Maddy and Hagrid
After an accident a week ago, he has not been able to eat. He was a very fat guinea pig, a non-stop eating machine, but in seven days he just about used up all his reserves and had begun to die. So tonight was the visit to the vet. He is lying in state in a shoe box with his name on it, on the lamp table in the lounge room with green candles and a lava lamp burning around him… You get the picture. We’ve stopped short of the traditional rosary for these occasions. His grave is ready in the garden for the funeral in the morning.
So I went hunting for prayers for a pet who has died on the internet, and found this one, by a Rabbi, which I rather like.
Prayer for the Death of a Beloved Pet
By Rabbi Barry H. Block
O Lord our God, we come before You this day in sadness. Hagrid, who brought us so much joy in life, has now died. His happy times in our family’s embrace have come to an end. We miss him already.
Help us, O God, to remember the good times with Hagrid. Remind us to rejoice in the happy times he brought to our home. Let us be thankful for the good life we were blessed to give to him.
We are grateful to You, God, for creating Hagrid, for entrusting him to our care, and for sustaining him in our love for a measure of time. We understand that all that lives must die. We knew that this day would come. And yet, O God, we would have wanted one more day of play, one more evening of love with Hagrid.
O God, as we have taken care of Hagrid in life, we ask that You watch over him in death. You entrusted Hagrid to our care; now, we give him back to You. May Hagrid find a happy new home in Your loving embrace.
As we remember Hagrid, may we love each other more dearly. May we care for all Your creatures, for every living thing, as we protected the blessed life of Hagrid. May his memory bless our lives with love and caring forever. Amen.
That, plus a few verses from Psalm 104, and a round of “All Creatures Great and Small”, ending with the Lord’s Prayer, ought to do the trick.
oh dear.
The death of a pet is hard to take. The prayer is great though and should bring lots of comfort to Maddy I am sure.
I lost a beloved dog three years ago and was looking around for something like this to express my gratitude for her companionship .Her motto was “They also serve who stand and wait-at the backdoor for food and walkies”