www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall For Dog Lovers!

Cute one Alice.

But the one about the puppy licking your face...ICK! Dog spit makes me feel filthy!

LOL

Jason

Well, I would agree if it were someone else's dog--and especially if it were a big drooly breed, but little one's licks are sweet, especially if it is your own's.

Alice

A lovely set of quotes - thanks for posting them.

Dear Alice - I'm with you (and my own beloved Murf heartily agrees), but there are those who are so misguided as not to agree.

Fr. Serge

My dear Father Serge,

You might think I would take exception to your above comment. It is obvious, since I am the only dissenting voice on this thread, that you are referring to me. However, rather than defending myself, I shall attempt to scandalize you.

Not only do I find dog saliva irreverent, despicable, and utterly gross...including that of puppies...I enjoy, yea RELISH the sandpapery texture of my cat's tongue on my skin. Cats, I was told by my baptist pastor when I was a child, are cleaner than ones wife! And the immutable truth of this statement has be self evident to me ever since.

And, of course, it is only natural that I should be enamored with the feline species since I am a descendant of St Gertrude of Nivelles...patron saint of Cats.*

Good day sir.

Jason

*Actually, I am a descendant of her sister, St. Begga...but cat's obviously run in the family. hehe

Talk about cats and dogs, will you? I dislike the former and
detest the latter. Cats, servants of Satan as they are, are a figure and type of the sin of Pride. Dogs, on the other hand, are but the slobbering slaves of whomever caters to their unbounded gluttony. They do not love their masters. They love the
food their masters provide. All proceeds from that.

Nor will I stop there. I have a strong suspicion that many
pet-lovers (be it what pet you will) are in blatant violation
of the Great Commandments, inasmuch as they seem to love their
abominable beasts more than they love the Lord who made both of
them, and then their neighbors. I know people, some of them in straightened circumstances,who have spent hundreds on doctoring some aged and ailing animal, while the money might better have been dedicated to assisting some aged and ailing neighbor.

If you think that I am not dead serious about this, think again.

Edmac

I am sure that Edmac is dead serious. He is also a fool!

The Lord created the different animals for different purposes. Cats and dogs as companion animals have shown love and loyalty that their humans often do not show to one another.

As for violating the Great Commandment, it seems fair to say that a good part of the world loves many things more than it loves God. Denigrating the things which are good because they are misused is not appropriate for a Christian. It could be fair to say that one ought to give their money to their fellow humans who suffer rather then spend it on the health of their companion animals. Yet it seems that only he who has literally given all he has to the poor can make such a claim.

Some of us are just too doggone serious!

St. Augustine said: All things are good; only their misuse makes them evil. Other lifeforms are just part of God's creation.

Father Francis of Assisi apparently had the grace to recognize that all of creation, because it is created by God, is good and to be revered, enhanced and protected by God's human stewards of creation.

Cats and dogs are different - much like humans. I have a refrigerator magnet that says: Dogs come when called; cats take a message and get back to you.

Like the sky being blue and kids making noise: it's just part of God's creation. And it takes a pious heart to acquiesce in the splendor of all of creation.

As our Anglican brethren sing: All creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all!

Blessings!

Dr John (Dog-person, but kind to cats, ferrets, guinea pigs, hamsters and budgies. Oh yeah, and canaries too. But, plants don't have litter boxes.)

St Francis of Paola returned both his pet lamb and his pet trout to life. The lamb was restored from bones left in the oven, the fish had been cooked and broken. St Clare had a cat in her cell at the time of her death, evidently helping with the nursing. The soup kitchen operated by St Martin de Porres had long lines of humans and animals lined up for the daily portion. St Phillip Neri had his cat carried across Rome every day to have lunch with the monks and then carried home.
I agree that too many people value the lives of animals, but have no pity on their neighbors. But I think they have long been indoctrinated in New Age Mythology. Anyone who has ever observed a cat preparing a mouse for lunch would realize humans are not the only specie that kills for the sheer joy of killing.
Yet we have all been told for years that animals only kill to eat. My dear cat hunts all day long while he has a full dish at home.
I guess Im saying there is an unnatural love for animals in modern America, but it exists because there is so little love in our lives. If you are kind to an animal you can predict the outcome. Kindness to a human may result in all sorts of unexpected tribulation.

As a "dog lover' can't resist sharing this story. While living in Monterey, CA and a member of the local ROCOR parish, once they visited homes with the ROCOR patronal icon which I believe was the Virgin of Kursk. Father noticed our dog and requested that he be removed from the apartment during the blessing. Several years later while a member of the ROCOR cathedral in Munich, we were visited at home by the same icon. The priest saw our dog outside on the balcony and asked why he was not inside with the rest of us. He laughed when I told him about the previous house blessing and recalled Fr. Schmemann once saying that if anyone wanted to see a miracle to look at his loving faithful dog. The dog joined the rest of the family and was very appreciative.

OK, Alice, I confess that my remarks were too ill-tempered and
likely to offend pet-lovers. I don't hate cats and dogs, but
have no use for them, while most of my family and friends are
on your side of the fence. I do see a problem with the inordinate
love of pets. A close relative lost a young dog to Lyme disease
and mourned for that creature almost as it it were a child. I had
another relative who seemed to pay more attention to her dogs
than she did to her children.

On the other hand, I maintain a pious suspicion (I can't go so
far as to call it an opinion) that animals, perhaps at least
loved animals, will in some way be redeemed. I can't see that
much can be said about this since the Almighty has not given us
much to go on, but Colossians 1:20 does say that "all things"
are to be reconciled to God in Christ and also in Rom 8:21-22
"creation will be set free from its bondage to decay.

Edmac

Edmac,

I think in regard to the (supposedly) overkill that some people give to their love of their pets we will do well to remember the "story" that St Nathan the Prophet used to bring St King David to repentance over the murder of his friend Uriah and theft of his wife Bathsheba. The story is as follows:


Jason

Just came across this story about a pet cat in the book I am reading (for the 4th time in 5 years) and thought it appropriate for this thread.

From John Moschos: "The Spiritual Meadow" (as quoted by William Dalrymple in �From the Holy Mountain: A Journey Among the Christians of the Middle East" pages 296-297)

`When [Sophronius and I] were visiting the monastery,' writes Moschos, `the residents told us that St Gerasimos was walking one day by the banks of the Holy Jordan when he met a lion, roaring mightily because of the pain in its paw. The point of a reed was deeply embedded in it, causing inflammation. When the lion saw the elder, it came to him and showed him the foot, whimpering and begging some healing from him. When the elder saw the lion in such distress, he sat down and, taking the paw, he lanced it. The point was removed and also much pus. He cleansed the wound well, bound it up and dismissed the beast. But the healed lion would not leave the elder. It followed him like a disciple wherever he went. The elder was amazed at the gentle disposition of the beast and, from then on, he began feeding it, throwing it bread and boiled vegetables.

`Now the lavra had an ass which was used to fetch water for the needs of the elders, for they drink the water of the Holy Jordan which lies about one mile away from the monastery. The father used to hand the ass over to the lion, to pasture it on the banks of the Jordan. One day when the ass was being taken to pasture by the lion, it went away some distance from its keeper. Some camel-drivers on their way from Arabia found the ass and took it away to their country. Having lost the ass, the lion came back to the lavra and approached Abba Gerasimos, very downcast and dismayed. The Abba thought the lion had devoured the ass. He said to it: "Where is the ass?" The beast stood silent, very like a man. The elder said to it: "Have you eaten it? From now on [as a punishment] you will perform the same duties the ass performed." From then on, at the elder's command, the lion used to carry the saddlepack containing four earthenware vessels and bring water.

`[Many months later] the camel-driver who had taken the ass came back to the Holy City with the animal loaded up with the grain he hoped to sell there. Having crossed the Holy Jordan, he suddenly found himself face to face with the lion. When he saw the beast, he left his camels and took to his heels. Recognising the ass, the lion ran to it, seized its leading rein in its mouth just as it had been trained to do, and led away not only the ass, but also the three camels. It brought them to the elder, rejoicing and roaring. The elder now realised that the lion had been falsely accused. He named the lion Jordanes and it lived with the elder in the lavra, never leaving his side for five years.

`When Abba Gerasimos departed to the Lord and was buried by the fathers, by the providence of God the lion could not be found. A little later the lion returned, searching for the elder, roaring mightily. When Abba Sabbatios and the rest of the fathers saw it, they stroked its mane and said to it: "The elder has gone away to the Lord and left us," yet even saying this did not succeed in silencing its cries and lamentations. Then Abba Sabbatios said to it: "Since you do not believe us, come with me and I will show you where Gerasimos lies." He took the lion and led it to where they had buried the elder, half a mile from the church. Abba Sabbatios said to the lion: "See, this is where our friend is," and he knelt down. When the lion saw how he prostrated himself, it began beating its head against the ground and roaring. Then it promptly [rolled over and] died, there on the elder's grave.'

Meow!

Meow, indeed!!!!

But I thought we had another thread for catty remarks.

For the sound bite for the TV news, can we say

"cats are an ass's best friend" ?