Will his blood turn to liquid again today? Maybe it’s
something in the air of Naples that makes this happen . . .
September 19 - St. Januarius – Martyr (died 305?)
Little is known about the life of Januarius.
He is believed to have been martyred in the Emperor Diocletian's persecution of
305. Legend has it that after Januarius was thrown to the bears in the
amphitheater of Pozzuoli, he was beheaded, and his blood ultimately brought to
Naples.
“A dark mass that half fills a hermetically sealed four-inch
glass container, and is preserved in a double reliquary in the Naples cathedral
as the blood of St. January, liquefies 18 times during the year....
This phenomenon goes back to the 14th century....
Tradition connects it with a certain Eusebia, who had
allegedly collected the blood after the martyrdom....
The ceremony accompanying the liquefaction is performed by
holding the reliquary close to the altar on which is located what is believed
to be the martyr's head. While the people pray, often tumultuously, the priest
turns the reliquary up and down in the full sight of the onlookers until the
liquefaction takes place....
Various experiments have been applied, but the phenomenon
eludes natural explanation.
There are, however, similar miraculous claims made for the
blood of John the Baptist, Stephen, Pantaleon, Patricia, Nicholas of Tolentino
and Aloysius Gonzaga—nearly all in the neighborhood of Naples” (Catholic
Encyclopedia).
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