The faithful of the city of Naples (Italy) experienced deep relief when they witnessed the liquefaction of the blood of Saint Gennaro, the miracle that kept the city in suspense during the day of December 16.
The extraordinary event, which did not occur in the morning as usual, finally happened at 5:40 pm (local time) in the Naples Cathedral.
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Since 9:00 am, the reliquary containing the saint’s blood had been exposed before the faithful by Father Gregorio Vincenzo, but until the afternoon it remained solid. After the miracle, the liquefied blood of the city’s patron saint was taken to the Treasury Chapel of the cathedral, where a Holy Mass was celebrated.
The miracle is that the mass of blood adhered to one side of the vial becomes completely liquid blood, covering the entire glass.
This extraordinary event has occurred since 1389 on three occasions: Every September 19, on the saint’s day; December 16, anniversary of his intervention to prevent the effects of an eruption of the Vesuvius volcano in 1631; and the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, in memory of the transfer of his remains to Naples.
Tradition says that on December 16, 1631, the faithful of Naples carried the relics of their patron in procession to prevent the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano from destroying the city. During the procession, the lava miraculously stopped. Since then, this event has been known as the “secular miracle.”
The liquefaction process sometimes takes hours or even days, and sometimes it does not happen, something that Neapolitans interpret as a bad omen, as happened in 1939, before the outbreak of World War II.
The Catholic Church considers 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 God bless you in thanksgiving, after the Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Domenico Battaglia, has toured the temple holding the relic.
Almudena Martínez-Bordiú
I am a graduate in Journalism and Advertising from the CEU San Pablo University in Madrid. Specialized in religious information in Spain since 2015. I have been a senior correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in the Vatican for two years and I am currently a European correspondent based in Spain.