Lord, You love everything You have created, and nothing exists outside the mystery of Your tenderness. Every creature, no matter how small, is the fruit of Your love and has a place in this world.
Pope Leo is inviting the faithful to pray this month that, "inspired by Saint Francis, we might experience our interdependence with all creatures who are loved by God and worthy of love and respect.”
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, responsible for the production and distribution of the video illustrating the monthly papal prayer intention, was assisted this month by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
The intention:
“For our relationship with all of creation.”
The video comes out within the context of the Season of Creation, an ecumenical period from September 1 to October 4 (the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation through the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi).
In the original prayer the Pope recites in the video, he asks the Lord:
“Help us to discover Your presence in all creation, so that … we may feel and know ourselves to be responsible for this common home where You invite us to care for, respect, and protect life.”
The continuity between the teaching of Pope Leo XIV and Pope Francis, the author of the Encyclical Laudato Si’ (2015), is particularly evident in the reference to Saint Francis: “Like Saint Francis of Assisi, today we too want to say: ‘Praised be You, my Lord!’”
For his part, the predecessor of Francis, Pope Benedict, was known as the Green Pope.
2 Anniversaries
The video accompanying the Pope’s prayer intention, and the prayer itself, emphasize the special moment in which 2025 Season of Creation is taking place – it links two anniversaries: the 800th anniversary of Saint Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of Creation and the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’.
The Franciscan background of the Holy Father’s prayer intention comes alive through several images from the documentary St. Francis of Assisi – Sign of Contradiction, a gift to the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network by the U.S. based film company 10th Hour Productions.
The anniversary of Laudato Si’ is depicted through the Mass celebrated this past July 9 by Pope Leo XIV in the “natural cathedral” (as he referred to it in his homily) of Borgo Laudato Si’ in Castel Gandolfo. This liturgy followed the prayers of the Missa pro custodia creationis (Mass for the Care of Creation), added to the Roman Missal by the Pope on the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical.
Environmental justice, an urgent need
In his message, “Seeds of Peace and Hope,” for the 10th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Leo XIV states that the destruction of nature, a consequence of human sin, affects most of all the poorest and most vulnerable.
Environmental justice, the Pope writes, “is an urgent need that involves more than simply protecting the environment. For it is a matter of justice – social, economic and human,” as well as a theological requirement.
Since the weakest suffer the worst consequences of climate change and environmental destruction, “care for creation becomes an expression of our faith and humanity.”
Indulgence
Within the context of the Holy Year 2025, The Pope Video acquires special relevance since through it we know the prayer intentions the Pope holds in his heart. To properly receive the graces of the Jubilee indulgence, it is necessary to pray for the Pope’s intentions, though they do not have to be explicitly stated.
The Pope Video for September was made possible thanks to the help of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. It is made possible each month thanks to the generous contributions of many people. You can donate by following this link.
Here is the full text of the Pope's prayer as he prays it in the video:
Let us pray that, inspired by Saint Francis, we might experience our interdependence with all creatures who are loved by God and worthy of love and respect.
Lord, You love everything You have created,
and nothing exists outside the mystery of Your tenderness.
Every creature, no matter how small,
is the fruit of Your love and has a place in this world.
Even the simplest or shortest life is surrounded by Your care.
Like St. Francis of Assisi, today we too want to say:
“Praised be You, my Lord!”
Through the beauty of creation,
You reveal Yourself as a source of goodness. We ask You:
open our eyes to recognize You,
learning from the mystery of Your closeness to all creation
that the world is infinitely more than a problem to solve.
It is a mystery to be contemplated with gratitude and hope.
Help us to discover Your presence in all creation,
so that, in fully recognizing it,
we may feel and know ourselves to be responsible for this common home
where You invite us to care for, respect, and protect
life in all its forms and possibilities.
Praised be You, Lord!
Amen.
