Season of Creation 2026

Invitation to Join the Season of Creation 2026
Be a Pilgrim of Hope!
Sept. 1 - Oct. 4

Season of Creation History

“The entire material universe speaks of God’s love, his boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God.”
~ Pope Francis, Laudato Si’: On Care of Our Common Home, #84

Mercy by the Sea Offerings

Virtual and onsite

 

Mary C. Daly RSM Art Gallery

Outdoor Experiences

Tai Chi by the Sea facilitated by Dennis McCann is offered every Saturday from 10 – 11 a.m., weather permitting, at Mercy by the Sea in Madison, CT.

Mercy by the Sea, situated on the shores of Long Island Sound, is home to diverse eco-systems and wildlife. We seek to inhabit this ground with reverence, humility and joy, and to continually learn from its wildness, wisdom and beauty. The tree-lined grounds, seven-circuit labyrinth, pollinator gardens and beach combine to  create a sacred and serene atmosphere offering guests outdoor opportunities to connect with the land and sea to awaken and/or renew their sense of kinship and community with nature. A 1.1-mile walking path is underway as yet another way in which we hope to foster one’s sense of contemplation, prayer, reflection and sacred connection with Earth.

Books and CDs in the Mercy by the Sea Bookstore

Offerings include, but are not limited to:

Adults

  • “Braiding Sweetgrass – Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
  • “Watch and Wonder – Birding as a Spiritual Practice” by Ragan Sutterfield
  • “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home” by Pope Francis
  • “Journey of the Dream Team” by Sarah E. Grote
  • “Church of the Wild – How Nature Invites Us Into the Sacred” by Victoria Loorz
  • “Field Guide to Church of the Wild” by Victoria Loorz and Valerie Luna Serrel
  • “Teilhard de Chardin: A Book of Hours” by Kathleen Deignan, CND and Libby Osgood, CND
  • “Thomas Berry: A Book of Hours” by Kathleen Deignan, CND
  • “All Creation Waits” by Gayle Boss
  • “Sacred Wisdom – Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change” by Sherri Mitchell
  • “Journey-Faith in an Entangled World” by Nancy Sylvester, IHM
  • “Come Have Breakfast – Meditations on God and Earth” by Elizabeth A. Johnson
  • “Celtic Treasure” by John Philip Newell
  • “Glory Happening – Finding the Divine in Everyday Places” by Kaitlin B. Curtice
  • “Native – Identity, Belonging and Rediscovering God” by Kaitlin C. Curtice
  • “Living Resistance – An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Everyday” by Kaitlin B. Curtice
  • “Wild Hope” by Gayle Boss
  • “Stone Warrior – Confronting Life’s Dark Challenges with Art and Meditation” by George Herrick
  • “Earth and Sky – Nature Meditations in Word and Watercolor by Judy Benson (essays) and Roxanne Steed (paintings)
  • “Spirit in Creation – Two Women, One Vision – Finding Peace and Truth in Creation” by Marjorie A. Burke and Patricia O’Connor
  • “Waking Up to This Day – Seeing Beauty Right Before Us” by Paula D’Arcy
  • “The Wisdom of Wild Grace” by Christine Valters Paintner
  • “The Great Conversation – Nature and the Care of the Soul” by Belden C. Lane
  • “Dreaming of Stones” by Christine Valters Paintner

Children

  • “All Creation Waits” by Gayle Boss
  • “Song of the Seasons” by Glenys Nellist
  • “I Am My Earth’s Keeper” by Lisa M. Heneley
  • “Bud Finds Her Gift” by Robin W. Kimmerer
  • “Winter’s Gifts – An Indigenous Celebration of Nature” by Kaitlin B. Curtice

CDs

  • An assortment of songs composed and sung by Carmel Boyle (e.g. “Flowing,” “A Thin Place,” “White Wings and Roses,” etc.)
  • “Christ of the Celts – Healing Creation,” an audiobook by John Philip Newell
  • “Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul” by John Philip Newell

Online Resources

Video

Prayers and Poetry Celebrating Nature by Mercy by the Sea Presenters and Retreatants

Earth Prayer by Mark Nepo

How The Trees Love Us by Mercy facilitator Jalyn Merrick De Sunae

Hearing Creation’s Song: Rediscovering God Through a Retreat on Water

Affinity 

today I will climb
the mountain summons my heart—  
touch the sky today

all earth chats with us
conversation unending—
sky and soil speaking

each season gifts us
wonders from bloom to blizzard—
ours if we assent

-Haiku sequence by Mercy by the Sea facilitator Peter W. Yaremko

Solstice

The sacred moment of
cosmic time and
wisdom space when
the Holy One breaks through
my resistance and
the sun opens my heart to
the divine energy of Love
- From Mercy by the Sea retreatant

Harvest Moon

September full moon
special super moon
autumn harvest moon,
looks bigger than most,
lasts longer than most,
for three days it looks
almost full, rare sight,
lights up the night with
extra brightness, spreads
ligt far and wide into
darkness of night, makes
clear pathways shine.
-From Mercy by the Sea facilitator Patricia O’Connor and Marjorie A. Burke’s new release, “Spirit in Creation – Two Women, One Vision Finding Peace and Truth in Creation”

Mercy-by-the-Sea:
global water drenches sand
cleanses stones and shells;
mercy quenches thirsty souls
seeking, opening to Love.
-Japanese tanka by a Mercy by the Sea retreatant. 

A lone green shoot rises from the rocks,
catching my gaze.
I sit here alone on a craggy rock,
in the presence of eternity
enhanced by plucky new growth.
The timeless lapping of gentle waves,
Birds calling to me.
The sun warming my hair.
Truly a place of peach, renewal, and mercy.
-Witten on the beach by a Mercy by the Sea guest