After the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the Church turns her eyes away from the crib and towards the cross. While the beginning of Lent is on a different day each year, it is typically very close to the memorial of St. Blaise and his martyrdom reminds us of the events that we will commemorate shortly.
Here is a prayer from Dom Prosper Gueranger in his Liturgical Year that asks for St. Blaise’s intercession to prepare for Lent.
Accept, O glorious martyr, the praise which we offer you,
in union with that given you by the whole Church.
In return for this homage of our veneration,
look down upon the Christian people,
who are now preparing to enter in the season of penance
and to be converted to the Lord their God by holy compunction and tears.We ask it of you by your own combat, assist us in the one for which we are preparing. When duty required you to undergo tortures and death,
it found you ready and brave.
Our duty is expiation by penance and your prayers must get us courage.
Our enemies are not more cruel than yours, but they are more treacherous,
and if we spare them, we are lost.
Obtain for us that heavenly assistance,
which enabled you to conquer.Amen.
And today we celebrate...