Posted October 4, 2021

Creatures great and small lined up for blessings offered by a number of archdiocesan parishes to mark the Oct. 4 feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron of ecology.

(Read our related story on this year’s blessings of the animals.)

  • Father Patrick Welsh, pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Philadelphia, holds his dog Vader during an Oct. 2 blessing of the animals at that parish. (Vanessa Turchi/St. Matthew Parish)

  • A Labrador retriever mix and his owner wait on the steps of St. William Church in Philadelphia for an Oct. 2 blessing of the animals. (Gina Christian)

  • Parishioners of Sacred Heart in Royersford carry their dog to an Oct. 2 blessing of the animals. (Christine Klag/Sacred Heart Parish)

  • St. William parishioners show off their pets at an Oct. 3 blessing of the animals. (Gina Christian)

  • Father Patrick Welsh, pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Philadelphia, blesses dogs at an Oct. 2 service. (Vanessa Turchi/St. Matthew Parish)

  • Dogs of all sizes (such as this one at St. William) dominated at this year’s blessings of the animals throughout the Philadelphia Archdiocese. (Gina Christian)

  • Father Augusto Concha blesses a pair of turtles after the 12 p.m. Mass Oct. 3 at St. William Parish in Philadelphia. (Gina Christian)

  • The Durso family and their dogs Gatsby (left) and Bruno (in profile) attended an Oct. 2 blessing of the animals, where they were joined by fellow canine Vader, owned by pastor Father Patrick Welsh. (Vanessa Turchi/St. Matthew Parish)

  • The Segrest family of St. Matthew Parish brought their guinea pig Tater Tot to the parish’s Oct. 2 blessing of the animals. (Vanessa Turchi/St. Matthew Parish)