#35 Days To FASDay - Invocation

FASDay Invocation & Poem

(This beautiful and inclusive prayer was written and delivered by Sister Eileen Power at the Toronto observance, and has been updated. It’s freely available for anyone in the world who wants to use it. If you use it, please credit Sister Eileen Power, and mention that she is a teaching sister of the Congregation of Notre Dame in Toronto.)

by Sr. Eileen Power, CND

O Great Spirit, Creator of the Universe, we gather on the ninth minute of the ninth hour of the ninth day of the ninth month in the (first year of the New Millennium).
Our connection with our whole world is made visible in a special way today.
People in every time zone gather, as we gather, to change our world.
By our coming together and our working together, we will make the world better.
Accept our prayers with all who are praising you this very moment and with all who will gather today.
As we begin (this millennium), we are filled with hope,
O Ever-Creating God,
that in the circle of life,
in the cosmos, in the womb,
in our hearts,
your hope goes round,
your strength goes round,
your power goes round,
your love goes round and
our hearts and spirits are joined in a new birth.

We gather to intensify our awareness of the fragile beauty of life from the first moment of conception, of the privilege of the nine months of pregnancy, and of our resolve to help all children and adults with fetal substance disorders to lead happier and more fulfilling lives.

All of our words, gestures and hopes of today:
Our silence and our bells,
Our dance and our reflection,
Our words and our drums,
Our children and our knots,
Our lullabies and our resolve,
All of our words, gestures and hopes of today,
Are powerful reminders that life is your gift to us.
May the drumming of our hearts, echoing the drum of the heartbeat of the universe, be the sound of your tender love.
May the knot of our connections be ever firm. And may this special moment on this special day continue to mark the beginning of change, for mothers, for fathers, for all children and for those yet-to-be, and for all of us who join in spirit today around this unique planet, so beautiful, so fragile, so large and yet so small. Together, we are family.

“The Integrity of Hope” (optional)

This is a warm and positive way to end your event, particularly if it is read by a birth mother or person living with FASDs.

The Integrity of Hope

by Michael Kami, 1993

Just as the gentle flutter of a butterfly's wing

Can change the path of a hurricane

So the gentle beat of a child's heart

Can change the destiny of the world.

Children are our future and our hope.

Only they determine humanity's progress.

We must protect all children.

We must feed all children.

We must educate all children.

We must love all children.

They are we and we are they,

In a joint journey to a better future!