Our pets bring a special friendship, companionship, love, laughter and joy into our lives. Each year around late September, near the birth of Francis of Assisi, the “patron saint of animals”, we hold a special ‘Blessing of the Animals’ outdoor service in the early afternoon in our labyrinth & meditation garden to honor and ‘bless’ these special family members, with prayers for the good health of our our pets and their owners. It is always a lively, fun event, with many dog friends but also cats, guinea pigs, birds, hamsters, mice, ferrets, snakes, turtles – you never know what pet friends may show up! Some pets who cannot come are blessed by copies of photos or from photo images on phones!
Our ‘Blessing of the Animals’ scheduled to take place outdoors in our Labyrinth & Meditation Garden on September 24, 2023 at 12:15 pm was rained out. We will be rescheduling the event in the Spring of 2024. The community is welcome to join us each year and bring their pets to be blessed!
Below: Photos from our Blessing of the Animals – Nov. 13, 2022
Below: Photo from our first Blessing of the Animals – Oct.15, 2006
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; 8 ask the plants of the earth,* and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. 9 Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? 10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being.” Job 12: 7-10 (NRSV)