MADRID, Spain: A cat sits on a pew as worshipers attend Mass in the San Anton Abad church in Madrid, Spain. This is on the occasion of the animals’ patron saint day, when thousands of people all over Spain bring their pets to churches to be blessed.
In many other countries, pet blessings take place on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. In Spain this custom is assigned to the feast of St. Anthony the Abbot, who showed great regard for the animals who visited him in his monastery in the Egyptian desert.
Photo by Emilio Morenatti for the Associated Press
And today we celebrate...
