Since the end of the 20th century, it has become more and more common in the United States for animals and their human companions to be blessed on or around the feast of St Francis of Assisi. Another saint associated with animals, and known to have blessed them, is Blaise, a bishop of Sebaste. ‘The sweetness of his love’So why is it that Francis, the founder of the Franciscan religious order, became associated with animals in America? He has long been considered the patron saint of ecology, and bird-bedecked statues of the 13th century saint are often featured in gardens. Today, probably the second-most well-known story about Francis and animals is the tale of the wolf of Gubbio.