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Blessing of the Animals

Today is the Blessing of the Animals at OLR, and I am soooo EXCITED! We're going to have a special  Mass and the whole school will be there. Gorilla is bringing his goldfish, Sloshy. Oliver is bringing a snail he found in the garden this morning. He named him Snail. I can't wait to meet all of the animal friends of my OLR Catholic School Family. They'll be mewing, and barking, and chirping, and slithering, and - well, who knows? I'm sure there will be some surprises.

The Blessing of the Animals is in honor of the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, which was Tuesday, October 4. Saint Francis was a very holy man who loved Jesus so much that he gave up everything that he owned and went to live as a poor beggar, devoting all of his time to prayer and helping people in need. He saw God in the people around him, including the very poor and the lepers. He also saw God in God's creation, including animals. Saint Francis was very kind to animals, because he knew that God loved them. 

Saint Francis did so much good that many people began to join him, including his friend Saint Clare. Saint Francis founded the Franciscan Order. I found a web page created by some present day Franciscans at AmericanCatholic.org. They have posted some cool stories about Saint Francis and the animals, including Saint Francis and the wolf of Gubbio. Click HERE to vist!