Eleventh Annual Pine Island Blessing of the Animals
Animals, and those who love them, gathered under threatening skies at St. John’s Episcopal Church in St. James City on Saturday to receive blessings from the Reverend Ryan Wright.
“We celebrate all animals on St. Francis’ Day,” he explained, “because St. Francis developed his relationship with God in the wilderness and through his companionship with the animals he found there. He is known as the patron saint of animals.”
“As it says in the Bible, we give thanks to the Lord especially for the gift of creatures with which we share this life,” Wright continued.
Before blessing the animals, Wright, along with the Reverend Michael Hughes from Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Church in Bokeelia, offered a short service.
“The various churches on the island are coming together for events such as the Blessing of the Animals year round,” Wright explained.
Among those gathered for the service were Gloria and Pete McKeown from Saint James City and their two rescue greyhounds, Beauty and Lark. “These dogs were former race dogs and we are happy we could give them a home,’ they said. “Otherwise, who knows what their fates would have been?”
Jack and Cheryl Kudary from Bokeelia brought Willy and Salem to receive a blessing. “We bring them to be blessed because we feel so blessed to have them in our lives,” they said.
Over the years, Wright has blessed all sorts of animals.
“We’ve had snakes, chickens, I even had one little boy bring a small field mouse in his shirt pocket,” he said. “But today I was honored to bless my first horses, Cowboy and Redmare. Each animal blessed receives a certificate as a reminder of the honor held in the family by their beloved pets. May we be the wonderful people that our pets so believe us to be!”
Some of the animals at the Blessing of the Animals event, however, did not have a family.
Helping Paws Animal Sanctuary brought several cats which are looking for loving homes. “We are a ‘no kill’ shelter, which means any cat brought to us will have a home for life,” Helping Paws’ Marnie Miszewski explained. “We have available for adoption kittens, juvenile and adult cats, and even senior cats for senior citizens. We’re grateful to Rev. Wright for inviting us here today so the community can learn about us and, hopefully, support us as we have many ‘special needs’ cats who require medication and veterinarian care which is quite costly.”
Carol Crane from St. James City thinks she needs to bring her dog, Lucy, to church more often. “This is the best behaved she has ever been,” she said.