There is nothing more noble than the loyalty of a dog who loves its owners unconditionally, or the bravery of a steed that trots to get its rider to a safe destination, or the tenderness of a cat when it purrs at night on the chests of its humans.

All these attributes did not go unnoticed by Saint Anthony Abbot who considered animals as examples of purity, far removed from human corruption. It is said that when he lived in the desert, where the story is told, animals provided him with the food he needed.

The story goes that one day he saved the babies of a wild boar, who were all born blind, and as he took pity on them, he cured them and saved them. It was then, in gratitude, that the animal followed him as a faithful guardian and never left his side, providing them both with food.

This is how the Colonial tradition of taking animals to be blessed arose every January 17th and in San Miguel de Allende The celebration takes on a full splendour in the temple of the Oratory of San Felipe Neri with a blessing of the animals.

A wide variety of animals such as dogs, cats, birds and rodents come year after year to be blessed so that they have protection and well-being and in the past they even used to bring livestock such as calves, goats, horses and donkeys from the communities to be blessed in the Oratory at 5 pm on that day.

Likewise, chickens, geese and ducks attended the blessing at churches in the Center and cattle in more remote areas. It is worth mentioning that before attending, the animals were bathed with effort and adorned with paper flowers for such an important occasion.

Already at the ranches, the priests went to bless the yokes because the year's work was about to begin with some short-term crops such as chickpeas and a small party was offered by the ranches in ancient times.

And although nowadays children are the ones who usually go in droves to bless their little animals, we are sure that age or anything else does not matter when it comes to going to have the Patron Saint wish well to such beautiful companions who make the life of humans and of Saint Michael so much more beautiful.

And you never know, maybe that naughty puppy or that foolish mule will improve their laughable but endearing behavior and a miracle will happen. Mango the Local Pug hopes to see many of her human and non-human friends at the altar.