Animals

Confused-looking pets blessed with holy water for traditional Spanish festival


Caption: Very confused pets are blessed by a priest with holy water in Spain

Bemused dogs and glowering cats were hauled before their local priest for a Spanish blessing ceremony on Friday.

Pet lovers carrying birds of prey and tiny hamsters were part of the same procession in Madrid, while the town of Muro, on Majorca, was overrun with livestock.

Every single animal is dutifully dashed with holy water, though it doesn’t look like they all appreciate the gesture.

The tradition marks the feast day of San Antón, the patron saint of animals, and is celebrated throughout Spain.

January 17 was historically set aside as a day of rest for field animals, who were taken by farmers to their local churches to be blessed.

Some pets didn’t know what to make of it all (Picture: Reuters/Susana Vera)
One feline was either very impatient or very fed up in Madrid (Picture: Javier Soriano / AFP)
The tradition is held in honour of Saint Anthony the Great, a 3rd-century monk (Picture: Jaime Reina / AFP)
Farmers on the Balearic island brought their sheep to be blessed (Photo by JAIME REINA / AFP)
Majorca is known for tourism but has a rich agricultural heritage (Photo by JAIME REINA/AFP via Getty Images)

Horses and oxen gave way to dogs, cats, rabbits, birds and even rats or snakes as keeping pets became more popular.

But farmers still herd huge flocks of sheep and geese along the streets to ask for divine protection.

San Antonio Abad (Saint Anthony the Abbot), known in the English-speaking world as Anthony the Great, was a Christian monk from a wealthy family who lived in third-century Egypt.

His parents died when he was 20 years old, and he gave away his family’s property and wealth to the poor in order to live a meagre existence in the desert.

According to Christian legend he discovered wisdom through coexisting with nature, and would bless animals and plants in his path.

A priest blesses a domesticated eagle during the ‘Beneides’ ceremony, as it’s known in Majorca (Picture: Jaime Reina/AFP via Getty Images)
A tiny hamster waits to be blessed by a priest in Madrid (Photo by Javier Sorano / AFP)
A priest blesses a lively-looking owl outside the same church (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)
A priest outside San Anton Church in the Spanish capital whispers to a dog (Picture: REUTERS/Susana Vera)
A cat looks away wistfully while a cloaked clergyman carries out the blessing (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images)
The festival marks the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great, patron saint of animals (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)

He is said to have healed a wild hog suffering from blindness, and is often depicted with animals at his feet.

But it’s thought the origins of the ‘Beneïdes’ (‘blessing’ in the Majorcan language) festival date back to pagan times, when farmers vulnerable to the elements begged the gods to protect their flock.

Majorcans traditionally made their living from subsistence farming, but the island’s tourism boom means only a few rural pockets depend on agriculture today.

The tradition is popular in parts of mainland Spain, too. In Zaragoza, hundreds of people queue in front of a single church, San Pablo, to ask Saint Anthony for their pets’ protection.





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