St. Albert the Great Parish celebrated the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi with the Blessing of the Pets on Sunday, October 5. Pets are like family members, but with four legs, or two legs or no legs. All pet species were welcomed at the annual pet blessing.
In past years, some unusual pets came, a mini horse arrived in a minivan, and a small pot-bellied pig arrived on a leash. This year’s blessing was mostly dogs, some cats, a couple of rabbits and one cockatiel. Amy Irwin brought her handsome Sheepa-Doodle mix. All pets received a prayer card, St. Francis medal, and a pet treat donated by Dr. Hechko and North Royalton Animal Hospital.
Fr. Kyle Rosser and Pastor Fr. Edward Estok walked around the lawn blessing each dog or cat. Fr. Estok said that he “has been doing this now for about fourteen years.” That’s a lot of pets.
Tony Moore and his brother Raymond brought their Yorkies, Bradley and Mindy. When asked if they barked a lot Tony said, “Only Bradley, Mindy doesn’t.” Parents Chris and Andrea supervised the boys and dogs. Amy McKinnis brought her golden-doodle and her kids David and Abby.
In addition to the blessing on the lawn, pets could bring their owners via the drive through. Deacon Ted took care of those blessings. He was wearing a special stole that showed animals from Noah’s Ark, all two by two.
St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals. He is frequently shown feeding birds with a wolf by his side. As legend says, Francis preached about God to everyone including the birds in the trees. Another legend says that a fierce wolf terrorized a village. Francis went into the forest to meet the wolf. When Francis asked the wolf why he was scaring the village, the wolf told him he was hungry and lonely. Francis had the village and the wolf make a deal. The people would leave food for the wolf and the wolf agreed to be on his best behavior. As a matter-of-fact, the wolf was so well behaved that the children would pet him and talk to him, so he was no longer lonely. The wolf protected the children from bears or wildcats when they went to the forest to pick berries or gather firewood. Francis is the patron of ecology and ecologists.
There are other patrons for animals too: St. Roch (Rocco) is the patron of dogs, St. Gertrude of Nivelles for cats, St. Brigid blesses cows, bees and bee keepers have a patron in St. Ambrose, and even whales are blessed by St. Brendan the explorer. From bees to whales, we love our animals, St. Francis is right, they show the glory of creation.
By LINDA KWARCIANY
Contributing Writer
