Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on Creation
Canticle of the Sun
O most high, Almighty, good Lord God, to you belong
praise, glory, honour, and all blessing!
Praised be my Lord God for all his creatures,
especially for our brother the sun, who brings us the day and who brings us the light;
fair is he and shines with a very great splendour; O Lord, he signifies you to us!
Praised be my Lord for our sister the moon, and for the stars,
which he has set clear and lovely in heaven.
Praised be my Lord for our brother the wind, and for the air and clouds,
calms and all weather by which you uphold life in all creatures.
Praised be my Lord for our sister water,
who is very serviceable to us and humble and precious and clean.
Praised be my Lord for our brother fire, through whom you give us light in the darkness; and he is bright and pleasant and very mighty and strong.
Francis of Assisi
Creator of heaven and earth, you have studded the sky with stars and made it bright with lights, enriched the earth with fruits to satisfy our needs, given to humankind the clear light and the shining stars to enjoy, the earth’s produce to feed on.
We pray you, send us rain, abundant, plentiful, fertilizing; and make the earth yield fruit and to spare; for we know how you love us, we know your kindness. Hear our petitions and prayers and bless the whole earth, through Jesus Christ. May glory and power be yours, in the Holy Spirit, now and age after age. Amen.
Serapin of Thumis, c.339
Bless Christ Through Whom All Things Are Made
Inspired by Colossians 1:11-28
Bless Christ through whom all things are made.
Join seen and unseen in their praise
of One who both creates, sustains
who goes before, in justice reigns.
Who makes the lion and the lamb,
the farthest star, the smallest hand,
dominions, rulers, and their pow’rs,
the steadfast mount, the fleeting hours?
Who made the ore for blood-soaked nails?
Who made the thorns and whipping tails?
Who made the sun that would not shine
and made the tree on which Christ died?
Who makes the waters of our birth?
Who makes the dust where we return?
Who makes the way for us to die
and rise to everlasting life?
Bless Christ though whom all things are made.
Join seen and unseen in their praise
of One who both creates, sustains
who goes before, in justice reigns.
You can sing this poem to tunes with this meter: 88.88 (LM)
Suggested tune: POXON
Bless Christ, Through Whom All Things Are Made © 2000 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
Fire of the Spirit, life of the lives of creatures,
spiral of sanctity, bond of all natures,
glow of charity, lights of clarity, taste
of sweetness to sinners, be with us and hear us.
Composer of all things, light of all the risen,
key of salvation, release from the dark prison,
hope of all unions, scope of chastities, joy
in the glory, strong honor, be with us and hear us.
Amen.
Hildegard von Bingen, Prayer to the Holy Spirit
I pray to God the Father, God the Son,
And to God the Holy Spirit,
Whose infinite greatness
Enfolds the whole world,
In Persons three and one,
In essence simple and triune,
Suspending the earth above the waters,
Hanging the upper air with stars,
That he may be favorable to me, a sinner,
Who righteously justifies all who err,
Who ever-living lives.
May God be blessed for ages. Amen.
Let it be so. Let it be so.
Eloe, Sabaoth, Ya, Adonai,
Eli Eli Lama Sabacthani.
Taken from “The Prayers of Moucan”, in Celtic Spirituality, Ed, Oliver Davies.
There is glory
within each sunrise, Lord,
a warm effusion of praise
reaching upwards and out,
connecting earth
with heaven,
creator
with created,
Shafts of sunlight,
arms outstretched in worship
encourage participation
from those who watch
and wonder,
at the beauty of it all
John Birch, Faith and Worship
God of majesty and power,
Who spoke and this world was,
Who breathed and this world lived,
Who counts the hairs upon our head,
Who sees our thoughts and reads our hearts,
Who loves us more than we deserve,
How can we not bring today,
Our sacrifice of praise?
For in the child at Bethlehem
Lies the promise of intimacy
With a Saviour who would die even for me,
And the promise of an eternity
In which to praise you more each day.
God of promise we praise your name, Amen
John Birch, Faith and Worship
Father: today we celebrate your gift.
At creation you gave us the gift of life;
Through the life, death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus,
you gave us new life;
At his ascension, we gained a mediator
who prays for us every day.
But today we celebrate another gift:
the gift of your presence with us all the time and everywhere;
the gift of your life living in us and through us;
the gift of Your self in the Holy Spirit come to us –
to enable us to live the way you call us to live,
to equip us to serve you as you call us to serve,
and shape us more and more in to the image of Jesus.
THANK YOU for the gift of you.
And may others know the same gift of your Spirit.
A Litany of Praise to God for His Creative Majesty
Psalm 65:5-13 (ESV)
Leader: By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas;
All: the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might;
Leader: who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
All: You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
Leader: You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.
All: You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.
Leader: You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
All: The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.
Submitted by Dustin Ray
O God, You amaze us! Summer is the time You designed for thunderstorms. We understand the science because You gave human beings wisdom and curiosity, and the ability to try to figure things out. We understand that thunder happens when lightning suddenly heats the air and it explodes. But why did You make the lightning so hot? And why did You make the thunder so loud? Are either necessary? Or did You arrange things this way to get our attention? Is that why the Bible calls thunder the voice of God? There is so much we don’t know. Because we are just people, and You are the awesome God. We don’t know much but You have told us that all of creation is designed to bring You glory. So help us, the next time we see lightning or hear the thunder, to join with creation’s praise. May it shake us out of our indifference and make us focus on Your presence and power and goodness. Then, and now, we praise You, we worship You, we humble ourselves before You. Amen.
Julie Olive Hughes
O Lord. You created the stars and named every one of them. We have named some of the clusters like Pleiades or Orion. The Big and Little Dippers, Aquarius, Libra, Andromeda. But we can’t name them all. You challenged Abraham to count them, and of course, he couldn’t. Not with 100 billion stars in just the Milky Way galaxy. Today, we’re no better off, even with the Hubble telescope. Instead, the pictures it sent us just confirm how silly it would be to try to number them. Why did You create so many, O God? Was it a simple expression of Your power? Was is a spontaneous desire to bring great beauty out of Your nature? Was it to prove to humans beings how insignificant we are in ourselves? How little we know after centuries of studying? We don’t know. But we cry out with King David, When [we] look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that You should think about them? [What are] human beings that You should care for them? We are humbled. We are drawn into worship. Accept our praise. Amen.
Julie Olive Hughes
My dear King, my own King,
without pride, without sin,
You created the whole world,
eternal, victorious King.
King of the mysteries,
You existed before the elements,
before the waters covered the ocean floor;
beautiful King,
You are without beginning and without end.
King, You created the land out of shapeless mass,
You carved the mountains and chiseled the valleys,
and covered the earth with trees and grass.
King, You measured each object
and each span within the universe:
the heights of the mountains
and the depths of the oceans;
the distance from the sun to the moon,
and from star to star.
And You created men and women
to be Your stewards of the earth,
always praising You for Your boundless love.
Celtic Psalter, 9th Century, Quoted in Celtic Daily Prayer, Northumbria Community Trust, 2002.
Inspired by Ephesians 3
Heavenly Father,
All who gather here are your creation. You have called us forth into a world you have made and you continue to guide us all by your providence. As creatures, how can we begin to know you or think that we could approach your throne? Yet we are reminded by the word of your Spirit and the work of your Son, that we are your beloved people. May such good news find residence deep in our hearts as Christ makes his home in us. Give us the strength to comprehend, with all the saints, the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ. Every day we could grow in our understanding and never reach the end of your expansive love. Fill us with your presence that we may carry your blessings into your world.
Through Christ we pray, amen.
Casey Clark