Eight hundred years ago, in 1225, St. Francis of Assisi wrote the Canticle of the Creatures: a prayer of praise that many Italian students still learn by heart in school today. Ten years ago, in 2015, Pope Francis published the encyclical Laudato Si’: one of the most widely read and quoted papal encyclicals ever. The two anniversaries celebrated this year give special meaning to the Season of Creation 2025, the period from September 1 to October 4—the feast of St. Francis—which unites Christians of different denominations in prayer and action for the care of the Earth.
In his prayer intention for this month, Pope Leo XIV asks us to pray “for our relationship with all creation.” He does so with a Franciscan slant: “Let us pray that, inspired by St. Francis, we may experience our interdependence with all creatures, loved by God and worthy of love and respect.”
The key word is, of course, interdependence, and the concept of integral ecology—or integral human development, as the name of the Vatican department that supports this month’s Pope Video suggests—it reminds us precisely of this: that if we care for the Earth, we also care for humanity, and vice versa. Because “everything is connected,” as Francis wrote ten years ago in Laudato Si’. Humanity and the environment are connected; prayer and action are connected.
The Pope Video for September begins with a moment of prayer, starting with the Mass pro custodia creationis (for the protection of creation) celebrated by Pope Leo XIV in Borgo Laudato Si’, within the Vatican gardens of Castel Gandolfo. And in another spiritual place – the crucifix of San Damiano, in Assisi – the story ends. In between, there are extraordinary panoramas that speak to us of the beauty of creation, of the value of every living being (“Every creature is the fruit of your love,” recalls the prayer read by the Pope) and of the task entrusted to us: to recognize the presence of God in creation and to feel “responsible for this common home,” taking care of every life “in all its forms and possibilities.”
Prayer thus becomes action, a concrete gesture. This is demonstrated every day by all the fruits born from the seed of St. Francis of Assisi, or by the many experiences around the world that are keeping alive and putting into practice the teachings of Laudato Si’.
Andrea Sarubbi
Coordinator – The Pope Video