HALLELUJAH : BLESSING OF ANIMALS PRECEDES EASTER.Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer Southern Californians will join millions of Christians throughout the world today observing Easter with religious ceremonies and other special gatherings. Easter marks the central Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead after his crucifixion, which was recalled on Good Friday Good Friday, anniversary of Jesus' death on the cross. According to the Gospels, Jesus was put to death on the Friday before Easter Day. Since the early church Good Friday has been observed by fasting and penance. . Cardinal Roger Mahony His Eminence Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony (born February 27, 1936) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as the fourth Archbishop of Los Angeles, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1991. will celebrate Easter with a Mass in Monterey Park, a day after leading the traditional Blessing of the Animals on Olvera Street. Mahony will give the Mass in English at 11 a.m. in the St. Thomas Aquinas Church. The traditional Easter sunrise service will be held near the Hollywood Bowl, which is being renovated, at 6 a.m. at the Woman's Club of Hollywood. This will be the fourth time in its 75-year history that the Bowl itself has not been the site of the traditional service. Sunrise services are set at numerous other sites throughout the Southland, including Vasquez Rocks County Park in Agua Dulce. In a pre-Easter celebration Saturday, hundreds of pet owners and their animals converged on the historic Olvera Street Plaza in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or for the Blessing of the Animals, a ceremony recognizing other species' services to humans. Asking for fertility and health for the animals, people from throughout Los Angeles presented their pets to Mahony, who sprinkled water on each one as he chanted a benediction benediction [Lat.,=blessing], solemn blessing usually administered in the name of God by a priest or a minister. The temple worship at Jerusalem had fixed forms of benedictions, and Christians have always given them an important place in ceremony, especially at the . Elvira Robles Robles is a common surname in the Spanish language meaning oaks, and may refer to:
 'gənvĭl`ēə) [for L. A. . Robles hopes that Happy IV, with the blessing, will escape the untimely fates of Happys I, II and III. ``The problem was we hadn't blessed the other ones; that's why they died so soon,'' said Robles, who bought the rabbits for her 3-year old daughter, who is afraid of dogs. ``This one is going to be blessed. He'll definitely outlive out·live tr.v. out·lived, out·liv·ing, out·lives 1. To live longer than: She outlived her son. 2. the others.'' Ellen and Jim Stang of Santa Monica took the ceremony, which drew more than 10,000 people, less seriously. The Stangs' two daughters brought their giant stuffed animal, Blue Bear, for the blessing while six live pets stayed home. ``We have two cats who were just spayed spay tr.v. spayed, spay·ing, spays To remove surgically the ovaries of (an animal). [Middle English spaien, from Anglo-Norman espeier, to cut with a sword , two dogs who are always fighting - and God knows they'd fight the other animals here. We have a bird that's terrified ter·ri·fy tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies 1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid. See Synonyms at frighten. 2. To menace or threaten; intimidate. of us - much worse, a crowd - and a fish that almost died,'' said Ellen Stang. ``They weren't good candidates for the blessing this year, but next year, hopefully, all will settle down.'' Blue Bear even got a lavender ribbon from the Blessing of the Animals ceremony. The Stangs said they would pass the blessing along to the live pack of pets. Mahony led the Blessing of the Animals procession, presented by the merchants of Olvera Street annually since 1930. The traditional blessing hails back to the fourth century when San Antonio de Abad was recognized as the patron saint of the animal kingdom and people began taking livestock and pets to be blessed by priests. ``This event is very popular in the Los Angeles community,'' said Frank Catania, general manager for El Pueblo de Los Angeles Monument Authority Commission, which helped plan the ceremony. ``This is the most unique event because of the involvement of house pets and exotic animals. I've seen everything from a 2-week-old kitten to a boa constrictor boa constrictor largest of all snakes; squeezes its victims in a deadly grip. [Zoology: NCE, 317] See : Deadliness and everything in between.'' Just a few miles from Olvera Street, a clutch of celebrities prepared to join hundreds of other volunteers serving Easter meals to the needy today at the Los Angeles Mission. Jayne Meadows Allen, Justine Bateman, Heather Thomas and others pitched in to serve up plates of baked ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn and green beans, with apple pie for dessert. Volunteers will serve about 4,000 meals today to the needy, including hundreds of children, said Jim Lewis of the Los Angeles Mission. ``We are not funded by the government,'' said Lewis, praising those who donate time and money to the mission. ``We are funded by people of goodwill.'' The Los Angeles Mission band, made up of those who are in or have completed the mission's rehabilitation program, was performing for the Easter weekend. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos Photo: (1--color) Cardinal Roger Mahony blesses one of the horses used by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department This article is about the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department, not to be confused with the smaller Los Angeles County Police The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. on Saturday. (2--color) A cow covered by a blanket of gardenias walks in the 67th annual Blessing of the Animals procession on Olvera Street. (3--color) Mary Upshaw of Venice takes her lovebird lovebird Any of nine species of small parrots (genus Agapornis, subfamily Psittacinae) of Africa and Madagascar. Popular as pets for their pretty colours and the seemingly affectionate closeness of pairs, lovebirds are 4–6 in. to a blessing ceremony. David Sprague/Daily News |
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