His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew indicates that the beginning of the new ecclesiastical year is not only a day of celebration, but also a day of solemn reflection and repentance. “We are praying for personal repentance for our contribution – smaller or greater – to the disfigurement and destruction of creation, which we collectively experience regionally and occasionally through the immense phenomena of our time.” The message then of September 1st is no different really than what every Divine Liturgy seeks to communicate to us every day and every week. Three things, namely: (1) that the world is permeated by the presence and grace of God, and the Kingdom of God has been inaugurated into history, as we can see all around us when we worship in church; (2) that our lives are not our own but are intricately linked with the lives of others, again by the will of God; and (3) that all of creation, in its splendor and grandeur, is intended for sanctification, which essentially means to reassign to it its intimate connection to God and to give it freedom to benefit the steward who cares for it.
As we celebrate this new ecclesiastical year, may we also become more sensitive to the suffering and pain caused by our collective negligence or exploitation of the created world. And may we bless God by offering εὐλογίες, or “good words”, upon nature, embracing it lovingly and using it responsibly, seeing in it the holy presence of the Lord and His unwaning love for us all.
Prayer for the Beginning of the New Year
O Master, Lord our God, the Source of life and immortality, the Author of all created things both visible and invisible, Who hast established all seasons and times by Thine own authority and dost direct all things with Thine all-wise and all-gracious providence: We thank Thee for Thy bounties, which Thou hast poured out upon us during our life that is past. And we entreat Thee, O all-bountiful Lord: less the crown of the New Year by Thy goodness. Bestow Thy good things from above upon all Thy people, and also health, salvation and good furtherance in all things. Deliver Thy Holy Church, this city and all cities and countryside from every evil assault, and vouchsafe unto them peace and tranquility; and grant that we may always offer Thanksgiving unto Thee, the unoriginate Father, together with Thine only-begotten Son and Thine all-hole and good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen+
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