Prayer for Creation with Mother Hildegard: Embracing Community and Giving Thanks
Join the Prayer for Creation with Mother Hildegard for a borderless community committed to journeying, growing, and exploring the Christian faith, while uplifting each other in worship and support. Embrace a pledge to care for creation and welcome all people, culminating in greetings of thanks and praise for the Earth and its diverse inhabitants.
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Welcome to Prayer For Creation with Mother Hildegard We arrive in silence as we listen to Climate Vigil songs by Porters Gate Cantor: Kieron Reader 1: Dilys Reader 2: Susan
Community Pledge We say our community pledge together... Holy Hermits Online commits to being a borderless community, welcoming all people, respectful of difference. Embracing technology in a safe, secure space we commit to: journeying, growing, exploring and discerning the Christian faith together, grounded in the Anglican tradition; sharing Jesus' love through uplifting each other in community with worship, prayer, study and support; and our responsibility for the attentive caretaking of creation, including our pets as part of our Church family. Community pledge: 2022, may evolve with us over time. 2
Greeting We gather in the name of God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of the Earth and all its creatures! All: Praise be to the Holy Trinity! God is sound and life, Creator of the Universe, Source of all life, whom the angels sing; wondrous Light of all mysteries known or unknown to humankind, and life that lives in all. (Hildegard of Bingen, 13th Century)
A Greeting for Creation Greetings in the name of our God who is good: whose love endures forever. Greetings to you, sun and moon, you stars of the sky: give to our God your thanks and praise. Sunrise and sunset, night and day: give to our God your thanks and praise. Greetings to you, hills and valleys, rivers and creeks, sea and rain: give to our God your thanks and praise. Greetings to you, gum and paperbark, oak and pine, palm and maple: give to our God your thanks and praise. Greetings to you, kookaburras and magpies, bats and sugar gliders, cockatoos and crows: give to our God your thanks and praise. Greetings to you, koalas and platypus, possums and echidnas, and wombats and dingoes: give to our God your thanks and praise.
Greetings to you, people of all places, elders and children, neuro-typical and diverse, able and differently-abled, diverse cultures of this rainbow land: Nurses and teachers, scientists and artists, cleaners and clerks, students and job-seekers, office workers and labourers, carpenters and tradies, leaders and citizens of this vast earth; All who care, who love, and who pray, Who laugh and learn, who rest and who play: give to our God your thanks and praise. Amen. Greeting adapted for Australia from work by Lynn Pederson (2016) inspired by Benedicite Aotearoa, A New Zealand Prayer Book, 457, as published in Listen to the Voice of Creation, 28-29.
Mother Hildegard: "When the words come, they are merely empty shells without the music. They live as they are sung, for the words are the body and the music the spirit. "All of creation is a song of praise to God. Love abounds in all things, excels from the depths to beyond the stars, is lovingly disposed to all things."
Hildegard von Bingen - Veni Creator Spiritus https://youtu.be/t-Sj3blczB8 Come Holy Spirit to inspire...
Collects for the Stewardship of Creation O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature: Make us always thankful for your loving providence; and remembering the account that we must give one day, grant that we may be faithful stewards of your good gifts; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Creating God, your name is written on every leaf, every bird, every river, every stone, every living being. We praise and worship you for the magnificence of your creation. Make us attentive to the wounds of the earth and willing to work for the healing of the whole creation, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. Collect from The St. Helena Breviary (NY: Church Publishing, 2019), 258, as adapted from the version in the Book of Common Prayer, 259. and Collect from P ivi Jussila and Gail Ramshaw ed., Koinonia: Services and Prayers (The Lutheran World Federation, 2003), 114
Mother Hildegard: "The Word is living, being, spirit, all verdant greening, all creativity."
The Word God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. Genesis 1.31 For the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Pause O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Psalm 104. 26 For the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Pause In Christ all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible- all things have been created through him and for him. Colossians 1.16 For the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Pause You are worthy, our Lord and God to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. Revelation 4.11 For the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Prayer For this World Enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, our brothers and sisters the animals to whom you gave this earth as their home in common with us. We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high dominion of humans with ruthless cruelty, so that the voice of the Earth, which should have gone up to you in song, has been a groan of travail. May we realize that they live, not for us alone, but for themselves and for you, and that they love the sweetness of life even as we, and serve you in their place better than we in ours. We pray through our Savior Jesus Christ, who lifts up and redeems us all. Amen.
St. Hildegard von Bingen - Spiritus Sanctus Antiphon "Spiritus Sanctus" (Psalm 110/111) https://youtu.be/BFwxnWWjIeU Holy Spirit Bless us
Mother Hildegard: "I am the fiery life of the essence of God; I am the flame above the beauty in the fields; I shine in the waters; I burn in the sun, the moon, and the stars. And with the airy wind, I quicken all things vitally by an unseen, all-sustaining life."
Thanksgiving for the Earth Creator, the strength of all creatures, we honour you. Listen to the thoughts of your people. We honour your Spirit who renews the world and calls us to care for your creation to the East, to the South, to the West and to the North. We live by the ways you have entrusted to us within the circle of life. Come Great Spirit as we gather in your name. (We turn our bodies to the Four Directions as we pray the following prayers. Begin by turning toward the East and continue to turn, in a clockwise direction)
We face East: The place of dawning, there is beauty in the morning, there the seeker finds new visions as each sacred day is born. All who honor life around them, all who honor life within, shall shine with light and glory when the morning comes again. And we pray, Come Holy Spirit, Come We turn to the South: In the South, the place of growing, there is wisdom in the earth, Both the painful song of dying and joyful song of birth. As the Earth gives up her lifeblood so that her Childrens' hearts may beat, so we give back to her our reverence for the holy ground beneath our feet. And we pray, Come Holy Spirit, Come
We turn to the West: The place of seeing, there is born a vision of the servant of the servants, who proclaimed the Gospel to us. Guide us at the end of each day and fill us with your peace. And we pray, Come Holy Spirit, Come We turn to the North: We look to God our Creator who cleanses our earth with snow, wind, and rain. To Jesus who fills us with the wideness of mercy and grace and lovingly embraces all the people. And the Holy Spirit who comes to inspire us. And we pray, Come Holy Spirit, Come
O ruby blood which flowed from on high where divinity touched. You are a flower that the winter of the serpent's breath can never injure. Hildegard von Bingen, O rubor sanguinis (with score) https://youtu.be/WDeR9MeGNPg
Lament 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 . With these words, 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. This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her...This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she groans in childbirth (Rom 8:22). And so we confess. (adapted from Laudato Si')
Jesus Christ could not find a place to lay his head. Because of our will to dominate, millions of our human family are displaced from their homes. Many lack access to clean water, sanitation and dignified places for personal hygiene. Have mercy on us, for the sake of the Earth and all that is in it. Foxes of the field and birds of the air have a place to call home. Because we misuse the land, the soil, water and air, habitats are desecrated, and millions of species no longer have a home. Have mercy on us, for the sake of the Earth and all that is in it. Your promise was to be a blessing for all the peoples of the Earth. But when we exploit the gifts of creation, Indigenous lands are devastated and those who live close to the Earth lose their ways of life. Have mercy on us, for the sake of the Earth and all that is in it.
The mustard seed is great because it provides shelter for many. But we seek security for ourselves, instead of mutual care and faithful hospitality towards our co-creatures. Have mercy on us, for the sake of the Earth and all that is in it. Let us remember that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made of her elements, we breathe her sacred air and we receive life and refreshment from her sacred waters. May we hear it as a promise and a calling. Turn us O God, from our desire to unroot ourselves from our home in the garden, and from our will to dominate your Earth. Call us again, to till and to keep. Gather us into the power of just relationships that heal and sustain. Enlighten us by your Spirit that renews the face of your Earth and safeguards a home for all. Amen.
Lord have mercy We confess to you our lack of care for the world you have given us. Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy. We confess to you our selfishness in not sharing the earth s bounty fairly. Christ have mercy, Christ have mercy We confess to you our failure to protect resources for others, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy. May God who loved the world so much that he sent his Son to be our Saviour forgive us our sins and make us holy to serve him in the world, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Mother Hildegard: "Humanity, take a good look at yourself. Inside, you've got heaven and earth, and all of creation. You're a world everything is hidden in you."
A Penitential Order for Creation Because we view our lives in Christ through the forgiveness we receive from God, I invite us to begin with the Penitential Order. Let us confess our sins against God, our neighbors, and all Creation. Silence may be kept. We have forgotten who we are. We have alienated ourselves from the unfolding of the cosmos. We have become estranged from the movements of the earth. We have turned our backs on the cycles of life. We have forgotten who we are. We have sought only our own security. We have exploited simply for our own ends. We have distorted our knowledge. We have abused our power.
We have forgotten who we are. Now the land is barren. And the waters are poisoned. And the air is polluted. We have forgotten who we are. Now the forests are dying. And the creatures are disappearing. And humans are despairing. We have forgotten who we are. We ask forgiveness. We ask for the gift of remembering. We ask for the strength to change. Help us to remember who we are.
Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen. The Penitential Order is based on a prayer from U.N. Environmental Sabbath Program Earth Prayers, ed. Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991), 70-71
Successors of the mighty Lion, between the temple and the altar commanding in his service: as angels sing in praise resounding and quicken to defend the people with their aid so you among them as they do these things keep ever carefully the office of the Lamb. Hildegard Von Bingen: O, successores https://youtu.be/Q-KIIFPB1lg
Earth Examen An examen is a way of beholding an object or being in prayerful wonder. Through questions, you are invited to reflect on God s presence and the goodness of that which you behold. During this Season of Creation, consider contemplating a part of your local ecology. Enter into prayer in whatever way is natural to you. Invite Holy Wisdom to open the eyes of your heart. Together we reflect on the following questions: 1. Become aware of God s presence in a natural or agricultural place that you are contemplating. How is God present in this place? How does all the life you see exist in God s spirit? How do you feel knowing that the Holy Spirit has filled this place for geological ages, with every plant, animal, organism and mineral that has called this place home in the deep past, makes its home here with you now, and will live here with creatures in this place in the future? How do you feel knowing that you, earthling, belong to this place, are made of the same carbon, breathe the same air, are nurtured by the same cycles and life processes, and are enlivened by the same Spirit of the Creator?
2. Reflect on the ecological cycles of this place with gratitude for all that it provides. What nutrient cycles are supported by this place? Is this a watershed that filters water? Is this a rainforest (tropical or deciduous) that fixes nutrients? Is this a meadow or field that fixes nitrogen? Is this a green space that absorbs CO2 and cleans the air? What plants, animals, microbes and minerals are sheltered here? How do they serve the whole earth in their being? For all that this place provides to nurture you and all that belong to this place, let a feeling of gratitude fill you.
3. Pay attention to what you feel as you contemplate the fragility, health of this site. Is this ecosystem healthy? How is this ecosystem at risk of illness? What are the keys to sustaining the equilibrium and balance of this place? What niches and diversity must be protected to maintain the health of this habitat? What are the sources of stress that threaten the balance of this particular ecosystem? Do those stresses drive your co-creatures from their home in this place? How do you feel when you consider the fragility of life that depends on the health of this place? What is your effect on this balance?
4. Choose one feature of the site and pray for it, its rest and its renewal. When you consider the ways that this place is under stress, what does it need for rest, restoration and renewal? What needs to be conserved for this site to heal itself? What features need to be reclaimed? What parts of creation need to be restored to their rightful home here? Pray for this site, and the wisdom to care for it. 5. Look toward your response. What can you do to ease demands or promote the rest of this ecological site? Based on your examination, how do you identify with this place? What have you discerned is required to care for this place? What will be your act of compassion to promote rest for this common home?
The justice of God and the dignity of all creatures Holy God, your mercy is over all your works, and in the web of life each creature has its role and place. We praise you for ocelot and owl, cactus and kelp, lichen and whale; we honor you for whirlwind and lava, tide and topsoil, cliff and marsh. Give us hearts and minds eager to care for your planet, humility to recognize all creatures as your beloved ones, justice to share the resources of the earth with all its inhabitants, and love not limited by our ignorance. This we pray in the name of Jesus, who unifies what is far off and what is near, and in whom, by grace and the working of your Holy Spirit, all things hold together. Amen. Six propers from Honoring God in Creation, 236-238.
The kinship and unity of all creation in Christ God, maker of marvels, you weave the planet and all its creatures together in kinship; your unifying love is revealed in the interdependence of relationships in the complex world that you have made. Save us from the illusion that humankind is separate and alone, and join us in communion with all inhabitants of the universe; through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who topples the dividing walls by the power of your Holy Spirit, and who lives and reigns with you, for ever and ever. Amen. Six propers from Honoring God in Creation, 236-238.
O thou Illumined O thou illumined by God s clearest brightness, O Virgin Mary bright, with the Word of God infused, your womb then flourished at the entrance of God s Spirit within you he breathed, within drew out the loss of Eve, a purity cut off and silenced by that disease contracted at the Devil s sly persuasion. You wondrously held hid within yourself a flesh kept undefiled according to God s Reason for when the Son of God within your womb was blossomed, divinity most holy brought him forth to abrogate the laws of flesh establish d by Eve, for he was joined to whole integrity in flesh and womb divine. VocaMe - O tu illustrata - Hildegard von Bingen https://youtu.be/Y_HkOSAW73E
Mother Hildegard "The earth which sustains humanity must not be injured. It must not be destroyed! "We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion."
A Litany for the Planet With all our heart and with all our mind, let us pray to the Creator, saying, Creator, have mercy. On your earth, the garden of life... Creator, have mercy. On soil, that it may be fruitful in all seasons... Creator, have mercy. On rocks and minerals that form the foundations for life.. Creator, have mercy. On volcanoes and lava flows that reveal the power of earth s core... Creator, have mercy. On hills and great mountains; on cliffs, caves, and valleys... Creator, have mercy. On deserts and their hardy creatures... Creator, have mercy.
On your waters, which sustain a diverse community of life... Creator, have mercy. On coral reefs, and on the animals, plants, and fish that inhabit them... Creator, have mercy. On ocean deeps, teeming with life; on the open seas and all that travel upon them... Creator, have mercy. On rivers, bringing water to thirsty places... Creator, have mercy. On lakes and streams, home to a diversity of life... Creator, have mercy. On ponds and marshes, cradles of life... Creator, have mercy. On wetlands and estuaries; on rocky coasts and beaches... Creator, have mercy.
On islands and atolls, oases and all harsh outposts of life... Creator, have mercy. On glaciers and ice fields, holding the delicate balance of waters... Creator, have mercy. On storms, floods, and tempests, and all fearsome forces of weather... Creator, have mercy. On rains that water the earth, causing plants to sprout and grow... Creator, have mercy. On snow and hail, sleet and winter cold, and on the dormant things that wait for spring... Creator, have mercy. On mists and fog silently watering the ground... Creator, have mercy. On the atmosphere of your planet earth, that it may sustain all that breathes... Creator, have mercy.
On winds that carry seeds and spores; on breezes that warm and cool the earth... Creator, have mercy. On lightnings and fires that cleanse and destroy, and on all that lies in their path... Creator, have mercy. On all the ecosystems of your earth and their intricate communities... Creator, have mercy. On forests of many kinds; on trees and shrubs, bushland and vines... Creator, have mercy. On grasslands, tundras, and plains, and on their varied plants... Creator, have mercy. On ferns and fungi; on spore-bearing and seed-bearing plants... Creator, have mercy. On micro-organisms of endless variety, the complex and the simple... Creator, have mercy.
On all critically endangered species On fish and sea creatures; the Grey nurse shark, Western trout minnow, western trout galaxias, Speartooth shark and the Opal cling goby Creator, have mercy. On reptiles and amphibians; western swamp tortoise, and leatherback turtle. Creator, have mercy. On four-legged creatures; the Leadbeater's possum... Creator, have mercy. On two-legged and winged creatures; Gilbert's potoroo, Christmas Island pipistrelle, the Bare- rumped sheathtail bat, the Southern bent-wing bat, Scrubtit, Spotted quail-thrush, the Yellow chat, the Orange-bellied parrot, Round Island petrel, and the Herald petrel... Creator, have mercy.
On many-legged creatures and insects; on the Amphipod crustacean, the Freshwater snail,the Boggomoss snail and Dawson Valley snail, the Margaret River hairy marron, the Lord Howe Island stick insect, on the Golden sun moth, and the Mitchell's rainforest snail ... Creator, have mercy. On mysterious creatures and places unknown to humankind... Creator, have mercy. On the human family across the globe, of many colors and communities, in kinship with all creation... Creator, have mercy. On all who live and work and play in this city and this neighborhood... Creator, have mercy. On those who work around us, whose labour builds up our community and our world; on St John s Cathedral Brisbane, Web3 Abbey, St John s Bulimba, St Gabriel s Carindale, Tithe.ly, the PMC and Anglican focus... Creator, have mercy.
On the businesses and industries of this city, that they may profit the whole community; on the city council workers and policy makers... Creator, have mercy. On the parks and green spaces of this city; on those who maintain them and those who enjoy them... Creator, have mercy. On the plants and animals of our ecosystem; on the endangered in QLD; the Ormeau Bottle Tree, Cooneana Olive, Mount Berryman Waxflower, Rock Tassel-fern, Toondahra Wattle, Scented Acronychia, Isis Tamarind, Emu Mountain Sheoak, Mount Coolum Sheoak, Yarwun Whitewood, Scale Myrtle, Sweet Myrtle, angle stemmed myrtle, Black-clubbed Spider-orchid, Cardwell Beard Orchid, Cossinia, Mann Creek Tree-fern, Mann Creek Tree-fern, Green Antelope Orchid, Dark-stemmed Antler-orchid, Blue Antler-orchid... Creator, have mercy. On those who produce food and energy for this city s people and pets... Creator, have mercy.
On schools and all places of learning; on all who care for and teach children and adults... Creator, have mercy. On the poor and homeless residents of this city, that there may be shelter and sustenance for them... Creator, have mercy. On visitors and immigrants; on all who offer welcome and shelter here... Creator, have mercy. On all places of reverence and prayer; on all who honour you and on those who do not yet know you... Creator, have mercy. On our ancestors, and on those who will come after us... Creator, have mercy. Litany from Honoring God in Creation, 248-250.
"Like billowing clouds, Like the incessant gurgle of the brook, The longing of the spirit can never be stilled." So let us name our longings and lean into them, as we offer our full selves to God in 2 minutes of Silence
Intercessory Prayers Whenever we join together, we should give thanks. So let us join our hearts and minds together and think of all creation and the Creator s gifts. Loving God. We give our thanks. Let us think of our Mother, the Earth, upon whom we walk and who supports us and nurtures life in all its forms. We think of the minerals, the fungi, and bacteria that give life to soil, bodies and systems. We pray we can learn to walk on Earth with more respect. Loving God. We give our thanks. Let us think of the reasons why we are gathered. For this place in which we gather, and for all of the animals and plants that call this place home. Loving God. We give our thanks.
Let us think of the whole human family whose livelihood and well-being depends on the well-being of the Earth. We lift up the men, women and children who are displaced from their homes. Loving God. We give our thanks. Let us turn our minds to the sacred waters of the world, the great oceans, aquifers, lakes, rivers and streams, the life that lives in the waters and those that give itself to be our food. Loving God. We give our thanks.
Let us now turn our thoughts to the plant life of the Creators world. That which is below ground; the roots and vegetables. That which puts just its head above the ground: the grasses, medicines, plants and bushes. All of the many kinds of good fruit the Creator has given us. And finally, the great trees of the forest that we know of as the Standing Ones. Loving God. We give our thanks. Let us think of all our kindred animals, those that crawl, walk, swim and fly. We give thanks for those that provide food for us, those that sustain cycles in their work and living, those that provide companionship and beauty. Loving God. We give our thanks.
Let us think of the birds of the air. The feathered ones that are the messengers between us and the Creator. Loving God. We give our thanks. Let us think of the relationships that sustain life in this beloved community. We think of the Three Sisters, corn, beans and squash who nurture, guard and sustain as they grow together. These relationships are gifts from the Creator and our sustenance. Loving God. We give our thanks.
Creator God, look upon the creatures gathered here together and send us where you would have us go, so that we may embody the ministry of justice for your Creation through our being and acts. Walk with us so that we may face the winds of change and walk the good road. Protect and renew our common home. Enlighten us. Sustain us. May God our Creator be with us this day and always. Amen. (Adapted from Celebrating Creation: Honoring Indigenous People, Kelly Sherman-Conroy, ELCA)
Lords Prayer We pray our common prayer that Christ taught us. All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven: The hallowing of your name echoes through the universe! The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world! Your heavenly will be done by all created beings! Your beloved community of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth. With the bread we need for today, feed us. In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us. In times of temptation and test, strengthen us. From trials too great to endure, spare us. From the grip of all that is evil, free us. For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever. Amen. (Adapted from The New Zealand Book of Prayer | He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa. This version of the Lord s prayer was influenced by Maori theologians)
Lyrics: O virtus Sapientiae, quae circuiens circuisti comprehendendo omnia in una via, quae habet vitam, tres alas habens, quarum una in altum volat, et altera de terra sudat, et tertia undique volat. Laus tibi sit, sicut te decet, O Sapientia. Translation: O strength of Wisdom who, circling, circled, enclosing all in one lifegiving path, three wings you have: one soars to the heights, one distils its essence upon the earth, and the third is everywhere. Praise to you, as is fitting, O Wisdom O Virtus Sapientiae - Hildegard Von Bingen https://youtu.be/C9K9PfjRjxM
