41 1/2 x 57, oil on canvas, 2009        sold

Blaise was so sweet, holy and humble in manners that the Christian men of Cappadocia of the city of Sebaste chose him to be a bishop.  When he was bishop he saw that Diocletian, the emperor, made so many persecutions of Christian men that Blaise left the city to dwell in a hermitage where the birds of heaven brought him meat to eat.  I seemed that these birds came to serve him and accompany him and would not depart from him until he had lifted up his hands and blessed them.