School’s animal blessing tradition a highlight
It was a case of all creatures great and small as hundreds of beloved pets descended upon Tatachilla Lutheran College on a sunny September morning, for their much-anticipated Blessing of the Animals ceremony. Conducted in remembrance of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology, the event has become one of the highlights of the school year.
Tatachilla’s school pastor, Jon Goessling, began the college tradition of the Blessing of the Animals ten years ago, inspired by a similar event he’d seen at a city parish. He was moved by the obvious connection between humans and their animals that was spiritual in nature and based on deep love.
‘My job as a college pastor is to make the invisible God visible and to help students understand their spiritual selves and the transformative power of love,’ says Pastor Jon.
‘At Tatachilla, the annual Blessing of the Animals event has become an unwitting gateway for students to see God in nature, with animals acting as the language of love and community. There is nothing so intuitive and profound as the love we have for the animals in our lives: it is Godly and transformative.
‘I will never forget one Blessing of the Animals event at the college, where I came upon a senior student laying on her back on the grass looking blissfully up at the sky, seemingly breathing in the atmosphere of the animals around her. I asked her if she was alright and she responded, “This is the best day of my life. This is what the world should always be.”’
At the school’s first Blessing of the Animals event in 2013 there were some 30 pets brought along. This year there was an astounding response from the college community with approximately 400 animals on campus. Three horses, a cow, a sheep, a dove and even a hermit crab were in line to be blessed, along with droves of cats, dogs, bunnies, guinea pigs and budgies. With Pastor Jon on extended leave the task of blessing the enthusiastic mob fell to Pastor Albert Gast, affectionately coined “Past Al” by students, who is filling in as college pastor for 2023. Pastor André Meyer from Calvary Lutheran Church in Morphett Vale was also called in as a reinforcement, due to the huge number of animals in attendance.
There was plenty to keep everyone entertained on the day. Bluegrass band Miss Ohio had toes, paws and claws tapping, and a mobile petting zoo full of baby animals from The Farm Barn at Hahndorf was a hit with young and old alike.
Pastor Jon, who is looking forward to being part of next year’s event when he returns from leave, says the connection between humans and animals evident in the college community is a special thing.
‘I love that in my job at Tatachilla I can step outside of my office and see a family walking their alpaca up the school path on their way to see a staff member. This part of the ‘college normal’ – where people and animals can interact lovingly every day – and what a wonderful normal it is.’
Photos: Pastors Albert Gast (in the sombrero) and André Meyer bless the many beloved animals of Tatchilla Lutheran College families.
Photos by Greg Adams from Imagestix, courtesy Tatachilla Lutheran College. This story first appeared in Together, the LCA SA-NT District magazine, in December 2023.
