Duke Chapel's Blessing of the Animals This Sunday
Public and pets invited to Oct. 2 service
Duke Chapel invites the public to bring pets of all kinds for the chapel's annual Blessing of the Animals service at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2.
The roughly 30-minute service will feature performances by the Durham Children's Choir, scripture readings and a reflection by the Rev. Robin Arcus from the United Church of Christ. Michael T. Martin, director of the Duke Catholic Center and a Franciscan friar, will preside.
Animal blessings will occur after the service.
Limited parking is available in front of the chapel; trailers are permitted in convenient spaces. Other parking is available in the Bryan Center surface lot, the Bryan Center parking deck and the Biological Sciences Building lot off Science Drive.
Duke will provide water and clean-up aids for the animals, which should be under their owners' control at all times.
Since 1989 Duke Chapel ministers have blessed a menagerie of pets, including horses, iguanas, snakes, ferrets, hedgehogs, calves, goats, sheep, goldfish and grasshoppers, in addition to numerous cats and dogs. Duke Chapel invites animals of all kind to this service every October on the Sunday closest to the Feast Day of St. Francis.
St. Francis, a 13th century Italian Catholic friar who lived a life of voluntary poverty, is most notably known for his love of animals. Francis believed in the ability and duty of all creatures to worship God. For that reason, worship gatherings similar to Duke's are held at churches across the country.
The rain date is 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9.