Dunedin Churches to Bless Animals for Saint Francis

Pet owners, you can take your animals to receive a blessing this week.

Several churches are honoring the feast day of Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology, with a "Blessing of the Animals" ceremony.

Here is when you can get your pets blessed in Dunedin this week:

• Thursday, Oct. 4: Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School; 2:30 p.m. (on the school grounds)
• Saturday, Oct. 6: St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church; 5:30 p.m. (at the flagpole)
• Saturday, Oct. 6: Faith United Church of Christ; 11 a.m. (on the lawn) 
• Sunday, Oct. 7: Church of the Good Shepherd; 10 to 11:30 a.m.

(Be sure your pets are on a leash or can be held in your arms. Stuffed animals also welcome.)

Saint Francis of Assisi's feast day is celebrated Oct. 4. The popular saint, who lived 1181-1226, is noted for his affection for and bond with animals and nature. 

According to his biography on EWTN.com: 

"Francis was reverently in love with all natural phenomena—sun, moon, air, water, fire, flowers; his quick warm sympathies responded to all that lived. His tenderness for and his power over animals were noted again and again. [...] We hear also of the birds that perched attentively around when he told them to sing their Creator's praises, of the rabbit that would not leave him at Lake Trasymene, and of the tamed wolf of Gubbio [...]" 

Did we miss you? Feel free to invite pet owners to your church's "Blessing of the Animals" by adding it to the Dunedin Patch event section.