Saint Mamas annual blessing of the pets, Sunday 2 September 2018.
With a woof woof here, and a neigh neigh there, and children, pets and ponies everywhere, we celebrated our ninth annual St Mamas Pets’ Blessing Day on Sunday 2 September, which took place in the grounds of the Metropolis in Rondebosch, at the invitation of His Eminence Archbishop Sergios .
Without doubt, Deanne Hathaway’s popular ponies were very much in demand again, and even the tiniest tots loved their rides while others (including the teens!) were lining up for the glorious Ukrainian face art so brilliantly painted by Tatiana. We had a grand turnout of dogs of all shades, shapes and sizes and despite a few raised hairs in the beginning, everyone settled down and made friends and had a terrific time.
Amongst those who attended were the Greek Consul in Cape Town, Mr Thomas Matsoukas, Mr Fotis Soualis, the president of the Greek Community of Cape Town and surrounds, Mr Andreas Coulbanis, President of NAHYSOSA, the Students organization of South Africa, and the Greek teachers from our community school, Ariadni Parali and Eleni Koletti, all with their siblings ant their dogs. This year it was nice to have the participation of quite a few Greek students from Cape Town.
Pepe Sofianos introduced the afternoon with a cameo story about St Mamas and the importance of understanding the bond between all of God’s creatures and our responsibility to protect and care for them with compassion and wisdom.
Pater Nikolaos started the proceedings with a prayer for animals and their keepers and everyone lined up to have their pets blessed and as always, Pater’s brilliant smile and easy way with kids and pets made it all so easy and exciting,.
The rest of the afternoon flew by as some of the children made cute bird feeders with pine cones, peanut butter and seeds.
There were yummy eats and comfy hot chicken soup to help warm us up on a cold and wet Spring afternoon and then it was time to wind down with the traditional marshmallow toasting bonfire which is a seriously big hit with all the kids. His Eminence built the fire with the help of the bigger boys and although we were rained out, trust me, we still managed to make melt those marshmallows!
Finally everyone went home loaded down with bulging pet goody bags and prizes that were very kindly and generously sponsored by MONTEGO. Thank you so much— we are blessed to have you with us, MONTEGO, and very grateful to you for helping to make this special day so enjoyable and memorable both for the children and their pets.
So, off they went with a goodwill message from Saint Mamas to treasure not only their own pets but also to respect and have compssion for all living creatures and the environment.
To all the parents and kids – thank you for braving the rain — you were fabulous, and I know your pets had a ball!
See you next year!
By Pepe Sofianos.
