Blessing By E-Mail Service From Five Pet Place:Symbolic and Meaningful (A Guest Blog By Michael Ostrofsky)

My company Five Pet Place is doing something a little different to celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis, which is coming up on October 4th.

For those who aren't familiar with the Feast, it's where Blessing of the Animals services are held at churches around the world to celebrate the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, known as the Patron Saint of Animals.  The Feast was first added to church calendars in 1585.  Although the day of the Feast is October 4th, services themselves are usually held on the weekend immediately before or after it.

I decided to create a Blessing by E-Mail service for several reasons:

- It's something nice for people who love animals and the animals themselves.  

- It's a fun way to introduce Saint Francis to people who never heard of him.  

- It's easier for cats as the process of rounding cats up and taking them to church is extremely hard on them.  Since they're being placed in a carrier, they think it's a trip to the vet.  And there might be dogs around — so the whole ordeal is stressful.  This way, a cat can be blessed in the comfort of familiar surroundings.

- It's a great way to help the elderly and other shut ins participate.  So if you have a friend or relative like a parent or grandparent who would love to do something like this but can't, go ahead and sign up for the blessing yourself, then print it out and share it on the day of the Feast.

"Napa"

- Finally, Saint Francis means something to me.  Several years ago, my cat Napa was diagnosed with a terrible intestinal disease.  She was rapidly losing weight — and even though her vet was terrific — nothing seemed to be helping her.  An uncle, after hearing of her plight, sent me a Saint Francis medal, so I hung it on the wall by her bed.  Call it a coincidence, call it a miracle — but almost instantaneously her situation stabilized and she wound up living several more very happy and healthy years.  If this blessing can help an animal in need like Napa was — then we've done a little something to make the world a better place.

To receive a blessing, go to https://www.fivepetplace.com/signup/blessing  On the morning of October 4th, the day of the Feast, an e-mail sending the non-denominational blessing will be sent.  Rest assured, e-mail addresses provided for the blessing absolutely will not be sold to anyone or used to send ongoing marketing messages. 

That said, visitors to Five Pet Place are encouraged to take advantage of our other free services — such as our free monthly calendar and cat birthday e-cards.  Just look for the links to these services when signing up for the Blessing by E-Mail.