All flows from the altar...

  For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord,

and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. - 2 Cor 4:5

O sacrum convivium: O sacred banquet

Invoked for the healing of throat diseases, St. Blaise wrote:

“Father of mercy and God of all consolation, graciously look upon me and impart to me the blessing which flows from this Holy Sacrament [the Eucharist].  Overshadow me with Your loving kindness, and let this divine Mystery bear fruit in me.”

 St Blaise

Armenia + 316

Physician, Bishop, Martyr

Patron of Throat Diseases

and the Wool Trade

Feast Day – Feb 3

 

At first he was a doctor who … Attended human life … And then he ministered to souls … In spiritual strife … A bishop in Armenia … St. Blaise acquired fame … By many healings he performed … In God’s most holy name … Especially the little child  … Who nearly choked to death … And through St Blaise’s prayers returned  … To free and normal breath … And that is why one day each year … His saintliness we note … And ask his prayers to guard us from … Diseases of the throat … And even more important to … St Blaise’s great renown … Is all the torture he endured … To earn his martyr’s crown.

Protect our throats, St Blaise, from all … Those sicknesses today … And from the utterance of words … That we should never say … Lend wisdom to our voice, St Blaise … And pray that we may be … Forever steadfast in our faith … For God eternally.

From Poem Portraits of the Saints by James J Metcalfe (1956)

Click here: St. Blaise - YouTube (2 mins)

Today's blessing:  Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.