The Feast of Creation of September 1, also known as Creation Day or World Day of Prayer for Creation, is the big celebration that inspires and nourishes the larger Season of Creation that flows from it. Inspired by a rich tradition of the Orthodox Church, it was later embraced by other bodies and churches such as the World Council of Churches in 2008, the Anglican Communion in 2012, and the Catholic Church in 2015.
Besides being a moment to repent for our sinful desecration of the gift of Creation and pray for its healing, the feast honors God as Creator and commemorates the great mystery of the creation of heaven and earth. In other words, this feast is not just about celebrating “Creation as the created world” that God gifted us, but most importantly it is about celebrating “Creation as foundational mystery” of our Christian faith.
In a nutshell, it is a moment to thank and praise the Triune God as Creator. Given that most Christian churches have historically focused so much on God as Redeemer, this feast is an invaluable opportunity to correct the imbalance and also celebrate God as Creator. This need was stressed by many Christian leaders, such as Benedict XVI who once said: “The Redeemer is the Creator and if we do not proclaim God in his full grandeur – as Creator and as Redeemer – we also diminish the value of the Redemption.”
THE RICH HISTORY OF THE FEAST
In Orthodox Christianity, there is an ancient practice of observing September 1 as the “Day of Creation”, marking the day in which God began the creation of the universe as described in the first chapter of the Bible. September 1 is the very day that symbolizes the expression “In the beginning”, the famous opening of both the Book of Genesis and the Gospel of John. It represents the very day in which God said “Let there be light.”
In fact, the Byzantine “Creation Era” calendar, officially used by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Orthodox Church for many centuries, stipulated that God began the creation of the cosmos on September 1 of the year 5509 BC (derived from biblical chronological calculations). When the Orthodox Church transitioned from that Anno Mundi system to the Western Anno Domini system, it still kept the tradition alive by maintaining September 1 as the first day of its liturgical year.
Building on that rich tradition and reading the “signs of the times” of the ecological crisis, in 1989 the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios expanded the day’s symbolism to also be a day of prayer for creation in the Orthodox Church and wider Christendom, a day to offer “prayers and supplications to the Maker of all, both as thanksgiving for the great gift of Creation and as petitions for its protection and salvation.” More details about the history are available here.
THE RICH SYMBOLISM OF THE FEAST
For starters, the symbolism of the Feast of Creation is much broader and deeper than Earth Day or Environment Day. Not only because of the centrality that God has in the feast, but also because we celebrate not just this tiny planet but also Creation at large. Both Earth and stars. Both ecology and astronomy. Both Earth’s web of life and the cosmos’ web of matter.
Moreover, when we celebrate the Feast of Creation (and the larger season flowing from it), we celebrate two distinct meanings of the word “Creation”: God’s act of creation and the fruit of such act (aka cosmos). On September 1, we celebrate both the theological mystery of God’s loving command “Let there be light” (Gen 1:3), and the resulting cosmos that God found “very good” (Gen 1:31).
The second meaning, the celebration of the natural world that God gifted us, is what many (most?) Christians implicitly do when participating in the feast. Understandably, as our fragile Earth is so imperiled by human abuse. Yet, we must also be very intentional about celebrating its first meaning as well. September 1 is a feast to celebrate the great mystery that God is Creator – not just a Redeemer. September 1 is a feast to celebrate God’s loving decision to create us and all other creatures.
THE PROMISING FUTURE OF THE FEAST
Given the theological foundations of Creation Day are so profound, there is an ecumenical process underway to discern a proposal to elevate the observance from its current “world day of prayer” status to become a liturgical feast in the calendars of the so-called Western denominations. More details about a recent theological seminar in Assisi are available in the report “A Liturgical Opportunity, An Ecumenical Kairos”.
If you would like to engage your local university, bishops or church leaders in the ecumenical process, feel free to contact [email protected]. In parallel, while scholars and church leaders discern those next steps, we are all invited to keep promoting and celebrating this important day locally.
HOW TO CELEBRATE THE FEAST
This year, 2024, September 1 falls on a Sunday, so it is a very special occasion to encourage your church or community to include this world day of prayer and the mystery of Creation in your Sunday celebration. It is worth reminding the community about Sunday’s dual symbolism as both “the day of Creation” – “the first day of the week” when God began the creative act, as per Genesis 1 – and “the day of the Resurrection”. This dual symbolism has a long history in the Christian tradition, as explained for example by St. Justin Martyr and St. Gregory the Great.
Lots of practical ideas for your local celebration are available in this resource: “Feast of Creation 2024 – Ideas to celebrate it”. We look forward to praying together next September 1!