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Paw-sitively Divine: The Blessing of Animals Services

Father Ben blessing a canine therapy dog from PBSO during the upper school blessing of the animals service at Saint Andrew's school

This week, Saint Andrew's School held three Blessing of the Animals services in the Chapel of Saint Andrew's in honor of the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, which takes place in October. 

The Lower School and Middle School services, held on Wednesday and Thursday, featured over 100 pets. The species of pets that were in attendance for the blessings included dogs, cats, rabbits, turtles, and a miniature horse. 

Head Chaplain Rev. Dr. Benjamin Anthony, Rev. Dr. David Taylor, and Dr. Anthony Panella all participated in at least one of the services to help bless the animals that came to campus. Mr. August Berger played “The Swan” from Camille Saint-Saëns’ musical suite, The Carnival of the Animals, on cello at all three services. 

On Tuesday, the Upper School students, faculty, and staff participated in an extra special Francis Blessing of the Animals Service. The school invited Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office mounted and canine therapy units to campus to be blessed by Father Ben. During this service, Robert Adams, Saint Andrew's Chief of Campus Safety and Security and former Lieutenant with K-9 experience with the Boca Raton Police Department, spoke about the importance of the K-9 and mounted units and the special bond between an officer and their four-legged partners. 

To see CBS12's coverage of the event, click here.

To watch a video about the services, click here.

To view photos from each service, click the link associated with each division.

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