Assisi feast day special for animals

Some parishioners’ requests for special blessings aren’t always for themselves or even for people they know. They’re for pets – cats, turtles, hamsters, lizards, horses, you name it.

Therese Quinn, 15, of Hanford, Calif., for example, has asked for blessings for her parakeet Early Bird, her dog Molly and her rabbit Mr. Shnookems for a long time.

And, she’ll do it again when she brings her caged and leashed pets to St. Brigid Catholic Church’s annual Blessing of the Pets and Animals today.

“It’s really kind of exciting for me to know we’re getting our animals blessed,” Therese said. “It’s kind of a reminder that God has given animals as special gifts to us.”

The special service to bless animals is held in early October to coincide with the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, which is Sunday this year.

Roman Catholicism teaches that St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals and the environment. In the 1200s he led a movement back to poverty, venturing into the forest – where he befriended animals – to live a simple life.

“We, as Catholics, like to bless things – cars, houses, whatever we use,” said St. Brigid’s pastor, the Rev. Michael Moore. “We enjoy the things in this life, but we always remember that God is the one who provides them.

“So having things blessed, we’re reminded of our dependence on God. We ask his blessing on all the activities and things in our lives – that they might go well.”

That includes the lives of animals, he said.

Although a long tradition in Roman Catholic churches, the service to bless animals also has been adopted by other denominations.

Depending on the church’s beliefs, the services can vary. Generally, a priest reads the biblical account in Genesis 1 of how God created the animals on land, the birds in the air, the fish in the sea – and blessed them.

The priest also reads a psalm, usually Psalm 8, which praises God for his creations. Then the priest walks by the animals, saying a prayer of blessing and sprinkling them with holy water.

“We kind of walk close by them all, so the kids don’t feel anyone’s left out,” Moore said.