Feast of St. Francis: Blessing of the Animals

As you well know, if you have read this blog, the animals are an important part of Iona House. Also, you’ve probably gathered that the Christian saints are an important part of Iona House. On one particular day of the year these two important themes come together: the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi (October 4). On this day, it is traditional for Christians to gather in order to bless animals - in honor of Francis’ renowned love and care for animals and all of creation. He is famous for preaching to the birds and seeing in creation “brothers and sisters” in the household of God.

So, this year we held our first-ever blessing of the animals. It was a delightful experience. We remembered the story of St. Francis, we read Scripture passages related to creation (Gen. 1, Ps. 148, etc.), sang “All Creatures of Our God and King”, and blessed the animals with prayers and holy water. We prayed for safety for these precious creatures, and that we would know how to rightly care for them.