Day belongs to man’s blessed friends

GLENDALE — Madeleine and Michael Miller’s poodle-Chihuahua mix, Suki, received a holy blessing from the Rev. Keith Banwart Jr. on Sunday morning at St. Matthews Church in honor of St. Francis Day.

The couple traveled from their home in Las Vegas on Friday for St. Matthew’s Church of Glendale and Burbank’s annual animal blessing. They mark their calendar every year for the church’s blessing, making sure not to miss it.

“Sometimes it looks like Noah’s Ark,” Madeleine Miller said of the blessing services.

About a dozen pets, including dogs, cats and two parakeets named Fred and Ethel were blessed at the church’s outdoor service on the holy day, which is held in tribute to St. Francis of Assisi, who is revered as the protector of animals. St. Francis of Assisi considered animals his own sisters and brothers.

The church has held St. Francis Day services and performed animal blessings for 15 years, Banwart said.

Each year, the church is visited by about 30 types of pets, including dogs, cats, birds, rabbits and hamsters.

One year, Banwart blessed a snake, which he said luckily was inside a crate.

What made this year’s service more special than others in the past is that St. Francis Day fell on Sunday, so he said churches all over the country would be performing blessings.

At Sunday’s blessing, Banwart stood over each pet, placed his hand over its head, called out its name and said, “May you and your owner and family enjoy life together and find joy with the god that created you.”

The pets received metal identification tags with St. Francis’ image on one side and an illustration of a dog with an engraving saying “God bless my dog” on the other.

Glendale resident Roberto Maltez’s two parakeets received their first-ever blessing at Sunday’s service. The blessing, he said, is a thoughtful gesture for animals.

Three years ago, Burbank resident Jerry Hultquist rescued a poodle that was unkempt and wandering alone. She and her husband, Donald, adopted the poodle, which they named Phoebe.

The couple have been blessing their pet at the church since the rescue.

Glendale resident Krissy Santiago said she is not religious, but when she came across a posting about the blessing on Craigslist, she decided to take her 8-year-old daughter, Diamond, to the church to bless their cat, Fluffy.

Michael and Madeleine Miller’s dog “must get blessed every year,” they said.

Suki gets excited when they tell her she will be getting her annual blessing, Madeleine Miller said.

“This is so special to us that we only want her to be blessed here,” she said.

?VERONICA ROCHA covers public safety and the courts. She may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at veronica.rocha@latimes.com.