Every year two prodigious events occur at the same time on July 27, in two blood samples, relics of Saint Pantaleon, guarded in two European countries that are thousands of kilometers apart.
The glass containers containing the blood are found in two nations in the south of the Old Continent: Spain and Italy. The first reliquary has been found in the church of the Real Monasterio de la Encarnación in Madrid since the 17th century. The other relic is kept in the Cathedral of Ravello, a town west of Salerno.
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Despite the distance that separates them, the two blood samples go from solid to liquid at the same time. This fact is known as liquefaction or liquefaction.
Of the Ravello relic, Pope Paul V claimed a small portion, which he later gave to the Countess of Miranda, whose daughter was an Augustinian Recollect nun in the Monastery of the Incarnation, where a bone of the saint is also kept.
The chaplain of the Encarnación monastery in Madrid, Father Joaquín Martín Abad, assured the weekly Alfa y Omega that “there is reliable evidence that the same phenomenon (of blood liquefaction) happens every year.”
Between 1724 and 1730, thirteen doctors in Medicine and Theology made observations and signed before a judge “that said relic is the same one that they have admired and seen liquid and loose on the day of the glorious martyr, July 27; and, after its festival, also “They have seen it, hard and condensed, as it is at present.”
“About two months before, the content of each ampoule changes color, from being more opaque it becomes more transparent and reddish; at first the volume decreases, as if it were contracting, and then the volume increases when it gradually goes to the liquid state,” said Father Martín Abad in a statement to Alfa y Omega.
The church of the Royal Monastery of La Encarnación in Madrid opens its doors on the eve of the feast of San Pantaleón so that the faithful can pray and witness this prodigy that has been repeated every year for more than four centuries.
Schedules to venerate the relic of Saint Pantaleón
According to Archdiocese of Madridthis Saturday, July 27, 2024, the faithful will be able to come to venerate the relic from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and the Eucharists will be celebrated at 8:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.: 30 hours (Spain time).
For health reasons, “the bone reliquary will not be kissed, as was done before the pandemic, but it will be possible to pray in front of the blood reliquary and contemplate the enlarged image of the ampoule on television screens, as on previous occasions.” “says the Archdiocese.
This article was originally published on July 26, 2021. It has been adapted for republication.
Blanca Ruiz