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BLESSING THE ANIMALS

Carole Osterink
ccSCOOP Editor

Saturday was the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, and Christ Church Episcopal in Hudson observed the day by holding its annual Blessing of the Animals. More than twenty dogs and one parrot, accompanied by their humans, turned out at 10 a.m. to be blessed by the Reverend John Perry, rector of Christ Church.

In his opening remarks, Perry talked about St. Francis, explaining that research he had done about the saint recently revealed how much of an advocate for animals he had been. In a time when it was generally accepted that humans had dominion over animals and could make use of them as they pleased, St. Francis made a habit of going into the forest and freeing animals from traps. He once took a net full of fish from a group of fishermen and released them back into the sea.

During the service, which included a reading from the Book of Job and a Prayer on Behalf of God’s Creatures, Perry invited people to introduce their pets and tell about them. The introductions revealed that several of the dogs had been shelter dogs or rescued dogs. One—a sweet little guy named Scruffy—had been adopted by his human companion only five days before. Another dog—a big guy with piercing ice-blue eyes—stayed with his humans on the perimeter of the group, because, they explained, he was recently adopted and not very well socialized with other dogs. A rescued pit bull mingled comfortably with his canine companions, his behavior belying the fact that last year, as his human explained, he had to stay out on the sidewalk because he was too fierce to get near the other pets.

The special bond between the human and animal was clear in all the introductions—whether they’d been together for only a few days or for a decade or more. One dog was described by her human as “a princess in a dog suit.” Eleanor Perry, the rector’s wife, introduced their dog, Sophie, and commended her for her willingness to share her space with all these other dogs—not to mention the parrot.

A general blessing of all the creatures present—both human and animal—was followed by an individual blessing for each animal. After being blessed by Perry, each animal was presented with a souvenir bandanna with the message “I was blessed at Christ Church.”