Frampton St Blaise’s Day

Where:	Formerly Frampton on Severn, Gloucestershire at the Church of St Mary the Virgin
When:	Formerly Sunday near February 3rd
Time:	Formerly from 4 pm with Compline service 5 pm

St Blaise is the patron saint of wool-combers, and in Frampton on Severn for several years his feast was marked by a special event at the church, on the Sunday nearest to his festal day of February 3rd. In the distant past the day was celebrated with a pancake fair, and the saint was widely venerated in the area around Stroud in which the wool trade was so important. St Mary’s Church at Frampton once had a large mural of the saint on its wall, and the building, consecrated in 1315, has many interesting features. More recently pancakes, local apple juice and cider were served at the church at a special service which featured the enormous figure of the processional giant St Blaise, who was made for the 700th anniversary of the consecration in 2015. The saint was accompanied by music and dancing with a variety of Beasts including of course the Severn Boar. St Blaise is also venerated at other locations around the country, and because he saved the life of a boy who had a fishbone trapped in his throat, some of the other services involve a Blessing of the Throats in which candles are crossed over the supplicants neck area. The giant has now moved away from the district, so the associated festivities have now ceased.