Blessing of the Pets

Reverend Stephen H. Crawford officiated the celebration of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi and the Blessing of the Animals, Sunday at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Franklin. Crawford blessed everything from dogs to cats to salamanders, even blessing pets in absentia. He also told of St. Francis of Assisi and how he unabashedly sermoned to animals as well as humans, saying that animals deserved to be blessed, just as humans deserved to be blessed.
The Banner-Tribune/CASEY COLLIER