Pets Are Like Family
Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway & Rev. Victor Fuhrman
Pets are as much a part of the family as human members. Whether a wedding or a memorial, a welcome for a new kitten, or a prayer for an animal that is ill, we’ve discovered that people find it very meaningful to bless their pets and to have access to the same kind of spiritual services available to humans. Here is a sampling of prayers for pet lovers and their animal companions, meant to uplift and heal.
Read the First Pet Prayer
Excerpted from Pet Prayers and Blessings: Celebrations and Ceremonies to Share With The Animals You Love (Sterling Books, September 2008), by Laurie Sue Brockway and Victor Fuhrman. All rights reserved.
<center>The Pet's Prayer</center>
Divine Spirit of all living things,
In your name we pray.
Please guide us in the care of this animal.
Teach us how to be good pet parents.
Ensure that we learn the skills and abilities.
Allow us to call upon your sacred love
and your nutritious bounty
to feed our beloved pet.
Let us nourish his/her spirit as we provide daily bread.
Please bring the wisdom of the animal kingdom
into our home,
for we call upon the power and the glory
of your holy wisdom
to treat this loved one as a holy child of yours.
Amen.
Blessings Over Pet Food
May this food be nutritious and delicious.
May it be wholesome and fulfilling.
May it help you enjoy the blessings nature brings.
May it satisfy your hunger, help you grow stronger,
make your coat shinier, and ensure your good health.
May this food be blessed in all ways.
May the Archangels Guide Your Pet
Adapted from a prayer we learned from Rabbi Joseph Gelberman and Rabbi Roger Ross.
Please set the guiding light of Uriel before our pet to light his way.
Please set Michael to the right to aid and protect him.
Please set Gabriel to the left for clarity and to aid him in expressing his truth.
Please set Raphael behind him to keep/make him strong, healthy, and well.
And so it is.
For Training a Puppy
(Adapt for other animals)
God grant me the patience and faith to train this animal.
May I be loving, yet firm.
May I see, and rejoice in, small successes.
May I recognize and be open to new ways to approach my pet.
May I connect deeply with the soul of his/her being, and be guided by her/his highest self.
May we together approach the training process from the highest place of wisdom and love.
For a Lost Pet
Divine Spirit of All There Is:
Our pet (name) is missing.
He is deeply loved and cherished in our home.
He is someplace where we cannot see him now.
Please keep him safe and warm.
Please make sure he has food and water.
Please give him shelter and protection.
Please reveal to us how we can find him.
Or lead him back to us by the miracle of your nature.
Our hearts, home, and arms remain open.
Please guide us to him and guide him back to us.
For this we pray.
For Stray and Homeless Animals
To all the fur-beings who are lost,
Or homeless,
Or living as strays,
may they find a good meal to eat.
May they have shelter to keep them warm.
May they have comfort.
May they be shown kindness by strangers.
And may they return home, or find good homes.
May they rest in a place in which they can thrive.
Filled with love, with warmth, with tender caring,
with good food, with true companions
for all of their days.
Native American Pet Prayer
Oh Great Spirit! I give you thanks for creating all of the peoples;
Two legged, four legged, winged and finned.
May I learn the great lessons from each of these...
From the Cat, let me learn healing, clarity, and keen vision.
From the Bird, let me learn how to let my spirit soar.
From the Fish, let me learn tenacity and to overcome obstacles.
From the Horse, let me learn strength and freedom.
And from the Dog, let me learn faithfulness, courage,
and unconditional love.
May I walk, swim and fly in harmony and balance with all of these. Aho!
—Victor Fuhrman
