'Can you pray for my sick dog?'
The Holy Family with a Bird , Murillo, painted 1650. I was in our parish church in Dublin this afternoon praying when I saw a young man of about 19 come in, kneel in the front pew for a couple of minutess, light a candle in front of the latar of the Blessed Virgin and then leave. I was thinking that it was a hopeful sign to see a young person do this. Indeed, yesterday at Sunday Mass, while the congregation at the Mass at 11am wasn't great, there were some young people present. A few minutes latr thee young man came, approached me and told me his dog was sick. I wouldn't describe him as distressed but he was upset. I asked hiim how old his dog was and he said 'three'. He also gave me the dog's name, 'Sam'. I asked him if he had taken Sam to the vet. 'He's with him right now', he told me. I mentioned two saints to the young man, whose name I asked but won't mention here, who had the gift of healing animals, St Francis and St Martin de Porr
