Pet blessings around the community

Pets will have the opportunity for special blessings in ceremonies around the community next week. St. Anastasia St. Anastasia Catholic Church will conduct a Blessing of Animals ceremony at 10 a.m. Oct. 2 in conjunction with the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment. his is the fourth year for the blessings. Past year's events have drew dozens of pets and their owners. Among the pets were a dogs and cats, fish in fish bowls, birds, turtles and hamsters.

The blessing will take place at the front entrance of the church which is located at 5205 A1A South on Anastasia Island. Pet owners should bring their dogs and cats on leashes and other species should be contained/restrained in some manner. Participants are also asked to bring a bag to clean up after their pets. For information on the Blessing of Pets, call the St. Anastasia Church office at 471-5364.

San Sebastian

San Sebastian Catholic Church Ladies Guild, 1112 State Road 16, will conduct its annual pet blessing at 10 a.m. Oct. 2 in the church parking lot under the big oak tree.

Be a Pack Leader

Be a Pack Leader Dog Walking Club will conduct a Blessing of the Dogs at 5 p.m. Oct. 3 at Vaill Point Park.

Lee Weaver, who will officiate, is retired clergyman from the New York area, better known to us locally as a motivational speaker and as Don Quixote in "Man of La Mancha" and various other performances at the Limelight Theater.

The event will start with a walk through the park at 5 p.m., followed by the blessing at 6 p.m. and ending with a covered dish supper. Everyone is welcome. Please bring clean up bags and water for yourself and your dog. All dogs must be on a 6-foot leash at all times, be non-agressive and vaccinated. For further information e-mail Annie at cowlips1@comcast.net or call 797-2197. Check the website for the schedule at www.beapackleader dogwalkingclub.com.

Cathedral Basilica

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine will have the traditional Blessing of Animals and Pets Oct. 3, in the Cathedral's west courtyard shortly after noon, following the 11 a.m. Mass.

The tradition of blessing animals is linked to St. Francis of Assisi and his love of all God's creation. Francis, whose feast is Oct. 4 in the Christian calendar, wrote the "Canticle of the Creatures" which, in part, declares: "All praise to you, O Lord, for all these brother and sister creatures."

In addition to the blessing of animals, St. Augustine Transfer/Avalon Carriages will be offering horse carriage rides. All proceeds will benefit the Diamond in the Rough Equine Farms and the St. Augustine Humane Society. The carriage rides will begin in front of the Cathedral following the blessing.

St. Cyprian

St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church, 37 Lovett St., will bless the animals at 10 a.m. Oct. 3. The Rev. Ted Voorhees, vicar, reports that the sermon will be 'cut short" that day, and coffee hour will be on the lawn.

A feature of the blessing will be a bake sale benefiting Goliath and BeBe, the animal sanctuary that is raising funds to keep its sanctuary open.