Miracles are almost by definition unpredictable and spontaneous,
except in the Italian city of Naples, where every year the city’s patron
saint is believed to keep one of three annual appointments on Sept. 19,
his feast day, producing a scientifically inexplicable liquefaction of
two ampules of his blood.
On Monday the blood miracle occurred once again, according to
Naples’s Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, who performed the annual ritual of
descending into the crypt of the local cathedral of to examine the
ampules containing what tradition regards as the blood of Saint
Januarius, known in Italy as “San Gennaro,” recalled as a martyr during
persecutions of the early church under the Roman Emperor Diocletian.
On past occasions, prelates would sometimes bring the still-dry blood
in its ampule up to the church, where it would reportedly liquefy
before the eyes of the congregation. In this case, however, Sepe
announced Monday morning that the blood had already taken liquid form
when he went down to take a look.
The announcement was greeted with applause in the cathedral, where the feast of San Gennaro is considered a major civic event.
According to the cult around San Gennaro, his blood was collected by a
woman named Eusebia shortly after his death. Devotion to the annual
liquefaction, however, isn’t documented until 1389, and over the next
few centuries reports circulated about the blood melting up to three
times every year: His feast on Sept. 19; Dec. 16, marking his patronage
of Naples; and the day before the first Sunday in May, celebrating the
reunification of his relics.
The saint’s blood is also believed to liquefy on other special occasions, such as papal visits.
It reportedly did so for Pope Pius IX in 1848, but not for either St.
John Paul II or Benedict XVI. When Francis visited in March 2015, Sepe
announced that the blood had “half-liquefied.”
Some researchers believe the blood contained in the ampules contains a
specific kind of gel that results in viscosity when the ampules are
moved or stirred, meaning that there could be a scientific explanation
for the phenomenon.
Devotees, however, are convinced the annual events are miraculous,
which is why in addition to Naples San Gennaro is also the patron saint
of blood donors.
While Church officials obviously support the celebrations in Naples,
officially speaking the Vatican has never taken a position on the
legitimacy of the miracle, nor has it ever offered a binding theological
interpretation for it.
Many devotees of San Gennaro, however, see the liquefaction as a sign
of “straining” for the resurrection of the body to come at the Last
Judgment.
In addition to the usual civic authorities, beginning with Mayor
Luigi de Magistris, this year’s celebration also had an ecumenical
flavor. Sepe was joined by an official of the Russian Orthodox Church
from Siberia, as well as the head of the local Russian Orthodox
community in Naples.
In his homily, Sepe pointedly denounced what he sees as social
injustices in Naples, long considered the capital of Italy’s
underdeveloped southern region, where youth unemployment rates can reach
as high as fifty percent.
“In this city, not everybody can benefit from the same opportunities
for social growth,” Sepe said. “The poor are considered only
half-citizens, and the local of work is the cause of both these
inequalities and also a grave crisis of legality.”
Naples is also known as a center for Italy’s various forms of mafia
activity, and Sepe was blunt in denouncing the grip the mafia often has
on civic life.
“Organized crime is the most purulent wound to extirpate, because it
infects the body of society that’s already weakened and burdened,” he
said, calling organized crime “a continual outrage against our city.”