Boris*, Karma, Hobbit and Sky attended in person when St Mary the Virgin, Nunthorpe’s monthly Café Church invited pets along to coincide with the conclusion of Creationtide and the Feast of St Francis, for a pet blessing.
Curate the Revd Laura Wild said, "After St Mary's usual delicious breakfast, we considered the goodness of God’s creation as recorded in the Creation account in Genesis before introducing our pets to one another."
For pets who wouldn’t be comfortable (or contained) attending Café Church, blessings were still prayed over households and their pets as guests had been invited to send in a photograph beforehand. A local Vets' practice had loaned an original piece of artwork depicting St Francis for the occasion and a prayer of blessings of the vets followed the blessing of the pets.
"There was so much evident joy at our invited guests," added Laura.
"We prayed that we would be bold to care for all of God’s creation."