Pet Blessings: History of Animal Blessings

Although most people often associate St Francis of Assisi with the Blessing of the Animals--the practice has been around much longer.

In fact, art and folklore suggest that blessing traditions may predate the religious ceremonies so popular today...but little documentation exists even on those ceremonies we have popularized.

Documentation of a blessing of the animals in Rome was found from the 1930s and recent research links the Olvera Street Animal Blessing to the founding of Los Angeles--1781 instead of the anglicized event that began to take hold in the 1930s.

Saint Francis was an animal lover and is the Catholic Saint of Ecology and Animals--but his feast day didn't start until the 13th Century.

Even so, most people associate the pet blessings and other blessing of the animal events with St. Francis but it was in fact, St Anthony who preceded him.

Saint Anthony of the Desert was the first associated with blessing of the animal events and was the Catholic Saint of the Animal Kingdom associated with blessing events much earlier--starting in the 4th Century.

Today animal blessings have moved into popular culture and are found throughout the world.

Pet blessings and similar events such as the Blessing of the Hounds, Blessing of the Horses, World Animal Day, Tumpek Kandang, take place at different times of the year.

Keep scrolling for the article on the top blessing of the animal events in the world...