Januarius

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"Januarius" is also the Latin name of the month of January, and of a son of Saint Felicitas of Rome.
Saint Januarius
Traditional portrait of St. Januarius
Bishop and Martyr
Born c. 272, Benevento
Died c. 305, Pozzuoli
Venerated in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches
Major shrine Naples Cathedral,Naples Italy and the Church of the Most Precious Blood, New York.
Feast West: 19 September; East 21 April
Attributes vials of blood, palms, Mt. Vesuvius
Patronage blood banks; Naples; volcanic eruptions[1]
Saints Portal

Saint Januarius, (in Italian, San Gennaro), bishop of Naples, is a saint and martyr for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to legendary sources, he died in 305 during the Diocletian persecution of Christians. He was imprisoned while visiting incarcerated deacons at the sulphur mines of Puteoli, the modern Pozzuoli. After many tortures, including being thrown to wild beasts in Pozzuoli's Flavian Amphitheater, he was beheaded at Solfatara, along with his companions, who included Proculus of Pozzuoli.

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[edit] Relocations of body and head

According to an early hagiography,[2] his relics were transferred by order of Saint Severus, bishop of Naples, to the Neapolitan catacombs extra moenia.[3] Later the body was moved to Beneventum by Sico, Duke of Benevento, with the head remaining in Naples. Subsequently, during the turmoil at the time of Frederick Barbarossa, his body was moved again, this time to the Abbey of Montevergine where they were rediscovered in 1480.

At the instigation of Cardinal Oliviero Carafa, his body was finally transferred in 1497 to Naples, where he is the city's patron saint. Carafa commissioned a richly decorated Succorpo in the cathedral to properly house the reunited body and head. The Succorpo was finished in 1506 and is considered one of the more prominent monuments of the High Renaissance in the city.[4]

[edit] Life Story, Blood miracle and veneration

Martyrdom of Saint Januarius by Girolamo Pesce.
Martyrdom of Saint Januarius by Girolamo Pesce.

His feast day is celebrated on 19 September,[5] in the calendar of the Catholic Church. In the Eastern Church it is celebrated on 21 April.[6]

There is little known on the life of Januarius but local Neapolitan tradition says he was born in Benevento to a rich patrician family, decendant of the Caudini tribe of the Samnites. Ever since Januarius was young he wished to be a priest and at a young age of 15, became local priest of his parish in Benevento, which at the time was relatively Pagan. When Januarius was 20, he became Bishop of Naples and befriended Juliana of Nicomedia and St.Sossius whom he met during his priestly studies as young boys. As Bishop of Naples, he preformed many miracles. During the persecution of Christians by Emperor Diocletian, he hid his fellow Christians and prevented them from being caught. Unfortuantly, while visiting Sossius in jail, he too was arrested. He was placed in a furance to be cooked alive, he came out unscathed. He was pushed into the Flavian Amphitheater at Pozzuoli to be eaten by wild bears, who had not eaten in days. Yet the animals refused to eat them, instead licking their toes. Januarius was beheaded along with Sossius and his companions at Solfatara. Despite very limited information about his life and works, he is famous for the reputed miracle of the annual liquefaction of his blood, first reported in 1389.[7] The dried blood is safely stored in small capsules in a reliquary. When these capsules are brought into the vicinity of his body on three occasions in the year, the dried blood supposedly liquefies.

The Spire of the Cathedral of San Gennaro in Naples.
The Spire of the Cathedral of San Gennaro in Naples.

Thousands of people assemble to witness this event in the cathedral of Naples. When the liquefaction has taken place, the archbishop holds up the glass phial containing what previously was seen as the dried blood of the martyr. The announcement of the liquefaction is greeted with a 21-gun salute at the 13th-century Castel Nuovo.

The ceremony takes place three times a year. The most famous is on the feast day on 19 September, which commemorates the saint's martyrdom. On 16 December, it celebrates his patronage of both Naples and of the archdiocese. The celebration on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May is for the commemoration of the unification of his relics.[8] The first recorded reference to the 'miracle of the blood' was in 1389. The liquefaction sometimes takes place almost immediately, but can take hours or even days.

For the Italian population of Little Italy, Manhattan, and other New Yorkers, the Feast of San Gennaro is a highlight of the year, when the saint's polychrome statue is carried through the streets and a blocks-long street fair ensues.

[edit] Scientific scrutiny

John Henry Cardinal Newman attested to the veracity of the miracle of liquefaction:

I think it impossible to withstand the evidence which is brought for the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius at Naples and for the motion of the eyes in the pictures of the Madonna in the Papal States[9]

St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote:

"The Neapolitans honor this saint as the principal patron of their city and nation, and the Lord himself has continued to honor him, by allowing many miracles to be wrought through his intercession, particularly when the frightful eruptions of Mount Vesuvius have threatened the city of Naples with utter destruction. While the relics of St. Januarius were being brought in procession towards this terrific volcano, the torrents of lava and liquid fire which it emitted have ceased, or turned their course from the city. But the most stupendous miracle, and that which is greatly celebrated in the church, is the liquefying and boiling up of this blessed martyr's blood whenever the vials are brought in sight of his head. This miracle is renewed many times in the year, in presence of all who desire to witness it; yet some heretics have endeavored to throw a doubt upon its genuineness, by frivolous and incoherent explanations; but on one can deny the effect to be miraculous, unless he be prepared to question the evidence of his senses.

[10]

Some critics try to explain the miracle in secular thinking, by making a suggestion that the liquefaction miracle involves not blood but rather a thixotropic gel, such as hydrated iron oxide, or FeO(OH).[11] In such a substance viscosity increases if left unstirred and decreases if stirred or moved.[12][13]

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[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Star Quest Production Network: Saint Januarius
  2. ^ Hagiographic sources are compiled in Acta Sanctorum Sepotembris, Tomus Sextis, new ed. J. Carnandet, ed. (Paris 1867:761-892); a condensed account of the removals of the relics is given by Diana Norman, "The Succorpo in the Cathedral of Naples: 'Empress of All Chapels'"Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 49.3 (1986:323-355).
  3. ^ Norman (1986), p. 331
  4. ^ Norman 1986:323-355.
  5. ^ Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7).
  6. ^ Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press, 2005 ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3)
  7. ^ Norman 1993:332 and note.
  8. ^ Chiesa di San Gennaro - Duomo (Napoli)
  9. ^ Newman, Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England (London 1851:410)
  10. ^ St. Alphonsus Liguori, Victories of the Martyrs, pg. 284
  11. ^ Christopher, Kevin (2000-09-22). The Miracle Blood of Saint Januarius. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
  12. ^ Epstein, Michael; Luigi Garlaschelli (1992). "Better Blood Through Chemistry: A Laboratory Replication of a Miracle". Journal of Scientific Exploration 6: 233-246. 
  13. ^ Owen, Richard. "Naples blood boils at miracle's 'debunking'", The Times, Times Newspapers Ltd, 2005-09-20. Retrieved on 2007-03-02. 

[edit] External links