I Think This Is The Beginning Of A Beautiful Phriendship...

[Pia Jesu]

St. Therese of Lisieux had "Tom"...

St. Teresa of the Andes had "Molzuc"...

 

Thank God for all of His creations...and for putting a Zen Master in your life!

 

[maximillion]

Pope Francis has cats.........

 

 

We are all vindicated.

[SilentJoy]

And Pope Benedict...when he went on vacations, he would borrow cats.

[Pia Jesu]

St. Roch's life was saved by a dog!  Check out http://www.satodayscatholic.com/STROCH.aspx

 

An Irish priest-friend of mine had his dog Buster's image painted into the aspe behind the altar during a church renovation project!  At least the pooch was gazing heavenward!

[Pia Jesu]

...and we are surely more than "can openers" to our 4-legged Phriends! :kitten:

[AnneLine]

... and legends (hagiography) of St. Colman of Ireland indicate he had three animal friends who helped him serve God better:  A rooster, a mouse and a fly!

 

 

Other tales are recounted about Saint Colman, who loved birds and animals. He had a pet rooster who served as an alarm clock at a time before there were such modern conveniences. The rooster would begin his song at the breaking of dawn and continue until Colman would come out and speak to it. Colman would then call the other monks to prayer by ringing the bells.

 

But the monks wanted to pray the night hours, too, and couldn't count on the rooster to awaken them at midnight and 3:00 a.m. So Colman made a pet out of a mouse that often kept him company in the night by giving it crumbs to eat. Eventually the mouse was tamed and Colman asked its help:

 

"So you are awake all night, are you? It isn't your time for sleep, is it? My friend, the pickle, gives me great help, waking me every morning. Couldn't you do the same for me at night, while the pickle is asleep? If you do not find me stirring at the usual time, couldn't you call me? Will you do that?"

 

It was a long time before Colman tested the understanding of the mouse. After a long day of preaching and travelling on foot, Colman slept very soundly. When he did not awake at the usual hour in the middle of the night for Lauds, the mouse pattered over to the bed, climbed on the pillow, and rubbed his tiny head against Colman's ear. Not enough to awaken the exhausted monk. So the mouse tried again, but Colman shook him off impatiently. Making one last effort, the mouse nibbled on the saint's ear and Colman immediately arose—laughing. The mouse, looking very serious and important, just sat there on the pillow staring at the monk, while Colman continued to laugh in disbelief that the mouse had indeed understood its job.

 

When he regained his composure, Colman praised the clever mouse for his faithfulness and fed him extra treats. Then entered God's presence in prayer. Thereafter, Colman always waited for the mouse to rub his ear before arising, whether he was awake or not. The mouse never failed in his mission.

 

The monk had another strange pet: a fly. Each day Colman would spend some time reading a large, awkward parchment manuscript prayer book. Each day the fly would perch on the margin of the sheet. Eventually Colman began to talk to the fly, thanked him for his company, and asked for his help:

 

"Do you think you could do something useful for me? You see yourself that everyone who lives in the monastery is useful. Well, if I am called away, as I often am, while I am reading, don't you go too; stay here on the spot I mark with my finger, so that I'll know exactly where to start when I come back. Do you see what I mean?"

 

So, as with the mouse, it was a long time before Colman put the understanding of the fly to the test. He probably provided the insect with treats as he did the mouse—perhaps a single drop of honey or crumb of cake. One day Colman was called to attend a visitor. He pointed the spot on the manuscript where he had stopped and asked the fly to stay there until he returned. The fly did as the saint requested, obediently remaining still for over an hour. Colman was delighted. Thereafter, he often gave the faithful fly a little task that it was proud to do for him.

 

The other monks thought it was such a marvel that they wrote it done in the monastery records, which is how we know about it.

 

But a fly's life is short. At the end of summer, Colman's little friend was dead. While still mourning the death of the fly, the mouse died, too, as did the rooster. Colman's heart was so heavy at the loss of his last pet that he wrote to his friend, St. Columba. 

 

Columba responded:

 

"You were too rich when you had them. That is why you are sad now. Trouble like that only comes where there are riches. Be rich no more."

 

Colman then realized that one can be rich without any money (Curtayne-Linnane).

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colman_mac_Duagh

 

From Wikipedia, Hagiography of St. Colman:   

Edited April 4, 2014 by AnneLine

[SilentJoy]

I went to live-in at a Carmel and their dog knew what time to come get me so we could go to the novitiate classroom together.

[Pia Jesu]

I went to live-in at a Carmel and their dog knew what time to come get me so we could go to the novitiate classroom together.

 

Surely you both developed good habits... :nun3:
 

[SilentJoy]

Surely you both developed good habits... :nun3:
 

 

NO! Neither one of us got a habit. :hehe2:
 

[AnneLine]

:buddies:    Contemplatives without portfolios!  BOTH OF YOU!

[maximillion]

I have blue habits....oh, er, hang on, what thread it this?

 

 

(Actually I always regretted not having a blue habit. Ours was black - ugh!) I always thought I looked rather fetching in blue.

Yes, and now I can say I have blue habits, not sure how long they will stay that way though.

(The blue habits are a reference to www.habitrpg.com )

[AnneLine]

I have blue habits....oh, er, hang on, what thread it this?

 

 

(Actually I always regretted not having a blue habit. Ours was black - ugh!) I always thought I looked rather fetching in blue.

Yes, and now I can say I have blue habits, not sure how long they will stay that way though.

(The blue habits are a reference to www.habitrpg.com )

 

God willing, and you working, you'll stay in your fetching blue habits!

[SilentJoy]

God willing, and you working, you'll stay in your fetching blue habits!

 

That's just what the dog needs, a fetching habit. (Or he already has one...)

[AnneLine]

(I wondered if anyone would see that; I'd have felt blue if no one noticed...)  :giggle:

[maximillion]

Blue blue blue blue blue blue blue.

 

 

 

Just wanted to add that.