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North Beach festival is a special place for every walk of life, even the four legged kind
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When I heard that there were going to be animal blessings at the St. Assisi church during the North Beach festival, I really had no idea what to expect. When I tell you that the church looked like a circus, it only begins to describe the organized chaos of the wonderful event.
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I arrived at the St. Assisi church after spending the afternoon checking out the Grant Street vendors. These vendors had unique products for sale, including colorful organically made skirts, flattened bottles, light bulbs with colorful designs, art, handcrafted jewelry, enormous candy apples and unique spices.
Around 1:30 I entered the St. Assisi church (St.Francis of Assissi was known to be the patron saint of animals), took my seat and watched as people entered with their dogs, cats, fish and hermit crabs. I sat next to a woman who had been coming to the animal blessings for so many years that she lost count. This event reminded her of the warmth and energy that San Francisco has. This native San Franciscan began to tell me some of her stories of what kept bringing her back. Most people brought dogs or cats. Some years, she witnessed people bringing parrots on their shoulder. She was visibly upset when she noticed the elderly tortoise that usually sat on a red velvet pillow for his blessing wasn’t there this year.
As we chatted, the church filled with people and their pets. Animals sitting in the aisles, dogs playing with each other and barking, cats sitting afraid in their cages, kids holding their smaller pets and everyone waiting for the Deacon to begin the ceremony.
The service did not disappoint. Deacon Chuck started by telling us, he recently had someone ask him why he blesses animals if they do not have souls. The Deacon told us his response was, “Well, they are creatures of god.” The church then erupted in applause. The outstanding senior dog rescue Muttville was then introduced and owner Sherri Franklin spoke to the church about the importance of caring for animals. Over the years, Muttville has rescued over 350 dogs.
When it came time for the blessings. Deacon Chuck said a special prayer for each type of animal in the audience. He started to laugh when a young girl, of about eight, asked him to bless her hermit crabs. When he asked her the names of her hermit crabs, she responded very matter-of-factly, “Lucy and Mr. Crab.” The audience erupted in laughter.
North Beach has always had a wonderful inviting feel. The services over the weekend proves that North Beach is a special place for every walk of life, even the four legged kind.
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