Hi everyone.  I know I haven't posted to the FML very often.  Just wanted
to let you know that Buttercup "BC" is gone.  She lost her life to cancer.
She is with St. Francis now.  I wrote this prayer for the vetrinarian that
took care of my lil BC.  Copied the literature of St. Francis from the
internet to add to it.  Thought maybe some of you would like to read it.
 
St. Francis of Assisi
The very animals found in Francis a tender friend and protector; thus we
find him pleading with the people of Gubbio to feed the fierce wolf that
had ravished their flocks, because through hunger "Brother Wolf" had done
this wrong.  And the early legends have left us many an idyllic picture of
how beasts and birds alike susceptible to the charm of Francis's gentle
ways, entered into loving companionship with him; how the hunted leveret
sought to attract his notice; how the half-frozen bees crawled towards him
in the winter to be fed; how the wild falcon fluttered around him; how the
nightingale sang with him in sweetest content in the ilex grove at the
Carceri, and how his "little brethren the birds" listened so devoutly to
his sermon by the roadside near Bevagna that Francis chided himself for not
having thought of preaching to them before.  Francis's love of nature also
stands out in bold relief in the world he moved in.  He delighted to
commune with the wild flowers, the crystal spring, and the friendly fire,
and to greet the sun as it rose upon the fair Umbrian vale.  In this
respect, indeed, St.  Francis's "gift of sympathy" seems to have been wider
even than St.Paul's, for we find no evidence in the great Apostle of a love
for nature or for animals.
 
Prayer
St. Francis please be with the precious animals that enter here, and pray
for their quick recoveries.  Guide these earthly angels as they do their
very best.  They who have dedicated their lives to heal and return our
beloved pets home.
 
May St. Francis be with you today and always in your daily endeavors.
Thank you for all your efforts.
 
In loving memory of Buttercup
 
Maryanne, Panda, Max and Ling Ling.  We'll miss you lil BC.
[Posted in FML issue 2932]