THE BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS

Animals of all shapes and sizes made their way to churches across the Balearics yesterday  where they were blessed by priests in celebration of Saint Anthony’s Day. The celebrations were held in honour of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals.
The largest parade of animals was in Palma at  midday and, as usual, horses from Palma’s mounted Local Police unit took part as did the Guardia Civil with their sniffer dogs.
But, as usual, the pet loving general public turned up  with a vast array of animals, including the odd reptile  and bird and there were similar scenes across the region with towns and villages celebrating Saint Anthony yesterday.
 St. Anthony the Abbot was a hermit-saint in the fourth century who died in the deserts of Egypt.