West Seattle weekend scenes: Animal blessings at The Mount

| Pets | West Seattle news | West Seattle religion | West Seattle video

Today is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, and that’s why this weekend you had two invitations to get your pets (etc.) blessed. First one happened this morning at Providence Mount St. Vincent; that’s Father Lyle Konen in the video above, delivering the blessing (The Mount asks that residents not be photographed, so as far as the participants go, Cesco the dog at left is all we’ve got, but overall there was quite the crowd – listen for the collar-jingling in the video). Next blessing event is tomorrow, public also invited, at the West Seattle High School parking lot at noon tomorrow, presented by neighboring St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church. Full event info here – not only will blessings be offered, but handmade items will also be for sale, along with refreshments, and if you’re in the mood to add to your household, the Humane Society’s MaxMobile will be there (second half of this post shows its recent appearance at Thriftway).

bl@ster October 4, 2008 (4:00 pm)

Can we PLEASE do something more constructive with our time? Give me a break.

pelicans October 4, 2008 (4:14 pm)

Get a life, bl@ster. Geez.

bl@ster October 4, 2008 (5:02 pm)

Pelicans, did you just get back from the pet blessing? Is your pet blessed now? Bless you too!

d October 4, 2008 (5:10 pm)

Providence Mount St. Vincent has a great open program with their elderly and disabled residents and visiting animals.

I’ve taken my dog up to Mount St. Vincent, particularly during their outdoors’ summer concerts. The residents and their families treat him like a rock star. My dog, and many other animals, are valued by nursing facilities and hospitals for the smiles and joy and unconditional affection they bring to those who need it. Like you bl@ster…maybe you will lose some of that grumpiness if you just get a good dog around you.

datamuse October 4, 2008 (5:44 pm)

Can we PLEASE do something more constructive with our time? Give me a break.

Like complain on WSB that we aren’t being constructive enough with our time? Heavens to betsy!

JumboJim October 4, 2008 (5:44 pm)

Yo bl@sster – you’re free to do whatever you want with your time, including leaving lame comments on a blog. The rest of the world is allowed to do what they want with their time and to judge for themsleves what is a constructive use of time.

caselli78 October 4, 2008 (5:58 pm)

Let me get this straight….

People defending “dog blessings”?

We do live in a strange, bizarre world don’t we?

epl October 4, 2008 (8:43 pm)

caselli78 and bl@ster,
May you someday experience the love of anyone or anything, which equals that of a pet. They never lie, steal, abuse, cheat, coheres, or purposely harm anyone. Even if only for a day, our being there made one elderly resident smile and feel attended to, I’ll take your criticisms as a complement, so with that, thank you.

WSB October 4, 2008 (11:07 pm)

Also it should be noted for those who aren’t aware. These are being offered by faith-based organizations. Providence Mount St. Vincent is part of Providence Health Systems, a ministry of the Sisters of Providence:
http://www.sistersofprovidence.net/another_test_page.php
There are numerous places online where the tradition of the Blessing of the Animals is explained:
http://www.americancatholic.org/features/francis/blessing.asp
As for St. Francis, his inspiration seems to have spread beyond faith borders in a way that St. Christopher (one-time patron saint of travelers) did in my childhood … back in the ’60s, it seemed everybody had a St. Christopher’s medal somewhere in their car. These days, I’ve seen St. Francis statuettes in the gardens (often near the bird baths) of people who may not even entirely understand who he was. – TR

caselli78 October 5, 2008 (12:47 am)

epl: I have 3 cats and 2 dogs that I love very much. That’s not the point here. Remember, it IS possible to love pets and to be a proponent of “pet therapy” while rejecting the nonsense of “blessing” a pet. Come on!

caselli78 October 5, 2008 (12:49 am)

WSB: From that article “But the owner is happy, and who knows what spiritual benefits may result?”

*rolls eyes* Maybe it’s fine to say this is sort of a historical tradition, but to delude ourselves wondering about what “spiritual benefits may result” — come on. That’s straight up ridiculous.

epl October 5, 2008 (7:36 am)

caselli78,
which ever why YOU pay tribute to the joy & love your 3 cats and 2 dogs bring into your life is your choice, just as it is for Christians all over the world to celebrate and give thanks to our pets and the animals we share the earth with. God (who or what ever it may be to each of us) speed.

datamuse October 5, 2008 (11:16 am)

Remember, it IS possible to love pets and to be a proponent of “pet therapy” while rejecting the nonsense of “blessing” a pet. Come on!

Of course it is. You can do that by, for example, not attending the event.

WSB October 5, 2008 (1:14 pm)

Just back from the other “Blessing of the Animals” event, this one presented by St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church outdoors in the WSHS parking lot. I will post pix and video later, but have to say that it was certainly worth it for the first lady in line … she brought a cat. I tracked her down afterward and found out that she had read about the event here on WSB and came because later today, she and her cat had to go to the vet … for him to be euthanized, because he’s in late-stage renal failure. “Kind of like last rites,” she said as cheerily as possible, while her little guy sat very quietly in her arms (any cat owner knows most cats wouldn’t do that in a public place full of dogs, under normal circumstances). I’m still kind of choked up. YMMV.

miws October 5, 2008 (7:39 pm)

I’m not a religious person, and if I currently had a pet would most likely not have participated in the blessing events, but for those who wish to, what’s the harm? Especially for the lady who took her kitty for his “last rites”? My condolences to her, if she reads this.

There have been times, that with the exception of my family and many friends, I have felt that people in general suck. As epl alluded to above, a pet’s love is unconditional.

I’d much rather have more pet blessings, and fewer (actually zero,in a perfect world) cases of animal abuse, neglect and training of animals to be vicious.

Mike

Diana L Guerrero October 7, 2008 (2:02 pm)

What is wrong with a little blessing? I wrote a whole book about the topic. Like it or not the trend is growing and takes place outside of the traditional October festivities of St Francis of Assisi and World Animal Day. I’d love to read your comments if you visit blessingoftheanimals.com

Sorry, comment time is over.