On Saturday I brought my dog to the Blessing of the Animals hosted by our Animal Ministry at the Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley. The ceremony was held at Pines Park, a stunning location overlooking the Pacific under a canopy of pine trees. We opened with a beautiful group prayer delivered by Kathy Storey.
We pray to God, our Creator, to bless our pets with your radiant light and love.
May our animal friends have good health, happy lives and always be protected and safe.
We ask for better understanding as we learn from our animal friends' wisdom, their innocence, their loyalty and particularly their seeming ability to not judge human beings unkindly.
Thank you for the pleasures, playfulness and sometimes the surprising humor our pets display.
Thank you for their companionship and friendship, especially for those lonely hours we may have experienced.
Thank you for our companion's natural ability to teach us to be aware of the present moment.
Thank you for the pure beauty of every animal they are all works of art, and may we appreciate your creation of this masterpiece.
Bless all animals in harms way, heal the sick, protect those who are lost and guide them to safety.
Thank you for the gift of love.
Next each individual pet was blessed.
My little Jack Russell was very excited about being part of the ceremony.
Here you can see Toni Sparks giving a wonderful blessing to my little dog. (She may have been expecting a cookie).
A special spot was set up to honor the beloved pets who have made their transition.
We wrote their names with loving messages and attached them to our tree.
Candles, pictures, even urns were brought. We gathered and shared our pet stories of love.
As I listened to everyone's stories I couldn't help but keep marvel at how much happiness and love our critters bring us and I was so thankful to our Animal Ministry for creating this special time and place.
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