Catholic Activity: Feast of St. Blaise

Suggestions for spiritual practices in the family on the Feast of St. Blaise.

DIRECTIONS

Every day of the year gives you a special opportunity to instill a great religious appreciation in your children, to broaden their knowledg of Our Lord, the Blessed Mother and the saints, and to strengthen their dedication to the laws of God and the Church. Each day is set aside by the Church to honor a particular event in the life of Our Lord or the Blessed Virgin, or to honor a particular saint. Consulting your religious calendar and one of the many books recounting the lives of the saints you can discuss these events with your children, stressing the qualities in the saints' lives which we might cultivate.

St. Blase was a physician before he became a priest and then a bishop, and he was martyred in the fourth century. He once miraculously cured a boy on the verge of death with a bone stuck in his throat. A special sacramental — the blessing of throats — takes place on this day, and the aid of St. Blaise is asked in delivering the faithful from throat ailments and other evils. The family should attend Mass on this day to receive this special blessing.

Activity Source: Catholic Family Handbook, The by Rev. George A. Kelly, Random House, Inc., New York, 1959