February 3 - Saint Blaise Bishop And Martyr breski1 | February 03, 2010 Saint Blaise (Armenian: Սուրբ Բարսեղ, Sourb Barsegh; Greek: Άγιος Βλάσιος, Agios Vlasios) was a physician, and bishop of …More
February 3 - Saint Blaise Bishop And Martyr
breski1 | February 03, 2010 Saint Blaise (Armenian: Սուրբ Բարսեղ, Sourb Barsegh; Greek: Άγιος Βλάσιος, Agios Vlasios) was a physician, and bishop of Sebastea, Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey). According to his Acta Sanctorum, he was martyred by being beaten, attacked with iron carding combs, and beheaded. He is known as San Biagio in Italy, San Blas in Spain and São Brás in Portugal.
breski1 | February 03, 2010 Saint Blaise (Armenian: Սուրբ Բարսեղ, Sourb Barsegh; Greek: Άγιος Βλάσιος, Agios Vlasios) was a physician, and bishop of Sebastea, Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey). According to his Acta Sanctorum, he was martyred by being beaten, attacked with iron carding combs, and beheaded. He is known as San Biagio in Italy, San Blas in Spain and São Brás in Portugal.
THURSDAY, 03 FEBRUARY 2011
THURSDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Today the Church celebrates : St. Blase, Bishop & Martyr (+ 316) [1]
See commentary below or click here
Saint Francis of Assisi : "No money in their belts" [2]
HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO SAINT MARK 6:7-13.
He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave
them authority over unclean spirits. He …More
THURSDAY, 03 FEBRUARY 2011
THURSDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Today the Church celebrates : St. Blase, Bishop & Martyr (+ 316) [1]
See commentary below or click here
Saint Francis of Assisi : "No money in their belts" [2]
HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO SAINT MARK 6:7-13.
He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave
them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take
nothing for the journey but a walking stick--no food, no sack, no
money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a
second tunic. He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay
there until you leave from there. Whatever place does not welcome you
or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in
testimony against them." So they went off and preached repentance.
They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were
sick and cured them.
Commentary of the day :
Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), Founder of the Friars Minor
Earlier Rule, §8-9 (©Classics of Western Spirituality)
"NO MONEY IN THEIR BELTS"
The Lord commands us in the Gospel: «Watch, be on your guard against
all malice and greed» (cf. Lk 12:15). «Guard yourselves against the
preoccupations of this world and the cares of this life» (cf. Mt 6,25;
Lk 21:34). Therefore, none of the brothers, wherever he may be or
wherever he goes, should in any way carry, receive, or have received
either money or coins, whether for clothing or books or payment for
any work-indeed, for no reason-unless it is for the evident need of
the sick brothers; for we must not suppose that money or coins have
any greater value than stones. And the devil would like to blind those
who desire it or consider it better than stones. Therefore, let us who
have left all things behind take care that we do not lose the kingdom
of heaven for so little (cf. Mt 19:27; Mk 10,24.28). And if we were to
find coins in any place, let us give them no more thought than the
dust which we crush with our feet; for all this is «vanity of
vanities, and all is vanity» (Eccl 1:2).
All the brothers should strive to follow the humility and the poverty
of our Lord Jesus Christ... And they must rejoice when they live among
people who are considered to be of little worth and who are looked
down upon, among the poor and the powerless, the sick and the lepers,
and the beggars by the wayside. And when it may be necessary, let them
go for alms. And they should not be ashamed, but rather recall that
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living and all-powerful God...
was a poor man and a transient and lived on alms, he and the Blessed
Virgin, and His disciples
www.dailygospel.org
THURSDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Today the Church celebrates : St. Blase, Bishop & Martyr (+ 316) [1]
See commentary below or click here
Saint Francis of Assisi : "No money in their belts" [2]
HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO SAINT MARK 6:7-13.
He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave
them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take
nothing for the journey but a walking stick--no food, no sack, no
money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a
second tunic. He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay
there until you leave from there. Whatever place does not welcome you
or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in
testimony against them." So they went off and preached repentance.
They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were
sick and cured them.
Commentary of the day :
Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), Founder of the Friars Minor
Earlier Rule, §8-9 (©Classics of Western Spirituality)
"NO MONEY IN THEIR BELTS"
The Lord commands us in the Gospel: «Watch, be on your guard against
all malice and greed» (cf. Lk 12:15). «Guard yourselves against the
preoccupations of this world and the cares of this life» (cf. Mt 6,25;
Lk 21:34). Therefore, none of the brothers, wherever he may be or
wherever he goes, should in any way carry, receive, or have received
either money or coins, whether for clothing or books or payment for
any work-indeed, for no reason-unless it is for the evident need of
the sick brothers; for we must not suppose that money or coins have
any greater value than stones. And the devil would like to blind those
who desire it or consider it better than stones. Therefore, let us who
have left all things behind take care that we do not lose the kingdom
of heaven for so little (cf. Mt 19:27; Mk 10,24.28). And if we were to
find coins in any place, let us give them no more thought than the
dust which we crush with our feet; for all this is «vanity of
vanities, and all is vanity» (Eccl 1:2).
All the brothers should strive to follow the humility and the poverty
of our Lord Jesus Christ... And they must rejoice when they live among
people who are considered to be of little worth and who are looked
down upon, among the poor and the powerless, the sick and the lepers,
and the beggars by the wayside. And when it may be necessary, let them
go for alms. And they should not be ashamed, but rather recall that
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living and all-powerful God...
was a poor man and a transient and lived on alms, he and the Blessed
Virgin, and His disciples
www.dailygospel.org
Thanks Irapuato. However, the Latin transliteration of the Greek Άγιος Βλάσιος does not contain a 'V'. This is because the 'B' is a Beta = 'B' in the Latin alphabet (that which is used by all western romance lanuages and English). Therefore it should read Άγιος Βλάσιος = 'agios Blasios (the 's' after the 'a' is a sigma and so is more like a 'z' than the end sigma; the apostrophe before the …More
Thanks Irapuato. However, the Latin transliteration of the Greek Άγιος Βλάσιος does not contain a 'V'. This is because the 'B' is a Beta = 'B' in the Latin alphabet (that which is used by all western romance lanuages and English). Therefore it should read Άγιος Βλάσιος = 'agios Blasios (the 's' after the 'a' is a sigma and so is more like a 'z' than the end sigma; the apostrophe before the alpha or 'A' in the Greek signifies a gutteral sound, close to, but not exactly like and English 'h', more like an Andalusian 'j' before a vowel.)
Blasius von Sebaste († um 316) war Bischof von Sebaste, dem heutigen Sivas (Türkei). Er starb als Märtyrer während einer Christenverfolgung. In der katholischen und orthodoxen Kirche wird er als Heiliger verehrt; er zählt zu den Vierzehn Nothelfern. Der Name leitet sich vermutlich von lat. blaesus = das Lispeln ab, also in etwa: Der Lispler, oder von der latinisierten Form des griechischen Namens …More
Blasius von Sebaste († um 316) war Bischof von Sebaste, dem heutigen Sivas (Türkei). Er starb als Märtyrer während einer Christenverfolgung. In der katholischen und orthodoxen Kirche wird er als Heiliger verehrt; er zählt zu den Vierzehn Nothelfern. Der Name leitet sich vermutlich von lat. blaesus = das Lispeln ab, also in etwa: Der Lispler, oder von der latinisierten Form des griechischen Namens basilios (altgr. basíleios) = der Königliche. Der christliche Name bedeutet „auf den Namen des Christkönigs (Jesus Christus) getauft.“ Legende [Bearbeiten] Die ursprünglich in griechischer Sprache aufgezeichnete Heiligenlegende Vita Blasii beschreibt sein Leben und Martyrium. Bevor Blasius Bischof wurde, soll er Arzt in Sebaste gewesen sein. Seine unermüdliche Hilfsbereitschaft und Toleranz allen Menschen gegenüber, ob arm, ob reich, ob Christ oder Heide, sollen ihm zur Wahl zum Bischof verholfen haben. Zahlreiche Legenden haben seine Heilkraft zum Thema. Die bekannteste Erzählung berichtet, dass er während seiner Gefangenschaft in einem römischen Gefängnis einem jungen Mann, der an einer Fischgräte zu ersticken drohte, das Leben rettete. Bevor er zum Bischof ernannt wurde, floh Blasius während einer Christenverfolgung des Kaisers Licinius[1] in eine Höhle des argeischen Gebirges (?), wo er mit den Tieren des Waldes lebte, sich um sie kümmerte, wenn sie verletzt waren, und sie aus Fallen befreite. Bei einer Jagd wurde er entdeckt und gefangen genommen. Der Statthalter Agricola versuchte, ihn mit Versprechungen zum Abfall vom Glauben zu bringen. Als Blasius ablehnte, ließ man ihn mit Stöcken schlagen, mit Striegeln oder einer eisernen Hechel quälen. Nach der Folter fragte ihn der Statthalter „Willst du nun unsere Götter anbeten?“ Blasius antwortete: „Ich fürchte dich nicht, tu was du willst, aber ich werde meinem Herrn und Gott treu bleiben.“ Da hieß ihn der Statthalter in einen Teich werfen. Blasius schlug das Kreuz über dem Wasser, das fest wie gutes Erdreich wurde und er stand und rief seinen Peinigern zu: „Wenn eure Götter wahre Götter sind, so will ich ihre Macht sehen. Gehet her zu mir auf dem Wasser“. Das versuchten 65 Mann, aber sie ertranken. Vor der Hinrichtung betete Blasius, dass alle, die ein Übel an der Kehle oder sonst ein Siechtum hätten, Erhörung fänden, wenn sie in seinem Namen um Gesundung bäten. Eine Stimme vom Himmel gewährte ihm die Bitte. Mit zwei Gefährten wurde er enthauptet. Rezeption [Bearbeiten] Blasius wurde im Spätmittelalter zum Schutzpatron der Halskranken, Ärzte, Bäcker und weiterer Berufe. An seinem Namenstag am 3. Februar wird - mit zwei gekreuzten oder drei ineinandergeflochtenen Kerzen vom Fest Darstellung des Herrn (früher: Mariä Lichtmess) am 2. Februar - der Blasiussegen erteilt. Der Pfarrer spricht: „Auf die Fürsprache des heiligen Blasius bewahre dich der Herr vor Halskrankheit und allem Bösen. Es segne dich Gott, der Vater und der Sohn und der Heilige Geist. Amen.“[2] Gedenktag [Bearbeiten] Katholisch: 3. Februar (Nichtgebotener Gedenktag im Allgemeinen Römischen Kalender) Übertragung der Gebeine: 18. Juli Orthodox: 11. Februar Wetterregel: „St. Blasius stößt dem Winter die Hörner ab“. Schutzpatron [Bearbeiten] 972 hat man den Kopf des hl. Blasius als wertvolle Reliquie nach Dubrovnik gebracht, wo sie mit weiteren Körperteilen (beide Arme, ein Bein und eine Halsreliquie) aufwändig in Gold gefasst im Dommuseum zu besichtigen ist. Seitdem ist er der Schutzpatron der kroatischen Stadt, wo man ihn sveti Vlaho nennt (sonst kroatisch: sv. Blaž). Er gilt auch als Schutzpatron der Ärzte, Musikanten, Bauleute, Maurer, Gipser, Gerber, Schuhmacher, Schneider, Strumpfwirker, Weber, Wollhändler, des Viehs, hilft gegen Halsbeschwerden, Blasenleiden, Blutungen, Zahnschmerzen, Geschwüre, Pest und für eine gute Beichte. Er ist einer der Vierzehn Nothelfer.[3] Darstellung [Bearbeiten] Der hl. Blasius wird häufig als Bischof mit Stab und Mitra mit zwei gekreuzten oder drei ineinandergeflochtenen Kerzen dargestellt. Die Kerze geht auf folgende Legende zurück: Ein Wolf raubte einst das Schwein einer armen Frau. Durch Blasius’ Gebet erhielt die Frau das Schwein zurück. Zum Dank brachte sie Kopf und Füße des Schweins mit Früchten und einer Kerze zu Blasius. Siehe auch [Bearbeiten] Blasiuskirche San Blas Literatur [Bearbeiten] Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz: Blasius von Sebaste. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Band 1, Hamm 1975, Sp. 616. Luc Campana: Die 14 Heiligen Nothelfer. Herkunft und Verehrung – Konkurrenz zur Medizin – Leben und Legenden – Reichweite und Bildnisse. Lauerz: Theresia-Verlag, 2009. ISBN 978-3-03767-035-4. Weblinks [Bearbeiten] Commons: Hl. Blasius – Sammlung von Bildern, Videos und Audiodateien Eintrag im Ökumenischen Heiligenlexikon Franziskanerkloster Vierzehnheiligen über Blasius de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasius_von_Sebaste
Many Catholics might remember Saint Blaise's feast day because of the Blessing of the Throats that took place on this day. Two candles are blessed, held slightly open, and pressed against the throat as the blessing is said. Saint Blaise's protection of those with throat troubles apparently comes from a legend that a boy was brought to him who had a fishbone stuck in his throat. The boy was about to …More
Many Catholics might remember Saint Blaise's feast day because of the Blessing of the Throats that took place on this day. Two candles are blessed, held slightly open, and pressed against the throat as the blessing is said. Saint Blaise's protection of those with throat troubles apparently comes from a legend that a boy was brought to him who had a fishbone stuck in his throat. The boy was about to die when Saint Blaise healed him. Very few facts are known about Saint Blaise. We believe he was a bishop of Sebastea in Armenia who was martyred under the reign of Licinius in the early fourth century. The legend of his life that sprang up in the eighth century tell us that he was born in to a rich and noble family who raised him as a Christian. After becoming a bishop, a new persecution of Christians began. He received a message from God to go into the hills to escape persecution. Men hunting in the mountains discovered a cave surrounded by wild animals who were sick. Among them Blaise walked unafraid, curing them of their illnesses. Recognizing Blaise as a bishop, they captured him to take him back for trial. On the way back, he talked a wolf into releasing a pig that belonged to a poor woman. When Blaise was sentenced to be starved to death, the woman, in gratitude, sneaked into the prison with food and candles. Finally Blaise was killed by the governor. Blaise is the patron saint of wild animals because of his care for them and of those with throat maladies. In His Footsteps: Take time as Saint Blaise did to find out how you can help wild animals. Find out what is being done to support and protect the wildlife in your area. There is wildlife everywhere, even in cities. Even a birdfeeder can help God's creatures survive. Prayer: Saint Blaise, pray for us that we may not suffer from illnesses of the throat and pray that all who are suffering be healed by God's love. Amen www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php
One more comment from Irapuato
Saint Blaise (Armenian: Սուրբ Բարսեղ, Sourb Barsegh; Greek: Άγιος Βλάσιος, Agios Vlasios) was a physician, and bishop of Sebastea, Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey). According to his Acta Sanctorum, he was martyred by being beaten, attacked with iron carding combs, and beheaded. He is known as San Biagio in Italy, San Blas in Spain and São Brás in Portugal.
In iconography, Blaise is often …More
Saint Blaise (Armenian: Սուրբ Բարսեղ, Sourb Barsegh; Greek: Άγιος Βλάσιος, Agios Vlasios) was a physician, and bishop of Sebastea, Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey). According to his Acta Sanctorum, he was martyred by being beaten, attacked with iron carding combs, and beheaded. He is known as San Biagio in Italy, San Blas in Spain and São Brás in Portugal.
In iconography, Blaise is often shown with the instruments of his martyrdom, steel combs. He blessed throats and effected many miracles, according to his hagiography. The similarity of these instruments of torture to wool combs led to his adoption as the patron saint of wool combers in particular, and the wool trade in general. He may also be depicted with crossed candles. Such crossed candles are used for the blessing of throats on the feast day of Blaise, which falls on 3 February, the day after Candlemas on the Roman Catholic calendar of saints. Blaise is traditionally believed to intercede in cases of throat illnesses, especially for fish-bones stuck in the throat.[1]
Indeed, the first reference we have to him is in manuscripts of the medical writings of Aëtius Amidenus, a court physician of the very end of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century; there his aid is invoked in treating objects stuck in the throat. He cured animals and lived in a cave. Before being killed, he spoke to a wolf and told it to release a pig it was harming. The wolf did so. Saint Blaise was going to be starved but the owner of the pig secretly gave him food in order to survive. After a while, he was tortured because of what he believed in but did not give up faith. He died in the year 316.
Marco Polo reported the place where "Meeser Saint Blaise obtained the glorious crown of martyrdom", Sevasta (now Sivas, Turkey);[2] the shrine near the citadel mount was mentioned by William of Rubruck in 1253.[3] However it appears to no longer exist, neither does the nearby St Blaise church.
In the Orthodox Church of Greece the bishopric of Naupactus (Nafpaktos =Lepanto) is held with that of St. Blaise.
His cult became widespread in Europe in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. St. Blaise is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers or Auxiliary Saints and his legend is recounted in the fourteenth-century Legenda Aurea. Saint Blaise is the saint of the wild beast.
He is the patron of the Armenian Order of Saint Blaise. In Italy he is known as San Biagio. In Spanish-speaking countries, he is known as San Blas, and has lent his name to many places (see San Blas).
In Italy, Saint Blaise's remains rest at the Basilica over the town of Maratea, shipwrecked there during Leo III the Isaurian's iconoclastic persecutions.
Many German churches, including the former Abbey of St. Blasius in the Black Forest and the church of Balve are dedicated to Saint Blaise/Blasius.
[edit] In Great Britain
The Fourteen Holy Helpers.
In Cornwall the village of St Blazey derives from his name, where the parish church is still dedicated to Saint Blaise. Indeed, the council of Oxford in 1222 forbade all work on his festival.[4] There is a church dedicated to Saint Blaise in the Devon hamlet of Haccombe, near Newton Abbot (Also one at Shanklin on the Isle of Wight and another at Milton near Abingdon in Oxfordshire.) this is one of the country's smallest churches. It is located next to Haccombe house which is the family home of the Carew family, descendants of the captain of the Mary Rose at the time of her sinking. One curious fact associated with this church is that its "vicar" goes by the title of "archpriest".
According to Brand's Popular Antiquities (1813), in areas of the English countryside it was the custom to light bonfires on St. Blaise's feast day, February 3 - evidently inspired by the sound of the word blaze.
There is a St. Blaise's Well In Bromley, Kent [5] where the water was considered to have medicinal virtues.
St Blaise is also associated with Stretford in Lancashire. A Blessing of the Throats ceremony is held on February 3 at St Etheldreda's Church in London and in Balve, Germany.
[edit] In Croatia
Church of St. Blasius in Dubrovnik
Saint Blaise (Croatian: Sveti Vlaho or Sveti Blaž) is the patron saint of the city of Dubrovnik and formerly the protector of the independent Republic of Ragusa. At Dubrovnik his feast is celebrated yearly on 3 February, when relics of the saint, his head, a bit of bone from his throat, his right hand and his left, are paraded in reliquaries. The festivities begin the previous day, Candlemas, when white doves are released. Chroniclers of Dubrovnik such as Rastic and Ranjina attribute his veneration there to a vision in 971 to warn the inhabitants of an impending attack by the Venetians, whose galleys had dropped anchor in Gruž and near Lokrum, ostensibly to resupply their water but furtively to spy out the city's defenses. St. Blaise (Blasius) revealed their pernicious plan to Stojko, a canon of St. Stephen's Cathedral. The Senate summoned Stojko, who told them in detail how St. Blaise had appeared before him as an old man with a long beard and a bishop's mitre and staff. In this form the effigy of Blaise remained on Dubrovnik's state seal and coinage until the Napoleonic era.
[edit] Blaise and Blasius for Jersey
In England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Blaise was adopted as mascot of woolworkers' pageants, particularly in Essex, Yorkshire, Wiltshire and Norwich. The popular enthusiasm for the saint is explained by the belief that Blaise had brought prosperity (as symbolised by the Woolsack) to England by teaching the English to comb wool. According to the tradition as recorded in printed broadsheets, Blaise came from Jersey. Jersey was certainly a centre of export of woollen goods (as witnessed by the name jersey for the woollen textile). However, this legend is probably the result of confusion with a different saint, Blasius of Caesarea (Caesarea being also the Latin name of Jersey).
[edit] The Acts of St. Blaise
The Acts of St. Blaise, written in Greek, are medieval.[6] The legend is given by E.-H. Vollet, in the Grande Encyclopédie as follows:
Blaise, who had studied philosophy in his youth, was a doctor in Sebaste in Armenia, the city of his birth, who exercised his art with miraculous ability, good-will, and piety. When the bishop of the city died, he was chosen to succeed him, with the acclamation of all the people. His holiness was manifest through many miracles: from all around, people came to him to find cures for their spirit and their body; even wild animals came in herds to receive his blessing. In 316, Agricola, the governor of Cappadocia and of Lesser Armenia, having arrived in Sebastia at the order of the emperor Licinius to kill the Christians, arrested the bishop. As he was being led to prison, a mother set her only son, choking to death of a fish-bone, at his feet, and the child was cured straight away. Regardless, the governor, unable to make Blaise renounce his faith, beat him with a stick, ripped his flesh with iron combs, and beheaded him.[7]
[edit] See also
Order of Saint Blaise
San Biagio
[edit] References
^ The formula for the blessing of throats is: "Per intercessionem Sancti Blasii, episcopi et martyris, liberet te Deus a malo gutturis, et a quolibet alio malo. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen." ("Through the intercession of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God free you from illness of the throat and from any other sort of ill. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.)
^ Marco Polo, Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian (1260-1295),I, ch. 46.
^ William Woodville Rockhill, ed., tr.The Journey of William of Rubruck to the eastern parts of the world, 1253-55 1900:276.
^ Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911: "Blaise".
^ Lysons, Daniel The Environs of London (Vol. 4), p307-323 (pub. 1796) - "British history online" (website).
^ Not "authentic": E.-H. Vollet, in the Grande Encyclopédie s.v. Blaise (Saint); published in Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca "Auctarium", 1969, 278, col. 665b.
^ loc.cit.
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Saint Blaise
Patron Saints Index: Saint Blaise
Saint Blaise article from Catholic.org
Hieromartyr Blaise of Caesarea in Cappadocia Orthodox icon and synaxarion
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Blaise
In iconography, Blaise is often shown with the instruments of his martyrdom, steel combs. He blessed throats and effected many miracles, according to his hagiography. The similarity of these instruments of torture to wool combs led to his adoption as the patron saint of wool combers in particular, and the wool trade in general. He may also be depicted with crossed candles. Such crossed candles are used for the blessing of throats on the feast day of Blaise, which falls on 3 February, the day after Candlemas on the Roman Catholic calendar of saints. Blaise is traditionally believed to intercede in cases of throat illnesses, especially for fish-bones stuck in the throat.[1]
Indeed, the first reference we have to him is in manuscripts of the medical writings of Aëtius Amidenus, a court physician of the very end of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century; there his aid is invoked in treating objects stuck in the throat. He cured animals and lived in a cave. Before being killed, he spoke to a wolf and told it to release a pig it was harming. The wolf did so. Saint Blaise was going to be starved but the owner of the pig secretly gave him food in order to survive. After a while, he was tortured because of what he believed in but did not give up faith. He died in the year 316.
Marco Polo reported the place where "Meeser Saint Blaise obtained the glorious crown of martyrdom", Sevasta (now Sivas, Turkey);[2] the shrine near the citadel mount was mentioned by William of Rubruck in 1253.[3] However it appears to no longer exist, neither does the nearby St Blaise church.
In the Orthodox Church of Greece the bishopric of Naupactus (Nafpaktos =Lepanto) is held with that of St. Blaise.
His cult became widespread in Europe in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. St. Blaise is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers or Auxiliary Saints and his legend is recounted in the fourteenth-century Legenda Aurea. Saint Blaise is the saint of the wild beast.
He is the patron of the Armenian Order of Saint Blaise. In Italy he is known as San Biagio. In Spanish-speaking countries, he is known as San Blas, and has lent his name to many places (see San Blas).
In Italy, Saint Blaise's remains rest at the Basilica over the town of Maratea, shipwrecked there during Leo III the Isaurian's iconoclastic persecutions.
Many German churches, including the former Abbey of St. Blasius in the Black Forest and the church of Balve are dedicated to Saint Blaise/Blasius.
[edit] In Great Britain
The Fourteen Holy Helpers.
In Cornwall the village of St Blazey derives from his name, where the parish church is still dedicated to Saint Blaise. Indeed, the council of Oxford in 1222 forbade all work on his festival.[4] There is a church dedicated to Saint Blaise in the Devon hamlet of Haccombe, near Newton Abbot (Also one at Shanklin on the Isle of Wight and another at Milton near Abingdon in Oxfordshire.) this is one of the country's smallest churches. It is located next to Haccombe house which is the family home of the Carew family, descendants of the captain of the Mary Rose at the time of her sinking. One curious fact associated with this church is that its "vicar" goes by the title of "archpriest".
According to Brand's Popular Antiquities (1813), in areas of the English countryside it was the custom to light bonfires on St. Blaise's feast day, February 3 - evidently inspired by the sound of the word blaze.
There is a St. Blaise's Well In Bromley, Kent [5] where the water was considered to have medicinal virtues.
St Blaise is also associated with Stretford in Lancashire. A Blessing of the Throats ceremony is held on February 3 at St Etheldreda's Church in London and in Balve, Germany.
[edit] In Croatia
Church of St. Blasius in Dubrovnik
Saint Blaise (Croatian: Sveti Vlaho or Sveti Blaž) is the patron saint of the city of Dubrovnik and formerly the protector of the independent Republic of Ragusa. At Dubrovnik his feast is celebrated yearly on 3 February, when relics of the saint, his head, a bit of bone from his throat, his right hand and his left, are paraded in reliquaries. The festivities begin the previous day, Candlemas, when white doves are released. Chroniclers of Dubrovnik such as Rastic and Ranjina attribute his veneration there to a vision in 971 to warn the inhabitants of an impending attack by the Venetians, whose galleys had dropped anchor in Gruž and near Lokrum, ostensibly to resupply their water but furtively to spy out the city's defenses. St. Blaise (Blasius) revealed their pernicious plan to Stojko, a canon of St. Stephen's Cathedral. The Senate summoned Stojko, who told them in detail how St. Blaise had appeared before him as an old man with a long beard and a bishop's mitre and staff. In this form the effigy of Blaise remained on Dubrovnik's state seal and coinage until the Napoleonic era.
[edit] Blaise and Blasius for Jersey
In England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Blaise was adopted as mascot of woolworkers' pageants, particularly in Essex, Yorkshire, Wiltshire and Norwich. The popular enthusiasm for the saint is explained by the belief that Blaise had brought prosperity (as symbolised by the Woolsack) to England by teaching the English to comb wool. According to the tradition as recorded in printed broadsheets, Blaise came from Jersey. Jersey was certainly a centre of export of woollen goods (as witnessed by the name jersey for the woollen textile). However, this legend is probably the result of confusion with a different saint, Blasius of Caesarea (Caesarea being also the Latin name of Jersey).
[edit] The Acts of St. Blaise
The Acts of St. Blaise, written in Greek, are medieval.[6] The legend is given by E.-H. Vollet, in the Grande Encyclopédie as follows:
Blaise, who had studied philosophy in his youth, was a doctor in Sebaste in Armenia, the city of his birth, who exercised his art with miraculous ability, good-will, and piety. When the bishop of the city died, he was chosen to succeed him, with the acclamation of all the people. His holiness was manifest through many miracles: from all around, people came to him to find cures for their spirit and their body; even wild animals came in herds to receive his blessing. In 316, Agricola, the governor of Cappadocia and of Lesser Armenia, having arrived in Sebastia at the order of the emperor Licinius to kill the Christians, arrested the bishop. As he was being led to prison, a mother set her only son, choking to death of a fish-bone, at his feet, and the child was cured straight away. Regardless, the governor, unable to make Blaise renounce his faith, beat him with a stick, ripped his flesh with iron combs, and beheaded him.[7]
[edit] See also
Order of Saint Blaise
San Biagio
[edit] References
^ The formula for the blessing of throats is: "Per intercessionem Sancti Blasii, episcopi et martyris, liberet te Deus a malo gutturis, et a quolibet alio malo. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen." ("Through the intercession of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God free you from illness of the throat and from any other sort of ill. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.)
^ Marco Polo, Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian (1260-1295),I, ch. 46.
^ William Woodville Rockhill, ed., tr.The Journey of William of Rubruck to the eastern parts of the world, 1253-55 1900:276.
^ Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911: "Blaise".
^ Lysons, Daniel The Environs of London (Vol. 4), p307-323 (pub. 1796) - "British history online" (website).
^ Not "authentic": E.-H. Vollet, in the Grande Encyclopédie s.v. Blaise (Saint); published in Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca "Auctarium", 1969, 278, col. 665b.
^ loc.cit.
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Saint Blaise
Patron Saints Index: Saint Blaise
Saint Blaise article from Catholic.org
Hieromartyr Blaise of Caesarea in Cappadocia Orthodox icon and synaxarion
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Blaise