St. Blaise Not Going Anywhere Near Blanchet H.S.

This morning we read that Bishop Blanchet H.S. had been hit hard by the flu, with 200 students and 10 teachers reported out sick. Then we saw this afternoon's update in the Seattle Times that Blanchet will actually be closed Thursday and Friday because 300 of its 1,000 students are sick:

"After receiving advice from health professionals we have decided to not hold classes in our building on Thursday, February 8th, and Friday, February 9th," [school principal] Hickey said in a memo to parents. "This decision is made out of concern for the health and well-being of our students, faculty and staff."

This was oddly timely news because Blanchet is a Catholic school, and Catholics have something even better than a flu shot: patron saint of the flu St. Blaise. His feast day is February 3. There's a mass, the priest blesses throats with two candlesticks, and you're supposed to be protected against throat illnesses and complaints, especially for fish-bones stuck in the throat. (We mistakenly inhaled a wheat head once, getting a bunch of prickly wheat bits lodged in our throat, and we can tell you that almost anything stuck in the throat is unpleasant.)

In researching this post, we discovered that St. Blaise was also a bishop, as well as a physician. We can only guess that these two bishops don't get along. So far, it looks like Blanchet is getting walloped. (Not surprising: Blaise was martyred by being attacked with iron carding combs, and beheaded. He's also the patron saint of Dubrovnik. That's street cred.) Still, it's tough when it's taken out on the kids.