Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Blaise ”saint of the wild beast.

Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Blaise "saint of the wild beast. 2/3/2024 Faith is a sheer gift of God, which we receive when we fervently ask for it. Faith is the supernatural power that is absolutely necessary if we are to attain salvation. We know more about the devotion to Saint Blaise by Christians around the world than we know about the saint himself. His feast is observed as a holy day in some Eastern Churches. In 1222, the Council of Oxford prohibited servile labor in England on Blaise’s feast day.  We know that Bishop Blaise was martyred in his episcopal city of Sebastea, Armenia, in 316. The legendary Acts of St. Blaise were written 400 years later. According to them Blaise was a good bishop, working hard to encourage the spiritual and physical health of his people. Although the Edict of Toleration (311), Blaise was of noble birth and, after being educated in the Christian faith, was made bishop of Sebastia. Although Christianity had been adopted about 300 CE as the state religion in Armenia, the Roman emperor Licinius began a persecution of the Christians, and Blaise was discovered and apprehended. While imprisoned, he miraculously cured a boy from fatally choking. After being torn with wool combers’ irons, Blaise was beheaded.