The Rev. Renee Waun, a Unitarian-Universalist pastor in Murrysville, has blessed creatures ranging from hermit crabs to ferrets.

She'll do so again this afternoon in Shadyside at a St. Francis Day benefit for the Animal Rescue League.

"Mostly it's dogs and cats -- well, mostly dogs because the cats don't necessarily want to be there with dogs," she said. "Kids bring hermit crabs and snakes, or ferrets. Someone brought a tarantula one time."

Affection for St. Francis of Assisi has spread through the Western world, reaching far beyond his Italian Catholic roots. His popularity has led secular animal rescue groups to build campaigns around him. The blessing event in Shadyside is one of several planned around the region today on the feast day of St. Francis.

The statue of the robed monk with animals perched around him is so ubiquitous that people may think of him solely as a garden ornament. But he was a 13th-century evangelist who renewed medieval Catholicism.

He began a wealthy, worldly young knight who was taken prisoner of war during a conflict between Italian cities. After his release, he experienced Jesus speaking to him from the cross, telling him to "rebuild my church." He and his followers went from town to town, telling stories and singing songs about faith in Jesus.

Along the way, he inspired many stories about his love for animals.

He is said to have brokered a truce between a ravenous wolf and villagers who wanted to kill it. He preached to birds -- and also gently commanded them to remain quiet during his outdoor sermons. He wrote the oldest-known poetry in any modern European language, including his famous "Canticle of Brother Sun."

In 1979, Pope John Paul II declared him the patron saint of animals and of ecology.

That resonates with the Rev. Waun, pastor of East Suburban Unitarian-Universalist Church in Murrysville. Her tradition no longer calls itself Christian, and doesn't require belief in God.

"One of the seven principles of Unitarian-Universalism is to respect the interdependent web of creation, of which we are a part. That includes every living thing, so blessing the animals is a logical outcome," she said.

"It's not like we're praying for the animals in the Unitarian-Universalist Church, but it's more an acknowledgement of the sacred worth of these creatures and the friendship and companionship they provide."

Her afternoon blessing, from 1 to 4 p.m. outside Journeys of Life gift shop in Shadyside, is a benefit for the Animal Rescue League and a CD-signing event for Karen Litzinger, a Regent Square counselor with a specialty in helping people through the loss of a pet. There's no charge for the animal blessing, but people are asked to bring donations of pet food, towels or money for the shelter. It was her idea to do it on St. Francis Day, which is also her birthday.

"I love that my birthday is on the feast of St. Francis. Maybe that's more than serendipity," said Ms. Litzinger, a Unitarian who was raised Catholic.

She was unaware of the Oct. 4 connection until adulthood, when her mother invited her to a St. Francis Day animal blessing. She was so moved that she persuaded her own church in Shadyside to offer one.

"My mission next year is to have a full-fledged interfaith service with representatives from all of the religions," she said.

Three years ago, the Humane Society of the United States launched its All Creatures Great and Small campaign as a St. Francis Day outreach to churches.

"There's current dialogue on creation care issues among faith communities in this country. We want to be sure that animals are included in that discussion," said Christine Gutleben, the faith outreach director for the society, who is about to take her message on a six-week Christian rock tour.

Last year for St. Francis Day, the Humane Society promoted a DVD, "Eating Mercifully," about abuses in the poultry industry and urged viewers to sign a pledge to buy only cage-free eggs.

This year the Humane Society is offering St. Francis Day in a Box. It includes The Green Bible -- printed using soy-based ink, with nature passages marked in green lettering -- as well as sermon ideas on St. Francis, youth projects involving animal protection and the DVDs "Eating Mercifully" and "Amazing Grace."

The latter was a 2006 film about William Wilburforce, who led a campaign to abolish slavery in 18th-century England. But Mr. Wilburforce also founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and a discussion guide highlights that aspect of his life. The box is available for a donation of $15 at www.humanesociety.org.

"We're finding that this is a multidenominational event. There are Protestant and nondenominational churches that have ordered these. It's a day to celebrate creation and animals, and St. Francis has become that figure for many denominations," Ms. Gutleben said.

Those who wanted an original Franciscan ethos could find it yesterday at the St. Francis Festival at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. The Rev. Dominic Scotto blessed animals outside the school's replica of the chapel where St. Francis first heard the call to "rebuild my church."

"He wasn't a pantheist who worshiped trees and rocks, but he saw all of that as part of God's beautiful creation. We bless these things because we see them as offering songs of praise back to the father for his beautiful creation," he said.

As campus chaplain, Father Scotto has blessed everything from lizards to canaries to a stuffed animal with a vigorous spray of holy water.

"I'm a little wary of the big dogs," he said. "I've got the holy water sprinkler, and I can shoot from a distance."

Father Scotto, a theologian, has made many trips to Assisi. One story about St. Francis said that he stopped a boy who was carrying doves to market and persuaded him to hand over the birds so they wouldn't be killed. The story says that St. Francis built nests for them.

"Up on the mountain where Francis prayed, there is a monastery on the side of the cliff, and there are doves there. Even in the valley, at the [church that encloses St. Francis' original chapel] there are doves, nesting in the hands of Francis," Father Scotto said.

A theology professor at Franciscan, the Rev. Daniel Pattee has done extensive research on St. Francis. His love for animals was real, but closely connected to his Christian faith, Father Pattee said.

"The sight of lambs being led to slaughter so reminded him of Christ that it would melt him," he said. Several times St. Francis is said to have ransomed one and given it to a friend as a pet.

While he believes that St. Francis would enjoy today's widespread animal blessings, Father Pattee said he would use them as opportunities to engage people in conversation about Jesus. He once intervened in a crusade by traveling to Egypt to try to persuade a Muslim ruler to become a Christian. (The ruler was charmed by Francis, but unconvinced).

"Francis loved and cared for creation because it mirrored God, whom he loved so deeply," he said. "His mission was to draw people and bring as many as possible with him to Christ."

The Capuchin Franciscans in Lawrenceville also celebrate the love between humans and pets through the Capuchin Pet Club. Donors who enroll receive a blessed medal of St. Francis, suitable for a pet's collar, and a meditation on God's love for creation. Information is at www.capuchin.com/work/connections.php.

The Rev. Scott Seethaler, a Capuchin Franciscan evangelist, isn't worried that St. Francis Day will become secularized, as St. Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day have become.

"As long as there's a blessing involved, there will be a connection with some kind of God-based help for the animals," he said.

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