Graces of St. Francis Bestowed on Precioso, Itty Bitty, Brutus and Others
It was strong talk from a man of the cloth. “Cats over here, dogs over there, or this will be a living hell,” joked Monsignor Jerome Martinez y Martinez, the rector at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis.
Sunday afternoon marked the annual St. Francis of Assisi’s Blessing of the Animals in the rectory garden of the Basilica. Some 70 pet owners gathered in the misty air of Santa Fe’s first fall weather to garner good wishes for their dogs and cats ... and one love bird.
Marian Sachs had driven up from Albuquerque with her Airedale, Troon, 3 years old. “I’m looking for a protective blessing for my best friend,” Sachs said. “We can seek out our own spiritual whatever, but our pets can’t. I thought I’d expose him — it’s up to him whether he accepts it or not.”
Chelo Rojas had come with her two spaniel mixes, Cassidy and Sundance, both 10 years old. Calling Cia Vendrell the dogs’ “auntie,” Rojas said they come to the blessing every year. Vendrell was there to pray for her dog, Walker, a Siberian husky who slipped out of his collar and ran away in Arkansas during their move to Santa Fe.
Slipping out of their collars didn’t seem like much of a possibility for any of the closely held canines at the rectory, even though there were a few squabbles the owners had to squelch.
As Martinez and priests Oscar Coelho and Vitas Ezeiruaku came forward for the blessings, Martinez reminded the group, “Let’s keep them (the animals) under control, so we don’t have an unseemly incident among God’s creatures.” Then Martinez made a joke about the small black dog he was carrying, “my vicious Chihuahua,” Precioso.
Martinez told the group about St. Francis having an experience in the forest with Brother Juniper, in which Juniper asked why animals are so happy here on Earth and humans are not.
“This is their heaven; ours is somewhere else,” Martinez said St. Francis answered. Then Martinez suddenly interrupted his remarks saying, “Oh, my, here come some llamas — I love it!”
Actually, it was one alpaca, Cocoa Pelli, brought by her owner, Deirdre Murphy of Lamy. “This is her first year here,” said Murphy, after the ceremony, “although last year I brought three. I think they’re born blessed and this is just added grace.”
After Martinez finished his remarks, he said, “If you want us to give an individual blessing to Fifi or whoever, we will do so.” Still holding his Chihuahua Precioso in his arms, Martinez greeted a line of pets saying to each, “With the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, may you be kept free from harm and give much joy and comfort to your master.”
There was Brutus the Yorkie, Loki the Lhasa apso, Luka the Alaskan klee kai, Chili the cockapoo, Itty Bitty the Chihuahua, Gidgette and Random the shelties, Peppers the papillon, Leica the springer spaniel, Heart and Tallulah the giant schnauzers and Peaches the border collie. Not to mention Stella and Joan of Arc, the calico mixes, Boo the Siamese mix and Soleil the love bird.
How do you keep a love bird safe in the midst of a canine/feline minefield? Soleil’s owner, Lisa Galford, kept her in a wire-covered wooden lunchbox. “I’m from the East, so I’m used to the cold, but that’s why I have a towel over her box,” said Galford. She smiled down at Soleil saying, “I think she knows that she’s been blessed.”
As priests Coelho and Ezeiruaku walked among the pets and owners, they explained that Precioso had two more Chihuahua friends at home. “We also have Bonito and Chispa,” said Coelho. “They’re awesome.”
