Get out your camera! Your pen! Your paint set! Your photo-shop! We are going to create a GALLERY OF BLESSINGS to help celebrate the Blessing of the Animals.

All of us who love animals know that they bless our lives all the time: by their company, their humor, their compassion, their beauty. What we'd love to do is have St. A's document these blessings in a creative way.

On the patio on Oct. 1st, the Blessing of the Animals Sunday, we will have an EXHIBIT to honor these animals in our lives. You can write a poem or a short essay, paint a picture, capture something in a photograph. A cartoon or haiku would be just fine! Just something to say to the world how much your animal friends mean to you.

Also on that Sunday, New Leash on Life will be there! New Leash is a rescue organization dedicated to the rescue of animals and the education of the community about animal welfare. They have a very exciting program called Lend a Paw, which trains dogs rescued from the city shelter system to become companion dogs for those who are physically or mentally challenged. New Leash will be there to show off their prize pupil, talk about animal concerns and maybe even entice you into joining the Walk for Paws later in October.