Patron of throat ailments, physicians, wool combers
🕯️ Summary of His Life
Saint Blaise (also spelled Blasius) was a 4th-century bishop and martyr, most renowned for his miraculous healing of a child choking on a fishbone. He lived during a time of intense persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire, especially during the reign of Emperor Licinius.
Born in Sebastea, a city in ancient Armenia (modern-day Sivas, Turkey), Blaise was a physician by profession, beloved for his gentle care of the sick. Recognizing his holiness, the faithful chose him as bishop. During the persecution, he withdrew to a cave in the mountains, where he lived in prayer and solitude, surrounded peacefully by wild animals whom he healed with divine charity.
He was eventually discovered by soldiers sent to capture Christians. On the way to prison, he miraculously cured a boy who was choking on a fishbone—an event which secured his later reputation as patron of throat ailments. Despite efforts to persuade him to renounce his faith, Blaise remained steadfast. He was tortured—reportedly using iron combs meant for wool—and ultimately beheaded around the year 316.
📜 Elements of Traditional Hagiography
Virtues Highlighted:
- Charity and Mercy: As a physician and bishop, he tended to both physical and spiritual illnesses.
- Fortitude: Endured severe tortures without renouncing Christ.
- Contemplative Solitude: His retreat to the cave emphasizes the role of prayer, asceticism, and divine communion.
Miracles:
- The Fishbone Miracle: A mother brought her son, choking on a fishbone, to Saint Blaise. He prayed and laid his hand upon the child, who was immediately cured.
- Animal Companionship: Wild beasts, which he healed, came to dwell peaceably around him, signifying harmony between the saint and God’s creation.
🕊️ Devotion and Cult
- Blessing of Throats: On his feast day, the Church blesses throats using two crossed candles, invoking Saint Blaise’s intercession:
“Per intercessionem Sancti Blasii episcopi et martyris, liberet te Deus a malo gutturis et a quovis alio malo.”
(“Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from ailments of the throat and from every other evil.”) - Popular Patronage: Besides throat ailments, he is also invoked by wool combers and others in the textile industry, owing to the manner of his martyrdom.
🕯️ Spiritual Reflections and Traditional Devotion
Meditation for His Feast:
“O glorious Saint Blaise, who by thy martyrdom hast left to the Church a precious witness to the Faith, obtain for us the grace to preserve within ourselves this divine gift, and to defend—without human respect—both by word and example, the truth of that same Faith, so wickedly attacked and slandered in these our times. Thou who didst miraculously restore a little child to life when it seemed death by choking was imminent, grant us thy mighty intercession for all who suffer from afflictions of the throat. Keep us faithful to our duties, firm in our trials, and zealous in our love for Christ. Amen.”