THIH told you to head over to Lincoln Park this morning. If you didn’t make it, you missed a rare treat, as well as the liver-flavored kind.
Reverend Milton Williams, Jr., the rector at St. Monica’s and St. James Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill, presided over a Blessing of the Animals at Lincoln Park this morning. The pups and their parents recieved blessings as well a shake of holy water, followed by a milkbone – holy, certainly, to dogs everywhere.
If your pooch is need of some heavenly intervention, fear not. Tomorrow there’s another Blessing of the Animals at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church at 3rd and A Street, SE. Break out your fancy leashes — cats, dogs, gerbils, rabbits and other pets and their owners are welcome. St. Mark’s nave, filled with light from the Tiffany window, filled with the howls and meows of four-legged worshipers is indeed something to observe. The services are at 9 and 11:15 a.m.
On the Episcopal church’s liturgical calendar, October 4 is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226). Founder of the Orders of Friars Minor, most commonly known as the Franciscans, Francis has long been considered the patron saint of animals and the environment.
“In blessing our animals, we acknowledge their importance to us and our call in caring for them and, thus, the creation,” said Paul Abernathy, rector of St. Mark’s.
After all, as the bumper stickers proclaim, Dog is my co-pilot, and Dog is God, spelled backwards.
