Mercyhurst and St. Blaise
The Power of Witness
Last Sunday, I encountered something that moved my heart.
At Mercyhurst University, we had the St. Blaise blessing of throats at the end of Mass for the college students.
Fr. Scott Jabo, the Vocation Director of the Diocese of Erie, celebrated and preached this Mass as it was Vocation’s Weekend. At the end of Mass, we invited students forward to receive the blessing of throats through the intercession of Saint Blaise.
We reverenced the altar, as priests do at the end of every Mass. Then, we made our way to the front aisle to administer the blessing of the throats.
It appeared to me that nearly every college student came forward to receive a blessing. Similar to communion lines, the students came forward and, one after another, received the blessing as Fr. Scott and I held candles over them.
Here are the words we prayed for the blessing of throats:
Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Even though the blessings were at the end of Mass, the students did not leave. They each returned to their pew. Then, once all the students who had decided to receive a blessing came forward, we sang a closing hymn, genuflected toward the tabernacle, and processed out.
Three things struck my heart from the witness of these college Catholics. First, it seemed like every student desired to receive a blessing for health. Second, the college students respected those who received a blessing after them by returning to their pews and not departing. Third, we sang a closing hymn together.
The witness of the saints begets the witness of others. In other words, the saints' actions give us the courage to act similarly. I do not doubt that the saints, particularly St. Blaise, continue to impact our young Catholics.
Although I administered blessings, the witness of these college Catholics positively impacted me. In other words, I was blessed. As Fr. Bede Jarrett wrote in his Meditations for Layfolk, “The example of the dead is never as potent as the example of the living.”
We need the saints, but we also need those who are alive to boldly live out the faith. The living example is powerful. Let us not underestimate the power of our witness.
Fr. Luke Daghir
