Pope Leo’s prayer intention for the month of September focuses on a contemplative theme—and one that is not entirely unexpected, given coincidence with the Season of Creation and the Holy Father’s clear investment in a contemplative rationale for the new rubrics for a Mass for Creation. Here is the video from the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and a transcript of its contents:

Let us pray that, inspired by Saint Francis, we might experience our interdependence with all creatures who are loved by God and worthy of love and respect.

Lord, You love everything You have created,
and nothing exists outside the mystery of Your tenderness.
Every creature, no matter how small,
is the fruit of Your love and has a place in this world.

Even the simplest or shortest life is surrounded by Your care.
Like St. Francis of Assisi, today we too want to say:
“Praised be You, my Lord!”

Through the beauty of creation,
You reveal Yourself as a source of goodness. We ask You:
open our eyes to recognize You,
learning from the mystery of Your closeness to all creation
that the world is infinitely more than a problem to solve.
It is a mystery to be contemplated with gratitude and hope.

Help us to discover Your presence in all creation,
so that, in fully recognizing it,
we may feel and know ourselves to be responsible for this common home
where You invite us to care for, respect, and protect
life in all its forms and possibilities.

Praised be You, Lord!
Amen.

I don’t want to burden this prayer with too much thinking. I think it speaks entirely for itself. But I guess I would draw attention to a few key ideas: beauty, contemplation, hope, gratitude, mystery. These are all there. Of course, they must be. They are among the constants in a genuine Christian spirituality in the age of Laudato Si’. We can’t escape their timeliness—and, if we dare say so of contemplative dimensions, their urgency.

Perhaps, though, to deepen our prayer and concern, we should just say that this isn’t a one-off. Pope Leo keeps mentioning contemplation in the context of creation care. Indeed, just yesterday he opened the Borgo Laudato Si’ at Castel Gandolfo and spoke of “a clear invitation to observe and contemplate creation, actions aimed at understanding the Creator’s original plan.” He then went on to quote his predecessor’s hallmark encyclical letter (no. 225), speaking to us of “taking time to recover a serene harmony with creation, reflecting on our lifestyle and our ideals, and contemplating the Creator who lives among us and surrounds us, whose presence must not be contrived but found, uncovered.”

It is a remarkable thing to tell God, in a well-composed prayer, that “the beauty of creation” is “a mystery to be contemplated with gratitude and hope.” Undoubtedly the Lord knows. He knows it much better than we do. But that we petition him thus should go—or at least for me it goes—quite far towards driving home how necessary this all is to keep in mind today. Pope Leo XIV, like Pope Francis, is not letting us forget.