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Has your pet been blessed?

From Rottweilers to white mice, a special blessing was extended to all of God’s creatures at Sacred Heart Church in Santa Cruz. Avril-Ann Braganza reports

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Parishioners, who stepped out of Sacred Heart Church in Santa Cruz (West) on Sunday 12th October after the 10 am mass, were greeted by a few friendly barks and wagging tails as pet owners gathered with their animal companions for the ‘Blessing of Pets’.  Held for the first time at Sacred Heart, Fr. Joe D’Souza blessed almost 40 dogs, eight cats, four birds, two rabbits, a fish and even a few white mice, at the church hall. 

Open for all, irrespective of religion, Fr. Joe welcomed the owners and their beloved pets. As dogs barked and birds screeched, he narrated an incident when, “almost 10 years ago at a parish in Mankhurd, there was a talking parrot amongst the pets that had been brought for blessing. The parrot was making tremendous noise and so the owner told it to ‘shut up’. Immediately after that, the parrot started shouting ‘shut up, shut up’ and all the dogs who were barking actually did fall silent, allowing me to carry on with the blessing.” After a spontaneous prayer thanking St. Francis of Assisi for being the patron saint of animals and to God the Father for creating these pets, Fr. Joe blessed the pets with holy water and walked around the hall saying special prayers for those animals that were sick. 

Fr. Vernon Aguiar, the parish priest of Sacred Heart says, “It’s the first time we’re blessing pets in our parish. People love their pets and want to give them a connection with God. I was quite enthused and happy about it. It also creates a good atmosphere as everyone could bring their pets, no matter to which church or religion they belong”. Sharing his enthusiasm Deanne Menon, a parishioner shares, “In the Old Testament of the Bible, God asked Noah to take two of all God’s creatures into the ark and not just human beings, just before the great flood. I was very happy when they announced about the blessing. Our pets give us unconditional love, comfort and joy. I think it was an amazing effort by Fr. Joe and I was touched when he went around saying special prayers for those animals that were not well.” 

Deborah-Ann Periera and her son Jayden, who brought along their two-year-old Golden Retriever Cadbury Springfield adds, “It’s a very good idea. Cadbury gives us so much joy and happiness and this was a lovely gesture. The pets also seemed happy—wagging their tails and not growling at each other. It’s a nice way of also getting everybody’s pets together and a good way to interact with other owners and their animal companions.” 

Fr. Joe first started blessing pets approximately 15 years ago at our Lady of Dolours Church at Marine Lines and has always had “a very good response. At Marine Lines, many Parsis would bring their dogs. Some of the dogs had bows on their ears, fancy collars and even outfits.” Fr. Joe, who also blessed Wolfy his Pomeranian at the blessing says, “St. Francis of Assisi is the saint of all God’s creatures and the environment. His feast is on the 4th of October and the blessing is in remembrance of him. But as the Diocese celebrated Thanksgiving Day on the 5th of October, I postponed the blessing to the 12th, this year. Even the Pope whose name is inspired by St. Francis of Assisi blessed a guide dog, not long after he was elected. Pets give you so much love, attention and affection. When you come home from work, your dog will jump on you and welcome you. When I get back after saying mass, Wolfy is so happy to see me. Pets give you a special kind of joy that sometimes even family cannot give.” 

 

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