Blessing of the Animals

   This afternoon at my church (St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church) in Stillwater, Father Ken performed the annual Blessing of the Animals, which is usually held on a Sunday close to the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4).  I put my cat, Captain Morgan, in the pet carrier for his annual pilgrimage into town for the ceremony.  He's a good car rider, and if I could ever get him used to a leash, I'd probably take him with me places more often.
   Anyway, when we got to the church we saw the usual cats and dogs.  Captain Morgan likes most other cats and is pretty tolerant of most dogs that are his size or smaller.  Today, though, somebody brought a horse.

   I love horses, so I took Captain over to meet it.  Other than people who ride their horses down our road occasionally, he's rarely seen horses except from a distance.  Up close and personal was another thing!  He tried to get as far back into the pet taxi as he could as he eyeballed the monster.  The horse, as horses tend to do, took a liking to me and started nudging my arm so I would pet it.  Captain Morgan did not like that one little bit.  He started hissing - I guess he thought the horse was going to eat me or something.
   We went back to where the smaller animals were and the ceremony began.
   Father Ken spoke a few words about biblical stories involving animals and how important animals, especially pets, are to people.  Then he began the blessing, which has parts where he speaks and the people respond. 
   Every time a response was called for, he raised his hand and we responded.  About the third time, the horse had apparently figured out that when Father Ken raised his hand, the people spoke (including the horse's owner).  At this point, the horse whinnied.  And he did it another time or two during the response.
   Animals truly are amazing, aren't they?  And they certainly are a blessing!