Press Release

St. John's Episcopal Church
11 Wilmot Road
New Rochelle, NY 10804
(914) 636-0047

October 1, 2003: St. John's Episcopal Church of New Rochelle is pleased to announce the publication of its pastor's first book, We Thank You, God, for These: Blessings and Prayers for Family Pets. (The Rev.) Rayner W. Hesse, Jr., wrote this book with his partner, Anthony F. Chiffolo, in order to answer the needs of people who are grieving over the loss of their beloved pets. "I've performed hundreds of services at the Hartsdale Canine Cemetery," says Father Hesse, "and after the ceremony, people usually ask me for a copy of the prayers and readings. I've accumulated quite a collection over the years. It was really time to gather everything together into a book."

To do that, Father Hesse turned to his partner, who is a professional editor and has published seven books of his own. "Anthony knows how to put a book together, and he knows which publishers to approach and how to talk with them. And this was truly a joint effort, as we both wrote the text, including the blessings and prayers, and did the research to find the most appropriate readings." They also enlisted the talents of Andrew Lattimore, one of the country's foremost portrait painters, to illustrate the book with original charcoal drawings of their favorite pets.

We Thank You, God, for These is simultaneously a scriptural guide, a liturgical resource, and a reflection on the joys of living with animals as pets. Both devotional and inspirational, the book provides words of gladness to welcome a new pet to the family, words of blessing to celebrate our shared lives with our pets, words of prayer to help us care for our sick pets, and words of solace and condolence to ease our grief when pets die.

"In the Bible's story of creation," Hesse and Chiffolo write, "all creatures have a place and all are good and deserving of love. When God charged humankind with 'dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth' (Genesis 1:26b), God surely called us to treat our pets with the same love and compassion God models for us. One way of responding is to bless our pets and to pray for their well-being."

With prayer and blessing services for all pet types, from dogs and cats and horses to fish and lizards and mice, We Thank You, God, for These will help us understand the spiritual basis for our relationships with all animals and the blessings God bestows upon us through our pets.

St. John's Episcopal Church will host a "blessing of the animals" at its regular 9:30 A.M. worship service on October 5. We Thank You, God, for These: Blessings and Prayers for Family Pets will be available for purchase after the service, and the authors will be on hand to sign and personalize copies of the book.

(The Rev.) Rayner Wilson Hesse, Jr. ("Rusty"), pastor of St. John's Episcopal Church in New Rochelle, has been an ordained Episcopal priest for twenty-one years. He holds a B.A. from the University of Maryland (College Park), and two masters degrees in theology from Union Theological Seminary and The General Theological Seminary, both located in New York City. In 2000, he was the recipient of the Myron Isaacs Award for Community Service from the Westchester Civil Liberties Union for his work in helping to create a commission for Human Rights legislation in Westchester County, New York. In 2001, he received the Monsignor Terry Attridge Award from WVOX Radio for his years of outstanding community service. Fr. Hesse is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at The New York Theological Seminary in Manhattan.

Anthony F. Chiffolo is author of the books Advent and Christmas with the Saints (Liguori, 2003), 100 Names of Mary: Stories and Prayers (St. Anthony Messenger, 2002) and Be Mindful of Us: Prayers to the Saints (Liguori, 2000), as well as thirteen pamphlets in the "An Hour with the Saints" series. He is also the compiler/editor of At Prayer with the Saints, Pope John Paul II: In My Own Words, Pope John XXIII: In My Own Words, and Padre Pio: In My Own Words (all Liguori). He was named WVOX Radio's "Author of the Year" for 2000. Anthony Chiffolo has a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts from St. John's College in Annapolis. He serves as managing editor of Praeger Publishing at Greenwood Publishing Group and also reviews books for Nimble Spirit (www.nimblespirit.com).

We Thank You, God, for These: Blessings and Prayers for Family Pets, $16.95, 224 pages, paperback, ISBN 0-8091-4125-6, available from Paulist Press, (800) 218-1903.