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SenorSalsa
Guest
Dont forget that he has to tithe too
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mercygate
Guest
Actually, I am told that the communion rail was invented to keep the goats and sheep out of the sanctuary.
Here’s a bit of irony. Our St. Francis animal blessing is always accomopanied by a hot dog roast. Go figure.
CatholicCajun
New member
Well I don’t know about dogs, but we had this HUGE roach running around the church at Mass this Sunday and we were all hoping it was not crawling our way, but it made it’s way to the front of the church.
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Sabda
Guest
Honestly, people take their dogs to stores all the time around here. I have seen dogs in stores such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot. Where they service dogs? I don’t know. I know one was a daschund. To my knowledge Daschunds are not usually used in the areas of service. 
We have a housedog and honestly, she is so quiet that it is very easy to forget that she is here. She will lay at my feet for hours without getting up. She is currently at my feet right now.
She is not a service dog but she “told” me when our son was fixing to develop epilepsy last April.
As long as the dog is well behaved I don’t see why it would be a problem for the priest to bring his dog to Mass. After all a well behaved dog is far less of a distraction than say a bunch babies. We had half dozen babies at Mass this past Sunday and they talked, cried, etc thoughout the WHOLE Mass. Father had to talk LOUDLY just to be heard over the babies. He had some nice words to say about the babies at the end of Mass. How the sound of babies means that the Church is growing and how God hears the cries of babies before he hears fathers prayers. A dog laying quietly would have been nothing compared to those babies.
No we don’t have a cry room for the record.
We have a housedog and honestly, she is so quiet that it is very easy to forget that she is here. She will lay at my feet for hours without getting up. She is currently at my feet right now.
She is not a service dog but she “told” me when our son was fixing to develop epilepsy last April.As long as the dog is well behaved I don’t see why it would be a problem for the priest to bring his dog to Mass. After all a well behaved dog is far less of a distraction than say a bunch babies. We had half dozen babies at Mass this past Sunday and they talked, cried, etc thoughout the WHOLE Mass. Father had to talk LOUDLY just to be heard over the babies. He had some nice words to say about the babies at the end of Mass. How the sound of babies means that the Church is growing and how God hears the cries of babies before he hears fathers prayers. A dog laying quietly would have been nothing compared to those babies.
No we don’t have a cry room for the record.
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palmas85
Guest
Why wouldn’t it be allowed?
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SenorSalsa
Guest
A google search yielded that Dachshunds can be used to alert people that their blood sugar is low.Honestly, people take their dogs to stores all the time around here. I have seen dogs in stores such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot. Where they service dogs? I don’t know. I know one was a daschund. To my knowledge Daschunds are not usually used in the areas of service.
Just about any animal can be a service animal. There was an article in our paper a while ago about quarter horses being seeing eye horses. They are not much bigger than your average Lab or Retriever, and can be very helpful if a person happens to also be alergic to dogs
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Sabda
Guest
You mean miniature horses. Quarter horses are the size of your standard horse. I have watched shows about the little minis and they are amazing. Like I said to MY knowledge I had never heard of a dachshund being used as a service dog. Usually you just hear about the labs and retrievers being service dogs. I can’t say I’m all that surprised about dachshunds being used as service dogs.
Labs and Goldens are often used to aid the blind or people who need mobility assistance.You mean miniature horses. Quarter horses are the size of your standard horse. I have watched shows about the little minis and they are amazing. Like I said to MY knowledge I had never heard of a dachshund being used as a service dog. Usually you just hear about the labs and retrievers being service dogs. I can’t say I’m all that surprised about dachshunds being used as service dogs.
But service dogs for the hard of hearing, for those with medical conditions, or other problems for which don’t require size can be any breed. In fact a small dog may be more practical in some cases. A lot of service dogs are mixed breeds that come from animal shelters.
At one time I think it was customary for service dogs to wear a harness (as opposed to just a collar) to indicate the dog was “on-duty” but I don’t think this so common today. If the dog in the church WAS wearing a harness that would be a good indicator that it was a service dog.
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Miserissima
Guest
Oh what a can of worms this thread has opened. Some posters seem soft-hearted and others seem scandalized. I’m going to opt for the middle of the road here.
As far as a priest’s relationship goes with a dog, God has given us [animal lovers] a special bond to His creatures. But like everything else, it shouldn’t be abused or paraded as to cause scandal.
Here’s a piece of sentimentality: remember the movie the Bells of St. Mary, when Mr. Bogardis (sp?) goes into a church to pray and a lowly cur follows him in? Yeah, that scene gets me every time.
My household houses three rescue beagles. I wouldn’t bring them to Mass. But I do see how God may use animals in His way and in His time, just the way God will use people (al la Paul and his horse).
I also remember the funeral of a priest in my hometown, less than a mile from my house:
As far as a priest’s relationship goes with a dog, God has given us [animal lovers] a special bond to His creatures. But like everything else, it shouldn’t be abused or paraded as to cause scandal.
Here’s a piece of sentimentality: remember the movie the Bells of St. Mary, when Mr. Bogardis (sp?) goes into a church to pray and a lowly cur follows him in? Yeah, that scene gets me every time.
My household houses three rescue beagles. I wouldn’t bring them to Mass. But I do see how God may use animals in His way and in His time, just the way God will use people (al la Paul and his horse).
I also remember the funeral of a priest in my hometown, less than a mile from my house:
That dog, Sandy, even became the parish’s mascot and had its own page on the parish’s website. I moved away shortly thereafter, and still wonder what happened to that beautiful Golden Lab.
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mercygate
Guest
OK, we’re meandering off topic, but I had occasion to look up Fr. Richard Rego on line the other day, and on his parish web site was a photo of him with his Shar-pei, “Eggroll.” How cute is that!
http://saintgianna.net/images/Picture 3.png
A priest in our parish used his chocolate lab to evangelize the neighborhood. As he walked the dog, he would stop and chat with everybody he met. He got a lot of “good will” points for the parish with that.
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OutinChgoburbs
Guest
When I was growing up, one of our priest had a dog named Penny. She didn’t go to Mass, but she matriculated through high school. Our parish had one, and a grade school, too. The dog LOVED school, and she LOVED teenagers.
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Patrick60
Guest
I have no clue what church teaching is on this, but ultimately, that’s what I would defer to. My own impressions mean nothing, but I am reminded of St. Francis preaching to any number of animals. However, I’m not aware that he preached to any animal during Mass, so his example may be limited.
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Reynardus
Guest
There was this parish I went to in my old college. The church was a circular building with the altar right at the center. Surrounding it in likewise fashion were the pews. The multiple church doors were open all around it inviting everyone and everything.
And I do mean everything.
During the hot humid noon hours (this isn’t in the States but in the Philippines and it’s very hot here), beggars would come in and lie on the pews. Stray cats could also be found nestling somewhere with regularity. And there was this old dog that wandered perpetually all over the church.
And of course, sparrows can be seen flying in the rafters. I don’t know how it is in the States but this one is something common to every parish here except for some expensive air-conditioned ones but the latter is quite rare. Most have open air windows or doors.
Inspite of which, people would drop in at all hours. Some would go to the portrait of the Divine Mercy and pray. Others would go to the statue of Our Lady, hold her hand and look up at her lovingly. And of course, there’s Eucharistic Adoration 24 hours.
Heh, I remember when this old diseased beggar woman conned me out of a lot of money once. She used to loiter around this church. I have no negative grudges against then and now, she probably needed the money and ever since the con, she used to wave at me everytime we met somewhere around the campus. Fond memories.
I don’t know why I’m mentioning this. But this topic about the dog reminds me of that parish. For some strange reason, all of these elements inappropriate as they are in the parish gives me a warm fuzzy feeling of God’s all-accepting love. When I still went to mass there, I felt extremely welcome even though there wasn’t a single human voice greeting me.
And I do mean everything.
During the hot humid noon hours (this isn’t in the States but in the Philippines and it’s very hot here), beggars would come in and lie on the pews. Stray cats could also be found nestling somewhere with regularity. And there was this old dog that wandered perpetually all over the church.
And of course, sparrows can be seen flying in the rafters. I don’t know how it is in the States but this one is something common to every parish here except for some expensive air-conditioned ones but the latter is quite rare. Most have open air windows or doors.
Inspite of which, people would drop in at all hours. Some would go to the portrait of the Divine Mercy and pray. Others would go to the statue of Our Lady, hold her hand and look up at her lovingly. And of course, there’s Eucharistic Adoration 24 hours.
Heh, I remember when this old diseased beggar woman conned me out of a lot of money once. She used to loiter around this church. I have no negative grudges against then and now, she probably needed the money and ever since the con, she used to wave at me everytime we met somewhere around the campus. Fond memories.
I don’t know why I’m mentioning this. But this topic about the dog reminds me of that parish. For some strange reason, all of these elements inappropriate as they are in the parish gives me a warm fuzzy feeling of God’s all-accepting love. When I still went to mass there, I felt extremely welcome even though there wasn’t a single human voice greeting me.
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bknebel
Guest
2 thoughts on this:
#1- we have a local priest here who’s dog sits in the sacristy doorway during Mass and even accompanies Father in the confessional. Hilde is the best dog around. Better behaved than some parishioners. Now this priest is very traditional in his ways at Mass (cassock, chalice veil, etc) and I don’t think if the dog near the church was a major problem that he would do it…
And secondly,
Whats wrong with a dog bringing his Master to Mass? Sounds like the dog is doing a great spiritual work of mercy! haha.
#1- we have a local priest here who’s dog sits in the sacristy doorway during Mass and even accompanies Father in the confessional. Hilde is the best dog around. Better behaved than some parishioners. Now this priest is very traditional in his ways at Mass (cassock, chalice veil, etc) and I don’t think if the dog near the church was a major problem that he would do it…
And secondly,
Whats wrong with a dog bringing his Master to Mass? Sounds like the dog is doing a great spiritual work of mercy! haha.
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mercygate
Guest
When I finally got my first dog, and began walking him, I learned for the first time in my life how many people hate dogs, and how many people are afraid of them.
Prudence alone would dictate that aside from service dogs, the little beasts should generally not come to church.
Prudence alone would dictate that aside from service dogs, the little beasts should generally not come to church.
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Miserissima
Guest
I wanted to mention that in the Book of Tobit, Tobias’ dog is mentioned twice:
But I don’t think that the dog would have been allowed in a synagogue or a house of worship.
I guess we can agree that service dogs are OK, but pets aren’t. There’s a difference that has to be understoond here.
Finally, I wanted to share this with you, because it’s just too cute:
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
The dog has no other purpose than to be a companion to his master (shades of Telemachus here). The dog didn’t save anyone like a St. Bernard in an avalance; he’s not even as integral to the story as the gall of the fish was.
But I don’t think that the dog would have been allowed in a synagogue or a house of worship.
I guess we can agree that service dogs are OK, but pets aren’t. There’s a difference that has to be understoond here.
Finally, I wanted to share this with you, because it’s just too cute:
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
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George_C
Guest
Awwwwwwwwwww…
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SianTeresa
Guest
I’m not sure what I think about this. One of my local priests lets his dogs wonder around during Adoration, but not during Mass. My gut reaction was that it was disrespectful, but then I am not an animal lover and perhaps that was just judgemental on my part. I wonder what St. Francis would think?
One thing that does bother me about it, apart from whether it is “proper” is whether it is common courtesy. I used to be very scared of dogs. It’s not so bad now, but they still bother me. I saw one bark in a woman’s face while she was genuflecting, and I think if that had happened to me I’d have had difficulty coming to that church again. If it prevents parishioners from praying because they are uneasy around animals or have some other reason to avoid them, I think it is a little inconsiderate.
One thing that does bother me about it, apart from whether it is “proper” is whether it is common courtesy. I used to be very scared of dogs. It’s not so bad now, but they still bother me. I saw one bark in a woman’s face while she was genuflecting, and I think if that had happened to me I’d have had difficulty coming to that church again. If it prevents parishioners from praying because they are uneasy around animals or have some other reason to avoid them, I think it is a little inconsiderate.
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Mintaka
Guest
Canon law says that animals are not to be allowed in the area immediately around the altar. (And yes, that was one function of communion rails.) Inside the rest of a Catholic church, local custom and the pastor’s will determines what’s fitting.
In general, I don’t think animals should be in church. But if they are minding their manners, and as long as nobody’s counterfeiting the sacraments or anything weird, they have the law on their side.
In general, I don’t think animals should be in church. But if they are minding their manners, and as long as nobody’s counterfeiting the sacraments or anything weird, they have the law on their side.
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jean8
Guest
SK,
At least the dog was well behaved, but, it shows poor taste and certainly no concern for others. Not to mention the distraction this obviously caused.
WWJD?
jean8
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