The faithful of the city of Naples in Italy experienced profound relief when they witnessed the liquefaction of the blood of Saint Januarius, the miracle that kept the city in suspense during the day on Dec. 16.
The extraordinary event, which did not occur in the morning as usual, finally happened at 5:40 p.m. (local time) in the Naples cathedral.
Since 9 a.m., the reliquary containing the blood of the saint had been exposed to the faithful by Father Gregorio Vincenzo, but it remained solid until the afternoon.
After the miracle, the liquefied blood of the patron saint of the city was taken to the Treasury Chapel of the cathedral, where a Holy Mass was celebrated.
The miracle consists of the mass of blood adhering to one side of the ampoule turning into completely liquid blood, covering the entire glass.
This extraordinary event has occurred since 1389 on three occasions: every Sept. 19, on the feast day of the saint; on Dec. 16, the anniversary of his intervention to prevent the effects of an eruption of the Mount Vesuvius volcano in 1631; and on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, in memory of the transfer of his remains to Naples.
Tradition has it that on Dec. 16, 1631 the faithful of Naples carried the relics of their patron saint in a procession to prevent the eruption of Mount Vesuvius volcano from destroying the city. During the procession, the lava miraculously stopped. Since then, this event has been known as the “lay people’s miracle”.
The liquefaction process sometimes takes hours or even days, and sometimes it doesn’t happen at all, which Neapolitans interpret as a bad omen, as happened in 1939, before the outbreak of World War II.
The Catholic Church believes that the miracle, without scientific explanation, happens thanks to the dedication and prayers of the faithful.
With the exclamation “The miracle has happened!”, the faithful go to the altar to kiss the relic and sing the Te Deum in thanksgiving, after the archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Domenico Battaglia, has walked around the church holding the relic.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
