The pup-arazzi were in full swing last week as King’s College held their annual St Francis Eucharist, a popular service that saw staff, pupils, and parents bring their pets to school for a special religious blessing.
The unique ceremony, which takes place at the school every October, is a celebration of St Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of animals. In commemoration, a procession of pets, everything from dogs and hamsters to tarantulas and tortoises, were led into the chapel to be blessed by the school Chaplain, Father Mark Smith.
Commenting on the service, he said: “At one point, I asked the congregation to transfer calm, assertive and loving energy to the animals. Within seconds an eerie stillness descended on the chapel.”
He added: “The blessing of animals is a unique tradition at King’s College and is very popular with the wider school community. Pets are a blessing to every family and our service was, as always, a wonderful holy chaos.”