I wasn't sure if this was the correct forum but I wanted to mention that I received my annual bulletin from the largest church in NYC..Cathedral Of Saint John The Divine. Every year they mark the annual blessing of animals..St. Francis tradition. It is a beautiful mass and people can bring their pets to be blessed. It always gets TV coverage. It's so great because all animals are a blessing and deserve to be remembered.
People can light candles for their pets, both alive and those who moved on. The service is a reminder that our animals, domestic and wild are a blessing, every day of the year

They used to do the same thing in Montreal but I hear nothing about it any more. The priest who ran it became very well known through his exposure in the media. He was known simply as Father John. He passed away about 4 yrs ago and it seems the tradition might have died with him.
Funny thing tho was that Father John's diocese was not in Montreal but about 40 miles away in the Laurentian Mountains. He came to Montreal to perform the blessings. He was an Anglican priest but so well thought of that Catholics, Protestants and Jews brought their animals to be blessed. The animals took center stage not religion.

maniac wrote:They used to do the same thing in Montreal but I hear nothing about it any more. The priest who ran it became very well known through his exposure in the media. He was known simply as Father John. He passed away about 4 yrs ago and it seems the tradition might have died with him.
Funny thing tho was that Father John's diocese was not in Montreal but about 40 miles away in the Laurentian Mountains. He came to Montreal to perform the blessings. He was an Anglican priest but so well thought of that Catholics, Protestants and Jews brought their animals to be blessed. The animals took center stage not religion.

You are so right...animals take center stage and not religion. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC is Episcopal but those who come with their pets are from all backgrounds. It is just the fact that St. Francis" tradiiton of blessing animals led to it being celebrated on the closest Sun to Oct 4, each year. It's such a spectacular sight because the Cathedral is so large, elephants, goats and all forms of wildlife are there. Of course....pigeons are well represented. Our animals are such a blessing to us, they should be celebrated every day