By Michael Francis Gore
MADRID (Reuters) – Dozens of dogs and cats, some parrots and a chicken lined up with their owners outside a church in Madrid on Friday, waiting their turn to be blessed by a Catholic priest in a popular annual ritual.
In Spain, the festival of San Antonio Abad celebrates pets, since the 3rd century Egyptian hermit is revered as the patron saint of animals.
According to legend, he performed numerous miracles with animals, such as restoring sight to blind borlets.
On the steps of the baroque church of San Antonio, priest Ángel García, 87, sprinkled holy water on the creatures, wishing them good health and happiness for their owners. Some parishioners showed photos of their pets on their phone screens to be blessed.
Milagros Hernández, 53, said she was very happy when her dog Yako received the blessing, adding that “it may seem silly, but it’s not.”
Chris Ludlow, an English teacher from Toronto who lives in Spain, told Reuters the “fantastic” tradition showed “why people really think of animals as their family and not just as pets.”