In celebration of the feast days of Saints Francis and Clare of
Assisi, St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Corona del Mar
bestowed blessings on dozens of pets during its service on Sunday.
Dogs, cats, turtles, birds, fish and even stuffed animals were
blessed by the Reverends Peter Haynes and Cindy Voorhees in honor of
Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, and Saint Clare
of Assisi, Saint Francis' spiritual student.
"He was kind of nervous and excited," said Corona del Mar resident
Kendra Hollern of her four-year-old golden retriever, Jake. "This is
really fun. This is the first time they let the animals come into the
service."
Hollern said Jake has been coming to the Blessing of the Animals
at St. Michael's for three years, but this is the first year the
animals were invited to stay for the entire service.
"We're blessed to have a ministry that welcomes the animals," said
Newport Beach's Joan Short. "It brings everybody together."
Linne Ruedy of Irvine brought her dog Gaby, whom she adopted a
couple of months ago.
"I saw her picture on the Internet. She was very pathetic-looking,
and I decided no one was going to adopt her," Ruedy said. "So I drove
up to Torrance and got her."
Ruedy said she had another dog who was blessed last year but had
passed away.
The Brookes family of Newport Beach brought in the ashes of one of
their Labradors, Buddy, who died recently. They wanted to have his
ashes blessed before they bury him in their backyard.
"He brought us a lot of happiness," said Diana Brookes. "To lose
Buddy at 6 was very unexpected."
The church also collected Iams, Science Diet and Nutro brands pet
food to donate to the Humane Society and will continue accepting
donations at next Sunday's service.
* LINDSAY SANDHAM is the news assistant. She can be reached at
(714) 966-4625 or o7lindsay.sandham@latimes.comf7.
