EiTB24.com, Spain
Feb 3 2005
Festivals of San Blas
On February 3, the traditional procession of San Blas is held in the
Basque Country, in honour of the Christian martyr who is attributed
with the miraculous healing of throat ailments.
People in the Basque Country hold every February 3 the procession of
San Blas. This procession is a tribute to San Blas, a Christian
martyr who is attributed with the miraculous healing of throat
ailments.
In the main squares of Basque towns and cities, stalls are set up
where you can buy the traditional doughnuts and coloured cords of San
Blas. The Basques bless the cord before the image of the Saint in
some churches. Afterwards, according to tradition, the faithful wear
the cord around their neck for nine days, after which it must be
burnt. If the process is carried out correctly, San Blas will protect
the throat of the wearer for the whole year.
Blas was an Armenian doctor and bishop who lived in the third century
A.C. He was a victim of the persecutions to the Christians by the
Emperor Diocleciano, so he hid in a cave in the mountain Argeo and
lived like a hermit there. In the year 313, the emperor Constantino
stopped the persecutions so Blas could come back to his diocese. Two
years after, the emperor Linicio resumed the persecutions. February
3rd 316 Blas was beheaded and his body torn to pieces with iron
hooks. Some people say San Blas healed miraculously a child who had a
fish bone put across his throat. This is why it is believed that this
saint protects us from the throat ailments.