On Friday, October 7 (First Friday) from 6-7 p.m., St. John’s Church, 321 W. Chestnut Street, Lancaster, will celebrate our first Francis Fest–the Blessing of the Animals. Bring your four footed, feathered or gilled friends to the Mulberry Street parking area, and invite your neighbors to come with their pets. It is a special time to give thanks for those animals who bring such joy and companionship to our lives. Horses from the Lancaster City Police Mounted Unit and bloodhounds from the Red Rose K-9 Search and Rescue Team will be on hand for the festivities. Donations of food and other pet items will be collected for local animal shelters.
The Blessing of the Animals has become a common event worldwide every year around October 4th, the Feast Day of St. Francis. There is indeed a lighthearted aspect to the day, the event and the saint credited with bringing this service to the Church as a celebration of all Creation.
Francis of Assisi (nee Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone), born in the late 12th century, only lived into his mid-40’s. Legends abound about the amazing life of this most popular saint who loved all Creation: “He preached to the birds; blessed fish that had been caught, releasing them back into the water; communicated with wolves, brokering an agreement between one famous ferocious wolf and the citizens of a town that were terrified of it and used real animals when he created the very first, live, Christmas nativity scene.”
But there was also a serious side to Francis and his message. For he emphasized that creation includes more than humankind. In his Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon, Francis praises God for “Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, producing varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs,” and for Brother Sun…beautiful and radiant with great splendor…who bears the likeness of God Most High. It is an important lesson and invitation for us 21st century Christians… “a striking witness that when we are at peace with God, we are better able to devote ourselves to building up that peace with all Creation which is inseparable from peace among all peoples.”