Friday, September 28, 2012

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.

31 comments:

  1. We signed up!

    We HAD to...did you know that I came to Glogirly from the St. Francis Animal Shelter here in Minnesota?
    : )

    This is really beautiful...thank you for sharing it with us.
    xo, Katie

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  2. Oh Michael! Do I know St. Francis!!! How I love the prayer of St. Francis and my mother literally has a direct connection to St. Anthony. I'm not exaggerating. We are believers in miracles and the power of faith. In my family's most difficult moments (ie. after losing job), little miracles did occur. You know this is a wonderful idea. I have a dog but the six cats--I've often wanted to ask my priest to come to my condo to bless my kitties, including the outdoor Riverfront Cats too.Why not! This is so unexpected and wonderful. Thank you! Christine
    www.riverfrontcats.com

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  3. We signed up too!
    Ever since I found out about this, I had always wanted to bring the kids to be blessed but it was just impossible with so many of them. This is just great! Thanks for sharing. :)

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  4. What a nice post and nice service.... Thanks for sharing the info.

    Have a great day.

    hugs, Max, Bugsy and Knuckles

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  5. This is a wonderful idea, and so thoughtful.

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  6. Ditto Fisher and Staff. Very nice of you. Have a fabulous Friday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  7. What a fabulous idea. Here at St. George's Anglican Cathedral, they do the Blessing of the Animals every year, and some do take their cats (must be very easy-going, laid-back cats!), but mostly it's dogs.

    We'll check it out--we like that it's non-denominational. Non-specific religion would be even better!

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  8. This is such a wonderful idea. We sure are going over and signing up. When I was much younger, I used to fox hunt on horses and at the beginning of every season they would have a blessing of the hounds and it was terrific. Going over to sign up.

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  9. That is very cool indeed! Our Priest comes by the house so we dont have to go anywgere.

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  10. I will check it out! I love this idea. They have events for this in my town, but like you said, it's hard to take kitties to things like that. I know my two don't even like the short ride in the car to get to vet appointments.

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  11. cody .....thanx mew for this ... we haz been saying for mor yeers than we can count " de blessings oh st francis two ewe" everee time a pal kneads help...N it werks...st francis iz one awesum rockin dood, even if him iz a burd lover...mom haza st fancis rite out de front window by R perches N boy, can him tell sum storeez !!! hay, haza grate week oh end N thanx again for de link

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  12. Thats lovely and thanks for sharing.. Hugs GJ xx

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  13. I signed up too. Thank you for this information. The instructions said to enter your pets name and your email address but I only saw where to enter, then re-enter my email. Not sure where the pets name was supposed to go. We can sure use the blessing as our kitty is currently battling CRF.

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  14. Michael - it was a pleasure to see you here today on Cat Chat! You have such beautiful products for cats at your Five Pet Place, but this is extra special! I am going to sign up - I have my own miracle cat who stated with me for 3 extra years, so I strongly believe in Animal Blessings.

    Purrs from the Zee/Zoey gang

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  15. OMC! This is so awesome. We are so going to sign up!

    THANK YOU so much for sharing this, Caren and Cody.

    Hugs!

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  16. @meowmeowmans you are most welcome!!

    @Chrissykat first, purrs and prayers for your dear kitty...((((hugs))))) and you are most welcome! It was our pleasure to feature Michael. I asked Michael the same question when I went to sign up. You just enter your email and the prayer is for all animals. Sorry that the post was a little misleading because yes it does say to enter their name but you can't.

    @Maggie we thought so too!

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  17. Thank you! We love this! We do participate & believe in this; it is our religion. We signed up. With Chloe's current problem, she needs extra care. Thank you so much for this! ~xo~

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  18. we are good friends with St Francis! Great post - we will share this so all can take part.

    Thanks for coming to our party!

    cats of wildcat woods

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  19. What a beautiful event to celebrate and what a great way to receive blessings for our animals! Take care
    x

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  20. Hello, everyone.

    First of all, thanks to everyone who signed up -- and for your kind words.

    Regarding the sign up page on our web site, it had until a few moments ago a slight error. It said to enter your pet's name and e-mail address -- yet would only let you enter an e-mail address.

    The enter your name aspect actually applies to our complimentary cat birthday e-card service -- where we can send your cat a birthday card on the date specified.

    We apologize for any confusion and inconvenience. Rest assured, if you entered your e-mail address, your blessing will be sent.

    Enjoy!

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  21. what a wonderful idea. may it be the blessing you want it to be and then some.

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  22. What a cool idea! We can take our pets to church for a blessing, but our kitties don't care for that kind of outting (or any other kind). St Francis is so awesome. How amazing to be known for hundreds of years for a love of animals.

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  23. @Oui Oui, we agree!

    @Connie what a nice sentiment!

    @Michael thanks so much for stopping by with that clarification. Thanks for guest posting as well! It is our pleasure to feature you again!

    @CATACHRESIS we think it is pretty cool too!

    @Old Kitty we so agree!

    @Cheri you are most welcome!! Thank you for sharing as well!

    @McGuffy Ann sending our purrs and prayers as well for Chloe

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  24. Wow, what a cool thing!

    Nubbin wiggles,
    Oskar

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  25. How wonderful, thoughtful and timely. After the week we have just endured in regards to our beloved Jack Russell, Penny, this is a most profound and hopeful tonic.
    Thank you and I shall forward this posting via various social networks.
    In kindness, Gary.

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  26. What a lovely idea! Thank you!
    I signed up =^.^=
    Purrs

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