St. Francis and Birthdays
October 4 was the Feast of St. Francis. Everyone remembers him as patron saint of animals, although he was also the first stigmatist and a great mystic. On Friday, the church had a blessing of the animals, as is traditional on his feast day. (Here in L.A. we have a big blessing of the animals held by the archbishop at the plaza around Easter, but that was started by preservationist Christine Sterling in the 1930s. I wonder if she was even Catholic, and how she pulled it off.) It was also the first Friday of the month, which is important for Catholics following the apparition to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. We have germ theory now, but I imagine these kinds of blessings were much more important to medieval and early Christians. There's really not a person today who believes as the ancient Christians believed, no matter what people like to believe. I was expecting just a blessing, but there was a whole mass in Spanish, so I was quite lost but Anne and the kids had a good time.
Anne brought three of our cats as representatives, including Blessing Squeegee and his mother. BS was born on International Cat Day, after Anne brought his young pregnant mother into the house. His mother has since been fixed, so that won't happen again. Anne keeps bringing in animals, and I keep paying to have them fixed.
Both priests also have birthdays in early October. I horrified Anne by pointing out that Anton Szandor LaVey argued in The Satanic Bible that a person's birthday is the most satanic of holidays, because it is absolutely focused on the self. I thought about telling the priests, but I decided to keep that burden to myself. I'm also not revealing to the younger priest that he shares a birthday with Aleister Crowley.
Anne brought three of our cats as representatives, including Blessing Squeegee and his mother. BS was born on International Cat Day, after Anne brought his young pregnant mother into the house. His mother has since been fixed, so that won't happen again. Anne keeps bringing in animals, and I keep paying to have them fixed.
Both priests also have birthdays in early October. I horrified Anne by pointing out that Anton Szandor LaVey argued in The Satanic Bible that a person's birthday is the most satanic of holidays, because it is absolutely focused on the self. I thought about telling the priests, but I decided to keep that burden to myself. I'm also not revealing to the younger priest that he shares a birthday with Aleister Crowley.