Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Catholic Burial Prayer for a dog


Some friends of mine attended a lovely burial for a beloved dog of a Catholic nun up in Antigonish County on the weekend, and they shared the handout given out with me - so I wanted to put the prayer said at the ceremony here.

I really like it because at the end it acknowledges that dogs do indeed have a soul that goes back to God - which is super to me - because the dog was owned by Catholic nuns, and sometimes people within the church have problems saying that anything other than humans have souls. I was really happy to see that this lady who had dedicated her life to God was able to see Him in her companion animal that she had lived with for so many years and was now saying Good bye to.

So here's the prayer that was said at the burial ceremony -

Creator God,
our hearts are heavy
as we face the loss in death
of our beloved Cu
who was so much part of our lives.

Cu has made our lives more enjoyable
and gave us cause to laugh
and to find joy in his company.

We remember the fidelity and loyalty of Cu
and will miss his being with us.

From Cue we learned some lessons,
such as the quality of naturalness
and the unembarrassed request
for affection and attention.

In caring for his daily needs,
we were taken up and out of our own
self needs,
and we were able to serve others at,
and what may be,
a deeper level of caring.

May the death of Cu
remind us that death comes
to us all,
animal and human,
and that it is the natural passage for all life to
enter fully into the heart of our Creator God.

May Cu sleep on
in eternal slumber in your loving care,
as with all creation he awaits
the fullness of Your Eternal presence.

Amen+

9 comments:

morekare said...

Thank you for posting this prayer. My beloved Rosie (Pek-a-poo dog) passed away this week. She was my companion for 18 years. I miss her. She is in Heaven with God.

Anonymous said...

Thank you this prayer. I found our beloved German Shepard dead today by the interstate ---- however I take comfort that she is at peace with God. What a blessing she was and will be missed. We will use this prayer for Kiva at our little funeral for her. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

This is a beautiful prayer. Our beloved 15 year old Golden Retriever passed away peacefully in the home she loved 3 days ago, February 19. We are a Catholic family who fervently believes that animals do have souls and that they do go to be with God when they pass away from this earth. We have had our precious girl's remains cremated and will have her ashes put into a special personalized urn to be placed on our mantle. We want to have a family ceremony for her and this prayer is perfect. Thank you so much for sharing!

Unknown said...

Amen.

Thank you for sharing this beautiful prayer.

Anonymous said...

Today We rushed my best friend Jake to the Emergence animal hospital. He past away. I had him from a puppy. From the first 6 months of his life until today he was in my life for 21 years. He was a good dog! and my best friend! Thanks for the prayer

Richard said...

Thank you for sharing this prayer. My Jack Russell of 13 years, Rachel, passed away this morning.

Joan Sinden said...

I am very sorry for your loss, Richard

Marylou said...

My dog Ernie just pass away couple days ago with Lymphoma he was 11 years old I had him from a puppy. I cannot get over from his death, I'm suffering from sadness and I missed him dearly!!!

Joan Sinden said...

I am very sorry for your loss, Marylou - I hope that you can find some comfort in the pages of the blog here