How Creation Gives Glory to God

Through heaven and earth and sea, through wood and stone, through all creation visible and invisible, I offer veneration to the Creator and Master and Maker of all things. For the creation does not venerate the Maker directly and by itself, but it is through me that the heavens declare the glory of God, through me the moon worships God, through me the stars glorify Him, through me the waters and showers of rain, the dews and all creation, venerate God and give Him glory.

~ Apologetic Sermon 3, “On the Holy Icons” (Minge, PG 93.1604ab)

Bio

A monk and one of the lesser known Greek Fathers, St. Leontios provides an eloquent and unusual commentary on how creation gives glory to God. He was a vigorous defender of the holy icons and his writings reflect a sense of the centrality of the human in creation as essential for the completion of creation. His contribution regarding creation and a modern understanding of a theology of the environment lies in his assessments about the numinous in creation which makes it transparent to the handiwork of God.