The Miracle of San Gennaro refers to the purported liquefaction of the blood of the Neapolitan patron saint, San Gennaro, which occurs on specific dates, and is considered a good omen for the city, while its absence is seen as a bad one.
Here, the preserved blood of Naples' patron saint Gennaro miraculously liquefies before the faithful....
My friend Laura is originally from Naples, so for this year's Carnevale, her costumes comes with the re-enactment of the Miracle of San Gennaro. All Neapolitans are very attached to San Gennaro and his history.
In summary:
The Saint:
San Gennaro, or Januarius, was a bishop of Benevento who was martyred in the 4th century during Roman persecution of Christians. The reason why he, a saint and martyr, is still praised and worshipped to the extent that a festival is held is because San Gennaro was a regarded as a "transcendent being."
According to various hagiographies, Januarius was born in Benevento to a rich patrician family that traced its descent to the Caudini tribe of the Samnites. At a young age of 15, he became local priest of his parish in Benevento, which at the time had only a small Christian community. When Januarius was 20, he became Bishop of Naples and befriended Juliana of Nicomedia and Sossius whom he met during his studies for the priesthood. During the 1+1⁄2-year-long persecution of Christians by Emperor Diocletian, he hid some of his fellow Christians and prevented them from being caught. But while visiting Sossius in jail, he too was arrested. He and his colleagues were condemned to be thrown to wild bears in the Flavian Amphitheater at Pozzuoli, but the sentence was changed due to fear of public disturbance, and they were instead beheaded at the Solfatara crater near Pozzuoli. Other legends state either that the wild beasts refused to eat him, or that he was thrown into a furnace but came out unscathed. Few saints have reached the same level of veneration as San Gennaro – best estimates put that he has over 25 million devotees globally.
The Blood:
According to legend, a woman collected San Gennaro's blood at the time of his beheading and preserved it in a glass vial.
The Miracle:
The blood, which is now stored in a glass ampoule in Naples Cathedral, is said to liquefy on three specific dates: the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, on his memorial day (September 19th), and on December 16th, the memorial day of a warning against the eruption of Vesuvius in 1631.
The Church believes that the miracle takes place in response to the dedication and prayers of the faithful.
According to the Italian Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana, the reliquary with the ampoules remains on view for the faithful for eight days, during which they can kiss it while a priest turns it to show that the blood is still liquid. Then it is returned to the safety vault and locked away inside the Chapel of the Treasury of the cathedral.
Significance:
The Neapolitan people believe that the liquefaction of the blood is a sign of the saint's protection and a good omen for the city. Conversely, if the blood fails to liquefy, it is seen as a bad omen, potentially signaling disaster.
Catholic Church's Stance:
While the Catholic Church supports the celebrations, it has never officially recognized the liquefaction as a miracle and maintains a neutral stance regarding scientific investigations.
According to local lore, if the blood of San Gennaro fails to liquefy it signals imminent disaster including war, famine or disease.
The blood failed to liquefy on 16 December 2020, on the eve of the covid pandemic, in what was seen by some as an omen of bad things to come.
Superstitious Neapolitans believe it is a worse omen however if the miracle does not occur on the saint's feast day.
Two months after the blood failed to liquefy on 19 September 1980, Irpinia - located 50 km east of Naples - was hit with a devastating earthquake that killed almost 3,000 people.
On previous - but not all - occasions when the blood failed to liquefy on the saint's feast day, it signalled bad news for Naples.
The miracle also did not occur in 1939 and 1940, coinciding with the beginning of world war two and Italy's entry into the conflict, and again in September 1943: the date of the Nazi occupation.
Neapolitans have traditionally turned to their patron to protect them from natural disasters - according to the Italian bishops' newspaper Avvenire - with crowds of people in the early centuries seeking refuge in the catacombs of Capodimonte.
So it happened in 472, 512 and 685, with the Neapolitan bishops of the time leading the prayers of the people.
It then became customary to invoke San Gennaro to ask for an end to volcanic eruptions: in 1631, on 16 December, it was decided to exhibit the relics and the eruption of Vesuvius stopped.
The Venice Carnevale is not solely about masks. Local Italians prefer historical costumes or painted faces. During Carnevale, the whole Venice becomes a real life theatrical stage, and many of these historical costumes carry deep perspectives...
Comentarios