All Creatures

The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine

The annual Feast of St. Francis at St. John the Divine that includes the Blessing of the Animals  gets better and better.

This year’s event included, in addition to the regular Sunday service with readings and hymns, dancing, (some with flag waving), acknowledgement of the land, singing and general gaiety.  The Cathedral holds 2500 people and was packed. I bet that in addition to the human guests there were at least four hundred dogs as well as some cats, birds and other pets.

I sat next to a family with three goldendoodles, the father and two sons. Mom was busy elsewhere. All were incredibly well-behaved, in fact, the baby behind me was much noisier than any of the animals.

A very Great Dane

At one point a large, laid-back cat in a  harness walked through a group of dogs with neither cat or dogs paying any attention to one another.  That’s one take-charge cat.

The formal procession of the animals included a huge horse of the Clydesdale variety, a very big snake, an owl, a bird that may have been a falcon, a calf, a small donkey, a llama, goats, a sheep, a smallish camel and others.

After the service people went to designated areas in the Cathedral’s gardens for blessing personal animals. There was an area for pet portraits and booths from different organizations including Muddy Paws that helps dogs get adopted.

Happily, I saw only one cat in costume although walking past Petco at Union Square recently, I noted aisles of Halloween costumes for animals. Sake, my cat, wouldn’t take well to a costume or a visit to the Cathedral.

No thanks

St. Francis is associated with almond cookies as he supposedly asked for them on his deathbed. He lived in Assisi in Umbria and so would have eaten simple food of the area. Instead of cookies  this is a recipe for bruschetta  (‘brusketta’ ), a classic.

1 baguette, sliced into 1/2-inch thick pieces

2-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 clove garlic, halved (I’d probably use less but most cooks would stick with this.)

4-6 plum or roma tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a medium bowl, combine the diced tomatoes, chopped basil, minced garlic, 1–2 tablespoons of olive oil, and balsamic vinegar (if using). Season with salt and pepper. Stir gently to combine and set aside to let the flavors marinate. For the best flavor, let it sit for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F Arrange baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush each slice with olive oil. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown and lightly toasted.

Remove  toasted bread from oven and  while still warm, rub the cut side of a raw, halved garlic clove over the surface of each slice.

Just before serving, spoon tomato mixture generously onto each slice of garlic-rubbed bread. Sprinkle with flaky salt. Serve immediately to ensure the bread stays crisp.

If you like the TV series, All Creatures Great and Small, watch an episode. St. F. would approve. Pat your dog or cat or whistle to your bird.

St, Francis in the Desert

This painting by Giovanni Bellini, Saint Francis in the Desert,  is in the NYC Frick Collection. Visit if you can. If not, look at it and see how it makes you feel.