St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast we celebrate today, was an outright lover of animals. Well, so are we! Some sisters more, some less, but there’s one thing we agree on: we love our monastic sheepdog Chaeli. True, she isn’t the most obedient of the bunch, but at least we can say we’re all working on that virtue together…
St. Julian of Norwich was known to have had a pet too—even modern icons include her fluffy, domesticated cat which she would keep in her anchorage. Supposedly, it helped control the rat population and gave her a chance to enjoy a bit of God’s creation all the while. Perhaps the joy that comes with petting some furry creature or another is God’s way of saying with St. Julian: “All shall be well, all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well!”
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