rancis was known for his love of animals. One of the most famous stories involves Francis and the wolf of Gubbio. The wolf was terrorizing the town of Gubbio eating both animals and people. Francis against the warnings of the towns people went out and spoke with the wolf. Francis met him and addressed him as brother wolf. The wolf laid its head in Francis' lap. He told the wolf that the people of the town would not harm him if the wolf would stop terrorizing the town. "All past crimes are forgiven" Francis said. Francis and the wolf went to Gubbio and a pact was made that if they fed the wolf the wolf would live peacefully among the people.
That famous story immediately came to mind when I saw an advertisement for a new show. The Animal Planet cable TV channel has a new show called "Divine Canine". The show is a dog obedience show that has a group of monastic brothers from The Monks of New Skete showing how they put their unique methods of dog obedience to use with their German Shepherds. Although the monks are not Franciscan (they are Eastern Orthodox) they certainly appear to have a Franciscan spirit regarding their love and training of animals.
Check you local TV listings or click on the ANIMAL PLANET link for the show schedule.
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