Furry friends receive blessings around Hampton Roads
Churchgoers around the Hampton Roads area gathered up their cats, dogs, and even a hamster, to be blessed on the first weekend of October.
The feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi is celebrated on Oct. 4, marking the day of his death in 1226. A few years after his death, Pope Gregory IX canonized him as a saint and then designated him the patron saint of animals due to his great love for God’s non-human creatures.
Many churches in the area, a majority Episcopal and Presbyterian due to Assisi being a Catholic saint, hosted Blessing of the Animals services over the weekend and invited patrons to bring their pets to church.
On Friday, pastor Shawn Malarkey stood in front of six stoic horses at the Virginia Beach Police Department’s mounted patrol facility. After reciting quotes from the Bible, Malarkey went around to each horse with his hand placed between their eyes but below their manes, and gave each a blessing. Malarkey was sure not to leave out Timmy, the robust orange barn cat who protects the horses from small vermin.
At Church of the Good Shepherd in Norfolk, a three-legged dog named Oban hopped down the aisle towards rector Jacqueline Soltys and sat patiently as he received a blessing.
In Hampton, a small but mighty congregation gathered at a nearby park. In the mix with some pups were two calm-tempered felines and one spunky hamster all waiting to receive their blessings and a treat.
Kendall Warner, 703-927-7497, [email protected]
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