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| Presentation of Our Lord |
This
week has seen three liturgical memorials which have celebrated the power of
faith. The first, on Monday 2 February was the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord or, to give it its
medieval name, Candlemas. Marking that
day on which Jesus was presented by his parents in the Temple, it is also an
important point in the life of the Mary the mother of God and her husband
Joseph. It is to His parents that Simeon
addresses his prophecies about Jesus and they are both surprised by his words;
he says to Mary: “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will
be revealed--and a sword will pierce your own soul too."(Lk 2:34-35)
However, amazed as they may have been Mary and Joseph took Jesus back to
Nazareth and brought him up, watching as he “grew and became strong, filled
with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him” (Lk 2:40) These words stayed with Mary and only
became clear to her as Jesus neared Jerusalem and the events of his
Passion. But still Mary kept by her
son’s side in the certainty that God’s will and Simeon’s prophecy would be
fulfilled showing a true faith in the destiny the child the angel had announced
to her.
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| St Blaise |
On Tuesday we had two
saints to commemorate: St Blaise and St Lawrence of Canterbury. Nothing was really known of the life of
Blaise other than the fact he was Armenian. That was until the end of the 5th Century when he is mentioned in the writings of a court doctor with a reference
to his legendary healing of the child choking on a fish bone. Although Blaise was obviously a well-known and
reputable doctor he was chosen by popular acclamation to succeed to the See of
Sebastia when the bishop died. Saint
Blaise soon fulfilled the hopes of the people of Sebastia and proved by his
holiness and his miraculous cures to be a worthy Bishop. The end of his time as
Bishop occured when the local governor came to Sebastia with orders from the
Emperor to destroy the Christians; Blaise was arrested and sent to prison. It was on his way to prison that he
encountered a woman who was distraught because her son was choking thanks to a
swallowed fish bone. The woman threw
herself at the feet of Blaise and through his intercession and the faith of the
mother and son, the child was saved.
Despite this Blaise was taken to jail and there he was scourged and
beaten, but he held strong in his faith.
Finally, though the governor gave orders for Blaise to be beheaded. Soon after his martyrdom people began to ask
for the intercession of Blaise and he became a popular saint, one of the
fourteen holy helpers. Churches were
dedicated to him and a number of towns were named after him. In Bromley in Kent there is a St Blaise’s
well in the ruins of the bishop’s palace where the chalybeate (containing iron)
waters were said to be healing waters.
Today, on St Blaise’s day throats are blessed with a pair of crossed candles
and the blessing given; "May Almighty God at the intercession of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr,
preserve you from infections of the throat and from all other
afflictions".
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| St Lawrence |
The third of our
saints for this week is Saint Lawrence of Canterbury who died on 2nd
February 619. Laurence, a Roman monk,
was the second Archbishop of Canterbury from 604 to his death, having come to
Britain with Saint Augustine whose successor he was. His time as archbishop was not a happy one;
he tried in vain to reconcile the Anglo-Saxon bishops with those of the Roman
Mission despite many attempts to enter into discussion with them. He also had difficulties in Kent when King
Aethelberht died and his successor Eadbald returned to pagan worship. The
result was that Mellitus, Bishop of London and Justus, Bishop of Rochester had
to flee to Gaul to escape his anger, however rather than leave his Diocese,
Laurence put his faith in God and remained at his post. A legend says that when he was on the verge
of giving up he had a vision of Saint Peter who whipped and chastised him for
his weakness. The next day the marks of
the whip were still visible and after showing them to Eadbald, the King
immediately converted back to Christianity.
And so through the influence of Saint Peter, Laurence continued in
Canterbury and the bishops of Rochester and London returned to their Sees and
continued their mission.
And so we have three
examples of the power of faith in the lives of Mary, Mother of God: Saint
Blaise and Saint Laurence. But of course
these examples remain only stories if they do not have a positive effect upon
those who hear them. A nice pious and
warm feeling may be nice but it also needs to be followed by a strengthening of
our faith in time of amazement (Mary), torture and execution (Saint Blaise) or
a threat of a failed mission (Saint Laurence).
Just how much we can accomplish through the power of faith only God can
say but whatever it is we know that with his help the possibilities are great; for
us we can do little but for God everything is possible.
PS, we have a number of saints prayer cards at the Shrine that can be purchased from our Gift Shop.
PS, we have a number of saints prayer cards at the Shrine that can be purchased from our Gift Shop.
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