dogs, cats, birds and a hedgehog receive blessing at Chicopee church

CHICOPEE - Spencer is diabetic, cataracts have robbed him of his sight and at 12-years-historical he might use a bit added love and prayers.

So, Carol Robak put on his leash and harness and introduced her terrier-chihuahua combine to St. Stanislaus Church for the annual blessing of the animals Sunday.

She become joined in the school's parking by a veritable zoo. Pet homeowners cuddled cats and struggled with tail-wagging golden retrievers and barking chihuahuas on leashes. One brought a hedgehog and a young infant brought fish that swam round in small aquariums.

"i have been coming for years," Robak talked about, explaining she adopted Spencer after a pal found him as a domestic dog wandering round Holyoke streets and no person claimed him despite a search for the proprietor.

Kaylee Raineault, 12, a sixth-grader at St. Stanislaus faculty, was the one who insisted her family deliver their terrier mix Marley to the blessing. She and two different toddlers were enlisted at the event to support Rev. Joseph Bayne, the new priest at St. Stanislaus Basilica, with the ceremony.

"i was thinking Marley should still be getting blessed when you consider that we simply acquired her a few weeks ago," she noted, adding Marley become a rescue dog.

definitely, many of the animals at the blessing had been rescued from a shield and given a brand new domestic, together with Smokey, a black cat with green eyes who Donna Skwira adopted as a kitten a yr ago.

"I misplaced my mother in February and that i made a promise to her that i might get her (Smokey) blessed," she said. Skwira is a lifestyles-long parish member at St. Stanislaus Basilica.

The blessing of the animals is an extended culture at St. Stanislaus Basilica, which is led by means of Franciscan priests who've shut ties to St. Francis. a few different Western Massachusetts churches of diverse denominations cling equivalent advantages, Bayne noted.

"St. Francis 800 years ago tried to see God in every creature," he talked about. "we all understand americans's pets are a part of the family and they're all a blessing."

all over the brief event, Bayne had individuals sing a standard song, told the story about St. Francis and a wolf and recounted his own journey with his household's beagles. "They howl, they whine and they lick you."

After saying a prayer for all of the animals, he walked across the parking zone and individually sprinkled holy water on each and every pet. After blessing a pair of white pigeons, Krzysztof Socha stunned the pastor by letting them go.

When requested if they will return, Socha explained they're homing pigeons and were flying back to his Chicopee home the place he also has a few birds together with canaries, fancy pigeons and finches.

Socha referred to he brings some of his birds to the blessing every year and this 12 months his grandson Nikolas Grasakis, 2 1/2 joined in carrying a small aquarium with two betta fish, one named Nikolas and the different named Dziadzio, which is Polish for grandfather.

"it is a family way of life. We do it each year and we are looking to train the grandchildren about it," Socha pointed out.

He noted his young grandson in particular cares about the birds. anytime he visits his grandparents, Nikolas asks to feed the pigeons.

"I come in honor of St. Francis. He has been very first rate to them," stated Janice Fritsch, who introduced her Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Lizzie.

Her chums Larry and Doreen Bourdeau got here together with her with their pair of Yorkshire terriers Zofia and Emma.

"they're 15 and 12, I feel they want all the advantages they can get," Doreen Bourdeau spoke of.