Morning is not a thing: it is a gift
Before anyone wakes, water is already flowing, leaves are breathing, and birds are looking for food. The world does not begin when we open our eyes. We wake within an immense story that God loves and sustains.
Francis understood this truth so deeply that he called the sun brother, the moon sister, water sister, and the earth mother. He did not worship nature. He praised the Creator with creatures and through them. Every being had value because it came from God’s hands, not only because a person could use it.
Praying for creation means giving thanks, but it also means accepting responsibility. It is not enough to admire a tree and ignore those who suffer from polluted air, floods, extreme heat, or a lack of clean water. Care for the Earth and care for the poor belong to the same prayer, because we all inhabit the same home.
Origin and inspiration
A prayer in the shade of the Canticle of the Creatures
This is an original prayer by the portal, inspired by Franciscan spirituality. Saint Francis did not write it. Its images come from the biblical account of creation, the Canticle of the Creatures, and the encyclical Laudato si’.
In the Canticle, composed during the final years of his life, Francis directs all praise to the Most High God and calls creatures sisters and brothers. This language does not turn stones, winds, or animals into human beings. It reminds us that we are not absolute owners: we are part of a created family, dependent on water, soil, air, and one another.
Laudato si’ takes up the canticle’s opening and teaches that everything is interconnected. A small choice can reach far: what we buy, waste, or protect touches other people and other beings. This prayer therefore joins contemplation and commitment. The beauty we received asks for a response.
Prayer text
Teach us to live as part of your work
Creator God,
before our first step,
your love was already preparing paths.
We thank you for Sister Water,
who refreshes, cleans, and sustains;
for Brother Sun, who warms the morning;
for the wind we cannot hold,
and for the earth that receives seeds.
We thank you for the animals,
for the great ones that cross forests
and those so small we barely see them;
for every plant that offers shade,
food, fragrance, or shelter.
Forgive us when we treat as rubbish
what you called good.
Forgive our waste,
our haste to possess,
our indifference before wounded rivers,
and our silence when the poor suffer first.
Give us eyes able to contemplate
without wanting to buy,
hands able to care
without desiring control,
and intelligence to create solutions
that leave no one behind.
Bless those who cultivate the earth,
those who protect forests and oceans,
those who conduct research honestly,
those who collect what others threw away,
and those who defend a threatened community.
Comfort people affected
by drought, fire, floods, and hunger.
Teach us to hear their suffering
and turn compassion into just assistance.
Lord Jesus,
through whom all things were made,
free us from living as though we were alone.
May a glass of water be received with gratitude,
food without waste,
rest without endless consumption,
and every creature with respect.
Make our life a small canticle:
less noise of possession,
more silence of wonder;
fewer closed hands,
more shared care.
And when the wounded world frightens us,
protect us from despair.
Show us the good that can still grow
from one faithful choice.
With you, we want to protect our common home
and praise you with all creatures.
Amen.
Original text by the portal, inspired by the Canticle of the Creatures, Scripture, and Laudato si’.
Caring is not fear: it is attentive love
Sometimes news about nature seems too great. A child may think, “What I do changes nothing.” But Francis never waited to possess great power before beginning. He looked at what was before him and responded with reverence.
How to pray this prayer
Receive a creature without possessing it
- Choose a living place. It may be beside a window, a tree, a plant pot, or a glass of water. It does not need to be a perfect landscape.
- Observe for one minute. Notice the light, colors, sounds, and small changes. Do not photograph it or try to explain everything. Simply receive.
- Read the prayer quietly. When you meet the name of a creature, give thanks for something concrete that it offers to life.
- Listen to a wound. Think of a person, animal, or place suffering because of environmental destruction. Ask God to show you a possible and safe response.
- Commit to measurable care. Choose only one today: reduce waste, sort rubbish correctly, speak with your family, or support a trustworthy act of care.
Do not turn the action into a competition in purity. No one can live without making any impact. The path is to learn, correct ourselves, and walk together without humiliating those who are only beginning.
Meditation
The first light on wet earth
Imagine the hillside still dark. Francis is tired and ill, but morning arrives without noise. A thread of water passes between stones. An animal bends to drink. Two birds find an air current. None of them needs to explain its usefulness to deserve existence.
Francis touches the ground. The same earth supports the tree, receives the rain, nourishes wheat, and welcomes our steps. Calling it sister and mother means remembering two things: we belong to it and depend on its generosity. Those who depend learn gratitude; those who receive learn care.
Creation is not scenery placed behind human life. It is the home in which God gathered us. When a river grows sick, people grow sick. When a forest disappears, creatures lose shelter and communities lose a future. When we care for a spring, the action may become water for someone we will never see.
Perhaps you cannot save a forest today. You can, however, reject the idea that nothing has value beyond its price. You can look at a glass of water and say, “I received a gift.” You can learn from people who know the land, call for responsible decisions, and share hope. Dawn does not arrive all at once. First a band of light appears. Then, little by little, we can see the path.
For further reading
Sources for this page
- Eight hundred years of the Canticle of the Creatures — Order of Friars MinorPresents the canticle’s context and the passage from possessing creation to caring for our common home.
- Laudato si’ — Holy SeeRelates Francis’s spirituality, the dignity of the poor, and integral care for all creation.
- Genesis 1–2 — Nova Vulgata, Holy SeeThe biblical source for the world received as God’s good work and entrusted to human care.
- Francis as a vernacular theologian — Franciscan traditionA study of creation as gift and each creature as sister, brother, and reflection of divine goodness.
The artwork’s landscape is a contemplative interpretation of Umbria, not a reconstruction of a documented moment.