Health
Some Blessed Help for Pets Online
Sunday is St. Francis' feast day and PC users who want to have their non-human companions blessed can look to the Web for help.
American Catholic Online American Catholic Online has an updated list of pet blessing services in at least 23 states, according to the Franciscan Communications of Cincinnati. The site also has instructions on a "do-it-yourself pet blessing," an explanation of why people bless their animals and articles about the 12th-century saint.
"St. Francis of Assisi is one of Christianity's favorite saints because he was a simple man who was profoundly in love with the earth and with all creatures," says Franciscan Father Jack Wintz, who helped create the site.
Franciscans claim devotion to the saint, and hits on the Website, have increased in recent years, possibly because of his well-known concerns about nature and the earth, predating the modern ecological movement by more than a few centuries.
American Catholic Online American Catholic Online has an updated list of pet blessing services in at least 23 states, according to the Franciscan Communications of Cincinnati. The site also has instructions on a "do-it-yourself pet blessing," an explanation of why people bless their animals and articles about the 12th-century saint.
"St. Francis of Assisi is one of Christianity's favorite saints because he was a simple man who was profoundly in love with the earth and with all creatures," says Franciscan Father Jack Wintz, who helped create the site.
Franciscans claim devotion to the saint, and hits on the Website, have increased in recent years, possibly because of his well-known concerns about nature and the earth, predating the modern ecological movement by more than a few centuries.
