Jesus 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.
The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
REFLECTION
"The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them."
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Blaise. Many churches will do the blessing of the throats after Mass.
Very little is actually known about this early Christian martyr, however. The first reference we have of him is in the medical journals of a court physician named Aëtius Amidenus. Somewhere from the end of the fifth or beginning of the sixth century, St. Blaise is mentioned as being called upon for treating objects stuck in the throat.
We also know that Blaise was the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia and suffered martyrdom under Licinius about AD 316. But as far as details about his life, we must rely on various traditions. Supposedly, this early Christian martyr was born to noble and wealthy parents who provided him with a Christian education.
He became a physician and was elected and consecrated a bishop at a young age. During the persecution of Licinius, a former ally of Constantine who began persecuting the Church, Blaise experienced a call to live as a hermit in a cave outside of town, where he was known to heal sick and wounded wild animals. Eventually he was discovered by hunters who were roaming the countryside capturing creatures to use in the amphitheater games. Blaise was taken to Agricolaus, the governor of Cappadocia and Lesser Armenia, and thrown into jail.
One legend has it that on his way to prison, Blaise commanded a wolf to release a pig belonging to a woman who begged for the holy bishop’s help. She later brought candles to his cell so he would have light to read the Scriptures. While Agricolaus was reportedly impressed with Blaise’s miracles, it didn’t stop him from insisting that the bishop renounce his faith and when he wouldn’t, the governor had him beaten, tortured with an iron comb (a tool used for combing wool), and beheaded.
As the manuscripts from Aëtius Amidenus show, by the sixth century St. Blaise’s intercession was being invoked in the east for illnesses related to the throat. By the ninth century, the saint was also revered in Europe and went on to become one of the most popular saints in the Middle Ages, venerated as one of the “Fourteen Holy Helpers” (which also included saints such as St. Christopher, St. Erasmus, St. Denis of Paris, St. Barbara, St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Giles.)
It’s an ancient custom of the Church to bless the sick, rooted in the ministry of Christ and his apostles. According to the Pastoral Care of the Sick: Rites of Anointing and Viaticum, the annual blessing of throats is a traditional sign of the struggle against illness in the life of the Christian. The blessing is ordinarily given during Mass or a celebration of the Word of God on February 3, the memorial of St. Blaise, following Candlemas, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord.
While ailments of the throat are the main thing for which St. Blaise is invoked in the West, he is also considered a protector against wild animals, a protector of cities and a patron of veterinarians, wool-combers and the wool industry.
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