On 17th January, St. Anthony’s day, it is a local tradition to take your animals to the porch in front of the church of St. Anthony, in the Combo area of Bormio, to receive the blessing of the parish priest.

Even though nowadays it is mostly pets and assistance animals that are blessed, this tradition has origins that date back centuries and bears witness not only to the great faith in St. Anthony, but also the importance that animals once had day to day in the fields around the town.

Once in fact the ceremony was also a rite to celebrate the start of spring. The saying ‘a Sant’Antoni un ora bona’ (‘On St. Anthony’s day one hour more’) marked the days getting longer (there is an hour’s more daylight on that day than the shortest day of the year) before the return of the fine weather and the consequent return to working in the fields cultivating rye and potatoes.

It was therefore essential to ask for the blessing of the cattle so that they would have the necessary strength for the hard work in the fields.  The ceremony was very popular and nobody from Bormio would miss such an event; any task that would have required an animal would have been suspended that day, and postponed to the day after.