3 Feb – Memorial for St. Blaise, bishop and martyr; Memorial for St. Ansgar, bishop
St. Blaise (d. 316) was a physician and Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia. He lived in a cave on Mount Argeus. He was a healer of men and animals. According to legend, sick animals would come to him on their own for help, but would never disturb him in prayer.
Agricola, governor of Cappadocia, came to Sebaste to persecute Christians. His huntsmen went into the forests of Argeus to find wild animals for the arena games, and found many waiting outside Blaise’s cave. Discovered in prayer, Blaise was arrested, and Agricola tried to get him to recant his faith. While in prison, Blaise ministered to and healed his fellow prisoners, including saving a child who was choking on a fish bone; this led to the blessing of throats on Blaise’s feast day.
Thrown into a lake to drown, Blaise stood on the surface and invited his persecutors to walk out and prove the power of their gods; they drowned. When he returned to land, he was martyred by being beaten, his flesh torn out with wool combs (which led to his association with, and patronage of those involved in the wool trade), and then beheaded.
Blaise has been extremely popular for centuries in both the Eastern and Western Churches. In 1222, the Council of Oxford prohibited servile labour in England on his feast. He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
St. Ansgar (801-865) was born to the French nobility. He was a Benedictine monk at Old Corbie Abbey in Picardy, and New Corbie in Westphalia. He studied under St. Adelard and St. Paschasius Radbert. He accompanied the converted King Harold to Denmark when the exiled king returned home.
He was a missionary to Denmark and Sweden. He founded the first Christian church in Sweden in c.832. He was abbot of New Corbie in c.834. He was ordained Archbishop of Hamburg by Pope Gregory IV. He was a papal legate to the Scandanavian countries. He established the first Christian school in Denmark, but was run out by pagans, and the school was burned to the ground. He campaigned against slavery.
He was Archbishop of Bremen. He converted Erik, King of Jutland. He was a great preacher, a miracle worker, and greatly devoted to the poor and sick. Sadly, after his death most of his gains for the Church were lost to resurgent paganism.
- Patron Saint Index
1 Kgs 3:4-13
Mk 6:30-34
“You must come away to some lonely place…and rest for a while.”
“Busy lor…” That’s the common refrain if someone were to ask any of us, “How are you?” We seem to use that response as some form of badge of honour or even by indicating how busy we are, others would respect us more.
Truth be told, I was like that in the past as well. If I appeared to be busy and had no time for anything else, then I must be doing something right. And I would be rewarded and promoted. But on hindsight, it didn’t really happen. Perhaps, I took on more than one role in my organizations, so that I could appear indispensable and then my future would be secured. However, that didn’t really happen.
Nowadays, I don’t respond, “Busy lor…” anymore. More often than not, I would answer, “Great!: Or “Good!!” because the Lord has indeed been good to me. He has blessed me with many opportunities to go to ‘lonely places’. Let me explain — I have had a running habit for the last couple of years and, in the last five years or so, I have participating in trail running events. These trail running events often take my friends and I to the mountains and forests; and it is in these lonely places that I am able to connect with God the Father and Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. It is there that I have the opportunity to commune with God and to discern the still, small voice that Elijah heard (1 Kings 19:13).
So, why do I find it easier to discern God in the forests and mountains? Perhaps it is there that I am struck by the beauty of God’s creations. And that I feel so, so small. And when I feel that tiny, then our focus tends to be on God and His awesome creations and less on our little prideful selves. Only then can we turn our attention fully to God.
Perhaps that is what Jesus needed to do with the Twelve, as they returned from their successful mission of healing and teaching. To let them be aware that their success was not because of their own abilities, but that God was leading them, inspiring them and strengthening them. That by being in a lonely place and away from the crowds (which might lead to an increase in pride), the apostles could then refocus, rest in The Lord and be recharged for whatever they may face in the future.
My wife likes to go on silent retreats and she endeavours to go for at least one silent retreat a year, often in Seven Fountains retreat centre in Chiangmai. I haven’t had the push to go for any of these. However, there has been a stirring in my heart since the end of last year to attend a retreat. I am not sure what it is that the Lord wants me to hear, or if this is something to prepare for an upcoming fork in my life’s journey.
But up to that time, when I eventually take that first step and sign up for that retreat, I would just have to continue to search for God’s voice and presence in the lonely places where He leads me, and to take the time out from the busyness of life in our city.
As a lot of my trail running friends say – “The Mountains are calling”…
(Today’s OXYGEN by Calvin Wee)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, your creations never fail to inspire awe in me and to always serve to remind me of your glory, in that You are the Master of all that we see and cannot see. Grant us Lord, that we will always be able to experience You in all that we do and all that we see. Amen.
Thanksgiving: Good and gracious Lord, thank you for all the ‘lonely places’ that You lead us to. Thank you for the always being there with us during those times and always reminding us that You are always with us, that You are always there. That You are God and we are your people. Amen.
OXYGEN 
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