Sunday, February 07, 2016

Blessing of Throats in Oxford

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Blessing of the Faithful at the end of Mass, on the feast of St Blaise.

The Catholic life is a round of blessings. Having taken home candles blessed in the Candlemas service - for use in emergencies, such as storms, childbirth, or the Three Days of Darkness, as well as for the visit of a priest with the Blessed Sacrament - the very next day a pair of candles is blessed in honour of St Blaise, and these candles are used to bless the throats of the Faithful.

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Blessing of the candles to be used in the ceremony.
Using a blessed or otherwise holy object to confer a blessing is, of course, a logical thing to do. It gives the proceedings a special solemnity, and in this case keeps alive the memory of St Blaise, a bishop and martyr who cured a little boy with a fish-bone stuck in his throat.


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Blessings can be given even to the smallest children. We should not neglect opportunities for the liturgical blessings offered us by Holy Mother Church.

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