SAINT BLAISE, PHYSICIAN, BISHOP AND MARTYR
Dear Saint Blaise, please
protect my throat from injury, illness or other harm, and from harming
my soul by speaking falsehoods or evil of any kind about any person
or any matter.
Please keep me reminded
of you when I speak, and please
send me reminders to guard my tongue, use my voice wisely, speak
out in opposition to injustices, defend the defenseless, guide the
uncertain and confused, counsel the worried, and praise always our
good Lord, begging for His graces
and His boundless mercy.
Let me recall with gratitude the touch of your crossed candles
on my throat, in celebration of your Feast Day, February 3, and
in doing so rededicate myself to you and my to my vow
to speak only good of all people, to speak no evil
nor encourage or pass on gossip or harmful rumors,
remaining silent rather than harming others with my speech.
All this, Saint Blaise,
I ask of you with confidence
that you will keep me safe, protect my voice
and my utterances, and speak to the ear of God
on my behalf.
Amen
(c) 2011 Donn
B. Murphy
Biographical Note:
Saint Blaise is said to have been
a physician, and bishop of Sebastea, Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey).
He is traditionally believed to intercede in cases
of throat illnesses. At Mass on his Feast Day February, crossed
candles are held the the throat of each attendee,
as a blessing is given. The first historical reference
to Blaise is in manuscripts of the medical writings of Aëtius
Amidenus, a court physician of the end of the 5th
or the beginning of the 6th century. Blaise was reputedly martyred
in AD 316, having been beaten, wounded with iron wool-carding combs,
and beheaded. Marco Polo reported
that Blaise was martyred in Sevasta (now Sivas, Turkey),
where a shrine to him [no longer extant] was mentioned
by William of Rubruck in 1253. The icon image above is,
of course, purely speculative as to his actual appearance.
The Church
of Saint Blaise in Dubrovnik, Croatia
Photo:
Brother Lawrence Lew, OP, Kuala Lumpur
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