2/3 Feast of St. Blaise

St. Blaise (also spelled Blase and Blasius) — one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers — was a 3rd century physician who became Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia. This was the time of persecution under Licinius, so St. Blaise hid out in a cave on Mt. Argeus. From the Golden Legend:

…the birds of heaven brought to him meat for to eat. And it seemed to him that they came to serve him and accompany him, and would not depart from him till he had lift up his hands and blessed them. And also sick men came to him and anon were cured and healed.

Now it happed that the prince of this region sent his knights to hunt, and they could take nothing. But by adventure they came unto the desert place where S. Blase was, where they found great multitude of beasts which were about him, of whom they could take none, whereof they were all abashed and showed this to their lord, the which anon sent many knights for him, and commanded to bring him and all the christian men with him.

And that night Jesu Christ appeared to him thrice, which said to him: Arise up and make to me sacrifice. Lo! here be the knights that come to fetch thee at the commandment of the prince. And the knights said to him: Come out from this place, the president calleth thee. And S. Blase answered: My sons, ye be welcome, I see now well that God hath not forgotten me. He went with them and continually preached, and did many miracles tofore them.

There was a woman that had a son dying, in whose throat was a bone of a fish athwart, which estrangled him, and she brought him tofore his feet, praying him that he would make her son whole. And S. Blase put his hand upon him and made his prayer to God that this child, and all they that demanded benefits of health in his name, that they should be holpen and obtain it, and anon he was whole and guerished.

Another woman there was that was poor which had a swine, which the wolf had borne away, and she humbly prayed to S. Blase that she might have again her swine. And he began to smile and said: Good woman anger thee not, for thou shalt have again thy swine, and anon the wolf brought again to the woman, which was a widow, her swine.

St. Blaise was captured and taken before the prince, whose gods, Blaise informed him, were fiends. The prince was enraged and threw him in prison. The widow whose pig was returned to her killed the pig and fed Blaise with it. From the Golden Legend again: 

And when this good widow, which by S. Blase had recovered her swine, heard thereof, she slew it, and the head and the feet with a little bread and a candle, she brought to S. Blase, and he thanked God and ate thereof, and he said to her that every year she should offer in his church a candle, and know thou that to thee and to all them that so shall do shall well happen to them, and so she did all her life, and she had much great prosperity.

Even after imprisonment, he refused to worship the prince’s gods, and for punishment his flesh torn by wool combs. He was finally beheaded, martyred along with seven women and two children.

Because of the cure of the boy’s throat when the boy was choking, St. Blaise is patron against troubles of the throat, and today our throats are blessed at Mass. The priest will bless two candles in honor of St. Blaise. The words of this blessing are:

V. Our help + is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made heaven and earth.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit. Let us pray.

Almighty and most gentle God, Who didst create the multiplicity of things through Thine only Word, and didst will that same Word through Whom all things were made to take flesh for the refashioning of man; Thou, Who art great and without measure, terrible and worthy of praise, a Worker of wonders: the glorious martyr and bishop Blaise, not fearing to suffer all sorts of diverse tortures because of his profession of faith in Thee, was suited happily to bear the palm of martyrdom: and Thou didst grant to him, among other graces, the favor that he should by Thy power cure all kinds of illnesses of the throat: we humbly beg Thy Majesty not to look upon our sins, but to be pleased by his merits and prayers and to deign in Thy venerable kindness to bless + and sanctify + this creature of wax by the outpouring of Thy grace; that all whose necks in good faith are touched by it may be freed by the merits of his sufferings from any illness of the throat, and that healthy and strong they may offer thanks to Thee within Thy Holy Church, and praise Thy glorious name, which is blessed forever and ever. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

R. Amen.

Then he will hold the two, unlit blessed candles crossed over our throats, intoning:

Per intercessionem S. Blasii liberet te Deus a malo gutteris et a quovis alio malo

English:
May God at the intercession of St. Blasius preserve you from throat troubles and every other evil.

Then he will make a sign of the Cross over us.

St. Blaise is also the patron of veterinarians and against attacks of wild animals. He is represented in art as a Bishop holding two crossed candles, with wool combs, or in a cave surrounded by wild animals.

BOOK OF HEAVEN

They Who Suffered More Than AnyoneTo Form The Kingdom Of Redemption, And The Necessity Of Making Known She Who Suffered For The Kingdom Of The Supreme Fiat

 Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta,

The Little Daughter of the Divine Will

 VOLUME 19

 July 11, 1926

Just as it was necessary to make known who They were who suffered more than anyone to form the Kingdom of Redemption, so it is necessary to make known she who has suffered for the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat. 

For quite a few days my sweet Jesus had not told me anything about His Most Holy Will; rather, He would make Himself seen sad, in the act of striking the creatures.  Today, as though wanting to go out of His sadness – because when He speaks about His Will it seems He puts Himself in feast, coming out from within my interior, He told me:  “My daughter (Luisa), I want to cheer Myself up – let Me speak of the Kingdom of my Supreme Will.”  And I:  ‘My Love and my Life, Jesus, if You do not tell me all the secrets that are in It, not knowing everything, I will not enjoy the fullness of the goods that this Kingdom possesses, nor will I be able to give You the return of love for the goods that You hide; and I would feel unhappy in the midst of so much happiness, because my “I Love You” would not be flowing in everything that You possess in It.  It may be small, but it is the “I love You” of your little daughter, whom You love so much.’

And Jesus, taking my own words, told me:  “My little daughter (Luisa), you (Luisa) yourself are saying how necessary knowledge is.  If it is necessary for you (Luisa) , much more so for others.  Now, you (Luisa) must know that in order to form the Kingdom of Redemption, those who distinguished themselves the most in suffering were my Mama and I.  And even though apparently She suffered none of the pains that the other creatures knew, except for my death which was known by all, and which was the fatal and harrowing blow for Her maternal Heart, more than any most sorrowful death, however, since She possessed the unity of the light of my Will, this light brought to Her pierced Heart, not only the seven swords told by the Church, but all swords, spears and pricks of all sins and pains of creatures, which martyred Her maternal Heart in a harrowing way.  But this is nothing.  This light brought Her all my pains, my humiliations, my torments, my thorns, my nails, the most intimate pains of my Heart.  The Heart of my Mama was the true Sun:  though one can see nothing but light, this light contains all the goods and effects that the earth receives and possesses; so, one can say that the earth is enclosed in the Sun.  The same for the Sovereign Queen:  one could only see Her person, but the light of my Supreme Will enclosed in Her all possible imaginable pains; and the more intimate and unknown these pains were, the more valuable and powerful they were over the Divine Heart, to impetrate the longed for Redeemer; and more than solar light, they descended into the hearts of creatures, to conquer them and bind them in the Kingdom of Redemption.

So, the Church knows so very little of the pains of the Celestial Sovereign Queen, that one can say that She knows only the visible pains, and this is why She gives the number of the seven swords.  But if She knew that Her maternal Heart was the refuge, the deposit of all pains, and that the light of my Will brought everything to Her, sparing Her nothing, the Church would not speak of seven swords, but of millions of swords.  More so, since they were intimate pains, and therefore God alone knows the intensity of the sorrow.  This is why, by right, She was constituted Queen of martyrs and of all sorrows.  Creatures can give a weight, a value to exterior pains, but they do not know enough of the interior ones to be able to attribute to them the right price.  Now, in order to form in my Mama, first the Kingdom of my Will, and then that of Redemption, so many pains were not necessary because, since She had no sin, the inheritance of pains was not for Her – Her inheritance was the Kingdom of my Will.  But in order to give the Kingdom of Redemption to creatures, She had to submit Herself to so many pains.  So, the fruits of Redemption were matured in the Kingdom of my Will possessed by Me and by my Mama.  There is nothing beautiful, good or useful, which does not come from my Will. 

Now, united to the Sovereign Queen came my Humanity.  She remained hidden in Me, in my sorrows, in my pains, therefore little was known about Her; but as for my Humanity, it was necessary that what I did, how much I suffered and how much I loved be known.  If nothing were known, I could not form the Kingdom of Redemption.  The knowledge of my pains and of my love is magnet and spur, incitement and light to draw souls to taking the remedies, the goods contained in It.  Knowing how much their sins and their salvation cost Me is chain that binds them to Me and prevents new sins.  If, on the other hand, they had known nothing of my pains and of my death, not knowing how much their salvation cost Me, no one would have given a thought to loving Me and saving his soul.  See then, how necessary it is to make known how much he or she who has formed within him or herself a universal good to give it to others, has done and suffered.

Now, my daughter (Luisa), just as it was necessary to make known to creatures who He and She were, and how much it cost Them to form the Kingdom of Redemption, so it is necessary to make known she whom my paternal goodness has chosen, first, to form the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat within her, and then, to give rise to Its transmission to others.  Just as it was for Redemption, which was formed between Me and my Celestial Mama first, and then became known to creatures, so it will be for the Supreme Fiat.  Therefore, it is necessary to make known how much this Kingdom of my Will costs Me; that – so that man might enter once again into the Kingdom he had lost – I had to sacrifice the littlest of all creatures, keeping her nailed to a bed for forty years and more, without air, without the fullness of the light of the sun that everyone enjoys; how her little heart has been the refuge of my pains and of those of creatures; how she has loved all, prayed for all, defended all; how many times she has exposed herself to the blows of Divine Justice to defend all of her brothers; and then, her intimate pains, and the very privations of Me that martyred her little heart, giving her continuous death.  In fact, since she has known no other life but mine, no other Will but mine, all of these pains laid the foundations of the Kingdom of my Will, and, like solar rays, matured the fruits of the Supreme Fiat.  So, it is necessary to make known how much this Kingdom cost you Luisa) and Me, so that, from Its cost, they may know how much I yearn for them to acquire It; and from Its cost they may appreciate It, love It and aspire to enter, to live in the Kingdom of my Supreme Will.”

I wrote this to obey, but the effort has been so great, that I could just barely mention my poor existence, since, because of the great reluctance, I feel my blood freeze in my veins.  However, I can but repeat always:  ‘Fiat! Fiat! Fiat!…’