Septuagesima Sunday 2012
St. Blaise was a bishop who was arrested during the early persecutions and was blessed with many favors by God.  Devotion to him has been very popular throughout the history of the Church and so the Church has devised a special blessing which invokes his intercession.

St. Agatha was close to the last of the martyrs.  She was unwilling to submit to sins of impurity under the greatest pressures and even endure terrible torture rather than give up her virtue.

When a woman gave birth under the Old Law, she was considered ritually unclean and because of this she was commanded to submit herself to the temple after one month for her purification.  Although Our Lady was not subject to this because of the miraculous birth, she submitted so she might have a greater union with us sinners.  It is also the day of the first of the great sorrows of her life in the prophecy of Simeon.

These Sundays before Lent are meant to help us know ourselves.  If we put out just a portion of the effort for our reward, which will last forever, that the sports stars put into their victory, we will be sure to triumph over this life.
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