Prayer for a recently deceased animal companion

I am not sure that there is \\"any\\" Orthodox prayer for the passing of your cockatiel I am sure you know that animals have a soul, but not an immortal soul. Thank God for the joy and companionship he brought into your life and try to move on. I lost a dog recently that we had for 14 years. I know it can be difficult. God Bless, Seraphim

I think animals along with all nature suffered after the fall (since they obeyed Adam but now they are wild beasts), but that doesn\'t really matter, animals do have a soul but not one like ours. Sorry to hear about your loss.

I know that we say that animals don\'t have souls like we do, and this must be true, but I don\'t doubt that in the Restoration Of All Things In Christ (Apocatastasis, per St Gregory of Nyssa & Mar Isaac of Nineveh, not Origen) anything we loved will be with us (see the end of C.S. Lewis\' The Last Battle, which someone (Mtr Kallistos, I think) said was the best commentary on the Apocalypse in English). I fully expect to meet our beloved animals in the Resurrection, including our cats and my wife\'s favorite horse, who I have heard so much about, but who died just about the time we got together and I never met. How could God deprive of us this? How this is to be I don\'t know, but it is part of my hope. Wild animals? Who knows? God is not on a budget. Prayers? Any prayers of thanksgiving, hope or blessing would be my suggestion. I think the Lord\'s Prayer might work just fine. Maranatha! Apocatastasis Now! dorotheos

Thanks. I just said Psalm 41 and the prayer of St Basil for animal friends, from the book Orthodox Prayers of Old England.

Sounds entirely appropriate. My sympathies. dorotheos

hello Nick, could you please send me this prayer of St Basil? My aninmal friends are still alive, but to have this attached to my prayer book would be good. Thanks. Jannis

Actually, the prayer was for animals that are still alive, but there weren\'t any for deceased ones. I\'ll find the book when I get home.

According to St. Basil the Great, when God says, \' \\"Grow and multiply, and fill the earth\\" Growth is of two kinds, that of the body and that of the soul. But growth of the soul is progress to perfection through things learned, while bodily growth is development from smallness to the appropriate stature. Thus grow is said to the irrational animals in regard to perfection of body, in regard to the completion of nature; but to us grow is said according to the inner human being, according to the process which is growth into God.\' Taken from On the Human Condition by St. Basil the Great, SVS Press, page 51. My point is not to argue this issue or to cause any of you more grief, but the matter of that fact is that animals are not immortal. They are irrational while we are not. BTW, Origen believed the sun, moon, and stars (which he believed had rational souls) would be reconciled in the second resurrection. This can be found here: [url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xii.ix.html]Anathemas Against Origen[/url]

There is a God in the Post Office. This is one of the kindest things I\'ve ever experienced.. I have no way to know who sent it, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service . Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words: Dear God, Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and t o swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her. You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her. Love, Meredith. We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten t h e letter yet. I told her that I thought He had. Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, `To Meredith,\' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, \'When a Pet Dies.\' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note: Dear Meredith, Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away. Abbey isn\'t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don\'t need our bodies in heaven, I don\'t have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in th is little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by. Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I\'m easy to find, I am wherever there is love. Love, God

I recently woke up to find my bunny laying on the floor of his cage to weak to move. I annoited the poor little critter with Holy Water and prayed that the Lords will be done. Just don\'t let it be in pain. It died and I thanked it for being a good friend and as I disposed of the remains prayed \\"The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed by the name of the Lord.\\" Several days latter I was concerned that the guine pig companion of the bunny was getting lonely. So I prayed that if it be blessed that the pet store would have suitible replacement. I guess it was blessed ,because I found a bunny meeting exactly my specifications. A cute, minature, lop eared bunny. Once again \\"The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.\\" Nxylas I too would be interested in seeing St. Basil\'s prayer for animals if you could post it for us.

I just found this: http://members.tripod.com/~Near_to_God/index.html Many stuff, selcted from the Bible, Holy Tradition, Liturgy. It has also two prayers from St. Basil. Jannis

Sorry, I\'d been meaning to post this for days, but every time I remembered, the book was not to hand. Anyway, here is St. Basil\'s prayer for animal friends (not specifically deceased ones): \\"O God, grant us a deeper sense of companionship with all living things, our little brothers and sisters to whom Thou hast given this earth as home, in common with us. We recall with remorse that in the past we have acted high-handedly and crually in exercising our domain over them. Thus the voice of the earth, which should have risen to Thee in song, is become a groan of travail. may we understand that all these creatures live not only for us, but for themselves and for Thee, and that they love the sweetness of life even as we do, and serve Thee better in their way than we do in ours. Amen\\". There is also a prayer for sick animals: \\"O God, Who hast supplied consolation to the labours of man also by the speechless animals: humbly do we beseech Thee, that thou wouldst not cause them to perish from our enjoying them, for without them our human condition cannot be sustained. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.\\"

Hello !! I know how you feel... It is very harming when one of our pets passes away, ax, i\'ve cried my chihuahua dog who was still a puppy, i could see in his eyes he understood everything we told him, besides he was very lovely, like a little baby, my little baby. I am almost sure that there is not an orthodox prayer for animals. But what I understood after his death is that life in us is actually quite fragile and we can have it in one day and the other not. So what do I get out of this? I pray to the Lord not for my little animal, but because I understand how fragile life can be and that it is actually a miracle every breath I take, for me to wake up the next morning also. I first thought that it would be my last puppy, my last pet, it wasnt fair to lose him that way, loving him and caring for him and the next day be without him. But also, am I going to stop giving my care and love to others because I am afraid I might lose them? Surely that is not how God wants us to respond; I mean, he took the cross for us, what are we expected to do as orthodox christians ??? God bless all people who respect life in all its comprehension, who respect the whole creation, and of course, who respect and care for animals and pets. Markos.