Last Saturday, the Memorial United Methodist Church of Modena held a drive-thru Blessing of the Animals, conducted by Rev. Limina Grace Harmon. The Reverend also heads the Methodist Church in New Paltz.

The Blessing Ceremony, which is new to the church, provides a service to the community to show they are here for families as well as their pets.

Rev. Harmon said, “this is an old tradition that is done around St. Francis’ Feast Day, usually in early October.”

Rev. Harmon noted that once the United States was mainly an agricultural country, “when you are relying on this cow for your milk and food. Today, more places are doing drive-thru for the Blessings, which started during the pandemic, because it’s not always the peaceable kingdom; so a little separation isn’t a bad thing when you have a bunch of animals.”