How to prepare your rabbit for a Blessing of the Animals

Our lionhead rabbit, Baby, has gone through some pretty stressful health issues over the last few years.

He’s had several instances of GI Stasis, a hurt foot, and dental work.

In addition to great medical care, our family tries to get Baby all the spiritual help he can get!

One of the things you can do to help your own rabbit is to pray for the intercession of St. Melangell, the patron saint of hares.

You can also turn to St. Francis, a saint well known for his love of animals big and small!

Who is St. Francis of Assisi?

St. Francis of Assisi lived from 1181 AD to 1226 AD.

He is a Catholic saint, known for loving animals! In many pieces of artwork, St. Francis is depicted with animals, especially woodland creatures. In a lot of works, he’s even holding a bunny!

His feast day is October 4.

Here are some of his interesting animal encounters:

Converting a wolf

Around 1220 AD, St. Francis converted a giant wolf. The wolf had been terrorizing the people living in Agobio, Italy.

When St. Francis went to go make peace with the wolf, he found out the wolf was just hungry. The townspeople agreed to feed the wolf every day, and there were no issues after that.

The wolf ended up dying of old age two years later and was buried in his own tomb.

All things of creation are children of the Father and thus brothers of man. God wants us to help animals, if they need help. Every creature in distress has the same right to be protected.
St. Francis of Assisi

Preaching to the birds

One day while traveling near the town of Bevagna, St. Francis decided to preach to some nearby birds.

They were very attentive! At the end of his teachings, he gave them a blessing before they flew away.

From then on, St. Francis often preached to animals.

Helping a trapped rabbit

A much lesser known story, St. Francis actually saved a caught bunny!

While St. Francis was in Greccio, Italy, one of his religious brothers brought him a rabbit that had been caught in a trap.

St. Francis told the bunny to be more careful next time and released him. The bunny must have known what an animal lover St. Francis was and hopped right back into his lap! It kept hopping back to him even after he brought the rabbit closer to the woods. St. Francis couldn’t help petting the little guy!

Another friar ended up having to take the bunny out to the woods instead.

Oddly enough, the same situation happened again with a different rabbit while St. Francis was on the island in the Lake of Perugia.

What is the Blessing of the Animals?

Much like the name suggests, the Blessing of the Animals is when a priest gives your pet a special blessing.

It’s a nod to St. Francis’ love for animals and their protection.

If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
St. Francis of Assisi

When is the Blessing of the Animals?

Look in the bulletin of your church or a church nearby. They usually have a digital copy available on their website. Some more tech savvy churches may also have a Facebook event for their blessing.

Each parish is different.

At our church, the priest said most churches try to hold the Blessing of the Animals on the Saturday closest to the feast day of St. Francis.

Make sure to mark your own calendar so you don’t miss it.

How to prepare for the Blessing of the Animals

Most Blessing of the Animals will have a variety of pets.

For the safety of your rabbit, you’ll want to make sure you have a sturdy carrier. It only takes a moment for a well meaning (or not so friendly) dog to lunge up at an exposed rabbit they may view as a toy or worse, prey. You want to make sure your rabbit feels as safe as possible amidst possible barking.

There are hard shell carriers or purse-esque carriers like the one I have. Either style works as long as you make sure you have a good grip on it!

You may also opt to have your rabbit in a pet stroller with zipped up mesh. There are all kinds of strollers out there for pets, from deluxe models with storage to thrifty finds with just the basics.

A pet stroller is great for:

Longer blessings, since a rabbit in a carrier can get pretty heavy
People with multiple rabbits

What to expect when you get there

Make sure you get to the blessing event at least ten minutes early so you can get the lay of the land. You’ll have plenty of time to get your carrier or stroller ready, pick a spot, and get a gauge of the behavior of other people’s pets.

If there are out of control pets, you can always bring your rabbit back to your car. Ask the priest if he’d be willing to bless your rabbit from that safer distance after the main blessing.

After everyone is gathered, the priest may say a few prayers.

Our priest said a general prayer for animals. He said a separate prayer for sick pets and pets that had passed away within the last year. He also gave us all a St. Francis prayer card that we then read together.

Following the general prayer, the priest will go up to each pet, sprinkle them with holy water, and say a short blessing over them. This is fairly quick, so soak it all in!

It’s helpful to have another person with you to take photos and/or videos as you focus on keeping your rabbit safe.

A rainy day didn’t stop our bun from getting his blessing!

Praying for the intercession of St. Francis

Catholics don’t pray to saints, but we sure do ask for their help reaching God! Think of it like asking your dad to talk to your mom for you when you really want something for Christmas.

Here’s a prayer you can say yourself whenever you think your bunny needs an extra boost!

St. Francis,

We know you have a deep love of animals and view them as your brothers and sisters.

Look kindly upon my pet rabbit, knowing they’re a true member of my family.

Please ask God to protect and watch over my fur child, protecting them from disease, harm, and discomfort.

Help me to be in tune with needs of my bunny, St. Francis, just as you cared for all God’s creatures.

Amen.