Oct. 2, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
Two blessing of the animals events will be taking place in Sunnyside this weekend.
The events will be held at All Saints’ Episcopal Church and Queens of Angels, where attendees can bring their pets to be blessed as part of the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, which takes place on or around Oct. 4.
St. Francis, who lived in the 13th century, was known for his love of all creatures.
Past events see dozens of attendees bringing their dogs, cats, hamsters, and even turtles to receive blessings. Pet owners typically describe their relationship to their pets after a reading and prayer are done.
One of the largest and spectacular blessing of the animals events is held at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan, which draws animals like camels, horses, goats, and owls, along with many spectators, to the church.
The event at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, located at 43-12 46th St., will take place on Oct. 6 at 1 p.m.
The Queen of Angels Church, located at 44-04 Skillman Ave., will begin its event at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 7.
13 Comments
My cats are atheists and they would never enter a church. They say there is no god and all those histrionics are just a ploy set by the racoons to control the world.
actually, that is wrong. Bastet was worshiped as a god by all cats.
I apologize for my stupid comments. I was dropped on my head by my mom when I was a baby like Sloth from the Goonies.
can they do an exorcism on el loco?
I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to geico
Moronic but typical. Why don’t you go to be blessed. You have the intelligence of a hamster.
What is the point of all of this? Getting your pet “blessed?” Yet another reason why the Reformation was such a success.
The Reformation ( 95 Theses) was 1517 in Europe. The founding of the Episcopalian Church was 1789 in the States. That’s 272 years later. One of the churches in article is Episcopalian. St Sebastians is also doing it. What ignorant hatefilled moron compares the 2? Who upvotes this ignorance? Why are you worried about someone getting their pet blessed for good health? You are a hatefilled person, you are a miserable person. You are a ignorant person.
I think it’s a legitimate observation and a worthy comment. It’s part of the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi (13th century) who predates the reformation by 200 years. I am not ignorant or hateful. Nothing will happen or change for these animals after they’re blessed; I’m curious why some pet owners partake in this spectacle and I wonder if they contemplate how it looks to the non-Catholic community.
It will prevent them from coming back from the dead after they are buried at a Pet Cemetery
The reason is that pet owners are asking the saints to watch over our pets and prevent them from harm. Not for any of the “reasons” the people, who are posting ignorant comments here, mistakenly think.
“Sorry we let that little girl die of cancer. We were busy protecting Fido from harm”
— The saints
It’s not bless the animals/let the children die thing. If it is, your saints are sadly limited in their abilities. (And you’re sadly limited in your compassion for sentient beings.)