-hi all, i went for mass on the 3rd which was the feast day of St. Blase. at the end of the mass, after final blessing, the priests made us assemble in two lines for the blessing of our throats. in their hand they had two candles, tied such that they form an "X" and placed them at each ones throat and said a prayer of healing, "By the intercession of St. Blase may God banish all throat ailments, IN the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen".........this is the first time i've this happen and that too in chennai. God Bless, michelle, chennai
-- jose joseph <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Saint of the Day February 3, 2003 > > St. Blase > > We know more about the devotion to St. Blase by > Christians around the world than we know about the > saint himself. His feast is observed as a holy day > in > the Eastern Church. > > The Council of Oxford, in 1222, prohibited servile > labor in England on Blase’s feast day. The Germans > and > Slavs hold him in special honor and for decades many > United States Catholics have sought the annual St. > Blase blessing for their throats. > > We know that Bishop Blase was martyred in his > episcopal city of Sebastea, Armenia, in 316. The > legendary Acts of St. Blase were written 400 years > later. According to them Blase was a good bishop, > working hard to encourage the spiritual and physical > health of his people. Although the Edict of > Toleration > (311), granting freedom of worship in the Roman > Empire, was already five years old, persecution > still > raged in Armenia. Blase was apparently forced to > flee > to the back country. There he lived as a hermit in > solitude and prayer, but made friends with the wild > animals. One day a group of hunters seeking wild > animals for the amphitheater stumbled upon Blase’s > cave. They were first surprised and then frightened. > > > The bishop was kneeling in prayer surrounded by > patiently waiting wolves, lions and bears. > As the hunters hauled Blase off to prison, the > legend > has it, a mother came with her young son who had a > fish bone lodged in his throat. At Blase’s command > the > child was able to cough up the bone. > > Agricolaus, governor of Cappadocia, tried to > persuade > Blase to sacrifice to pagan idols. The first time > Blase refused, he was beaten. The next time he was > suspended from a tree and his flesh torn with iron > combs or rakes. (English wool combers, who used > similar iron combs, took Blase as their patron. They > could easily appreciate the agony the saint > underwent.) Finally he was beheaded. > > love + prayers, > Joseachayan / Jeddah > ================ > Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up > now. > http://mailplus.yahoo.com > > =============================================================================== > This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth > mailing list. > For more info on the list visit > http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet > To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To subscribe to the list visit > http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join > In case of any issue related to the mailing list > contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] > =============================================================================== Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com =============================================================================== This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ===============================================================================