ST BLAISE THE COW HERD, MARTYR - 3 FEBRUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY

Saints celebrated on the 3rd of February

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST BLAISE THE COW HERD, MARTYR 

Saint Blaise the Cow Herd (Blasius Armentarius), was born in Caesarea of ​​pious and wealthy parents, and when he was sought everywhere in the persecution he voluntarily presented himself to the captors, professing the Christian faith.

HE PERSISTED STEADFASTLY IN THE FAITH

When he persisted steadfast in his faith, he was hanged and cruelly scourged and kept unharmed by angels in a boiling cauldron for five days, by which miracle many of the court officials were converted and baptised. 

When the judge, trying to see if the water in the kettle was really hot, put some of it on his eye, he lost not only his face but his life. 

HE TAUGHT THEM DILIGENTLY

St Blaise then was allowed to return to his family, taught them diligently (mandata dedit) the Christian doctrine, and finally died in peace. Although he survived the earlier ordeal and at length died a natural death, he is still styled a martyr. At his departure, his soul was seen ascending in the form of a dove, and his shepherd's crook began to sprout buds and leaves.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)