“A Celebration of Creation” DVD takes you into the world’s largest cathedral where you will be surronded by over one thousand animals - dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, lizards and horses. This is the annual St. Francis Day Blessing of the Animals at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Thousands of people flock to the Cathedral from across North America with their beloved pets. The demand to attend is so great that they start lining up as early as 6 am to see that they will get in. This is the world’s largest animal blessing .
The highlight of the day is the official Procession of Animals. Dozens of creatures including llamas, horses, snakes, pigs, turtles, eagles, insects and even a camel are all part of the Procession . They march along the two-football fields long isle to the altar where they are blessed by several bishops. After this official blessing, the public’s pets – dogs, cats, hamsters, snakes, monkeys and fish are individually blessed.
“A Celebration of Creation” DVD captures the beauty and pageantry of this extraordinary St. Francis Pet Blessing and tells the often poignant stories of several of the human and animal participants. You’ll visit Green Chimneys, the famous therapeutic farm-school for severely emotionally, physically and behaviorally challenged children. Each year two are chosen to train a cow and a miniature horse for the chance to be part of The Procession of Animals.
You will meet the Turtle Lady who has saved the lives of hundreds of turtles and tortoises and rehabilitated them right in her Manhattan apartment! And there is Cornelius the Pot Bellied Pig who shoots hoops and plays drums. He is a regular at the Blessing of the Animals.
The film takes you to The Raptor Project in the Catskill Mountains. Here, world famous Master Falconer Jonathan Wood rehabilitates and trains birds of prey including golden eagles, bald eagles, owls, falcons and hawks, one of which will be chosen to lead the Procession of Animals.
The music of Grammy Award winning Paul Winter Consort is featured in the “A Celebration of Creation documentary. The voices of wolves and whales are beautifully woven into this grand music.
Since St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine felt that St. Francis Day would be the right time to hold the Animal Blessing and to celebrate the environment and our planet, our home.