Father Joe D\u2019Souza walked between the pews, petting a Labrador, speaking gently to a Spaniel, stroking a Pomeranian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Squeals and barks rent the Sunday morning calm of Church of Our Lady of Health in Cavel, Mumbai, on October 9. Children from neighborhood too were delighted, as they watched proud pet-parents bringing their pets for blessings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For more than 20 years, Father D\u2019Souza, the parish priest, has been blessing animals at an annual service, and people of all religions eagerly wait to bring their pets for blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, 17 pet dogs, five cats two guinea pigs sat in the pews, as Father D\u2019Souza began the special service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFather, thank you for the beauty of your creation,\u201d Father D\u2019Souza began. \u201cOnly those who have pets know their value and how you treasure them and how they return your love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to Matters India, Father D\u2019Souza said, \u201cSome of the most important members of our family aren\u2019t the usual sort. Pets hold a very special place in many families\u2019 hearts, so on St. Francis Assisi\u2019 feast day, we like to invite our parishioners to bring their furry family members on the Sunday after the feast for our Annual Pet Blessings. Pet Blessing Is our way to acknowledge all the animals who have added happiness in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The priest also termed as marvelous that people of all faiths come together for this service in this current scenario. \u201cPets understand love, they don\u2019t know anything other than love and giving unconditional love. We can learn from the pets, that love unites and bonds, that Love is the only thing in life that matters,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the priest, pets are non-judgmental and provide unconditional love, meaning, and joy to our lives. \u201cPets provided solace and emotional support during the pandemic lockdown, decreasing loneliness, helping to relieve stress and anxiety, and importantly providing opportunities for exercise, play, and recreation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Father Joe D\u2019Souza walked between the pews, petting a Labrador, speaking gently to a Spaniel, stroking a Pomeranian. Squeals and barks rent the Sunday morning calm of Church of Our Lady of Health in Cavel, Mumbai, on October 9. Children from neighborhood too were delighted, as they watched proud pet-parents bringing their pets for blessings. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[188,18,59,102],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wopp.in\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1142"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wopp.in\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wopp.in\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wopp.in\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wopp.in\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1142"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wopp.in\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1146,"href":"https:\/\/wopp.in\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1142\/revisions\/1146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wopp.in\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wopp.in\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wopp.in\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wopp.in\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}