St. Blaise

Today's Feast Day used to fascinate me when I was a child. At Mass each February 3, all of the children of my school would line up as for Communion and approach the altar. At the end of the line was the priest standing with two white candles held in the shape of a cross. He would put one candle on each side of my throat and give me a blessing that was to help keep my throat free from disease. I was fascinated, because years prior I had my tonsils out and my mother told me that after my tonsils were removed I wouldn't have any more sore throats (not exactly true, but pretty close). So I always thought I was somehow cheating the priest of the ability to keep my throat free of disease. It wasn't until many years later that I could really appreciate this blessing.

I still enjoy this Feast Day because I think we can all appreciate a good blessing. My 4-year-old Faith loves to be blessed. At our parish church the priests don't bless the children at Communion. They made a decision to keep Communion time for the Holy Eucharist. I'm fine with that. But, whenever we go to another church, she usually gets a blessing at Communion. And she's almost giddy afterward ("Mommy, Father blessed me!"). She gets it. Yesterday, as we left Mass at an older church in our community, the elderly priest gave both of us a blessing. What a dear man. I appreciated it and Faith was beside herself with two blessings in one day!

St. Blaise
St. Blaise was a physician and Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia. He lived in a cave on Mount Argeus and was a healer of men and animals. According to legend, sick animals would come to him on their own for help, but would never disturb him at prayer.

Agricola, governor of Cappadocia, came to Sebaste to persecute Christians. His huntsmen went into the forests of Argeus to find wild animals for the arena games, and found many waiting outside Blaise's cave. Discovered in prayer, Blaise was arrested, and Agricola tried to get him to recant his faith. While in prison, Blaise ministered to and healed fellow prisoners, including saving a child who was choking on a fish bone; this led to the blessing of throats on Blaise's feast day.

Thrown into a lake to drown, Blaise stood on the surface and invited his persecutors to walk out and prove the power of their gods; they drowned. When he returned to land, he was martyred by being beaten, his flesh torn with wool combs (which led to his association with and patronage of those involved in the wool trade), and then beheading.

Blaise has been extremely popular for centuries in both the Eastern and Western Churches and many cures were attributed to him, notably that of a child who was suffocating through a fish bone being caught in his throat. In 1222 the Council of Oxford prohibited servile labour in England on his feast. He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. He is invoked for all throat afflictions, and on his feast two candles are blessed with a prayer that God will free from all such afflictions and every ill all those who receive this blessing.