A couple Sundays ago Candy, Rayne and I were heading up to Santa Monica to do some shopping for Rayne. We saw the most interesting and peculiar thing. We saw woman after woman with their dogs, couple after couple with their dogs, man after man with their dogs all walking up the street. As we drove up the street, we noticed they were all heading to a Church. Ah, it made sense, it was the actual Blessing of the Pets day at the Catholic Church. I googled it and found a very touching article called and written -Blessing of Animals by Kevin E. Mackin, O.F.M. (http://www.americancatholic.org/features/francis/blessing.asp) He stated-“As autumn arrives, people in various places may notice something odd.
A procession of animals, everything from dogs and cats to hamsters and even horses, is led to churches for a special ceremony called the Blessing of Pets. ” He also states, “The bond between person and pet is like no other relationship, because the communication between fellow creatures is at its most basic. Eye-to-eye, a man and his dog, or a woman and her cat, are two creatures of love.
No wonder people enjoy the opportunity to take their animal companions to church for a special blessing. Church is the place where the bond of creation is celebrated.”
I found another article on line – The Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals partnered with the church for the event and had several dogs for adoption yesterday.
And look at that, its a Corgi being blessed! Using a branch dipped in water, The Rev. Lauren Kuratko blesses Leila Gutowski’s Corgi, “Court,” during the Blessing of the Animals at Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
I’m not Catholic but I say AMEN that! This reminded me of a day that I was at a bookstore, a book caught my eye. ( http://www.amazon.com/Blessing-Beasts-Ethel-Pochocki/dp/1557255024)
Firstly, it was the amazing cover. Gorgeous picture of a procession of animals, then was the title, Blessing of the Beasts. It is a wonderful story about a skunk and a roach who become friends and find their way to get blessed. I bought several of the books. Candy read the book to me in the car while we were driving and we were both touched to tears. We realized our calling was to bless the animals with reiki. In our office, we have the illustrations on our walls as reminders what blessings our animals are to us.
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Now everyone is talking about the American economy and elections, nice to read something different. Eugene
So glad that Blessing Days are increasing in popularity. Our animal companions deserve recognition for their unconditional love and support.
Recently I had the opportunity to participate in a day for the animals, and wrote about my experience in a post called “Blessing for the Animals, and One for the Shaman.” It was a very fun event, and there are many photos of the animal attendees that accompany it. You can view it at http://wildreiki.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/blessing-for-the-animals-and-one-for-the-shaman