Laudato Si’

“LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs”

– LS, 1

BW Laudato Si Christ transforms into earthly things, bread wine.

Christ offers himself with earthly bread and wine

Indeed the Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love: “Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world”.

– LS, 236

St. Francis and humanity nourished by nature

Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselvesor as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it.

-LS, 139

BW Laudato Si Each generation passes the world to future humanity

Each generation passes the world on to future humanity

“What is at stake is our own dignity. Leaving an inhabitable planet to future generations is, first and foremost, up to us.”

– LS, 160

BW Laudato Si accumulation of material goods

Too many material goods hinder us

A world of exacerbated consumption is at the same time a world which mistreats life in all its forms.

-LS, 230

BW Laudato Si all creatures move twards Christ

All living creatures move to Christ

Human beings, endowed with intelligence and love, and drawn by the fullness of Christ, are called to lead all creatures back to their Creator.

– LS, 83

Exploitation of each other makes us miserable

The culture of relativism is the same disorder which drives one person to take advantage of another, to treat others as mere objects, imposing forced labour on them or enslaving them to pay their debts.

– LS, 123

Humanity is created by earth’s dust

We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.

– LS, 2

Selfishness prevents us from seeing the world

Nevertheless, self-improvement on the part of individuals will not by itself remedy the extremely complex situation facing our world today. Isolated individuals can lose their ability and freedom to escape the utilitarian mindset, and end up prey to an unethical consumerism bereft of social or ecological awareness.

– LS, 219

BW Laudato Si our morality to each other connected to the environment.

The environment is lost if our morality is lost

Human ecology also implies another profound reality: the relationship between human life and the moral law, which is inscribed in our nature and is necessary for the creation of a more dignified environment.

– LS, 155

BW Laudato Si Pope Benedict ecology of man

Pope Benedict’s belief in the ecology of man

Pope Benedict XVI spoke of an “ecology of man”, based on the fact that `man too has a nature that he must respect and that he cannot manipulate at will´.

– LS, 155

The throw away culture is one of the great evils our time

Human beings too are creatures of this world, enjoying a right to life and happiness, and endowed with unique dignity. So we cannot fail to consider the effects on people’s lives of environmental deterioration, current models of development and the throwaway culture.

– LS, 43

BW laudato SI work is needed for the soul

Meaningful work is needed for humanity to be at peace

In this way he sanctified human labour and endowed it with a special significance for our development. As Saint John Paul II taught, `by enduring the toil of work in union with Christ crucified for us, man in a way collaborates with the Son of God for the redemption of humanity´.

– LS, 98

St. Francis’ poetry guides us to the beauty of nature

When we can see God reflected in all that exists, our hearts are moved to praise the Lord for all his creatures and to worship him in union with them. This sentiment finds magnificent expression in the hymn of Saint Francis of Assisi:

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 splendour;
and bears a likeness of you, Most High.
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”.

– LS, 87

BW Laudato Si. St. Theresa and St. Bonaventure

The saints teach us to appreciate the little things in life

Christian spirituality proposes a growth marked by moderation and the capacity to be happy with little. It is a return to that simplicity which allows us to stop and appreciate the small things, to be grateful for the opportunities which life affords us, to be spiritually detached from what we possess, and not to succumb to sadness for what we lack. This implies avoiding the dynamic of dominion and the mere accumulation of pleasures.

– LS, 222

Universal prayer for the world

A prayer for our earth

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.

– LS, 246

St. Pope John Paul II’s belief that human life is a gift

The Creator can say to each one of us: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jer 1:5). We were conceived in the heart of God, and for this reason “each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary”.

– LS, 65

The Patriarch Bartholomew laments the destruction of nature

Patriarch Bartholomew has spoken in particular of the need for each of us to repent of the ways we have harmed the planet, for “inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage”, we are called to acknowledge “our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation”.

– LS, 8

God the creator of all

“Jesus took up the biblical faith in God the Creator, emphasizing a fundamentaltruth: God is Father (cf. Mt 11:25). In talking with his disciples, Jesus would invitethem to recognize the paternal relationship God has with all his creatures. Withmoving tenderness he would remind them that each one of them is important inGod’s eyes: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them isforgotten before God” (Lk 12:6). “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sownor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them”

– LS, 96

Technology develops independent of the benefits to humanity

The social dimensions of global change include the effects of technological innovations on employment, social exclusion, an inequitable distribution and consumption of energy and other services, social breakdown, increased violence and a rise in new forms of social aggression, drug trafficking, growing drug use by young people, and the loss of identity. These are signs that the growth of the past two centuries has not always led to an integral development and an improvement in the quality of life. Some of these signs are also symptomatic of real social decline, the silent rupture of the bonds of integration and social cohesion.

– LS, 46

BW Laudato Si nature is a part of Humanatiy

Nature is a central part of humanity

The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all. At the global level, it is a complex system linked to many of the essential conditions for human life.

– LS, 23

Cooperation of nations is needed to heal the world

Worldwide, the ecological movement has made significant advances, thanks also to the efforts of many organizations of civil society. It is impossible here to mention them all, or to review the history of their contributions. But thanks to their efforts, environmental questions have increasingly found a place on public agendas and encouraged more far-sighted approaches. This notwithstanding, recent World Summits on the environment have not lived up to expectations because, due to lack of political will, they were unable to reach truly meaningful and effective global agreements on the environment.

– LS, 166

Beauty of nature should be accessible to all

In some places, rural and urban alike, the privatization of certain spaces has restricted people’s access to places of particular beauty. In others, “ecological” neighbourhoods have been created which are closed to outsiders in order to ensure an artificial tranquillity. Frequently, we find beautiful and carefully manicured green spaces in so-called “safer” areas of cities, but not in the more hidden areas where the disposable of society live.

– LS, 45

The mustard seed

The Lord was able to invite others to be attentive to the beauty that there is in the world because he himself was in constant touch with nature, lending it an attention full of fondness and wonder. As he made his way throughout the land, he often stopped to contemplate the beauty sown by his Father, and invited his disciples to perceive a divine message in things: “Lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest” (Jn 4:35). “The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but once it has grown, it is the greatest of plants” (Mt 13:31-32).

– LS, 97

Mary cares for the wounded world

Mary, the Mother who cared for Jesus, now cares with maternal affection and pain for this wounded world. Just as her pierced heart mourned the death of Jesus, so now she grieves for the sufferings of the crucified poor and for the creatures of this world laid waste by human power.

– LS, 241

St. Francis preaching to the flowers and birds

For this reason, [St.] Francis asked that part of the friary garden always be left untouched, so that wild flowers and herbs could grow there, and those who saw them could raise their minds to God, the Creator of such beauty. Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise.

– LS, 12

The Trinity is in all creatures

The Father is the ultimate source of everything, the loving and self-communicating foundation of all that exists. The Son, his reflection, through whom all things were created, united himself to this earth when he was formed in the womb of Mary. The Spirit, infinite bond of love, is intimately present at the very heart of the universe, inspiring and bringing new pathways. The world was created by the three Persons acting as a single divine principle, but each one of them performed this common work in accordance with his own personal property. Consequently, “when we contemplate with wonder the universe in all its grandeur and beauty, we must praise the whole Trinity”.

– LS, 238