By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Journal Lifestyle Editor
A little girl brought a hamster. One family had three birds in a cage. A couple pulled a wagon with their two dogs, one of whom is “getting very old.” Others arrived with cocker spaniels and Labrador retrievers straining at their leashes. One brought a horse.
Fr. William Anderson had a blessing for each one – great or small – in celebration of the fast of Saint Francis of Assisi, who has been known for centuries as the patron saint of animals.
The annual blessing of the animals was held in the garden of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Perry. This was the third year that the blessing has taken place, and the absence of cats was a notable change – not because they weren’t welcome to attend, but possibly because cat owners have found that their pets aren’t happy in the company of a big crowd of dogs.
The dogs mostly behaved very well.
The lone horse at the ceremony stood patiently off to one side, its reins held by Kathy Persinger.
Persinger explained that the horse, Dolly, has been lonely.
She was the constant companion of Persinger’s young daughter, Mackenzie, who was killed in an automobile accident last year.
Persinger’s other daughter, Madaline, was there with her hamster, Cocoa, in a cage. She took Cocoa out and held him carefully when it was his turn to be blessed.
For those unfamiliar with Saint Francis of Assisi, Fr. Anderson wrote recently that Fracesco di Bernadone, was born into a very weathy family, but after a spiritual crisis decided to devote himself to helping the poor.
He formed the Order of Friars Minor, or The Franciscan Order, which became one of the strongest orders in the church.
Fr. Anderson explained that Francesco believed in living in harmony with all creatures of the world. For this reason he became the patron saint of animals and the environment following his canonization as San Francesco, or St. Francis. “The Feast of St. Francis is our opportunity to offer thanksgiving for all our animal friends,” Fr. Anderson explained.
