St. Blaise

There was a legend of St. Blaise that once there was a mother who came with her young son in need of healing because he had a fish bone lodged in his throat.  Somehow, St Blaise was able to miraculously help the child cough up the fishbone.  That is the reason why we have the blessing of the throats on his feast day. 

But although we have little info on St Blaisé, yet there is a great devotion to st blaise by many throughout the world.  In some eastern churches, his feast day is a holy day, and in some places, servile labor was prohibited in honor of the great saint.     

St Blaise was a Bishop that lived in the 4^th century, and was martyred in Sabastea, Armenia.  He was a Bishop who worked hard to promote spiritual and physical health for the people. 

Another legend about st Blaise is that he was forced to flee because of persecution that was raging in Armenia.  He ended up living in a cave among wild animals.  One day a group of hunters were seeking wild animals for the amphitheater.  They stumbled upon the cave where Blaise was dwelling, and was quite surprise to find him among the wild animals. 

The governor of Cappadocia, named Agricolaus, tried desperately to persuade Blaise to sacrifice to pagan idols. When he refused, he was first beaten, then suspended from a tree and his flesh was torn with iron combs (interestingly, English wool combers take him as their patron.  And eventually, Blaise receive the crown of martyrdom by being beheaded.

Certainly, we can say that there elements to his story that cannot be historically verified, but the fruits of his efforts certainly is evidence of his love, commitment and service to Jesus the Christ. 

“Through the intercession of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from ailments of the throat and from every other evil. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Blessing of St. Blaise). 

For those of you who would like to receive the blessing of St. Blaise, please come forward at this time.