A beautiful sunny day in the middle of January, a gift if you like, and the local priest of Valentin, Don Pedro, invites his animal loving parishioners to walk to their pets to the Argos Reservoir for an open air mass.
More than 80 worshippers answered this call in the name of St Anton, the saint who looks after animals in Spain, carrying, walking and even riding their pets to receive this annual blessing of the church.
The reservoir was breathtakingly beautiful in this stolen winter sun and many mass goers arrived early enough to take a turn around the banks before congregating in a small garden where a makeshift altar and the statue of St Anton were set up against the backcloth of the glimmering water.
This was not a solemn occasion. There was more an atmosphere of a village fete with tiny children taking horse rides on enormous mounts and dogs of every size and hue getting to know each other as dogs will do. Small children clutched cages with rodents or tiny birds and one young boy carried his cat in his sports bag. A donkey munched happily through some hay while waiting for the mass to begin and while the horses, bored now of trudging backwards and forwards, were posing sulkily for photos with a variety of small children on their backs.
The scene was complete when the Calasparra Rondalla, music and dance group, arrived in their traditional brightly coloured costumes to take part in the mass.
This special mass with a pet blessing is performed every year by the priest of Valentin. A notice is pinned on the door of the church giving the date and time a few days before the event.
PHOTOS
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
