Tuesday, October 5, 2010

All Creatures Great And Small

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Owl and Priest

On Sunday afternoon, Christ Church Cathedral held its annual blessing of the animals. The chief Episcopal church for our area invites everyone and everything, as long as it won't try to eat the clergy. Mostly it's dogs but there were cats and a chicken in boxes, a guinea pig or two and this beautiful owl. I've met him at the event before. He is so experienced to being in public he doesn't even mind camera flash.

Big night tonight. It's the Midwest regionals for How Sweet The Sound, the competition to find the best church choir in America. STL DPB was invited to cover the event and I have a back stage media pass. I'll be out late so first pix probably on Thursday.

Blessed Dog

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11 comments:

lewi14@gmail.com said...

Great shots, Rob. Never seen such a combination of church and animals. What a great gesture to our animal friends.

Olivier said...

la chouette est magnifique, dire que l'on les tuait dans les campagnes car cela portait bonheur si on les plantait en croix sur sa porte.

brattcat said...

That owl looks as if it's giving the sermon. Enjoy all that amazing music.

Virginia said...

Oh I love it when you do this gig! Great shots all.
V

Ming the Merciless said...

Enjoy the choir competition!

Awesome photo of the owl and the priest. Actually, that sounds like a spy movie -- the owl and the priest. :)

Eleonora Baldwin said...

What a wonderful initiative!

The only similar thing I've heard here is when the night before the Palio in Siena, the race horses are blessed in each contrada chapel. If the horse takes a dump in the church, it's said to bring winner's luck.

Only in Italy..

William Kendall said...

The owl is absolutely beautiful!

PJ said...

I love the Blessing of the Animals service. It's neutral ground so all the critters cooperate, no territory to defend. It's mostly for adults, no?

Hull and Hereabouts said...

These images are really intensely repulsive yet strangely inviting; you want to say these people are mad yet they live next door to you.

Clueless in Boston said...

Beautiful animals, especially the owl. It reminds me of an episode of the Vicar of Dibley. In my church the minister does a blessing of the backpacks for all the kids at the start of the school year.

Jilly said...

This is so good to see. We have the Blessing of the Animals here every year but I've never seen a priest so 'hands on' as this one. Wonderful. The priests here just wave a bit of incense about, say a prayer and that's about it.