In a message dated 98-06-17 03:40:58 EDT, you write:
> I realised I'd never heard a prayer for animals
> before at Sunday mass and wondered if there was some theological objection.
> I know there used to be a tradition of blessing farm animals - maybe
> because they provide milk, wool, eggs etc. for humans. But praying for the
> safety and protection of wild creatures - why do we not do that more often?
Dear Mary,
I don't know why we do not pray more often for animals.
In the Anglican Missal, though, and I would assume the Roman Missal of yore as
well, there are prayers "In time of Murrain among Animals," the Collect being:
>O God , who hast given even the dumb beasts to be a succour and comfort to
man's labour: we humbly beseech thee that thou wouldest not suffer them to
perish; but grant that, forasmuch as the sustenance of man without them cannot
but fail, so they may ever be profitable for our necessities. Through...<
This collect is indeed a moving tribute to the proper relationship between man
and animal, especially "the sustenance of man without them cannot but fail"!
In Christ
Sandford MacLean
Louisville, Kentucky
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