Blessing of the Animals: A Guide to Prayers Ceremonies Celebrating Pets Other Creatures

by Diana L. Guerrero

This compendium of stories, prayers, ceremonies, and engaging tidbits is a blessing not only for the animals of the world, but for all animal lovers, too. It welcomes all creeds, all breeds, and covers everything from amusing contemporary phenomena—with such chapters as “Rites of Paw-sage: Muzzle Tov,” about “bark” and other mitzvahs—to more serious issues of pet illness, loss, and burial. There are blessings for the furry, feathered, scaled, and finned; prayers for a new pet; fascinating background on the historical roots of critter celebrations (plus information on where to find some of the most popular ones today); tales of muttrimony and other pet nuptials; and advice on hosting a purr-fect party or participating in a pet pageant.

Genres: Animals

144 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, there's only so much I can do with a book about Blessing of the Animals; but there's only so much an author could do, as well, and Diana L. Guerrero seems to cover all the bases, and a bunch more than I would ever have thought of. This, for me, is not a "sit down and read it" kind of book. I use it for a few occasions: prayers for sick or deceased pets (there are more: for recovering, newly-born, lost, or traveling pets, plus others, I'm sure) and for our Blessing of the Animals service on the Feast of St. Francis.

It also includes many stories, and ideas for interesting occasions that I'd never use (Farm Animals Blessing, Equine Blessing, Prayers for Animal Welfare Sunday, or Prayers for Pet Selection) and some which I found outlandish, and have a hard time imagining anybody using (Pet Vows -- basically pet marriages?? really?? or "puppy socials, yappy hours, meow mixers, and Howl-o-Ween parties"), but there is a special section for Jewish "Rites of Paws-sage: Muzzle-Tov!", especially necessary since animal prayers are usually one-sidedly Christian, and Jewish pet-lovers can find appropriate prayers and ideas in that section.

Cutesy? Yeah, sometimes almost unbearably so. But pet lovers and clergy can find much of use here; I have been asked several times for prayers when someone has to euthanize a miserably sick pet, or when one is near death. These prayers help.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read, however the dog wedding section is disappointingly heteronormative

[Diana Guerrero · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this! Shares the origins of pet blessings and discusses a lot of contemporary ceremonies people can share.