The blessing of animals was held in several localities today to mark the feast of St Anthony the Abbot.

The tradition goes back centuries and is believed to have started at the Augustinian church in Rabat under the Order of St John.

At Mgarr, one of the villages where a ceremony was held, people turned up with horses, rabbits, dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, a tortoise, a tiny lobster and a hedgehog, among other pets.

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