Feb 3

St. Blaise's Day

The association of St. Blaise with the blessing of throats can be traced to a number of sources. In one story, as he was going to his own execution in 316, he cured a child who was suffering a throat infection. Another story was that he saved the life of a boy who was choking on a fish bone.

Since the sixth century, St. Blaise has been the patron saint of people who suffer throat afflictions.

St. Agatha Festival

February 3-5

Sant' Agata is especially revered in Catania, Sicily, where her relics are preserved in a silver casket. The beautiful young Sicilian virgin was put to death in 251 because she refused to yield to the advances of a Roman prefect. Among the tortures she endured was having her breasts cut off, and to this day she is the patron saint of nursing mothers and women suffering from diseases of the breast.

On February 3, 4 and 5 each year, a silver bust of Saint Agatha wearing a jewel-encrusted crown is carried in procession from the Cathedral to Catania's various churches. The streets are lined with streamers and flowers, and illuminated by strings of colored lights after dark. The festival ends with a fireworks display in the piazza.