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Blessing of the Animals September 26

Bring your favorite animals to the campus of St. Stephen on Monday, September 26, at 6:00 p.m. for our annual Blessing of the Animals!

We do this every year near the birthday of St. Francis of Assissi. Tradition holds that he was a great animal lover and is often depicted surrounded by animals. He believed that God could be experienced in the wonder of living things.

In celebration of his birthday and to practice what he taught, every year we invite everyone bring their favorite animals to the lawn of St. Stephen for a service of Blessing. We’ve had animals from no legs to eight legs. Hound dogs howl, cats hiss, and children laugh as we sing hymns about the wonder of the created order and our animal friends make a joyful noise!

In the past we’ve had visits from rats, snails, snakes, horses, donkeys–we even had TCU’s Super Frog drop by for a blessing! So please join us, and bring your special non-human friend for a very special blessing–because we’re all creatures of God!