St. Blaise

This is the blessing of the throat with the St. Blaise candle

St. Blaise

St. Blaise is the patron saint of throat ailments, so pray to him when you have a sore throat! He was a bishop in Armenia. There is not much known about St. Blaise, but legends say that he became the patron of throat illnesses when a young boy came to him with a fishbone stuck in his throat. He was about to die when St. Blaise healed him. He also helped animals. There was a Christian persecution going on at the time, and God told him to hide in the mountains so he wouldn't be killed. Hunters in that area found him in a cave, walking among sick wild animals, who were being cured. For being a Christian, he was martyred by the governor. Today is his feast day, February 3. In the Catholic Church, at Mass today, the priests will have a strangely shaped blessed candle that they place around the throats of anyone who would like to have their throat blessed. There is usually a red ribbon on the end of the candle, to represent St. Blaise's crown of martyrdom. Then they say a short prayer to St. Blaise with the candle on your throat: "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."