They didn’t enter two-by-two but they sure did good for their kingdom.
Camels, tortoises, and reindeer paraded through St. John the Divine Cathedral Sunday morning in the annual event that transforms the largest Gothic cathedral in the world into a sacred zoo.
Hundreds of animal lovers of all different faiths brought their pets to the 25th Annual Blessing of the Animals at the 112th Street cathedral, for the morning’s sacred Earth Mass to honor the feast day of Saint Francis.
This is not a typical service. Along with a procession of camels, eagles, hawks, monkeys, ducks, llamas, yaks, and many more exotic creatures unfamiliar to city folk, the Omega Dance Company flittered around the cathedral in between sermons, while the Mettawee River Theater Company waved their banners in preparation for the blessing.
“It’s a joyous, celebratory day,” Bishop Mark Sisk, who came to the diocese 40 years ago, said in an interview prior to the ceremony. Though this event occurs across the country, it is of special interest here, he said, because St. John’s the Divine “is responsible for the renewal of the blessing of animals as a custom around the world. We were the first ones to do it in the modern era.”
Local resident Laurie Sude, returning to the blessing with her 140-pound dog, said she loved how all the animals seemed to get along with each other on this day “It’s a miracle, it really is, and I’m not religious,” she said. “But I believe in animals.”
Others said that they were here for the healing powers of the church. Guy Chiaperini brought his six-year-old German shepherd, who is in the process of dialysis treatments for kidney failure. “I’m praying to the Lord for a miracle that he could recover,” he said.
For Reverend Victoria Sirota, the event is an opportunity for all different kinds of people to explore the church in a new way. When it comes to religion, she said, “People feel excluded very easily. But today, not only are they included, but their pets are too, and they are the vehicle for God’s love.”
For some attendees, the blessing is simply routine. “She’s been blessed before. It’s kind of like a birthday tradition,” Christine O’Heron said of her dog, who is turning eight in two days.
“It’s cleansing for the next year. Now she is getting older, I feel like every little bit helps. She doesn’t have health care,” O’Heron joked.
For the Brooks family, who runs the upstate Sanctuary for Animals, established in 1973, the annual blessing means a road trip down from the Hudson Valley to New York City—a journey with busloads of over 25 creatures of all shapes and sizes.
One of their monkeys, Kimba—who came for the blessing for a second time this year—is even an actor, recently featured in the television show “30 Rock.”
“Everyone should just appreciate what animals have done for us,” said the great-great-granddaughter of the founder of the sanctuary, Amanda Brooks, while holding a four-year old fennec fox. Behind her, organizers backstage planned out the procession lineup while trainers attempted to keep their camels and yaks calm.
Ten-year-old Rachel Wood travels every year for this event from the Catskills, with her father, and their pet owls, falcons, hawks, and eagles.
Holding her four-month-old owl wildly flapping its wings, she said, “It thinks it’s supposed to fly. But it’s not—it’s supposed to cuddle.”
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