For 1045 years, the Festivity of St. Blaise has begun on Candlemas, February 2nd, the day before the main celebration of February 3rd, when the Bishop of Dubrovnik recites the archaic Laus prayer, and white doves, symbols of Dubrovnik's centuries of freedom, are freed while the magnificent flag of the patron saint Blaise is raised from Orlando's Column and the anthem ˝Hear ye St. Blaise...!˝ is enthusiastically sung from the heart.