Spiritual Ecology Poetry Contest 2025
Spiritual Ecology and Poetry
In his encyclical Laudato Sì Pope Francis expressed a profound vision of the beauty and mystery of creation, the ecological crisis, and the urgent need to care for our common home, the earth.
The very first words of the encyclical are taken from the Canticle of the Creatures, a poem by Saint Francis of Assisi:
“Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.”
Spiritual ecology seeks to understand ecology and its crisis through religious faith. As part of the month of Spiritual Ecology in May, the Marymount community will hold a poetry competition. Each student is invited to submit a poem on the theme assigned to their school division
Rules for Submission
- Each student may submit only one poem
- The poem should be no longer than 25 lines and/or 250 words.
- It should be typed in Times New Roman font
- It should have its title clearly marked at the top
- The entry must not have been previously published or submitted for publication or for other competitions.
- The poem must be the original work of the student submitting it.
- The deadline for submitting a poem is May 28. The winner for each school will be announced on June 3
Prizes and Judges
Prizes for first, second, and third place for the best representation of Spiritual Ecology will be awarded within the Elementary School, Middle School, and High School. The prizes will be in the form of gift certificates in the amounts of 100, 50, and 25 euros for Otherwise Bookshop (Via del Governo Vecchio, 80).
The poems will be judged for their depth of reflection about Spiritual Ecology as well as their style and creativity. The prize-winning poems will be read in an assembly and published on the school’s website with an introduction by the Headmistress, Ms. Gallagher.
The judges for this year’s contest will be: Mrs. Cameron, Ms. Fenneman, Ms. Hardin, and Mr. Harvey.
2024 Winners
Elementary School: The Beauty of Creation
Pure Nature
Poem By Nicole C. Grade 3 - 1 st place
From the light of the day to the dark of the night we all know that nature is a beautiful sight
From the seas and the lakes, the oceans and rivers God is such a wonderful giver
From the rain to the rainbows from the sun to the clouds all I want to say is WOW
From the seed to the flower from the plant to the tree when I am in nature I feel free
From the birds in the skies to the deer on land, what a feeling it is to pet one with my hand
Because there is always something better than what we have today that God will give us one day
To the stars that are still forming
To the universe that is still expanding.
Before I finish what I want to say is to be grateful for what God gives us each and every day.
The Heavy Rainstorm
Poem By Christian M. Grade 5 - 2 nd place
The clouds were like wet sponges
Heavy rain fell and tickled trees' leaves
And softened their bark
It hit the muddy ground.
The light grey sky stared down at bugs
taking cover.
The soft noise was calming,
Blending the coarse dirt into mud
The Ocean
Poem By Daniel M. Grade 5 - 3 rd place
As the ocean cries sadly
Sadness awakes,
Wave after wave the current is too strong,
a current too strong to fight,
As the ocean cries with deep emotion
As the ocean cries it was never like this
As dark as the night nothing can bring it back to its true form.
Middle School: Care for Creation
Nature Vs Plastic
Poem By Giulia V. Grade 6 - 1 st place
To pray you show your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole beauty that is you.
And there is more
That you can't see or can't hear
Can't know except in moments
Regularly growing, and in languages
That aren't always the best and are only
Plastic, plastic and plastic.
Like birds on Sunday morning
Like the amount of salt in the sea.
Reflecting the blue sky
In the wind, that blows them away
With special wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within nature
Like the beauty of the island of Calypso
Inside us.
We pray that it will be fixed
In beauty.
Care For Creation
Poem By Giordana C. Grade 6 - 2 nd place
Creation is something very nice because someone can be resilient and also you can think of all things that you like for example i like dancing and i like to go to the beach with my family and friends. Being resilient means lots of beautiful things and it’s very important to be it. Care of creation means also to be gratitude to every thing and give lots of love to the people around you and who you love like family and friends and also bless to your god everyday that gives you help and a fantastic life and health.
How beautiful life is,
How beautiful is the world you gave us,
How dear are affections, friendships...
How unique the family is…
And then????
The love of a little dog who celebrates with you every day,
Who welcomes you back home very happy and looking for cuddles because he missed you...
And then if for a moment you step out of your enchanted life you see wars, you see hatred, you see sin.
I wonder why all this?
If God has given us life, living it respecting it is the best response to his gift.
So let's arm ourselves with good intentions,
We love others and we will be loved.
We custodians of his creation,
Let's help preserve it!
How strange is it that we help God???
I really think he needs all of us,
Knights of his kingdom,
Creature that he himself created….
We are many, and I like to believe that we are more than those who have lost the right path!
Getting lost is probable but finding yourself is everyone's duty.
So let's push away indifference, because we cannot remain still in the face of things that are not right.
Let's isolate the violence and wait for it to disappear into an amorphous space without souls...
I close my eyes and pray for him….I pray for us!
The Ultimate Grasp
Poem By Kate p. Grade 7 - 3 rd place
There are a lot of things that we never think about
Maybe the future of our children - that is the everlasting doubt
All the lives that we ruined in hopes of improving our own
But we keep repeating that we’ve grown
We are engulfed in our own encircling greed
Does the world really need to plead?
For us to stop the burning and destruction,
The never ending wars and construction?
Have we not yet understood
If we do not take care of our home, who should?
High School: The Mystery of Creation
THE SEED
Poem By LAVINIA S. Grade 9 - 1 st place
It’s there.
Under a covering veil,
Under the nutrition coat,
Under the noise of society.
It’s there.
Above the wet of the soil.
Above the rock of Mother Earth.
Above the lively underground water.
It’s there.
Within the nutrients.
Within the particles of the soil.
Within the roots of the trees.
It’s there.
The seed of a new flower.
The seed of a new God’s creature.
The seed of a new life.
It’s there.
Within me a new life is growing.
Tree of Life
Poem By Ji-in Y. Grade 11 - 2 nd place
Eyes guard a youthful sprout
that grows with no glimpse of could-be’s,
placed in a land of bountiful drought,
for now she lives
found to be a beaming beauty
her branches sprawl out, searching for
what one must perceive to be a duty,
and she lives
those who she once called neighbors,
those were the first to shrivel,
she wished to call them traitors,
still she lives
new spectators bring promises and lies,
fickle beings ensnared by power and love
come to challenge and colorize
how she lives
drowning in His blazed graveyard,
the fourth century brings a question,
is to exist to be loved and scarred?
is she living?
in His hand, her ashes fly to embrace
the winds long past of the miracle,
the burning world could not emphasize
His pride that she lived
Spiritual Compendium
Poem By Oscar Z. Grade 11 - 3 rd place
Root /ruːt/ noun
The foundation of our existence
Where the distance
Is close
Begin /bɪˈɡɪn/ verb
Coming from nowhere
But still there
living
Flow /fləʊ/ verb
Bridging destiny
Cosmic synergy
Essence
Breath /brɛθ/ noun
All blows
Where it goes
Complete
Nurture /ˈnəːtʃə/ verb
Vital feeding
Caring
Us
Growth /ɡrəʊθ/ noun
Experience
Where is the resilience?
Renewal /rɪˈnjuːəl/ noun
Eternal