All God’s creatures

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This article was published 01/10/2016 (3531 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This is one weekend of the year when no one minds if the singing in church goes to the dogs.

“It could be steady barking, or it could be quiet,” says Rev. Wayne McIntosh of the noise level during his West Kildonan parish’s annual blessing of the animals.

“Last year they were mostly quiet until the people started to sing and the piano started to play and one dog started howling.”

Creatures great or small are welcome to blessing of the animals ceremonies, held this weekend at various city churches to commemorate St. Francis of Assisi, the 12th-century Italian monk known for his love of animals.

Unexpected sing-alongs aside, the creatures who usually enjoy the blessing of the pets the most are the two-legged ones who bring their furry friends to churches and public parks for this once-a-year event.

“Some people, this is all they do (here). They don’t come to this church, but the pet blessing means a lot to them,” says McIntosh, who holds a blessing service 1:30 p.m. today at St. Francis Anglican Church (253 Burrin Ave.), which was renamed for the patron saint of animals in 2014 when three parishes merged.

The same holds true at St. Luke’s Anglican (130 Nassau St. N.), where volunteers posted flyers in Osborne Village inviting pet owners to participate in their service, which attracted 14 dogs, one cat, and 30 people last year, says organizer Terri Ashcroft.

Held in the church hall, the event includes a short liturgy, treats for everyone and a photo session for pets and their humans. Participants are encouraged to bring donations of pet food for Winnipeg Harvest.

“It truly is to give thanks for this gift of animals in our lives,” says Ashcroft of today’s 4 p.m. blessing ceremony.

“In the city, animals are an important part of our health.”

That recognition of the importance of animals — and all created beings — led Rev. Geoff Woodcroft to extend his annual pet blessing beyond his Fort Garry church and into public spaces for the past half-dozen years.

After his 10 a.m. morning service at St. Paul’s Anglican (830 North Dr.) on Sunday, where pets of all sizes are invited to fill the pews with their owners, Woodcroft and parishioner Bonnie Kawka hold a noon pet blessing at Craig Street Cats at 1421 St. James St., and then move to the off-leash dog park at Little Mountain Park, just west of Brookside Boulevard in the RM of Rosser, at 2 p.m.

“What I see is the presence of the Creator through all the Creator has made,” the owner of two dogs and a cat says of his experience in extending blessing to animals in all three settings.

“If you look at these folks with their pets, I can actually visualize God in their relationship with these animals.”

Usually held on the weekend before the Oct. 4 saint day of Francis, the blessing service acknowledges the greater natural order as well as the role of animals in our lives, says Rev. Helen Kennedy of St. George’s Anglican (321 Pandora Ave. W.) in Transcona.

“It recognizes the breadth of God’s creation,” she says of the services she’s conducted for the last decade, which always leave her covered in dog hair.

“In an aging congregation, pets are important companions.”

Often depicted with birds, St. Francis is also known for his care for the marginalized as well as for his appreciation of animals and the natural environment, says McIntosh, who leads an evening on life and teachings of the saint Tuesday at 7 p.m., at St. Francis Mission Centre (730 McPhillips St.)

“I think Francis raises to the forefront the human condition and how we can stand together and support each other and we can see that we’re all in this together,” she says.

“When my brother suffers because of poverty, I suffer. When my sister suffers with sickness, I suffer.”

brenda@suderman.com

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