LITURGY IN PRAISE OF MOTHER EARTH
WALKING GENTLY ON THE EARTH
READER 1: Mother God, womb of all our lives, your body has poured out creation.
READER 2: Light a spark, a fire of knowing that I am, and each of us is truly truly holy, a vital part of the web of life.
Candle is lit
READER 1: All creation:
Each star,
Each tree,
Each weed and drop of water,
Each apple and atom,
Is an exploding revelation of your sacredness.
READER 2: Our minds cannot understand such amazement.
Our hearts respond with awe, praise and gratefulness.
Contemplative silence. We each might wish to be aware of a personal delight we find in some experience of creation.
First Reading:
The Canticle of the Sun
An adaptation from Francis of Assisi
Most high, all powerful, all good mother! All praise is yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing. To you, alone, Most High, do they belong.
Be praised, creative mother, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
Be praised through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have made them, precious and beautiful.
Be praised through Brothers Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all the weather, through which you give your creatures sustenance.
Be praised through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.
Be praised, flaming brightness, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten the night. He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.
Be praised, holy maker, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Be praised, compassionate lover, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, they will be crowned.
Be praised, you, who gather all to yourself, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whose embrace no living person can escape.
Praise and bless our mother god, and give thanks, and serve her with great humility.
Contemplative silence, as above
Second Reading:
Song of Songs: 2
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over, and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle dove is heard in the land.
Reflection:
Let us speak about the joys of sacred creation that we experience.
Our prayers offered
Offering prayer:
READER 3: from the East the sun comes and spreads light.
It speaks of your love. This light brings life to the wheat seed as it strains upward,
All: amen
READER 4: The south reminds us of warmth, the warmth of the day that brings fullness to the grape expanding on the vine.
ALL: amen
READER 1: From the north comes the coolness that allows all plants to rest in their daily circle.
ALL: amen
READER 2: from the west comes the last light of day, which lets us all come to peace in the hopeful certainty of tomorrow.
ALL: amen
CELEBRANT:
We thank you, Mother God, for the gracious round of each day that gives us a place to grow, and a place to rest. We thank you for this bread and this wine, both gifts of the earth.
We remember that our brother Jesus took these humble signs of your goodness, and looking deep into all creation, he now gathers us together so that we may know you goodness.
Jesus takes up the bread, blessed from the moment the wheat seeds first gave up their life that they might feed us. He says: This is my body, take and eat, and remember me.
And then he invites us to raise our hands over the wine, in recognition of what you have already made sacred, and Jesus says:
Take and drink this blessing gift of all creation, it is my life blood. Do this and remember me.
Music and sharing of the bread and wine.
CELEBRANT: Closing prayer
We rejoice that a tree still stands, that a dahlia root, set in the earth, yields up flowers, that weeds still grow in cracks of dry earth and stone, that withered vines send out fresh shoots, that water quenches our thirst and the thirst of the earth.
We have celebrated together this holy union of earth and water that brings forth our own lives.
Let us find gratefulness in our hearts, and may it be the blessed experience of every day of our lives.
Amen
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book summary
about the editors
How to Order this Book
Eucharistic Prayers for Inclusive Communities Volume I Themes and Special Occasions
Editors: Sheila Durkin Dierks and Bridgit Mary Meehan
88 pgs, $19.00, soft cover, spiral bound, ISBN:9780976667896 |