Blessing of the animals

A photo from last year's animal blessing

Yesterday we had the Blessing of the Animals at St. Antony's. We had about 107 humans at our two services, and about 30 animals! It was a noisy, frolicsome, delightful Eucharist. Many of our young people brought their pets, including a mouse, a hamster, a rabbit, and numerous dogs and cats.

I preached on the simplicity and purity of Francis' life that allowed him to be trusted by animals and birds, and I gave a short version of his sermon to the birds. I liked the sermon, but I'm not sure if anyone could hear it! Doesn't matter.

I did the blessing of the animals right after the sermon, and afterwards some people took their pets to their cars so the room quieted down a bit. It was wonderful to have such high energy in our church, and I think everyone felt the blessing was meaningful.

Here's a quote from Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov that fits well with the spirit of St. Francis:

"Love all God's creation, the whole and every grain of sand of it. Love every leaf, every ray of God's light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love."
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