Montly Prayer Guide

Editorial page

Let us embrace this extraordinary year as a time to
Raise Hope—celebrating the 10th Anniversary of
Laudato Si’ and the Laudato Si’ Movement,
alongside 800 years of the Canticle of the
Creatures. These remarkable milestones invite us
to renew our commitment to caring for creation,
cherishing our common home, and deepening the
connections that unite us as one global family.
This month, we also lift up prayers for vocations to
the priesthood, religious life, and the laity, asking
that these callings be filled with a deep concern
for our planet. May those who respond to God’s
call be inspired to lead lives of service, rooted in
both spiritual devotion and environmental
stewardship.
May we all be inspired to act with courage, love
with purpose, and bring hope to the world, one
step at a time.
As part of these celebrations, we honor the past
by remembering and sharing stories from our
incredible decade—stories that keep alive the
mission transforming both the earth and its people.

Prayer of the month:

Creation Prayer

Bless us, God our Father,
The immense beauty of the universe
is an expression of your love for us.
The earth in its freshness
The trees and plants in all their grandeur,
Allow us to cherish the beauty of life – in
the person and in nature,
Bequeathed by the stewardship of our ancestors.
Renew us, Lord Jesus,
In whom all things are renewed by the
grandeur of your saving grace.
You taught us love in all its fullness,
Teach us to be active stewards of your creation
Defending the rights of our people,
Protecting our mountains, lands, trees and animals,
Renewing what we have lost through our sinfulness.
Empower us, Holy Spirit.
To embrace the prophetic life of stewardship,
Rejecting all forms of abuse in our environment,
Inspiring a cleaner and sustainable future for our children,
Developing innovative solutions to address
environmental degradation and climate change.
As we care for the gift of our existence,
We care too, for our world.

Hear Creation’s Cry

Ecological conversion through LSAs

Remembering the story of an animator
and her community By Mariella Ferreri, LSA

I live in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, near Naples. I am a wife, mother and grandmother, a catechist and a retired math and science teacher. In 2020, in the midst of the lockdown I willingly participated in the online Laudato Si’ Animators course, and since then divine providence, on which I had previously relied less, has put me on a path of community
integral ecological conversion. God arranged for me to meet in the presence of Fernanda, Marcello, Teresa B. and Teresa G, animators
from my own area, the first two from my own diocese, who already knew my then pastor, Fr. Ciro OMi, and for him to welcome and accompany us together with Fr. Jacopo OMi and many friends from Immaculata Parish and beyond.

Thus was born the LS Circle of the Tifatini Mountains, which we immediately presented to our Bishop Salvatore. With the Circle we
continue to walk trying to carry out various initiatives, of prayer and safeguarding of creation, for example together with an association that is interested in the reforestation of Mount Tifata. In these two years I seem to have finally learned that the effectiveness of what we do is not measurable, and Jesus likes not so much our efforts but the trust we place in Him.

I often think smilingly about the experience we had on October 4, 2020, when, being in Rome for other reasons, we went to the meeting in St. Peter’s Square with the Laudato Si’ Animators. We met, among others, Antonio with his oldest son, Cecilia, Giulia, Tomas. When Pope Francis
appeared, at the Angelus, we shouted with them, as we had tried before, raising our banners, “Laudato Si’ – Fratelli tutti” and despite our no longer young age we felt a bit like children.

This was originally published in the september edition of 2023