Many Catholics have a special remembrance of Saint Blaise due to the annual Blessing of the Throats ceremony held on his feast day. During this ritual, two candles are blessed, gently held open, and then placed against the throats of the faithful while a blessing is recited. Saint Blaise’s reputation for protecting individuals with throat ailments originates from a centuries-old legend recounting a miraculous healing.

While historical details about Saint Blaise are scant, it is widely believed that he served as a bishop in Sebastea, Armenia, and met his martyrdom during the reign of Licinius in the early fourth century.

According to the eighth-century legend that has since become associated with Saint Blaise’s life, he was born into a wealthy and devout Christian family. After ascending to the role of bishop, a new wave of persecution against Christians swept through the region. It is said that God instructed him to seek refuge in the mountains to escape the persecution.

During his time in the mountains, Saint Blaise encountered a cave inhabited by sick and suffering wild animals. Fearlessly, he approached them and miraculously cured their illnesses. These animals recognized him as a bishop. However, his mission of compassion took another extraordinary turn when he persuaded a wolf to release a pig belonging to a poor woman who had lost it.

Saint Blaise’s acts of kindness did not go unnoticed. Eventually, he was apprehended by men sent to capture him and bring him to trial. While in captivity, he was sentenced to die of starvation. In a touching display of gratitude, the same poor woman who had lost her pig sneaked into the prison, bringing food and candles to sustain him. Ultimately, Saint Blaise met his martyrdom at the hands of the governor.

Saint Blaise is venerated as the patron saint of wild animals due to his compassionate care for them, as well as the patron saint of those suffering from throat maladies, thanks to the legend of his miraculous healing of a boy with a fishbone stuck in his throat.

Photo credit: HappySloth / Shutterstock.com
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15 COMMENTS

  1. Dear St.Blaise,
    Please interceed for my husband’s friend who died in December of throat cancer. Also please heal me of my throat malady. Also, please interceed/give me wisdom/cure my painted turtle from what ever is causing his shell problem.

  2. St. Blaise, please pray for Joop, he will have surgery on his throat on March second; heal him completely I pray with you. Thank you for hearing my request.

  3. Heavenly Father, please pray for the souls of my Mother Carmen, Father Victorino, Brother Nelson and other relatives who had passed away already. Please always open the doors of heaven for them. Protect our whole family from any harms and danger. Be my guide at all times in all plans and actions. Hear the prayer requests of this online community. Lord, hear our prayers. In Jesus name, Amen.

  4. O Glorious Saint Blaise,
    who by thy martyrdom
    has left to the Church a precious witness to the faith,
    obtain for us the grace to
    preserve within ourselves this divine gift,St-Blaise
    and to defend, without 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 who miraculously cured
    a little child when it was at the point of death
    by reason of an affliction of the throat,
    grant us your powerful protection in like misfortunes;
    and, above all, obtain for us
    the grace of repentance,
    together with a faithful observance of our Church,
    and avoidance from offending Almighty God. Amen.

  5. I went to a Catholic elementary school in NJ in the 1960s and every year on Feb.3, we had our throats blessed. I used to get severe Strep. throats and the only cure was to have my tonsils removed.
    Prayer can help many people but sometimes you need a doctor who has the gift of healing.

    • Robert, grace and peace! God never intended healing only to be within the province of supererogatory grace, God intended healing to also be practiced by the medical arts! It is both spiritual grace and medicine which are the sides of the same coin; God has given us both to heal our bodies and calm our minds! The Church observes these feast days, such as that attributed to St. Blaise, because supernatural grace had done something miraculous beyond human understandings of medicine! But, we do not discount medicine; rather, we see the medical arts as God’s gifts to us. No one relies on miracle alone; to do so would be quite foolish; the realm of miracles involves mercy, heredity, and genetics, which must work in an absolute and precise combination to be effective. Do not forget your Catholic Heritage; it has never forgotten you!

  6. Saints Blaise and Benedict, pray for us. Free us from all ills.
    All holy men and women, martyrs, saints, angels, pray for us.
    Holy Family of Nazareth, restore matrimony and family life.
    Transform all of mankind’s iniquity into integrity. Amen.
    Ecce Crucem Domini!
    Fugite partes adversae!
    Vicit Leo de tribu Juda,
    Radix David! Alleluia!
    Saint Anthony of Padua, pray for us.

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