ST. BLAISE.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18659, 7 April 1926, Page 7

ST. BLAISE.

BLESSING THE THROAT. CEREMONIES IN LONDON. « (FROM OOE OWN COER2BPOHDENT.) LONDON, February 4. Sfcrange ceremonies are taking place at the . quaint 'old Roman Catholic church, of St. Etheldreda, in Ely Place, Holborn. The church has several links with the past. It has it 3 gates and its watchman; who.calls each hour during tho night. The ceremonies in progress are connected with the annual feast of St. Blaise, the Martyr, with its "Benediction of the Throat" from which mHracles are said to result. The festival has been celebrated for the past forty years. It is derived from St. Blaise, an Armenian Bishop of the Fourth Century, who was rnartjred for his Christianity. He is the patron saint of the woolcombers in Leicestershire, and the Festival of the Benediction of the Throat was wellknown in England in pre-Reformation days. The custom died out, however, until the Rosminian Fathers of Charity, came from Italy, about eighty years ago, and revived it. The Benediction is said to cure ailments of the throat, or to keep harm fiom throats which> are healthy. It consists of the crossing of two lighted candles, which have been blessed by the priests, under the throat, and the uttering of a Latin benediction, which may be translated: "By. the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and by the merits of Blessed Blaise the Martyr, may our Lord deliver thee from every evil of the throat." It is related that St. Blaise.-who was a physician, and especially interested in diseases of the throat, was being carried to his death by his heathen enemies. On his way to execution the procession encountered a small boy by the wayside. The child had a fish-bone lodged in his throat, and was suffocating. Blaise touched his throat, and the bone became dislodged. The child recovered, but Blaise was carried on to his death. . Two Miraculous Cures.

Father Jervis, who is administering the blessing, says that it is not necessary to come to St. Etheldreda's Church. Any priest can administer the blessing. He vouches for wo miraculous cures through the ceremony. One occurred about 38 years ago. A naval officer was discharged from the Service because he had lost his voice. He eventually went to St. Bartholomew's Hospital for treatment. The head surgeon examined his throat, and caid that an operation was necessary, but that he would like to give a demonstration to his students before he performed it. as it presented some unusual features. The demonstration was arranged. "In the meantime," explained Father Jervis, "the young man heard of the tenediction of the throat. He came to me, and'l blessed his throat. He seems to have felt better, but went to the hospital as had been arranged. The doctor, who had his students in | attendance, examined his throat. He then asked the patient if he was the same man who had come to him before. The. patient assured him that he was; and the doctor informed him that his j throat was perfectly healthy, with no • sign of the disease which had hitherto 1 attacked it. He returned home to Newcastle, and his father later wrote to me, giving me full particulars of what had happened." Dumb Woman Speaks. ! The second cure is vouched for by "the patient herself. She is Miss Burns,

who is employed as housekeeper nt the houso of .Father Jerris. She was practically dumb and suffered from paralysis of the throat. When she came'as housekeeper she heard iof the i benediction and she went to it: "The candles were crossed under-my threat, and the blessing pronounced," she said in an interview. "I returned to my work, and Father Jervis came into the kitchen. He spoke to me, and when. I answered him I found that I cotrid speak aloud, instead of whispering. I was cured; and I regard it as a miracle."

Father Jervis also regards these cures as miraculous. "I do not, myself, -believe in faith-healing," lie said, "but T look upon these cures') as an;interposition of the power of God through the prayer of the saint invoked. I believe that when I pray to a saint it reaches Christ, and through.Him the saints in Heaven. By His power they are enabled to perform wonderful things which I call miracles."