The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-02-03
Catholics Celebrate 18th
 Centenary of Saint Blase

In the Catholic calendar this is St. B1ase's Day, and it has special signifi- canoe because this is the 160Oth an niversary of the martyrdom of the Bishop of Sebaste. It was in the year 316 that the physician-saint, having refused to worship the gods of the pagans, was first scourged, then torn with hooks, and finally be11eaded.
 St. Blase was long looked upon as the patron of physicians and philoso- phers. as in his young manhood he was a student of philosophy, and af- terward became a physician. From a healer of bodily ailments he became a physician. From a healer of bodily ailments he became a physician to sick souls, and he was appointed Bish- op of Sebaste, in Armenia. He com bfned the duties of priest with those of the physician, and his fame soon spread abroad in Armenia, with the result that sick people from all over the country Hooked to him to secure relief from their ills, and many of them were converted to Christianity
 The Catholics of today consider St. Blase as the protector of the throat, and in many Catholic churches there will be services today in honor of the saint. Mass is celebrated in the morn ing, and in the afternoon the children assemble to have their threats bless ed by the priests while adults enjoy a similar privilege in the evening. This custom is widespread, and is ob- served in churches all over Europe and North and South America.
 The belief that St. Blase is power full in warding off diseases Of the throat is based upon an incident of his martyrdom. It is said that when the saint was being led to his doom on that day of sixteen centuries ago, an anguished mother, whose only child was very i'll with throat dis
 T-S- L. @Iv Blase, a victim of the, persecution or dered by Emperor Lcinius, was not permitted to halt long enough to give the child medical treatment, and had to be content with offering up brief prayer. According to the traditional account, this prayer was more eff cacious than any medical ministra-. ton, for the child was instantly cured.
 In medieval times every English ci- ty had a special saint of it's own, who was looked upon as it's protector against fire, plague, and calamities of all kinds. One, of the most noted of these municipal saints was St. Were purge, whose festival, which falls to- day, was for centuries celebrated in her patron city of Chester. Were purge was perhaps the most celebrat- ed of the woman saints of Anglo Sax on England, and lived in the seventh century. She was of royal blood, the daughter of Wulfhere, King. of the Mercians. In her gir1hood she enter ed the monastery of Ely, and partf- cipated in the movement for the es- tablishment of nunneries in England.
 When the saint died she was bur jed at Hanbury, but when the Danes were ravaging that part of the coun- try, the remains were transported to Chester That city immediately adopted wereburge as it's patron saint The efficacy of Wereburge's intercession is attested by a sixteenth century poet, who tells of great confIagration which destroyed a large part of the city. When
 ssBy the po1icie of man was founde no
 remedy
 To cesse the fire so fervent and
 myghty'' =
 the monks brought out the shrine of St. 'Wereburge and carried it in pro- cession through the flaming streets, whereat, according to the testimony of the bard, the conf1agration began to lie downi