In 2015 Pope Francis issued his papal encyclical letter titled Laudato Si’, which is translated to “Praised Be,” a reference to St. Francis of Assisi’s famous prayer of praise for Creation. The encyclical’s subtitle is “On Care for our Common Home,” and in the document Pope Francis exhorts Christians to view humanity and the natural environment as deeply interconnected and interdependent.

Below are some selections from Chapter Six: “Ecological Education and Spirituality.” This papal encyclical, and especially the following excerpts, serve as the inspiration for St. Isidore Farm’s mission and vision.

Only by cultivating sound virtues will people be able to make a selfless ecological commitment. A person who could afford to spend and consume more but regularly uses less heating and wears warmer clothes, shows the kind of convictions and attitudes which help to protect the environment. There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions, and it is wonderful how education can bring about real changes in lifestyle… Reusing something instead of immediately discarding it, when done for the right reasons, can be an act of love which expressed our own dignity.
Laudato Si’ 211

We must not think that these efforts are not going to change the world. They benefit society, often unbeknown to us, for they call forth a goodness which, albeit unseen, inevitably tends to spread.
Laudato Si’ 212

Ecological education can take place in a variety of settings: at school, in families, in the media, in catechesis and elsewhere. Good education plants seeds when we are young, and these continue to bear fruit throughout life.
Laudato Si’ 213

All Christian communities have an important role to play in ecological education. It is my hope that our seminaries and houses of formation will provide an education in responsible simplicity of life, in grateful contemplation of God’s world, and in concern for the needs of the poor and the protection of the environment.
Laudato Si’ 214