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Januarius
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Saint Januarius | |
|---|---|
 Traditional portrait of St. Januarius |
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| Bishop and Martyr | |
| Born | unknown, Joppolo (Calabria) or Naples[1] |
| Died | c. 305, Naples or Pozzuoli[1] |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches |
| Feast | 19 September, 16 December[1] |
| Patronage | blood banks; Naples; volcanic eruptions[1] |
 Saints Portal |
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- Januarius is the name of the month in the ancient Roman calendar, called January in English.
- Januarius is the name of one of the sons of Saint Felicitas of Rome.
Saint Januarius, or San Gennaro, bishop of Benevento, is a saint and martyr in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. According to legendary sources, he died in 305 during the persecution of Diocletian near Puteoli at the sulphur mines near the Solfatara, where he was visiting imprisoned deacons. After many tortures he was beheaded along with many other companions (see Saint Proculus of Pozzuoli). According to an early hagiography,[2] his relics were first translated to the catacombs, called from his presence there of San Gennaro extra moenium by Saint Severus, bishop of Naples. Later the body was removed to Beneventum by Sico, duke of Benevento, then, in the turmoil at the time of Frederick Barbarossa, to the abbey of Montevergine, where the relics were rediscovered in 1480. At the instigation of Oliviero Cardinal Carafa, his body was translated in 1497 to Naples, of which he is now the chief patron saint. Carafa commissioned the richly decorated Succorpo in the crypt of the cathedral to properly house the reunited relics, for the saint's head had remained in Naples; it was finished in 1506 and is a prominent monument of the High Renaissance in the city[3]
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His feast day is celebrated September 19,[4] in the calendar of the Catholic Church and in the new calendar of the Eastern Orthodox Church, despite very limited information about his life and works, primarily due to the reputed miracle of the annual liquefaction of his blood, first reported in 1389.[5] The dried blood is safely stored in small capsules in a reliquary. When these capsules are brought into the vicinity of his body on his feast day or on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, the dried blood becomes liquid.
Thousands of persons assemble to witness this event in the cathedral of Naples each year. The archbishop, at the high altar amid prayers and invocations holds up a glass phial that is said to contain the dried blood of San Gennaro, the city’s patron saint, and declares that it has liquefied. 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, each occasion celebrating a different aspect of the saint's importance. The most famous is on San Gennaro's feast day on 19 September, and this commemorates the Gennaro as martyr. It occurs on 16 December and celebrates his patronage of both Naples and of the archdiocese. And it happens as well as in May for the commoration of the relocation of the relics, and for this festival it begins the Saturday before the first Sunday of the month and continues for eight more days. [1] The first recorded reference to the 'miracle of the blood' was in 1389.
The liquefaction sometimes takes place almost immediately, or can take hours, 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.
The Feast of San Gennaro Los Angeles, founded by Jimmy Kimmel and Doug DeLuca in 2002, is a major annual event held every September in Hollywood. for more information, go to www.feastofla.org
Historian Eric Hobsbawm mentions the "blood miracle" as a historical example to explain the sources of nationalism in his Nations and Nationalism since 1780 : programme, myth, reality.
John Henry Cardinal Newman attested the miracle of the liquifaction:
- I think it impossible to withstand the evidence which is brought for the liquifaction 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[6]
Critics suggest that the liquefaction miracle involves not blood but rather a thixotropic gel, such as hydrated iron oxide, or FeO(OH).[7] In such a substance viscosity increases if left unstirred and decreases if stirred or moved.[8][9]
Additionally, Joe Nickell notes that
| “ | Since the fourteenth century there have been several additional saints' bloods that liquefy all in the Naples area and thus suggestive [sic] of some regional secret.[10] | ” |
- Cathedral of Naples
- Feast of San Gennaro, held annually in New York & Los Angeles
- ^ a b c d Jones, Terry. Januarius. Patron Saints Index. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
- ^ Hagiographic soiurces 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).
- ^ Norman 1986:323-355.
- ^ In the 1498 Roman martyrology, his martyrdom took place on the thirteenth kalend of October or the 19 September. J. O'Connell, The Roman Martyrology (London 1962) s.v. September 19.
- ^ Norman 1993:332 and note.
- ^ Newman, Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England (London 1851:410)
- ^ Christopher, Kevin (2000-09-22). The Miracle Blood of Saint Januarius. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
- ^ Epstein, Michael; Luigi Garlaschelli (1992). "Better Blood Through Chemistry: A Laboratory Replication of a Miracle". Journal of Scientific Exploration 6: 233-246. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
- ^ Owen, Richard. "Naples blood boils at miracle's 'debunking'", The Times, Times Newspapers Ltd, 2005-09-20. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
- ^ Nickell, Joe. Examining Miracle Claims (Excerpt from an article that appeared in March 1996 issue of Deolog). Hidden Mysteries: Religion's Frauds, Lies, Control. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
IS it possible to please include a photograph af the painting: St Januarius Emerging from the Furnace, in this web page. This image is very hard for me to find on the net... Thank you.
- The Blood of St. Januarius by CICAP, the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims on the Paranormal
- San Gennaro
- New York's Feast of San Gennaro
- The Blood Still Boils by Doug Skinner, Fate, July 2006