Rome, Italy, Dec 16, 2022 / 10:32 am
The blood of St. Januarius liquefied in Naples on Friday for the third time this year.
The newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on Dec. 16 that the “miracle of the liquefaction” occurred at 10:56 a.m. in the Chapel Treasury of St. Januarius in the Naples Cathedral.
When Monsignor Vincenzo De Gregorio, the abbot of the chapel treasury, first opened the safe containing the Saint Januarius’ reliquary, the blood inside appeared completely solid in the morning, but a phase change occurred two hours later.
Dec. 16 marks the anniversary of Naples' preservation from the 1631 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It is just one of three days each year when the reliquary is displayed and local Neapolitans gather to see if the dried, red-colored mass confined to one side of a reliquary changes to cover the entire glass.