73 Pets Blessed at Bloomfield Hills Church

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI — Some people post pictures of their misbehaving pets on “shaming” sites. At Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills Sunday, 70 dogs and three cats were blessed, some because they’ve done something outlandish but mostly because they are God’s creatures.

The blessing was one of many around the country commemorating the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment, which is observed on Oct. 4.

St Francis, who founded the Catholic Church’s Franciscan order, lived in Italy during the late 12th and 13th centuries, is also noted for his generosity to the poor and his willingness to minister to the lepers.

Although some Rev. Canon William Danaher Jr. blessed some naughty dogs on the lawn of the Episcopalian church Sunday — for example,Trina, a 7-year-old Weimaraner, a “counter surfer” who snatches food she shouldn’t eat, Ellie Tholen, of Birmingham, told the Detroit Free Press — he also opened the blessing by saying, “Make us the people our dogs think we are.”
Each pet was blessed individually. “God bless you and keep you safe all the days of your life,” Danaher said

• See Also: Did You #Reflect4Rosh? Michigan Jews Are, and It's Catching On

The Blessing of Animals isn’t a new event at Christ Church Cranbrook, but for the first time this year, a requiem was held for pets that have died, including the lighting of candles to signify the light of Christ.

The requiem was in recognition for the unique grieving that takes place when a pet is lot and “provides an opportunity for people to name that grief and have catharsis and find some spiritual healing.”

Danaher told the Free Press he’s still moved by an experience 25 years ago when he was training to become an Episcopal priest. He worked at a doctor’s office in Washington, DC, when he encountered a Marine who had to euthanize the family dog.

“He was absolutely shattered, his shoulders were heaving and he was saying, ‘What am I going to tell the kids?’ The suffering of losing a pet is a different kind of pain,” Danaher told the Free Press. “With human beings you can have closure, you can thank them, say ‘I love you.’ We can't communicate the same with animals. It's difficult to have closure.”

» For more on this, including stories about some of the pets that were blessed, go to the Detroit Free Press

Photo by David Locke via Flickr Commons