A prayer for the animals
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.
            O God, enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, even our brothers, the animals, to whom Thou gavest the earth as their home in common with us.
            We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high dominion of man with ruthless cruelty so that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to thee in song, has been a groan of pain.
            May we realize that they live, not for us alone, but for themselves and for Thee and that they love the sweetness of life.                             --St. Basil the Great