Feast of St. Blasius

Many long years ago lived Blasius, physician and bishop of Sebaste in Armenia. In his old age, during the persecutions of Emperor Licinius, Blasius retired to a cave where he made friends with lions, leopards, bears and wolves. One day the emperor's huntsmen found him, dragged him away from his pets. On his way to trial Blasius cured a small boy who was choking on a fish bone. He also made a wolf return a pig it had stolen from an old woman. When Blasius was flung into a dungeon to starve, the woman gratefully brought him her pig. In 316 A. D. they beheaded Blasius after carding the flesh from his bones with an iron comb. Venerated increasingly by Roman Catholics, Blasius became one of the most popular saints in the Middle Ages. Churches and altars were dedicated to him. In 13th Century England it was forbidden to work on his feast day, largely because St. Blasius' aid was held sovereign against throat and lung diseases.*

Last week brought the feast of St. Blasius (Feb. 3) and in all Catholic churches his blessing was given to those desiring cure or prevention. Holding aloft two crossed candles priests intoned: "Per intercessionem Sancti Blasii liberet te Deus a malo gutteris et a quovis alio malo" (May God at the intercession of St. Blasius preserve you from throat trouble and every other evil).

*Other saintly patrons against physical ills: Giles (cripples), Erasmus (colic and cramps), Vitus (epilepsy, nervousness), Lawrence (lumbago), Benedict (poison), Timothy (stomach trouble), Apollonia (toothache), Anthony (pestilence), Catherine of Siena (headache), Thomas (blindness).

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