Santu Lasi, ovvero San Biagio in Puglia

Dario Melissano 5 February 2023

On February 3, according to the calendar of saints of the Catholic Church, we honor Saint Blaise. Who was the man and the Saint that tradition wants to be the protector of the throat.

St. Blaise was born in Sebaste, Armenia. He spent his youth studying, dedicating himself in particular to medicine. At the bedside of the sick he cured the infirmities of the body, and with the good word and the Christian example he also tried to heal the spiritual infirmities.

In a period of internal struggles between the different Christian currents, Saint Biagio remained in solitude in a cave, living in constant prayer and always continuing the government of the Church with secret messages. One day, however, a group of soldiers sent to hunt wild beasts for the games of the amphitheater, following the tracks of the beasts, arrived at his cave. Learning that he was precisely Bishop Biagio, they immediately arrested him and took him to the president.

A Byzantine fresco from the Church of San Biagio in Calimera.

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The journey from the mountain to the city was a true triumph, because the people, despite the danger they were running, came in crowds to greet the bishop of the poor. Among so many people, a poor woman also ran, holding her dying son in her arms, begging the Saint to ask God for the child's healing. A fishbone was stuck in his throat and seemed to want to suffocate him at any moment. Biagio raised his eyes to heaven and made the sign of the cross over the sufferer.

– Mom, I'm healed, I'm healed!…

The child cried out, and for this reason Saint Blaise is venerated as the protector of the throat.

Pacecco de Rosa, a Neapolitan painter who is very present in Puglia, created a canvas of the martyred San Biagio, preserved in the Diocesan Museum of Lecce.

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San Biagio is celebrated in many municipalities of Puglia. In Calimera and Salve, as well as in Ostuni and in various locations in the Valle d’Itria.

san biagio calimera copia

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Santu Lasi, or Saint Biagio in Puglia

Written by Dario Melissano

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Santu Lasi, or Saint Biagio in Puglia

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