St. Peter’s Episcopal Church of Ripon is welcoming all community members to bring their pets or farm animals of all sizes to their first annual St. Francis Day Blessings of Animals event on Oct. 2, at 11 a.m. to be held in their church parking lot at 217 Houston Street, Ripon. This event will be held rain or shine, with the lower level of St. Peter’s being utilized in the event of inclement weather.
A formal service of blessings for all animals will begin at 11 a.m. and will be led by the Rev’d Canon Ezgi Saribay Perkins who will then offer individual blessings to animals after the communal blessing service until 12:30 p.m. or until all animals have been blessed. St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is also affiliated with St. Mary’s Chapel, N2616 Bughs Lake Road, Wautoma. A similar blessing service will take place at the chapel on Saturday evening Oct. 2 at 5:30 p.m.
Annually around Oct. 4, Christians worldwide celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis with a blessing of animals and prayers for creation. Saint Francis of Assisi was a holy man of God who is associated with the patronage of animals. He loved all creatures and allegedly preached to even the birds. Mother Ezgi states: “Animals can be brought to us to be blessed for their continual health and healing. This is a wonderful opportunity for us at St. Peter’s to share our gift of prayer with all people and animals who live in the communities of Ripon and Wautoma. Our pets show us an innocent yet powerful God-like quality of what it means to love unconditionally. It is most proper that they should be honored in the church.”
For questions or for additional information, all are welcome to call Mother Ezgi directly at 417-380-9899 or e-mail her at stpetersripon@gmail.com.
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, located at 217 Houston Street, was founded in 1860 and is a small but vibrant community that welcomes all to join in their parish community. Please find out the latest ways that you can engage with St. Peter’s Episcopal Church by visiting their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/stpetersripon.
