All Creatures Great and Small

On Saturday, October 6, 2018, parishioners of Assumption Church in Morristown gathered with their furry friends to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis with a special Blessing of the Animals.

Fr. Lukasz Wnuk was the celebrant. In attendance were several guinea pigs, an African Clawed frog, a rabbit, a hamster, and of course many wonderful dogs and cats.

Everyone gathered by the Statue of St. Francis and we began our celebration with the hymn based on the words of St. Francis,“All Creatures of Our God and King”. A few of the dogs in the parish joined their voices to those of the Assumption Family! After the Blessing of the Animals, everyone enjoyed welcoming, admiring and learning about the special animal members of each family. Expressions of gratitude for the wonderful pets past and present which were given to us with great love by God were in everyone’s hearts and conversations.

We also celebrated the love of great dogs no longer on the earth and remembered beloved pets joining us from home via photographs. Parishioners without pets were welcome and encouraged to join our celebration and enjoy meeting new pets and people in the Assumption Family.

The previous Tuesday afternoon, students in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Level III program prepared gifts given this morning to parishioners with dogs. The children made 100 gift bags for the celebration which contained the prayer of St. Francis as well as dog treats.

Other gifts were given after the Saturday celebration to parishioners with “all creatures great and small”: cats, birds, parrots, parakeets, hermit crabs, rabbits, hamsters and wild birds!