February 3: Saint Blaise

Today, February 3, we also celebrate the feast of Saint Blaise, the patron saint of the sick. The life of Saint Blaise is one of Holy Legend, filled with miraculous healings. Today, the Church continues to celebrate the life and intercession of Saint Blaise, in the ritual blessing of throats during Mass. We look to Saint Blaise in times of illness and for healing… But we need remember, as did this holy bishop, that it is not he, nor the ministry of the Church that heals or saves us-- because on their own, neither he nor the Church has such power. It is only through the faith in the power of the Lord whose grace provides comfort to the sick, through the Holy Spirit, that we are able to be blessed and cured. Our health is testimony to the healing love of God, the sacrifice (which all our human suffering is joined to) of Christ, and the graces of the Holy Spirit generously poured forth into our lives!

For more on the life and history of Saint Blaise, see my previous post here.

O glorious St. Blaise, who by your martyrdom 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 concern for human respect — both by word and example, the truth of that same Faith, which is so wickedly attacked and slandered in these our times. You miraculously restored a little child who was at the point of death because of an affliction of the throat.


Grant us your mighty protection in similar misfortunes. And, above all, obtain for us the grace of Christian mortification, together with faithful observance of the precepts of the Church, which keep us from offending almighty God. Amen.