St. Francis of Assisi’s legacy continues to inspire compassionate people of faith to show mercy to all animals. In honor of his feast day on October 4, PETA LAMBS partner Creation Care Church is updating the celebration so that our furry, scaly, and feathered friends can participate safely!
Blessing of the Animals events are popular with well-meaning churches around the world, bringing animals to (and even into) the house of God to be blessed by members of the clergy. Although these events are held with the best intentions, they can be stressful and even dangerous for our companion animals, who can easily become frightened by large groups of people and unfamiliar animals. Some of them have even fled in panic and never returned home. Loving guardians may especially want a blessing for their sick or injured animals, but transportation and noisy crowds only add to their suffering. Large animals, such as horses, cows, and pigs, can be a danger to smaller ones, and if the event takes place outside, inclement weather conditions may be especially difficult for animals accustomed to being indoors.
As a comfortable alternative to these stressful and potentially dangerous events, Pastor Craig Wescoe from Creation Care Church, an online vegan Christian community, is partnering with PETA LAMBS to bring companion animals into the celebration while keeping them safe at home via livestream on October 4 beginning at 7:00 pm EST. He will bless pictures of our animals, pray for each of them individually, and end with a special opportunity for participants to pray for the release and safety of animals exploited or killed in the experimentation, food, fashion, and entertainment industries.
Thanks to Pastor Craig’s compassionate planning, all animals, whether healthy or ill, free or imprisoned, tiny or mighty, on Earth or in heaven, can be included in this beautiful celebration. What better way to honor the patron saint of animals than by safely including them in our spiritual lives?
