NORWICH – The Norwich ministerium, representing the Broad Street United Methodist, United Church of Christ, Christ Lutheran, First Baptist and Emmanuel Episcopal churches, will hold its first-ever Blessing of the Animals with a special service beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday in West Park.

The service is open to the entire community, said organizers, and will include a brief reading of scripture and the Bible, as well as a period of prayer, followed by the blessing itself. Animals of all kinds are welcome – big, small and in between – as long as they are properly leashed and/or crated, including livestock.

The service and blessing is being held in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, an Italian Catholic friar and preacher, the founder of the Franciscan Order and the patron saint of animals and the environment, according to catholic.org, which states that – in one famous story – Francis “preached to hundreds of birds about being thankful to God for their wonderful clothes, for their independence, and for God’s care ... the birds stood still as he walked among them, only flying off when he said they could leave.”