Wonder over the great breadth of Creation has given birth to bestiaries, herbaries, lapidaries and even the fantastic marginalia of Medieval texts. Gilding fills the skies of the miniatures, representative of God's grace and presence, just as the millefluer and diapering symbolically attest to the fecundity of His Creation. The vastness of created things were catalogued for their essential goodness and their natures pondered for natural as well as allegorical knowledge. For as the beginning of Genesis attest, God Himself judges the goodness of His labors.
The great canticle of the Sunday office of Lauds, the litany of all creation, rises like the swelling of the sea in the praise of God:
Benedícite, ómnia ópera Dómini, Dómino: * laudáte et superexaltáte eum in sǽcula.
Benedícite, Ángeli Dómini, Dómino: * benedícite, cæli, Dómino.
Benedícite, aquæ omnes, quæ super cælos sunt, Dómino: * benedícite, omnes virtútes Dómini, Dómino.
Benedícite, sol et luna, Dómino: * benedícite, stellæ cæli, Dómino.
Benedícite, omnis imber et ros, Dómino: * benedícite, omnes spíritus Dei, Dómino.
Benedícite, ignis et æstus, Dómino: * benedícite, frigus et æstus, Dómino.
Benedícite, rores et pruína, Dómino: * benedícite, gelu et frigus, Dómino.
Benedícite, glácies et nives, Dómino: * benedícite, noctes et dies, Dómino.
Benedícite, lux et ténebræ, Dómino: * benedícite, fúlgura et nubes, Dómino.
Benedícat terra Dóminum: * laudet et superexáltet eum in sǽcula.
Benedícite, montes et colles, Dómino: * benedícite, univérsa germinántia in terra, Dómino.
Benedícite, fontes, Dómino: * benedícite, mária et flúmina, Dómino.
Benedícite, cete, et ómnia, quæ movéntur in aquis, Dómino: * benedícite, omnes vólucres cæli, Dómino.
Benedícite, omnes béstiæ et pécora, Dómino: * benedícite, fílii hóminum, Dómino.
Benedícat Israël Dóminum: * laudet et superexáltet eum in sǽcula.
Benedícite, sacerdótes Dómini, Dómino: * benedícite, servi Dómini, Dómino.
Benedícite, spíritus, et ánimæ iustórum, Dómino: * benedícite, sancti, et húmiles corde, Dómino.
Benedícite, Ananía, Azaría, Mísaël, Dómino: * laudáte et superexaltáte eum in sǽcula.
Benedicámus Patrem et Fílium cum Sancto Spíritu: * laudémus et superexaltémus eum in sǽcula.
Benedíctus es, Dómine, in firmaménto cæli: * et laudábilis, et gloriósus, et superexaltátus in sǽcula.
All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord: * praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: * O ye heavens, bless the Lord:
O all ye waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord: * O all ye powers of the Lord, bless the Lord.
O ye sun and moon, bless the Lord: * O ye stars of heaven, bless the Lord.
O every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord: * O all ye spirits of God, bless the Lord.
O ye fire and heat, bless the Lord: * O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord.
O ye dews and hoar frosts, bless the Lord: * O ye frost and cold, bless the Lord.
O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord: * O ye nights and days, bless the Lord.
O ye light and darkness, bless the Lord: * O ye lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord.
O let the earth bless the Lord: * let it praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye mountains and hills, bless the Lord: * O all ye things that spring up in the earth, bless the Lord.
O ye fountains, bless the Lord: * O ye seas and rivers, bless the Lord.
O ye whales, and all that move in the waters, bless the Lord: * O all ye fowls of the air, bless the Lord.
O all ye beasts and cattle, bless the Lord: * O ye sons of men, bless the Lord.
O let Israel bless the Lord: * let them praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye priests of the Lord, bless the Lord: * O ye servants of the Lord, bless the Lord.
O ye spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord: * O ye holy and humble of heart, bless the Lord.
O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless ye the Lord: * praise and exalt him above all for ever.
Let us bless the Father and the Son, with the Holy Ghost; * let us praise and exalt him above all for ever.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven: * and worthy of praise, and glorious for ever.