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St. Blaise
Alternatively spelled:Blase
Feast Day: February 3rd
Martyred:
316
Patron of:
throat and other illnesses,
wool workers,
animals,
bricklayers,
bakers,
farm workersThere is very little known about St. Blaise for certain. We have some brief writings about celebrating his feast from around 200 years after his death and the Acts of St. Blaise written about 400 years after his death. However, all we really know for certain was that there was a great devotion to him as well as the tradition to bless throats with candles on the anniversary of his death.Things we know for certain.... He was a physician who was named bishop by popular demand. He was considered a hard-working, good bishop who cared for the physical and spiritual health of this parishioners and was known for many miraculous cures. A portion of his life was spent in a cave (possibly to hide from authorities and persecution) where he is said to have had a close relationships with the wild animals (even healing them when they came to visit him). St. Blaise was martyred in his episcopal city in Armenia, in 316, after refusing to sacrifice to idols, despite Christianity having been made legal 3 years prior.
Legends that surround him...As St. Blaise was being led to prison, a woman brought him her son who was choking on a fish bone. St. Blaise healed the boy. Then a woman came up to the bishop begging him to save her pig who had been stolen by a wolf. St. Blaise ordered the wolf to release the pig, which it did. The woman gave St. Blaise 2 wax candles (that were blessed the previous day on Candlemas) to light his prison cell. Despite these miracles, he was sentenced to a tortuous death (tied to a tree, ripped apart by metal combs use to comb wool, and then beheaded). These traditions could be the basis of the tradition to bless throats on the feast of St. Blaise with 2 candles being held together by a red ribbon (red the symbol of martyrs).
Ways to celebrate:- Have your throat blessed at Church
- Enjoy a fish dinner in honor of the miraculous healing of the choking little boy
- Make breadsticks in the shape of a shepherd's hook (in honor of St. Blaise being a bishop; giving blessed bread to others on this feast is a tradition in Europe)... Enjoy some yourself and give some to a neighbor, friend, or co-worker
- Light candles (ideally blessed ones from Candlemas) at meal times
- Restock your medicine cabinet and pantry with health remedies/essentials (juice, soups, tea, etc)
- Have a bonfire (Blaise sounds like blaze)