The Holy Martyr Blaise the Shepherd of Caesarea in Cappadocia
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Life
Blaise the Shepherd was a martyr of Caesarea in Cappadocia, in Asia Minor, who lived in the third century. By occupation a shepherd, he surrendered himself to the authorities during a persecution of Christians and endured torture for his confession of faith.
He is distinguished in the Orthodox calendar from the better-known Hieromartyr Blaise, Bishop of Sebaste, whose feast falls on February 11. Little is recorded of the shepherd-martyr beyond the synaxarion account of his sufferings, which is preserved in the Orthodox tradition under February 3.
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3rd centuryLife as a shepherdBlaise lived in Caesarea in Cappadocia, in Asia Minor, where he worked as a shepherd.
During the persecutionSurrender and tortureWhen a persecution of Christians began, Blaise gave himself up to the torturers. He was beaten with leather thongs and cast into a cauldron of boiling water.
After his sufferingsMartyrdomHaving brought many to faith in Christ, Blaise died a martyr's death.
Contributions & Legacy
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Martyrdom
According to the synaxarion, when a persecution against Christians broke out, Blaise willingly surrendered himself into the hands of the torturers. He was beaten with leather thongs, and his wounds were healed; he was then thrown into a cauldron of boiling water, from which he emerged unharmed. The tradition relates that pagan soldiers who witnessed these wonders came to believe in Christ, and that the governor, wishing to prove that the water had merely cooled, jumped into the cauldron himself and perished. Having drawn many to the faith, Blaise gave his life for Christ.
Traditional Accounts
By tradition, the saint's shepherd's staff was thrust into the ground and grew into a large tree, whose branches overshadowed a church that was built over his relics.
