Bless the animals Sunday

Central Christian Church will host a Blessing of the Animals on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. on the church’s front lawn.

Bring your furry friends (on a leash or in a cage) and join others for this fun service. Feel free to invite neighbors and friends and their pets to the event.

Wikipedia notes “Blessing of animals is a religious activity, and occurs broadly across most religions in some form, including for example, across Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Shintoism, Unitarian Universalism, amongst others.”

“Blessing of animals can be either of the animal, or of the human-animal relationship, and can apply to pets and other companion animals, or to agricultural animals and working and other animals which humans depend on or interact with.”

Within Christianity, the blessing occurs on or around Oct. 4 where “Christians worldwide celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis with a blessing of animals and prayers for creation.”

“St. Francis of Assisi is associated with the patronage of animals, and it has become customary for Catholic and Anglican churches to carry out animal blessing ceremonies on his feast day of 4 October.”

The 125-year-old church is located at the corner of Cooke and Elm Streets in Nocona, two blocks north of City Hall and the Police Station.