Beloved blessings in Elmore

OLSH religious education leader Denise Nihill said the event was inspired by the late Pope Francis and his namesake, patron saint of the animals, St Francis of Assisi.

Next October will be the 800th anniversary of St Francis’ death.

“I read from Pope Francis and his encyclical Laudato si’ about caring for creation,” Ms Nihill said.

“It’s also 800 years since St Francis was around, so we’re honouring that.

“And it is the season of creation at the moment.”

Guests included many canine companions, a bearded dragon and, in true spring spirit, two lambs.

Students’ water-bound buddies were not left out for the blessings, including the Year 5/6 class goldfish and school yabbies.

“It’s interesting when I was invited to come in to do this,” Fr Caldow said.

“They say, ‘never work with children or small animals’ and, of course, we violated that.

“It was just amazing how smoothly everything ran.”

It was Rev McWilliams’ first animal blessing and certainly one to remember.

Fr Caldow has blessed pets and animals before, but particularly liked seeing the Elmore community come together for the unique occasion.

“It’s a great opportunity to also bring a bit of the children’s family or their home life into the school environment,” he said.

“We see sort of a melding of the two there: home life plus the education component.

“Of course, religion is in there as well, so you can have all three coming together quite nicely.”