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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3
FEAST OF BLASE, BISHOP, MARTYR

Full-throated blessing

One of the most popular traditional devotions in the church is the blessing of throats on this day, invoking the intercession of Saint Blase, whose feast we celebrate. Blase was arrested in 316 A.D. during a persecution of Christians, and on the way to prison tradition has it that he miraculously healed a young child who was choking. After his death the story of the cure spread throughout the region of present-day Armenia, and through the centuries the devotion grew. Blase was also a physician, and today is a good day to give thanks for the many miracles that modern medicine also makes possible. Thanks to modern medicine, many are alive and well today (perhaps including you or a loved one) who would not have been so in centuries past.


TODAY’S READINGS: _Sirach 47:2-11; Mark 6:14-29 _

“Mighty powers are at work in him. ”


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