麻豆社

Good morning!

In the Chistian tradition, today is known as the Feastday of St Blaise, bishop and martyr.

Balise was a Fourth Century bishop and physician in what is now modern-day Turkey.

His martyrdom may have earned him his place on the calendar, but it is his patronage that makes Balise a very popular saint indeed.

According to the tradition, a distraught mother, whose only child was choking on a fish bone, threw herself at his feet and implored his intercession. Touched by her distress, he offered up his prayers, and the child was cured.

Ever since, Balise is invoked for protection against injuries and illnesses of the throat.

On his feastday, opera singers, news readers, radio presenters and other people who use their voices for work on a daily basis.

The priest imparts the blessing with two crossed candles touching the throat, saying simply: 鈥淭hrough the intercession of St Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness鈥�.

A friend of mine who is a singer, and a noted sceptic of religion, never misses the blessing on the Feastday of St Balise. 鈥淐an鈥檛 do any harm,鈥� is his claimed logic!

I think one of the reasons why rituals often endure is the fact that we are material people. Things matter, objects matter.

That鈥檚 why an object associated with a long-dead loved one will often bring comfort in moments of grief or loneliness.

Things help us connect, and help us to feel something tangible.

Thinking of St Blaise on his feastday today, I pray in thanksgiving for all those who raise their gentle voices as voices of peace and justice for a better world. May they rise higher than voices of discord. Amen.

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