Every year since 1987, Saint Anthony School in Kailua has celebrated the Feast Day of Saint Francis of Assisi with a traditional Blessing of the Animals. On October 5th, the school community was encouraged to bring their pets on leashes, in carriers, photos of pets and even stuffed animals to be blessed by Father Bong. Among the pets were dogs, cats, birds and turtles!

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Saint Francis of Assisi is known for his love of all nature, especially animals. He saw them as his equal among God’s incredible creation. Stories have been told of Saint Francis preaching to birds, holding the attention of an audience of animals, and calming even the most dangerous of beasts to make them friends to man.

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