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Hieromartyr · 4th century

Hieromartyr Blaise Bishop of Sebaste

Commemorated as

The Holy Hieromartyr Blaise, Bishop of Sebaste

died c. 316

Also known as Vlasios · Blasius of Sebaste

Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia who withdrew to a cave during persecution, where wild beasts came to him for blessing; arrested under Licinius, he healed a boy choking on a fishbone before his martyrdom. Invoked for ailments of the throat and for the protection of livestock.

Life

Blaise (also Blasius) was a bishop of Sebaste in Lesser Armenia (the city of Sebastea, modern Sivas in present-day Turkey) in the early fourth century. By several accounts he was a physician before his episcopal appointment, and he was held to have healed ailments of both men and beasts, a reputation that made his name widely known.

During the persecution of Christians under the emperor Licinius, Blaise withdrew from the city. The synaxarion relates that he retired to a cave, where wild animals are said to have come to him for his blessing. He was arrested when the persecution reached him and, after being tortured, was put to death by beheading around the year 316.

He is venerated as a hieromartyr and is invoked especially for ailments of the throat and for the protection of livestock. In the Orthodox calendar his feast falls on February 11; the Latin Church keeps it on February 3. He is also numbered in the Western tradition among the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

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Timeline

  1. early 4th c. Bishop of Sebaste Blaise served as bishop of Sebaste in Armenia. By some accounts he was chosen by the people of the city, and before his episcopate he had worked as a physician.
  2. c. 316 Persecution under Licinius During the persecution ordered under the emperor Licinius, Agricola (Agricolaus), governor of Cappadocia and Lesser Armenia, had Blaise seized. Accounts associate the passion of two children and seven women with his own.
  3. c. 316 Martyrdom After being tortured — beaten and his flesh torn with iron combs — Blaise was beheaded.

Contributions & Legacy

Life and martyrdom

According to the accounts, Blaise was unanimously chosen as bishop by the people of Sebaste during a period marked by intense persecution of Christians. Having been a physician, he was held to heal the diseases of both men and animals, and his reputation for such cures drew those seeking relief of body and soul.

When persecution intensified under Licinius, Blaise withdrew from the city to a cave, where he gave himself to prayer. The synaxarion relates that wild beasts came to him there for his blessing. He was eventually arrested by order of the governor Agricola, tortured, and beheaded around 316. The accounts record that two children and seven women suffered martyrdom in connection with his passion.

The healing of the choking boy

The episode most closely associated with Blaise concerns a boy who was choking on a fishbone and in danger of death. By several accounts this took place while Blaise was imprisoned: a mother brought her son to him, and through his intercession the child was cured. This account is the root of his later invocation against ailments of the throat.

Veneration and legacy

Blaise's veneration spread widely in Europe and he became one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages, his life recorded in the thirteenth-century Legenda Aurea. In the West he was adopted as a patron of wool workers and wool combers; English wool workers in particular honoured him, attributing prosperity in the wool trade to teachings associated with him.

His feast is kept on February 11 in the Eastern churches and on February 3 in the Latin Church. In the Western tradition he is counted among the Fourteen Holy Helpers. A traditional blessing of St. Blaise on his feast involves two consecrated candles held crossed over the throats of the faithful, with a prayer for deliverance from diseases of the throat.

Relics & Shrines

Several locations have claimed to possess relics of Blaise. At Dubrovnik (Ragusa) his skull, fragments of his throat bone, and both hands are reported to be preserved, and the city has long honoured him. A basilica on Monte San Biagio at Maratea in Italy is said to house relics of the saint, and Taranto and the Abbey of Saint Blaise in the Black Forest have likewise been named among the sites claiming his relics.

Related Saints

Notes

Distinct from the Martyr Blaise the Shepherd of Caesarea in Cappadocia.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org)