Members of La Côte Church and of our host Swiss church in Gingins came along to this very popular service bringing with them their family pets or photographs of pets to join in the service of blessing as we celebrated St Francis’ Feast Day.
We first met outside the church and then took our places inside Gingins church spreading out so that there was no possibility of conflict between the beautiful collection of dogs present. There was also one Guinea Pig who was there to be blessed. A few members brought along photographs of their beloved pets.
The service started with the congregation asking God for his blessing on all creatures with us in church and all those in the wild. We all sang together a song about thinking of a world without flowers, trees, sunshine and breezes, also without any animals, fish and birds. It ended thanking God for all living creatures.
Each animal present was then blessed as well as the ones on the photographs that had been brought along.
The service ended with a blessing which St. Francis gave to Brother Leo, his companion:
The Lord bless you and watch over you.
The Lord make his face to shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord look kindly on you and give you peace.
We then all congregated outside church where we enjoyed refreshments with a beautifully decorated cake made by Sabine Shabetai.
