As the Season of Creation comes to a close, we turn to St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast day is on October 4. Known for his deep love for creation and care for the poor, he gave up a life of wealth to live simply and serve the poor. St. Francis calls us to praise not only the sun, moon, and stars, but also the creatures among us—and to act as faithful stewards of the earth and waters that sustain life.
We are receiving so many signs that we are not acting as faithful stewards of creation. We are hearing quiet—and sometimes loud—signals that creation is in trouble. The climate is warming. Species extinction is increasing, threatening biodiversity. Streams are drying up and drinking water is unsafe in many communities.
May St. Francis’s example renew our call to respect all living things—not only the animals and creatures we love. May our care for creation become a prayer in motion, expressed through the small acts of compassion and stewardship we choose each day.
Reflection 1: Praan (Life)
by Rabindranath Tagore
The same stream of life that runs
through my veins night and day runs
through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy
through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and
breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle
of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world
of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages
dancing in my blood this moment.
Question for Reflections or Sharing:
Close your eyes and focus on the rhythm of your breath or your heartbeat. If this physical pulse is the exact same “life-throb of ages” that moves the oceans and the stars, what ancient wisdom is resting inside you right now?
Reflection 2: Sister Water
Watch a video of the Canticle of the Creatures, put to music here: “The Canticle of the Creatures” by Saint Francis of Assisi
“In his Canticle of the Creatures, St. Francis gives voice to the beauty and gift of water, calling it Sister Water:
“All praise be yours my Lord, through Sister Water
who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.”
In St. Francis’s invocation to Sister Water, a new enhanced note of joyfulness resounds in the canticle, reflected in the four adjectives he uses: useful, humble, precious, and chaste. In this personification of water, one recalls the moment when, in answer to the peasant’s dire need, through the power of prayer, St. Francis called forth the flowing water from the rock beside the path leading to the heights of Mount La Verna. When later his life forces were ebbing away, he experienced as a living memory the days he spent in mediation and prayer on the shores of Lake Trasimeno near Perugia, and how when on his solitary walks, his reading of the words of the office were accompanied by the cheerful sound of rushing water of the flowing streams. Vividly he recalled the many hours he had passed, musing upon the spiritual realities while sitting beside quiet pools in which were reflected the white masses of cloud forms gently floating in the blue summer sky high above him.
This calm peaceful spirit which St. Francis associated with Sister Water in his canticle by no means excluded his awareness of the power and majesty of the working of the Holy Spirit. As Francis well knew, the Holy Spirit lies behind all visible manifestations of the Creator.”
Source: Excerpted from and adapted from Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures by Paul M. Allen and Joan Deris Allen
Questions for Reflections or Sharing:
- How has water been useful, prompting joyfulness in your life?
- What might you learn of humility from our Sister Water?
- In what ways do you care for the preciousness of water?
- What images or memories of water inform your Dominican vocation, to praise, to bless, to preach and to serve?
“How can I translate – not in words but in belief – that a river is a body, as alive as you or I, that there can be no life without it?”
Natalie Diaz. Poet, Language Activist
Resources thoughtfully compiled by the DSGR Promoter of Study Committee
View additional reflections on water
Living Water — Water can be a source of renewal, healing, and connection with God. This week, take some time to notice your own relationship with water and the ways it may be inviting you to slow down, let go, and be renewed.
Week 1 — https://www.grdominicans.org/season-of-creation-reflections-week-1/
Week 2 — https://www.grdominicans.org/season-of-creation-reflection-week-2/
Week 3 — https://www.grdominicans.org/season-of-creation-reflection-week-3/
Week 4 —
Week 5 — https://www.grdominicans.org/season-of-creation-week-5-reflection/
