St Blaise
Feast day: 3 February
There is very little known about the life of Blaise. However, like Catherine of Alexandria, St George and St Nicholas, he has long been an inspiration to many people. It is often very difficult to separate legend from history; however, if the stories that are told are not based on fact but their imagery brings people closer to God, does that matter? The lives of the saints influenced people like St Joan of Arc and St Ignatius to imitate their example.
St Blaise was born in Sebastea, Armenia. The Edict of Toleration proclaimed in the Roman Empire in 311 had not extended to Armenia, where there was still persecution. Blaise, who was a bishop, was forced to flee to the back country where he lived as a hermit and befriended wild animals. It is said that while he was at prayer, he was found by hunters, stunned to see him surrounded by wolves, lions and bears. He was hauled off to prison. On the way he was appealed to by a mother whose child had a fish bone stuck in his throat. It is thought that Blaise was a physician before he became a bishop. The child was immediately cured. Another touching story has Blaise ordering a wolf to return a pig that it had stolen from a poor woman. The woman in gratitude presented Blaise with two candles to light his dark cell. This is possibly the origin of the two crossed candles which the priest uses when he gives the following blessing:
"Through the intercession of St Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
Agricola was governor of Cappodocia. He tried to get Blaise to sacrifice to idols but when Blaise refused he was severely beaten, his flesh torn with iron combs and eventually he was beheaded. He became a popular saint in the Middle Ages. In England the Council of Oxford (1222) orderd that no work be done on his feastday. The village in Cornwall called St Blazey is named after him, and several churches in England are dedicated to him. He is the patron saint of wool combers.
St Blaise, pray for us.