"OUR COMMON HOME"

... St. 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. "Praise be to You, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs." (Canticle of the Creatures) (1)

A GREAT EXAMPLE

I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically ... He was particularly concerned for God's creation and for the poor and the outcast. He loved, and was deeply loved for his joy, his generous self-giving, his openheartedness. (10)

SIMPLICITY AND HARMONY

He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace. (10)

COMMUNING WITH ALL CREATION

... Whenever he would gaze at the sun, the moon or the smallest of animals, he burst into song, drawing all other creatures into his praise. He communed with all creation, even preaching to the flowers, inviting them to "praise the Lord, just as if they were endowed with reason." (11)

"BONDS OF AFFECTION"

His response to the world around him was so much more than intellectual appreciation or economic calculus, for to him each and every creature was a sister united to him by bonds of affection. That is why he felt called to care for all that exists. (11)

"AWE AND WONDER"

If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of St. Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled. (11)

"A MAGNIFICENT BOOK"

What is more, Saint Francis, faithful to Scripture, invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of His infinite beauty and goodness. (12)

"A JOYFUL MYSTERY"

Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise. (12)

(Source: Encyclical Laudato Si, issued 5/24/15)