The Good Ferret

Today we had the annual Blessing of the Animals service at my church. The furrier members of the congregation each received a sprinkling with holy water and a laying on of hands. Mollie was agreeable about the ritualized petting, but she doesn't like to get wet, so when the holy water was deployed she shot me a glance that asked "is this really necessary?"

We read one of St. Basil's prayers for animals, which includes a confession of guilt:

"We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high dominion of man with ruthless cruelty so that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to Thee in song has been a groan of travail."

The instant the congregation said "groan of travail", one of the assembled schnauzers offered an appropriate sound effect, which got laughs, but also made it all a bit spooky.

As the priest blessed each animal, he said "May God make you a good dog [cat], and may you live a long, happy, and healthy life." There wasn't much variety in species at the event, in part because I failed to convince my friend Linda to bring one of her chickens, but I did have the privilege of witnessing the blessing of a ferret. "May God make you a good ferret..." I wonder, what constitutes a good ferret?