An Aid To Memory

Today is St. Blaise’s day in the Western Church Calendar (It falls on February 11 on some Eastern calendars). Blaise (d. AD 316) may have been a bishop in Armenia, although it is hard to separate truth from legend. He was probably martyred. One of his miracles was saving the life of a boy who was choking on a fishbone that could not be extricated from his throat. Thus, his name is associated with the throat. In many parishes worldwide, priests bless people’s throats against infection and cancer, using the Rite of St. Blaise. Candles crossed over the throat are used in this process, as the photo illustrates. Happy St. Blaise day to everyone.

Image from: http://www.ourladyofmountcarmel.org/

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 3rd, 2005 at 2:38 pm and is filed under The Church Year. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.