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| St. Francis of Assisi and the Wolf |
As we enter the autumn season,
and October approaches quickly, with the changing color of the leaves and the
arrival of a slight chill in the air, my pack – Suede, Ellwood & Jake- are,
as always, part of this idealistic vision of The Fall. Suede tentatively shuffles through the fallen
leaves while Ellwood & Jake bound around, bouncing through nature’s carpet
of color, probably practicing for the winter snows to come. With the approach of October, however, also come
thoughts of my pack’s place in my spiritual life – especially given that I
believe they chose me. October 4th
is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, known for his love of all creatures big
and small.
During the weekend of October 4th
and throughout the rest of the month,
many churches, regardless of denomination recognize the importance of animals in our lives by offering a “Blessing of the Animals”. I remember the first time I ever took any of my pets to a “Blessing of The Animals” event. Max was still in my life and we had just found a little Yorkie named Trigger, whose family we had been trying to locate. We took them both to the blessing, and boy did Trigger need it…he was pretty mean. When we got there, there was every type of animal from common dogs & cats to the more exotic snakes, insects and even a pigeon that a little boy had nurtured back to health and traveled with him on his shoulder.
many churches, regardless of denomination recognize the importance of animals in our lives by offering a “Blessing of the Animals”. I remember the first time I ever took any of my pets to a “Blessing of The Animals” event. Max was still in my life and we had just found a little Yorkie named Trigger, whose family we had been trying to locate. We took them both to the blessing, and boy did Trigger need it…he was pretty mean. When we got there, there was every type of animal from common dogs & cats to the more exotic snakes, insects and even a pigeon that a little boy had nurtured back to health and traveled with him on his shoulder.
I will be attending the ceremony
at St. Francis Xavier in The Bronx to get the pack blessed. If you are a person of faith – any faith –
you may want to check out any animal blessing events in your neighborhood…and
while you are having your companion pets blessed, please remember all of the
abused, neglected and abandoned animals who don’t have anyone to care for them
or about them the way your animals do.
Blessings travel wide and far!
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