Prayers for Creation 

Friday 6th May 2022

From the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine. Genesis 27:28

The month of May May owes its name to the Greek goddess of fertility, Maia. For many May is the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Queen of  May. It is certainly the month when spring growth is at its most abundant. 

Glory be to God for the may tree –

 the happy hawthorn:

Decked in  white blossom, 

she serves a feast for insects – alleluia! 

Glory be to God for the mayfly – 

ephemera vulgate:

Older even than dinosaurs,  this insect surrenders its underwater life 

for one brief air born day of delight – Alleluia! 

Glory be to God for the maybug – 

the cockchafer:

Four years toiling as grub underground, 

she emerges a chestnut gilded member of the scarab family – alleluia!

Glory be to God for the may flower – 

the cuckoo flower, Cardamine pratensis:

Pink flowers veined with purple, a dainty plant 

that feeds the caterpillars of orange-tip and the green-veined white butterfly –

Alleluia!

A reading: Genesis 1: 29-31 

And look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.  And I’ve given all the grass and plants to the animals and birds for their food.”  Then God looked over all that he had made, and it was excellent in every way. This ended the sixth day.

God of all creation,

May we cherish what you have created, 

respecting each plant and animal, 

bird and insect as both unique and irreplaceable.

May we honour with reverence 

what spreads out before our feet, 

what flies in the air above, slides through the water 

or creeps in the soil below.

May we temper our lives 

to make space for others, 

ceding priority to the vulnerable 

and encouraging the faint- hearted.

May we listen with our ears, 

see with our eyes 

and comprehend with wisdom 

the harmony of your Kingdom here in earth.

Amen.

The Grace