Blessings Beyond Borders

4 Oct 2026

(Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi. World Animal Day)

My gratitude for animals in my life prompts me to observe animal blessing occasions regardless of “race, language or religion.”

Oct 4 was chosen for World Animal Day to align with the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Animals & Ecology.

For logistical, safety & animal welfare reasons, the candidates for large scale animal blessing events are usually pets with their owners.

The Franciscan Prayer of Peace, emphasing transformation & inclusivity, resonates deeply with someone like me.

Marked by a childhood disability, I identify with street & homeless animals easily. They are constantly on the lookout for danger & hoping for tolerance in order to survive.

So in my mind I would just go say Hello to St Francis on his feast day and seek his blessings on the voiceless. I would hold their pictures next to his statute with Gubbio, the Wolf.

Am I being silly riding from east to west after tuition work on a sunday, and incurring extra transport charges to take hazy pictures with a statue?

Doubt rose.

Oct 4 comes only once a year. Haze or no haze, if I find it too troublesome and grab fare too steep to go to a church in my own country to give thanks & ask for blessings, why bother going Nepal?

St Francis won.😊

And as soon as I made up my mind & included a detour for a friend to go to St Mary of the Angels, the means to take me to church & send me home after that materialised.

While we contemplated by the statue of St Francis & Gubbio, a living Franciscan Friar came to bless us, give us medallions for animals & wish us safety on our journeys ahead. 🙏🪔🪷