How Children Can Participate in “On Care of Our Common Home”

Pope Frances gave us an important letter (called an encyclical) in 2015. But it was not just for that year. It is for forever and ever.

This letter is so important, you could pick all of these words to describe it:

• Critical
• Crucial
• Essential
• Imperative
• Vital

If you really like words, you could use these phrases:

• Of great consequence
• Of great magnitude

Since this is so very important, critical and essential—and of great magnitude– you need to know what the letter is called and what the title means:

Laudato Si’

On Care of our Common Home

Laudato si’ is how, very long ago, people from Italy said the words, “Praise be to you.”

Pope Francis chose these words because they are from a beautiful prayer by Saint Francis. This prayer is all about the gifts God gives us through Creation.

The Canticle of the Creatures

Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
who is the day and through whom you give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; and bears a likeness of you, Most High.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
in heaven you formed them clear and precious and beautiful.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and
every kind of weather
through whom you give sustenance to your creatures.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Water,
who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom you light the night,
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Pope Francis chose words from this prayer of Saint Francis so we could understand it is about praising God for all the wonders of God’s Creation. His whole letter is about caring for all the things God made, and which we love and praise.

Who is Laudato Si’ for?

When this letter first came out, it was written in Latin, Italian, German, English, Spanish, French, Polish, Portuguese and Arabic. Pope Francis wrote it for everyone in the whole world.

And he wrote it for you.

So this section is called Laudato Si and Me because it is important and crucial, essential and imperative, that you understand that you learn to live your life caring for God’s creation.