Feast Day Mass for St. Blaise of Sebaste with Blessing of the Throats

Join us in prayer on Mon., Feb. 3, at The National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, America’s Marian Apparition Site, for the Feast Day Mass for St. Blaise of Sebaste and Order of the Blessing of the Throats.

10:30 AM (CST) Rosary

11:00 AM (CST) Mass

About the Order of the Blessings of the Throats:

“1622 “Suffering and illness have always been among the greatest problems that trouble the human spirit. Christians feel and experience pain as do all other people; yet their faith helps them to grasp more deeply the mystery of suffering and to bear their pain with greater courage. . . . Part of the plan laid out by God’s providence is that we should fight strenuously against all sickness and carefully seek the blessings of good health, so that we may fulfill our role in human society and in the Church” (see endnote 4).

1623 “The blessing of the sick by ministers of the Church is a very ancient custom, rooted in imitation of Christ himself and his apostles” (see endnote 5).

1624 In the United States the annual blessing of throats is a traditional sign of the struggle against illness in the life of the Christian. This blessing is ordinarily given during Mass or a celebration of the word of God on February 3, the memorial of Saint Blase.

1625 Saint Blase was the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia during the fourth century. Very little is known about his life. According to various accounts (see endnote 6) he was a physician before becoming a bishop. His cult spread throughout the entire Church in the Middle Ages because he was reputed to have miraculously cured a little boy who nearly died because of a fishbone in his throat. From the eighth century he has been invoked on behalf of the sick, especially those afflicted with illnesses of the throat.

1626 The blessing of throats may be given by a priest, deacon, or a lay minister who follows the rites and prayers designated for a lay minister. If the blessing is conferred during Mass, the blessing follows the homily and general intercessions, or, for pastoral reasons, the prayer of blessing may take the place of the final blessing of the Mass. When the blessing is given outside Mass, it is preceded by a brief celebration of the word of God. If the blessing is to be celebrated at Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer, it is given after the reading and responsory (and homily) and before the gospel canticle.

1627 The blessing may be given by touching the throat of each person with two candles blessed on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord (February 2) and which have been joined together in the form of a cross.

1628 If, for pastoral reasons, each individual cannot be blessed in the manner described in no. 1627, for example when great numbers are gathered for the blessing or when the memorial of Saint Blase occurs on a Sunday, a priest or deacon may give the blessing to all assembled by extending hands, without the crossed candles, over the people while saying the prayer of blessing. A lay minister says the prayer proper to lay ministers without making the sign of the cross.

1629 The blessing may also be given to the sick or the elderly in their homes when they cannot attend the parish celebration.” *

Endnotes:

4. Pastoral Care of the Sick: Rites of Anointing and Viaticum, nos. 1, 3.

5. Rituale Romanum: De Benedictionibus, Chapter 2: “Blessing of the Sick,” no. 1.

6. Metaphrastes, Vita Sanctorum in Migne, Patrologia Graeca 116:817. See also Roman Martyrology, February 3

*Source: Catholic Culture from CatholicCulture.org