Blood of Saint Januarius liquifies again in Naples cathedral
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Naples, Fla., Sep 21, 2008 / 03:51 am (CNA).- The blood of Saint Januarius, patron saint of Naples, has reportedly liquefied again in a continuation of the centuries-long miracle.

In Naples’ Cathedral on Wednesday, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the Archbishop of Naples, held up a vial containing the blood of the third-century saint while a traditional white handkerchief was waved, ANSA reports. The thousands packing the cathedral and the square outside cheered and set off fireworks.

The cardinal said that the blood had apparently liquefied before it was removed from the strongbox in which it is stored.

The dried blood of Saint Januarius, a bishop who was beheaded during a persecution by the Roman Emperor Diocletian in September of 305, traditionally liquefies on the anniversary of his martyrdom. Additionally, it annually liquefies on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May and on the December 16 anniversary of a 1631 eruption of the volcano Mt. Vesuvius, an eruption believed to have been stopped by San Januarius’ intercession.

The liquefaction of the blood can take hours and even days. Some consider its failure to liquefy an omen of looming disaster. After one such failure in 1527, tens of thousands died from the plague. In 1980, 3,000 died in an earthquake which devastated parts of southern Italy.

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Subscriber comments:
Published by: Lex
London 10/02/2009 02:31 PM EST
How exactly do you even know if in fact that there is actually blood in that vile? the church does not allow the blood to be tested on-I mean like extracting it from the vile, so how do you know that what your celebrating is not fake?
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Published by: John
Waynesboro, PA USA 09/19/2009 06:06 AM EST
We might wish to celebrate Our Lady of LaSalette, but it's not on the Church's calendar, so we are not permitted to do so.
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Published by: Lois Schmidt
Milwaukee WI USA 09/24/2008 10:56 AM EST
September 19th is ALSO the Feast of Our Lady of LaSalette - whose appartion, and in particular, whose message, has been ignored by Catholics throughout the world, to our great disadvantage. My own Grandmother became a devout Franciscan Tertiary by whose prayers and good example I have remained faithful to the True Faith and the Trur Mass.
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Published by: Jack
NY 09/21/2008 01:07 PM EST
I took the Italian version of the saint's name: Gennaro. He's a good saint and we still hav ethe famous San Gennaro feats in NEw York.
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