St. John the Baptist Church on Feb. 3 celebrated Feast Day of St. Blaise.

"You may be familiar with the annual ‘blessing of throats’ that many parishes in the United States use to commemorate the beloved bishop and martyr," the Church said in a Facebook post. "St. Blaise lived in the fourth century in Turkey and Armenia. Due to religious persecution, he was forced to flee and hide in a cave in the back country in order to save his life.

"History has it that one day a group of hunters stumbled upon where St. Blaise was living. They found the bishop kneeling in prayer, surrounded by wolves, lions, and bears that he had tamed. The legend has it that as the hunters dragged Blaise off to prison, a mother came with her young son who had a fishbone lodged in his throat. At Blaise’s command, the child was able to cough up the bone and thus lived."

St. Blaise lived in what is now Turkey and died in the year 316. He was a physician, to whom many healing miracles are attributed, and later became the bishop of Sebastia. He is the patron saint of sufferers of throat diseases, as well as wild animals and wool combers, according to Britannica.com.

Much of what is known about St. Blaise comes from “Acts of St. Blaise,” which was written 400 years after his death. In 316, Blaise had to flee persecution and began living as a hermit in the back country, where he befriended wild animals. One day a group of hunters came upon Blaise’s cave, where he was praying, surrounded by wolves, lions, and bears. The hunters were frightened and took Blaise to prison. While they were on the way, legend says that they encountered a mother and her young son, who was choking on a fish bone that had lodged in his throat. Blaise commanded the boy to cough up the bone, and he did. The governor of Cappadocia tried to get Blaise to sacrifice to pagan gods, but he refused, so Blaise was suspended and tortured with iron combs before being beheaded, according to Franciscan Media.

Blaise gained popularity in the Middle Ages. His feast day is celebrated Feb. 3, according to Catholic.org.

"Today we remember the saint on his feast day by taking two candles, crossing them against the throat, and saying the following prayer: Through the intercession of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from ailments of the throat and from every other evil. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen," the Church said in its Facebook post.