Blessing of the Animals

OK. I'm not a religious person, but I thought this sounded interesting.

The Shrine of St. Anthony is offering a special liturgical event on Sunday, October 5, 2 pm, to bless pets in honor of St. Francis, the patron saint of animals.

The shrine is located at the St. Joseph Cupertino Friary, which is in a very pretty setting in Howard County ("on 310 acres of rolling hills and woodland"), so it's definitely worth checking out. It's that interesting looking monastery that you might have seen and, like me, wondered about while driving along Folly Quarter Road. What do they do there? Do they make bread? Wine? Fruit cakes? Would I be allowed in? Could I get a closer look?

So here's a perfect chance to satisfy your curiosity and visit on an early fall day. Plus get to see all those cute pets out there waiting for their blessing. And it's free. I just might do it. My guys could use a blessing (though maybe an exorcism would be more in order for Cody . . . ?)

12290 Folly Quarter Road
Ellicott City, MD 21042

There are more details on the shrine's calendar.

P.S. Rubina from our Dogs-on-the-Go group posted a photo of her "lil hell raiser" Parker getting his blessing last year:

Here are directions to the shrine, if you're coming from Lake Centennial.