www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Pet Blessings

Received an email from CatholicGreetings.org.

They have a list of parishes - not all Catholic - that will have pet blessings. Also, they have e-cards for this.

parishes [americancatholic.org]

I've heard that some Orthodox parishes will do this around the feast of St. Mamas (Sept. 2nd).

That is very nice, Pani Rose--thanks for sharing.

I think that it can be a special and spiritually significant day for children to bring their pets to church for a blessing with their parents (or grandparents)... thus understanding the great bounty of God our Father's love for all His creatures....

Most definitely an opportunity to bestow Christian spirituality on little ones...and an opportunity for pet lovers to share God's love with their pet. Do not underestimate their understanding of the Creator! (My dog once raised her head and perked her ears from sleep, and looked straight at the monk on EWTN who was at that moment saying that God created all creatures!)

Alice

Alice don't you just love those little ways that God teaches us about his love for all of creation. Scripture speaks of the rocks crying out - the birds of the air - God loves them all. I was thinking the same thing, I don't know if I can arrange for our grandson to be at St. Frances since that is where his school is. It would be a sort of different way of like you said, letting them know of God's love.

A Prayer of St. Basil the Great (329-373):

O God, grant us a deeper sense of fellowship with all living things, our little brothers and sisters to whom in common with us you have given this earth as home. We recall with regret that in the past we have acted high-handedly and cruelly in exercising our domain over them. Thus, the voice of the earth which should have risen to you in song has turned into a groan of travail. May we realize that all these creatures also live for themselves and for you - not for us alone. They too love the goodness of life, as we do, and serve you better in their way than we do in ours. Amen.

C. S. Lewis came up with an idea worth considering - particularly since he himself stated emphatically that it was indeed purely his own idea and not a teaching of the Church:

with that firmly in mind, one nevertheless need not deny that God is capable of welcoming animals into the heavenly kingdom if He so desires. Aside from the descriptions of milk, cream, cheese, and honey, what might move God to do this? We may safely assume that God is not likely to do this in favor of every animal that has ever lived - few of us would be motivated to undertake the salvation of ear-wigs, bed-bugs, English sparrows, vultures, or a plethora of other beasts.

However, says Lewis, we may also bear in mind that men and women can gain salvation only through Our Lord Jesus Christ. One might then consider the possibility that a specific animal (a beloved pet, even a friend) might receive such an extraordinary gift from God in consideration of the human being with which the animal is closely associated.

Again, Lewis makes it clear that this is no more than guess-work. Elsewhere, though, he expresses in a practical way the thought that how we treat our animals has bearing upon our own way of life, although that is another discussion.

Fr. Serge

In my Lutheran parish we include household pets in the Blessing of the Seeds and Soil at Rogatetide, the Sunday preceding Ascension Day.

According to the story, the doobell rang unexpectedly one morning at a certain rectory. The priest answered the door and much to his consternation, an elderly lady was there, bitterly weeping. So he invited her in, offered her some tea and asked what the matter was; why was she so upset; what could he do to help.
So she said, "My beloved pet poodle Fifi died this morning!" The priest kindly offered her his sincere condolences.
The lady went on to say, "I've come to arrange Fifi's funeral." But the priest told her, "I'm sorry but we don't do funerals for animals."
So the poor old lady sighed deeply and said, "I guess I'll just have to arrange the funeral at a church of another denomination, and give the $50,000. honorarium to that church."
To which the priest replied, "Oh, you didn't say Fifi was Catholic! Let's talk some more about her funeral." LOL