St Anthony of the Desert is the patron saint of the animal kingdom--something many people don't know. Author, Diana L Guerrero discusses animal blessings in her new book, BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS and says that the fur flies over some of the contemporary ceremonies such as pet mitzvahs and pet weddings.

The Festa di Sant'Antonio (Feast of St. Anthony) will be celebrated in Italy and around the world this week. The feast celebrates the life of St. Anthony of Abad (251-356 C.E) who is also known as St. Anthony of the Desert or St. Anthony of Egypt.

Saint Anthony is the patron saint of the animal kingdom, among other things, and animal blessings and life respecting masses take place on the Sunday closest to his feast day of January 17th, the date of Saint Anthony’s physical death but celebrated as his birthdate in heaven.

Diana L. Guerrero talks about animal blessing traditions and contemporary creature celebrations in her new book BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS: A GUIDE TO PRAYERS & CEREMONIES CELEBRATING PETS AND OTHER CREATURES (ISBN 1402729677).

Guerrero’s research turned up little known information. She said, “Although St Anthony de Abad is not as well known for his animal affinity as St Francis of Assisi, the Los Angeles Olvera Street blessing of the animals here in California was always held in conjunction with the feast day of St Anthony until it was changed due to challenges with the winter weather.”

One story Guerrero found concerned St Anthony on a journey to visit St. Paul. She said, “During his travels he met many animals, some helpful and some not. Eventually, he got lost and a wolf ended up guiding him to St. Paul—they were then feed by a cooperative raven. Finally, when St Paul died, lions helped St Anthony dig the grave.”

During her work on BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS Guerrero found a variety of interesting trends. Animal blessings and pet oriented services are on the increase.

She interviewed many spiritual leaders about their animal blessings and discovered that animals catalyze people to cross religious lines to find common ground. But Guerrero also discovered that the fur flies over some celebrations such as pet mitzvahs and pet wedding ceremonies.

If you need to know how to maintain a peaceable kingdom a list of Ten Commandments for Animal Ceremonies is included in BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS.

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Review copies of BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS: A GUIDE TO PRAYERS & CEREMONIES CELEBRATING PETS AND OTHER CREATURES (ISBN 1402729677) are available to journalists. Contact Sterling Publishing Publicity at (212) 532-7160.

BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS is available for preorder from Sterling Publishing, Amazon.com, and BarnesandNoble.com and will be available at booksellers throughout the United States in April of 2007.

Diana L Guerrero is available for interviews and online previews of this book are available online at http://www.blessingoftheanimals.com