Thank you to Laudato Si’ Movement for this text and St. John’s Lutheran in Reedsburg for adapting it!
The Via Creationis — the Way of Creation — is a contemplative journey through the great mystery of God’s creative work. You may be familiar with a Via Crucis service which leads us through the mystery of Christ’s Passion. Similarly, the Via Creationis leads us through the mystery of Creation. It includes nine stations, and at each one two sacred books from God is represented: the liber scripturae — the Book of Scripture — and the liber naturae — the Book of Nature. Saint Augustine and many great theologians of the Church—including Martin Luther himself—taught that God speaks to us through both books. Luther famously noted that God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers, clouds, and stars. Reading them side by side opens our hearts to the vastness of God’s glory.