Animals--even spiders--will be welcome for blessings at annual ceremony.

Father Eugene Herbert hopes that this year he’ll get to bless a horse.

Last year at the annual “Blessing of the Animals” at St. John Fisher Catholic Church in Rancho Palos Verdes, Father Herbert blessed some turtles, some goats, a snake or two, a macaw and, of course, lots of dogs and cats. He even got to bless a snail named after him--Eugene the Snail--that a couple of seminary students from the parish brought in. But no horses showed up for a blessing.

On the bright side, however, no spiders showed up to be blessed, either.

“I hate spiders,” Father Herbert says, using hate in the sense that spiders give him the creeps. Although as a priest he loves and respects all God’s creatures, even a priest can suffer from mild arachnophobia.

Nevertheless, Father Herbert says, if you have a pet spider or any other animal that walks, flies, crawls or creeps, you’re welcome to bring it to the Seventh Annual Blessing of the Animals at St. John Fisher Catholic Church at Crenshaw Boulevard and Crest Road at noon Saturday.

Blessing of animals is a Catholic tradition that is thought to date back to the 4th Century era of St. Isidore, the patron saint of farmers, for whom animals were a source of food, labor and clothing. The tradition began at St. John Fisher seven years ago, and was started by a church organization called “AGAPE”--Latin for unconditional love--that also operates a number of charitable activities in Tijuana, Mexico.

“Blessing animals is a very old tradition,” says Bunny Durkin of AGAPE. “So the group decided it would be a fun thing to do here.”

Last year, Durkin said, about 60 animals, including Eugene the Snail, were brought in. She hopes the turnout this year will be bigger, and that horses will be among the animal crowd.

According to Father Herbert, the ceremony, held on the St. John Fisher school patio, begins with a prayer and Bible reading. Then the animals are brought up one by one by their owners, and Father Herbert asks the name of each animal. Then each is blessed with holy water, and the owner gets a card inscribed with “The Prayer of St. Francis.” The animal gets a badge that says “Blessed Creature.”

Father Herbert said he doesn’t know how some animals, the snail for example, affix their badges.

All animals and their owners are welcome at the ceremony, which is nondenominational. However, animals must be kept under the owner’s control at all times--on a leash, in a cage, or whatever is appropriate--lest somebody’s pet snake make a meal of somebody else’s pet mouse.

“It should be a lot of fun,” Father Herbert says. “All are welcome.”

Even spiders? he is asked. He only hesitates a moment.

“Even spiders.”

What: Seventh Annual Blessing of the Animals.

Where: St. John Fisher Catholic Church, Crenshaw Boulevard and Crest Road, Rancho Palos Verdes.

When: noon Saturday.