September 27, 2006
Pet Blessing at St. John the Divine on Sunday
This coming Sunday, at 11AM, The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine will have its annual Feast of St. Francis. St. Francis of Assissi is the patron saint of animals, so after the service, there is a pet blessing and an outdoor fair. While you may not be Christian or particularly religious, it's quite a spectacle to see the pets being blessed. In previous years, elephants, eagles, llamas, boas and camels have participated as well as more common pets, like cats, dogs, and birds.
Tickets are given on a first-come, first-servce basis starting at 9:15AM on Sunday, October 1. There is limited room because of renovation work at the cathedral. The pet blessing is from 11AM to 4PM, and choral vespers by candlelight are at 6PM.
A camel on the steps of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine at a previous Feast of St. Francis. Photo courtesy of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine.
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They also do this at the St. Patrick's R.C. Church in Bay Ridge. They are really sweet and even threw some extra Holy Water on my older cat after we told the Priest he had "anger issues".
Quick! Eat that camel before the Hungry Cabbie does!
Aw, that's cute! I want to bring my cat for a blessing - he's almost 19 and he has halitosis.
ah, religion. never let it be said that shallow stupidity based on erroneous anthropomorphization is limited to secular mouthbreathing fuckwits.
Wow, people have pet camels in NYC? Do you gallop down 7th Avenue on camelback when traffic is stalled? Can you take them on the subway?