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At the Catholic church I used to attend the former pastor had his older dog in church at every Mass he celebrated.
The first time I attended I noticed before Mass the pastor used to go around and talk to the people in the pews it was then I notice children bending over in front of the priest I leaned over to observe children bending over to pet his dog. At the beginning of Mass the priest usually enters the church from the rear with others that would be taking an active part in the Mass and they would proceed up to the altar with the dog following and at the end of Mass the dog would follow the small procession from the altar.
When i was a kid, my Catholic friends took their pets to "The Blessing of the Animals". I'm not sure what the religious ritual was about, but it was something beneficial to the animals and the humans who took part.
Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.
He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
Here is my black stallion. I would like to take him to the blessings of the animals day and maybe the priest will bless him out in the parking lot.
Your horse is stunning. Reminds me of the black stallion and I have to laugh as I have a 16.3 American Saddlebred Chestnut that I think of as Flame in the Black Stallion series although my horse is a gelding. haha.
When i was a kid, my Catholic friends took their pets to "The Blessing of the Animals". I'm not sure what the religious ritual was about, but it was something beneficial to the animals and the humans who took part.
The Episcopal Church does that also. It's a lot of fun. I used to take my daughter and niece and their guinea pigs to The Blessing of the Animals.
It's a tradition tied to Francis of Assisi, a man born into wealth in the 12th century in Italy who gave up all his material possessions and went into the woods and preached to the birds, among other things. He wrote the poem called Brother Sun, Sister Moon and his take on Christianity was that that nature reflects God, we are part of creation, not apart from it, and that we should nurture our connections with nature and the other creatures with whom we share the world.
My favorite "saint", in case you can't tell ,and I learned a lot from what he said and what was written about him that resonated with me on my own spiritual journey.
St. Francis of Assisi's day on the traditional liturgical calendar is October 4, and so the Blessing of the Animals is usually done on the nearest Sunday.
I enjoy animals more than most humans. They're free of so much b.s. that is common in mankind. We'll probably eventually wipe ourselves out, and they'll carry on just fine afterwards.
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,and I learned a lot from what he said and what was written about him that resonated with me on my own spiritual journey. 
