The Rev. Kenny Aquino couldn’t believe his eyes when he stepped outside for St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church’s Blessing of the Pets event on Wednesday.
“Wow, this is incredible,” the Wildwood church’s pastor said as he saw dozens of dogs and a few cats awaiting their blessings with their humans under St. Vincent de Paul Catholic’s portico. “This is an amazing turnout. Thank you for coming.”
Houses of worship across the country hosted Blessing of the Pets or Blessing of the Animals ceremonies on or around Oct. 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, who is the Roman Catholic Church’s patron saint of animals. Francis, who lived in Italy during the 12th and 13th centuries, is known for creating the Franciscan religious orders and is considered one of the most venerated figures in Christianity.
“St. Francis of Assisi promoted harmony with all of God’s creatures,” Aquino said. “Today, we do the same.”
In and around The Villages, at least eight churches hosted pet blessing ceremonies from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7. A ninth takes place at 11 a.m. Oct. 21 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lake County in Eustis.
Residents showed up with dozens of dogs, a couple of kittens and even a 7-year-old miniature donkey named Jessie at Hope Lutheran Church’s Central campus in The Villages on Saturday for its Blessing of the Animals ceremony.
“We wouldn’t miss this for the world,” said Tincy German, a Summerfield native who brought Jessie for the blessing. “The church truly cares about all animals and has been quite welcoming of what my husband and I bring to these blessings.”
Hope Lutheran’s lead pastor, the Rev. Jon-Marc MacLean, has a 90-pound Labrador named Toby at home. Toby wasn’t able to attend, but the crowd at this year’s Blessing of the Animals made up for the absence.
“I do the Blessing of the Animals every year because it’s so much fun,” MacLean said.
Marie Hulsizer and her husband, Jim, brought their golden retriever, Dawkins, to the blessing.
“Dawkins came last year and had a blast,” said Marie, of the Village of Bridgeport at Mission Hills. “He’s just excited to be here.”
A variety of animal groups also were on hand for the Blessing of the Animals, including Sheltering Hands, an Ocala-based nonprofit devoted to improving the lives of cats. The group’s adoption director, Laurie Cammarn, fed two kittens from a bottle to the delight of those in attendance.
“The kittens are both 2 weeks old,” she said. “When they are 12 weeks old, they will be taken to PetSmart in Lady Lake to be adopted. They will never step foot in a shelter.”
St. Paul Parish in Belleview hosted the first area Blessing of the Pets on Sept. 30 under the church’s portico. Church pastor the Rev. Mark Niznik said eight dogs and a cat were blessed, a slight increase from last year.
“We were blessed to have them visit our church,” Niznik said.
And First Christian Disciples of Christ welcomed a big crowd to its annual blessing on Oct. 1 at the church’s Wildwood campus.
“We had close to 30 pets of all shapes and sizes drop by the church for a blessing,” said the Rev. Bridgette Sullenger, pastor of First Christian DOC. “It was a super great day and everyone had fun.”
Senior writer James Dinan can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5302, or james.dinan@thevillagesmedia.com.
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