Saint of the Day
St. Blaise
St. Blaise (d. c. 316) was Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia. Before his episcopate he was trained as a physician. Tradition holds that he retreated to a cave after persecution broke out and that wild animals came to him for healing. He was arrested and martyred under Emperor Licinius. The blessing of throats on his feast originates in the story of his curing a boy of a fishbone lodged in his throat. He is venerated as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
Scripture Reading
Ezekiel 34:16
"I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice."
Reflection
St. Blaise was both bishop and healer, and God speaks through Ezekiel with the same dual calling: to seek the straying and to bind the wounded. Every pastor, doctor, or friend who tends another's suffering participates in this divine work. On Blaise's feast day, pray for those who minister to bodies and souls in places of pain.
Prayer for Today
Dear God,
Thank you for your great love and blessing over our lives. Thank you that your favor has no end, but it lasts for our entire lifetime. Forgive us for sometimes forgetting that you are intimately acquainted with all of our ways, that you know what concerns
us, and you cover us as with a shield. We ask that we would walk in your blessing and goodness today. That your face would shine on us. That you would open the right doors for our lives and for our loved ones, that you
would close the wrong doors and protect us from those we need to walk away from. Establish the work of our hands and bring to fulfillment all that you have given us to do in these days. We pray that you would make our way
purposeful and our footsteps firm out of your goodness and love. Give us a heart of wisdom to hear your voice, and make us strong by your huge favor and grace.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
Thank you for your great love and blessing over our lives. Thank you that your favor has no end, but it lasts for our entire lifetime. Forgive us for sometimes forgetting that you are intimately acquainted with all of our ways, that you know what concerns
us, and you cover us as with a shield. We ask that we would walk in your blessing and goodness today. That your face would shine on us. That you would open the right doors for our lives and for our loved ones, that you
would close the wrong doors and protect us from those we need to walk away from. Establish the work of our hands and bring to fulfillment all that you have given us to do in these days. We pray that you would make our way
purposeful and our footsteps firm out of your goodness and love. Give us a heart of wisdom to hear your voice, and make us strong by your huge favor and grace.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
Amen.