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2006 Back to School
Children Talking with God
Leading Children to Sunday with Angels, Saints and Kings
A Liturgical Classroom Promotes Christian Values
Gospel Talk With Children: Mark's Portrait of Jesus

Ambuja Rosen

Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226)
"The week of Saint Francis feast day (October 4) is a wonderful opportunity to teach children to be kind to animals," says Father Stan Condon, a Catholic priest in Raunds, England. Saint Francis called all animals "brother" or "sister" because like us, they come from the same heavenly Father. He taught that animals are family to us and so we should treat them like family, protecting them and helping them when they're in distress.

"If you inspire children to emulate this saint's service to all creatures, you'll help them become better Christians," Father Condon says. He believes that children who are taught kindness to animals tend to grow up to be kinder to the rest of creation, too—including people.

Some research suggests that he's right. For example, children who are violent to animals are more likely to turn that violence on people later in life.

How to bring Saint Francis alive in the classroom
Your imagination's the limit, but here are ten ideas for involving children:
1. Create a bulletin board display of how Saint Francis helped animals and how the children can help animals.

2. Discuss: "Have you ever seen an animal who needed your help? Did you try to help? What did you do? Is there anything you wish you had done?"

3. Explain how Saint Francis cared for the tiniest of creatures, the insects. For example, he fed the bees honey in winter, and rescued worms from roadway traffic. Discuss: "Can you think of ways you and others can be kind to insects?"

4. Play the role of Saint Francis (or ask a student to). Ask each student to be one of the animals the saint interacted with:
• the nightingale he sang with
• the fish he was given to eat who he set free instead
• the pet lamb who loved him and followed him around
• the mouse who the patient saint allowed to run on the table at mealtime
• the wild pheasant given to Saint Francis to eat, but who he instead chose to keep as a companion
• the birds to whom he preached
• the larks he wanted the emperor to make it illegal to harm
• Sister Cicada, who upon his request hopped onto his palm to sing
• the rabbit he rescued from a trap
• the two lambs for whom he traded his cloak, to save them from being slaughtered
• the wolf he tamed

5. Walk around the room, interacting with each "animal." Afterward, discuss: "Why did Saint Francis set the rabbit free from the trap, preach to the birds, …?"

6. Hold a candlelight prayer ceremony. Ask, "Are there any animals you'd like us to pray for?"

7. Collect old blankets and towels for animal shelters.

8. Does someone in your church work to help animals—for example, feed feral cats and get them neutered? Invite people to speak about how they serve God by helping his creatures.

9. Take a field trip to an animal shelter, sanctuary or a wildlife rehabilitation center. For sanctuaries: taosanctuaries.org, animalsanctuaryus.org, farmsanctuary.org. For wildlife rehabilitators: wildlife-international.org (click on "emergency," then "find rehabilitator").

10. Give children a four-page coloring book of Jesus and Saint Francis to take home. Download it free at: christianveg.com/img/pdf/coloringbook.pdf

Materials To Read Aloud
For starters, here are books, a poem and a prayer:

Children's Books
• Saint Francis and the Wolf by Richard Egielski (New York: Laura Geringer (HarperCollins), 2005).
• Saint Francis and the Animals by Leo Politi (New York: Scribners, 1959).
• St. Francis and His Feathered Friends by Anne E. Neuberger (Huntington, NY: Our Sunday Visitor, 2002).
• St. Francis and the Animals by Alice Joyce Davidson (New York: Regina Press Malhame & Company, 2000).
• The Song of Francis and the Animals by Pat Mora (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2005).
• Saint Francis Sings to Brother Sun: A Celebration of His Kinship with Nature by Karen Pandell (Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2005).

A Poem
He prays well who loves well
both man and bird and beast.
He prays best who loves best
all things both great and small
For the dear God who loves us
He made and loves all.
—from Part VII of "The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

A Prayer
God, help me always to be kind
to all creatures, great and small. (Anonymous)

Ambuja Rosen is an award-winning journalist in Ashland, Oregon. She specializes in writing about animals and has visited classrooms to teach students to be kind to animals. She can be reached at ambuja_rosen@yahoo.com.