Pet Remembrance Candlelight Ceremony

Loudoun’s 7th Annual Pet Remembrance Candlelight Service, a night of remembering and honoring the lives and loves of our precious pets, will be held Thursday, March 5 at St. James Episcopal Church, 14 Cornwall Street NW in Leesburg. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the service will begin at 7 p.m. This year’s service will include music, readings, and inspirational words from speaker Marcia Keene M. Ed., LCP. The 2015 “Roll of Honor,” a slide show of pet photos and a reading of the name of each pet, will also be a part of the service.

The Nikki Hospice Foundation started the Pet Remembrance Candle Lighting Ceremony for Pets in partnership with the Benicia Vallejo Humane Society in California. The first ceremony was held on March 5, 2005. It is the hope of these two organizations that pet lovers all over the world will participate in this special ceremony honoring all beloved pets who have passed on, are lost, or have been separated from their families. They encourage pet lovers to attend similar local events or simply join them by lighting a candle at home for one hour at 7 p.m. local time on March 5. Dr. Krisi Erwin, Carmen Velasco, and Dr. Robin Norris working in conjunction with Leesburg Veterinary Hospital brought the ceremony to Loudoun County in 2009. Dr. Erwin helped to continue the tradition each year with the aid of invaluable pet loving volunteers and St. James’ Episcopal Church in Leesburg.

Many individuals and families find comfort in celebrating the lives of the pets they have lost, their past pets or those pets that have been separated from them for any reason. This will be the seventh year this pet remembrance tradition has been honored in Loudoun County and each year the response to this service grows larger. All people in any county of any faith who want to remember their pets are welcome. Unfortunately, only human family members may attend.

To submit a photo of your pet to be included in the Honor Roll, please email a “jpeg” image to: petcandlelightceremony@gmail.com by February 28. Pet photos can be included even if you cannot attend the service.