A dog under the altar.

[Guest Rick777]

[quote name='zunshynn' post='1044117' date='Aug 15 2006, 11:46 AM']
So I was in Lake Tahoe this weekend and went to Mass at the local parish.

It seemed alright at first—nice sanctuary, and so on, although the music was pretty typical mediocre stuff and they had a ton of people in the procession (all of the EEMs, lectors, and such)

But then at the beginning while the opening song was still going the priest comes down from the sanctuary and gets this dog... brings him up to the sanctuary... and HAS HIM LAY DOWN UNDER THE ALTAR. I'm not kidding. So the dog is up under the altar sleeping and rolling around a few times through the entire Mass. I couldn't believe my eyes. And aside from that, either no one though anything of it or they thought it was really awesome! I don't even know how to complain about such a thing?!
[/quote]

This sounds horrible!

[Veritas]

+

Blatantly unacceptable. Call or write the bishop. If no response, write the Vatican.

[Lahecil]

[quote]Reminds me of a story my boyfriend told me of a friend of his who got "married" last December. It was a pagan ceremony, with the preciding priestess named SoulTar (yes, you read it right, AND she picked that name herself!). But the kicker? The "best man" was really a "best dog", this little pug who was so old he was incontenent, so he had to actually wear a diaper throughout the whole ceremony.[/quote]
First, there are legally ordained pagan priests and priestesses. Second, yeah, most of us have "Craft names", mine I don't disclose to anyone, but there are those like...Ms...SoulTar who have...unique...tastes... As for the dog, some pagans do keep familiars, which can be useful in meditation, magick, etc. The combination of the three though...makes me crack up laughing. I still can't get over SoulTar though, it sounds like a cruddy superhero.

[Ash Wednesday]

Definitely inappropriate to let the dog lay at the altar!

At my old parish we had this cat my brother and I called "Church Cat" in reference to the old Saturday Night Live Skit "Church Chat" -- Church Cat was a cute orange cat that used to hang around the church and got in through the door a couple of times.

The priest had this very loud British accent and at one point in the foyer (the meeting place outside the actual church) the cat was greeting the priest at his feet after mass and the priest would say "Shoo! Cat! Shoo!" in his booming voice and the cat just stood there and stared up at him. It was really cute!

Edited August 15, 2006 by Ash Wednesday

[Church Punk]

I remember once the pastors dog found his way from the rectory to the sancutuary. But someone quickly took care of him and the mass continued.

I know that a lot of parishes will hold a special blessing for the animals on Oct. 4 - The feast day of St. Francis Asissi. But this is usually done after mass in its own ceremony.

But what you are talking about is inappropriant.

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Theologian in Training' post='1044124' date='Aug 15 2006, 12:52 PM']
You would be surprised how much pastors love their dogs...
[/quote]
You'd be surprised how many people are allergic to dogs.

[IcePrincessKRS]

[quote name='CoffeeCatholic' post='1044141' date='Aug 15 2006, 02:41 PM']

I think it was at Christendom, and I THINK it was a papal visit, or else something equally as big and important going on. So they set up a sanctuary for mass to be said, with bleachers and such so that all the people could attend. Right before the event was to start, though, they had the FBI go through with body sniffing dogs, to make sure nobody was hiding under the bleachers with a bomb i guess. They went through the whole place, no problem, until they got to the very end. All of a sudden, all of the dogs (about 5 or 6 i think) started running to the front of the church, barking and doing their "we found a body" pose. guess where.

Yeah, you guys are smart, right in front of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle!

Kinda like St. Anthony and the donkey, no?
but dogs sleeping under the altar, I'd say call the bishop
[/quote]

Cool story, but I'm just about 100% certain it wasn't Christendom College.

[prose]

Yeah, a dog or cat in Mass would be risking a severe asthma attack for me

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='prose' post='1044262' date='Aug 15 2006, 05:58 PM']
Yeah, a dog or cat in Mass would be risking a severe asthma attack for me
[/quote]
Me too, in the case of some dogs.

[God Conquers]

So I'm jumping in late on this one... BUT, here's a little Medieval History and wisdom of the Church made relevent today:

If the Church had an altar rail, this wouldn't have happenned.

One of the many reasons altar rails were developed, aside from the clear devotional reasons, was to keep dogs out of the sanctuary.

A major historian in BC has done alot of research on this and he found that towards the end of the middle ages, noblemen were so into their hunting dogs, that they'd bring them to mass. Inevitably they'd run around, fight with each other and mess up the sanctuary.

Easy solution? Put a fence around it.

Down with Dogs! Up with Altar Rails!

[homeschoolmom]

Thank you, Cliff Clavin.

I kid, of course.

[journeyman]

I think there's a book in that title somewhere - Maybe HSMom can write something that isn't about aspertain for us to find on Amazon

[homeschoolmom]

[Mary-Kathryn]

I don't know how big the dog is, but is it possible the dog is a service dog for some hidden handicap or illness that isn't visible? I've read stories of people being lectured and even cursed at for legally parking in the handicapped spaces because no one could visibly tell what the driver was sick from [heart ailment just to name one]

Seeing as I am asthmatic I would kindly inquire if there were a "dog-less" Mass due to *my* illness...if that wouldn't be of hindrance to him of course.

[zunshynn]

My mom did point out that it was possible that it was a service dog. Because they do have dogs that can sense when someone is about to have a seizure or something and know what to do if something happens. But I don't know why it has to be literally under the altar...