Each year in early October churches and civic groups conduct a special ceremony called Blessing of the Pets. This custom which often involves a prayer to animals who are gently sprinkled with holy water, began in remembrance of Saint Francis of Assisi, who loved all creatures.
Francis, whose feast day is October 4th, loved larks flying about his hilltop town and allowed a displaced donkey to take over his humble hovel. He wrote an ode to God’s living things called a Canticle of the Creatures.
Blessings of the Pets take on many forms in California. Events can attract dozens or even thousands of people such as the annual Olvera Street Blessing of the Animals held on the Saturday before Easter Sunday.