Blessing of the Animals - Los Angeles Hotels .com

All animals are welcome at the annual Blessing of the Animals celebration on the Saturday before Easter in the historic Olvera Street Plaza in Downtown LA. Drawing on the ancient Catholic custom of bringing animals to the church to receive the priest's blessing on the saint day of San Antonio de Abad (St. Anthony of the Desert), the Hispanic community of Olvera Street has offered its own Blessing of the Animals ceremony every spring since 1930.

Both the animals and the people bringing them tend to come dressed up for the occasion, wearing festive hats, bright costumes, or celebratory flowers. The festivities begin with a procession leading up to a platform where the local cardinal blesses each animal with holy water as it passes.

Past animals have included cats, dogs, snakes, iguanas, horses, goats, donkeys, chickens, peacocks, pigs, hamsters, camels, and monkeys. The procession is always begun with a beautifully adorned cow, in special thanks to the service this animal provides to humanity.

The Olvera Street Blessing of the Animals begins at 2 p.m. and lasts until the final animal has been blessed.

URL: http://www.olvera-street.com/html/blessing_of_the_animals.html