Theme: Heal us from our spiritual ailments of throat. Oh Lord!
Scripture readings: Rom. 5:1-5; Ps. 116:1-2; Mark 16:15-20
The church celebrates today the feast of St. Blaise, the bishop and martyr. We do not have any direct account of his life but the legendary stories that were written about him after 400 years of his martyrdom. We know for sure, he was the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia. Licinius, the Roman emperor persecuted Christians during those day. St. Blaise suffered martyrdom in 316 AD at the hands of roman persecutors.
According to traditions, St. Blaise came from a rich and noble family. He was a physician. He must have been a great witness of faith among the faithful. The bishops were chosen by the people in those days. The Holy Father approved and appointed the candidate. The neighbouring bishops consecrated the new bishop. Due to persecution of Licinius, St. Blaise lived as a hermit in a cave in the wilderness. It is said, the wild animals came to visit him and he cured them.
One day, a group of hunters found him surrounded by the wild animals. They brought him before the roman governor Agricolos. While on the way, St. Blaise helped the woman to find her piglet. It was taken by the wolf. St. Blaise commanded the wolf to release it and the wolf returned it unhurt. The same lady would bring candles for St. Blaise to light up his prison cell. The practice of blessing with two candles is sprung from this story. In the prison, a small boy who was choking to death on a fish-bone stuck in his throat was brought to him. St. Blaise cured the boy with a simple command to cough.
Agricolos knew about St. Blaise’ miraculous intercessory powers yet he condemned St. Blaise for his faith in Christ. Because St. Blaise refused to put incense to the pagan gods. Agricolos tortured St. Blaise with the iron comb. An instrument is used to remove the wool from the sheep skin. Thus, they shredded his skin and finally he was beheaded.
Dominican fathers in the middle centuries in Europe made a legion of fourteen saints to get spiritual help in their daily troubles. The throat irritation was considered as an early sign of disease and epidemic. St. Blaise is one of the fourteen saints. He is asked to protect from the throat ailment due to the miraculous cure of a boy who suffered from the choking of throat.
Now we will have the blessing of throat with the intercession of St. Blaise. We may not have throat ailments but our throats are not used for the purpose for which God made them; sing glories to God. Today our throats suffer from spiritual ailments. One of the biggest sins of throat is gossip. Pope Francis has vehemently spoke on it in his audiences. He said, “Be careful, the gossip is like a terrorist; throws bomb and leaves.” In last September, he called “gossip is a diabolic cancer.” It does not bring any good to us but destroys us. There are many sins of mouth/throat but can we ask St. Blaise to intercede for us from the physical as well as spiritual ailments of throat? May St. Blaise intercede for us.
Fr. Alex D’Mello
