By Katie Gojkovich, Executive Director, Christ Church Bronxville

Sep. 27, 2017:  Christ Church celebrates the 11th anniversary of its Blessing of the Animals this year on Sunday, October 1, at 5:00 pm in the church. 

This beloved Christ Church tradition is held each year on the Sunday closest to the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis was renowned for his connection to nature, even preaching to the animals he encountered.

The church will be filled with the jubilant and raucous sounds of our special guests greeting each other and joining in the songs and prayers. The lively service culminates with the procession of the animals up to the front of the church to receive an individual blessing from the clergy.

Fr. Michael Bird, rector of Christ Church, said, "We are thrilled to open our doors to our animal friends and their companions for the tenth year. I can guarantee that we will make a joyful and unique noise to the Lord at this service. All of God's creatures, great and small, are welcome!"

Pictured here:  Detail from a manuscript leaf with scenes from the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, ca. 1320-42, made in Bologna (for Hungarian use), Italy, in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Photo from the online public domain collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art under Creative Commons License 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0): https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/.