A church service in Brazil just took a surprising turn in the best way possible when a playful puppy crashed it, and the priest had an absolutely perfect reaction to his antics.

The yellow dog came running in right in the middle of the service with a collar on but no owner in sight.

The church service was taking place in the Floresta neighborhood of the city of Belo Horizont, and as soon as Father José Geraldo Sobreira saw the dog, he knew exactly what to do. Not wanting to shoo the animal out, Father Sobreira decided to embrace God’s creature in front of his entire congregation. He simply carried on the service as the dog nuzzled up to him and tried to play with the priest.

Father Sobreira could not help but smile as he rubbed the playful dog’s belly, and his reaction has touched the hearts of internet users everywhere.

“It happened during the Sunday Mass at 9 a.m., a puppy got lost in the street and entered the church,” a communications advisor for the church said. “The animal was on a leash, which indicates that he was a domestic animal.”

When the dog initially entered the church, he nearly got thrown out.

“He entered the church after Mass had already begun,” the advisor said. “He went up to the altar, bit and pulled the towels from the altar, destroyed some flower arrangements, even the priest wanted him to leave.”

Once the puppy calmed down, however, he won everybody over.

“While the readings were being read, and all were seated, the dog wanted to play with the priest, biting and pulling his robes,” the adviser explained.

Father Sobreira explained to the congregation that the dog just wanted to play, and he continued with the service. The dog even got ahold of some pieces of paper that the priest was reading from, and he had to scramble to get them back!

It turns out that the dog picked the right person to go to in the church, as Father Sobreira is a dog lover who had his very own “Christmas miracle” at the end of last year.

“A fun fact is that after the Christmas Eve Mass, on December 24, a puppy dog was abandoned inside the church, and the priest adopted it later,” the advisor said.

When the dog was eventually taken out of the church, a homeless person recognized him and explained that his owner suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. This caused him to forget to close the front door, so the dog, whose name is Herman, decided to go out exploring. Check out Herman’s playful antics for yourself below.