.
Lord, hear our prayer.

Fragile earth

God by whom our fragile earth is blessed,
make us servants of your creation,
respecting and protecting all that you have made.
 
Teach us the joy of field and flower,
the splendour of forest and tree,
the grandeur of ocean and river.
 
Make us yearn for a world where all may flourish.
Show us how to walk gently on the earth and
hold all in trust for future generations.
Amen.
 
Anne Marie Coppock/CAFOD
 

An End to Waste

Let us pray for an end to the
Waste and desecration of God's creation
For access to the fruits of creation
To be shared equally among all people
And for communities and nations to find sustenance
In the fruits of the earth and the water God has given us.

Almighty God, you created the world and gave it
Into our care so that, in obedience to you,
We might serve all people:
Inspire us to use the riches of creation with wisdom,
and to ensure that their blessings are shared by all;
That, trusting in your bounty, all people may be
Empowered to seek freedom from poverty, famine, and oppression.
 

Open my senses

Open my senses, God,
to understand and answer the needs of others.
 
Keep my ears attuned to the laughter of children,
my eyes to the needs of the hidden.
 
Let my nose smell the beauty of flowers
and transform the earth’s decay to the scent of fecundity.
 
May my touch be gentle in raising up
those who live under a heavy burden.
 
May I savour the taste of your abundance
and make the earth sustainable for all.
 
Open my senses, God.

 Sr Bridgetta Rooney

An Amazing Day

I thank You God for most this amazing
day: for leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes.

- E.E. Cummings

Prayer of St. Francis

Dear Mother earth,
Who day by day unfolds rich blessing on our way,

O Praise God! Alleluia!

The fruits and flowers that verdant grow,
Let them his praise abundant show.

O praise God, O praise God, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

- St. Francis

Wisdom to Care for the Earth

Lord, grant us the wisdom to care for the earth and till it.
Help us to act now for the good of future generations and all your creatures.
Help us to become instruments of a new creation,
Founded on the covenant of your love.

- The Cry of the Earth

We Thank You, Creator God

We thank you, creator God,
for the goodly heritage you offer us,
from green downland
to the deep salt seas,
and for the abundant world
we share with your creation.
Keep us so mindful of its needs
and those of all with whom we share,
that open to your Spirit
we may discern and practice
all that makes for its wellbeing,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,

- Rev. Peter Lippiett

The Garden is Rich

The garden is rich with diversity
With plants of a hundred families
In the space between the trees
With all the colours and fragrances.
Basil, mint and lavender,
Great Mystery keep my remembrance pure,
Raspberry, Apple, Rose,
Great Mystery fill my heart with love,
Dill, anise, tansy,
Holy winds blow in me.
Rhododendron, zinnia,
May my prayer be beautiful
May my remembrance O Great Mystery
Be as incense to thee
In the sacred grove of eternity
As I smell and remember
The ancient forests of earth.

- Chinook Psalter

The Sheltering Tree

Hey! Learn to hear my feeble voice.
At the center of the sacred hoop
You have said that I should make the tree to bloom.

With tears running, O Great Spirit, my Grandfather,
With running eyes I must say
The tree has never bloomed

Here I stand, and the tree is withered.
Again, I recall the great vision you gave me.

It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives.
Nourish it then
That it may leaf
And bloom
And fill with singing birds!

Hear me, that the people may once again
Find the good road
And the shielding tree.

- Black Elk

The Beauty of Nature

O God, we thank you for this earth, our home;
For the wide sky and the blessed sun,
For the salt sea and the running water,
For the everlasting hills
And the never-resting winds,
For trees and the common grass underfoot.
We thank you for our senses
By which we hear the songs of birds,
And see the splendor of the summer fields,
And taste of the autumn fruits,
And rejoice in the feel of the snow,
And smell the breath of the spring.
Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;
And save our souls from being so blind
That we pass unseeing
When even the common thorn bush
Is aflame with your glory,
O God our creator,
Who lives and reigns forever and ever.

- Walter Rauschenbusch