Various kinds of pets were seen in different churches in Spanish churches on Sunday to receive blessing from a priest in line with Saint Anthony's Day. According to News24, he is best known as the patron saint of animals.
In this generation where a lot of people are more caring about their pets, it is not surprising that pet owners would care enough to bring them to church and animals line up just for them to be blessed by a priest. A holy water on the hands of a priest to sprinkle to the is a gesture of him blessing those pets.
One of the venues in Spain that has this event going is the Church of San Anton located in the heart of Madrid. Pets were wearing bright and colored sweaters to battle with the cold weather. They are all looking cute while waiting for the blessing to be given to them by the priest.
Most pet owners who brought their animals to church believe that a blessing from a priest would make their pets live longer and it could also help in keeping them healthy. Some also simply believe that they deserve a blessing since they are God's creation as well.
The publication interviewed some of the attendees and one of them is Blanca, 54, and she stood there almost 30 minutes just to have her pet Labrador receive the blessing from a priest. She said that it is not something new that people have to wait outside the church for a long time because pet care is huge in the capital city of Spain.
But Spain is not the only country that has priests blessing pets for events such as mentioned above. New Jersey also has one, although it is not done on Saint Anthony's Day. A minister named Matty Guiliano, 40, also gives blessing to pets handed to him by pet owners. This just shows that love for animals is going global.
