Church In Ohio Holds Special Mass For Pets And Their Parents!

St. Francis of Assisi is known as the patron saint of animals, Merchants, and ecology. He was also the founder of the Franciscan order and was born at Assisi in Umbria in 1811.

He died at the age of 44 and was a canonized as a saint two years after his death. According to Catholic.org, Francis once preached to hundreds of birds, and the birds were all still as he talked and walked among them. Queen of Heaven Catholic Church in Ohio, held mass this month outdoors and the families were allowed to bring their pets!

The church usually holds this mass near the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi in early October, but they decided to have the mass early to avoid the cooler weather. So, Reverend David Durkee did not get too cold. Instead he had to deal with the heat! Nearly 200 people and their pets came to the service, most of the pets were dogs, but some Guinea pigs, cats, and fish were in attendance too.

Many of the people had umbrellas as shelter from the sun, others stood in the pavilion. Not only did the people get a special blessing at the mass, so did all the pets. In his sermon, Durkee talked about animals being a blessing and said a special prayer for them. He even read from Wendy Francisco’s book entitled God and Dog. After all, according to the Bible, Jesus was born in the manger and had donkeys and cows for warmth.

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