Saint Januarius of Naples

However, Festus, a deacon, and Desiderius, a reader of the Church of Église de Bénévent Episcopal see of Saint Januarius. Benevento, having learned through public rumor that their holy pastor was in chains at Nola, went there with diligence to offer him all the services that depended on them; but no soo ner was Timothée Proconsul or judge who condemned Saint Januarius. Timothy informed of their arrival than he had them brought before him, and, as they confessed that they were servants of Jesus Christ and that they would be delighted to die for his glory, he had them put in prison with their bishop. A few days later, all three were attached with chains to the front of the proconsul's chariot, who was going to Pozzuoli to have Sossius and his companions executed, whom he had condemned to the beasts.

This torment was very vigorous for Saint Januarius, who could no longer walk except by miracle. Upon entering the prison, he embraced the holy martyrs, and kissing the head of the blessed levite Sossius, he said: "Behold this holy and venerable head that the divine Spirit has prepared for martyrdom by a celestial flame, a figure of the crown of glory that he must soon receive." Then, speaking to the whole troop of holy confessors: "Courage, my brothers," he said to them, "let us fight generously against the demon and his minister Timothy; Our Lord has sent me here so that the pastor may not be separated from his flock, nor the flock from its pastor. Let neither promises nor threats make any impression on our hearts. Let us keep an inviolable fidelity to our divine Master. Let us put all our trust in him, and we shall undoubtedly triumph over the malice of our adversaries."

The next day, they were led into the middle of the amphitheater to be devoured by wild beasts, in the presence of all the people. Then, the holy martyrs armed themselves with the sign of the cross; then, with eyes and hands raised toward heaven, singing the praises of God pleasantly, they awaited with marvelous intrepidity the happy moment of their death. At the same time, the beasts were released, which ran toward them with their natural fury to make prey of their sacred bodies. But, when they were about to devour them, divine mercy changed their ferocity into gentleness: so that instead of setting their teeth upon them, they lay down like lambs at their feet and used their tongues to caress them.

Timothy, seeing that this spectacle caused the people to murmur, and fearing a sedition against him, had them taken out of the amphitheater to be beheaded at that very hour in the public square. As they were being led there, Saint Januarius prayed to God to take away the president's sight, so that he might repent of his cruelty, and that those cowardly Christians, who had renounced Jesus Christ through fear of torture, might return through these prodigies to the paths of salvation and do penance for their infidelity. The holy bishop had not yet finished his prayer when Timothy became blind. This punishment made him look a little into himself; he recognized the power of the servants of Jesus Christ. He stopped their execution, and, having had the holy martyr brought to him, he said: "Januarius, you who adore the almighty God, pray to Him for me, and see to it that He restores to me the sight of which He has deprived me." The Saint, to show by a new miracle the power of the true God, made a second prayer, and immediately the president recovered the use of his eyes: which was the cause of the conversion of five thousand people. However, as the reprobate become worse through the graces they receive, such a great benefit, which had served for the salvation of so many souls, served only to harden this idolater further; for, fearing to incur the hatred of the emperors if he showed indulgence toward the holy bishop, he condemned him to die with the others.

While he was being led to the Vulcan place, the site designated for his execution, an elderly Christian was suddenly seen appearing, who prostrated himself at his feet and begged him to give him some pieces of his clothing to keep in his house as a precious relic. The Saint replied that he had only a handkerchief at his disposal, and that he would gladly give it to him; but that it would only be after his martyrdom, because he needed it to bandage his eyes: "And I shall not fail to do so," he added in the presence of the executioners; "Christians know how to keep their word, even after their death."

Upon arriving at the public square, he prostrated himself to offer his prayer; he saw Jesus Christ, who was reaching out his arms to receive him into heaven; then he bandaged his own eyes with his handkerchief, encouraged the executioner to perform his duty, and, while saying these words: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, I commend my spirit to you and I place it into your hands," he had his head severed, along with his holy companions, around the year 305, on September 19. The executioner trampled his handkerchief, which was stained with his blood, underfoot, telling him mockingly to take it and carry it to that Christian to whom he had promised it. But he was quite astonished to see it, upon returning to the city, in the hands of the old man, to whom, indeed, Saint Januarius had appeared after his martyrdom to give it to him.

As for the characteristic of Saint Januarius, two translucent vials, in which his blood is kept, are usually seen in his hand or under his bust. ## CULT AND RELICS. The place where the seven Martyrs received the crown was called, in Latin, Forum Vulcani. It is presently named Salphutaria, and in Italian Solfatara. It is a wide valley that produces only sulfur, and from which one sees whirlwinds of smoke and flames emerging in certain places. A church under the invocation of Saint Januarius was built on a neighboring mountain. It was there, probably, that the relics of the holy Martyrs were first deposited. The translation of their relics took place around the year 400. The bodies of Saint Proculus, Saint Eutyches, and Saint Acutius were carried to Pozzuoli; those of Saint Festus and Saint Desiderius to Benevento; that of Saint Sosius to Miseno, where it was later deposited in a magnificent church. The city of Naples was enriched with La ville de Naples Place of the saint's death. the relics of Saint Januarius before they were carried to Benevento. This first translation appears to have taken place shortly after Constantine had restored peace to the Christians. At the very least, it is certain that the body of the holy bishop was in a church of his name in Naples as early as the 8th and 9th centuries. This city attributed to the intercession of this Saint the good fortune it had of being delivered from a viol ent eruptio mont Vésuve Volcano threatening Naples, whose eruptions are calmed by the saint. n of Mount Vesuvius, and from the arms of the various enemies who had sworn its destruction during the same centuries.

Sicon, Prince of Benevento, having besieged Naples at the beginning of the 9th century, reduced the inhabitants to such a point that they could only save their lives and liberty by yielding the body of Saint Januarius, their patron. The victor carried it off in triumph and deposited it in Benevento around the year 825. The church where it rested falling into ruins, it was transported to another church in that city in 1129. A secret translation subsequently took place to the Abbey of Montevergine, on the road from Benevento to Nola. It was hidden there under the high altar in the 13th or 14th century, and was only discovered in 1480, when work was being done to repair and embellish that altar. Ferdinand, King of Naples, desiring to have this preciou pape Alexandre VI Pope who authorized the return of the relics to Naples in 1497. s treasure, obtained from Pope Alexander VI that it should be returned to the city that had originally possessed it. The translation was carried out with great solemnity, and it was deposited in the Cathedral of Naples on January 13, 1497. That very day, the plague, which had afflicted the city for a long time, ceased its ravages. The bones and ashes of the body of Saint Januarius are in a magnificent chapel of his name, built under the high altar. There is in the same church another chapel, called the Treasury, in which the head and blood of the holy Martyr are kept, along with several other relics. The city had it built in thanksgiving for having been delivered from the plague in 1529, through the intercession of our Saint.

Everyone knows the terrible eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, which is eight miles from Naples. It has sometimes been seen vomiting a prodigious quantity of sand, ashes, and flaming stones, which would fall much further away than that city. At other times, there issued from the volcano a kind of torrent of sulfur, niter, calcined stones, and other combustible materials, which, like a liquid fire, carved out a channel, crossed the valley to the sea, destroyed everything in its path, and often passed at a very short distance from Naples. In the 7th and 8th centuries, the whirlwinds of ashes, which were the effect of these eruptions, darkened the sky as far as Constantinople, and the inhabitants of that capital of the East were seized with fear. The Neapolitans, on these various occasions, addressed their prayers to their patron saint, and it was never in vain. They experienced the effects of his protection especially in 685, under the pontificate of Benedict II and the reign of the Emperor Justinian the Younger. To preserve the memory of this, the Greeks instituted a feast in honor of the Saint, with two solemn processions per year. The city of Naples was further especially indebted to its saint during the eruptions that occurred in 1631, 1698, and 1707. In the last of these years, the reliquary of Saint Januarius was carried in procession to a chapel at the foot of Vesuvius, and immediately the eruption ceased, the darkness that followed it dissipated, and in the evening, stars were seen shining in the sky.

We shall report, according to several serious authors, the famous miracle of the liquefaction and boiling of the blood of Saint Januarius. The head of this Saint was kept in the Treasury chapel of the Cathedral of Naples with his bl ood enclosed in two very ancient glass sang renfermé dans deux fioles de verre Relic famous for its miracle of liquefaction. vials. It is not known at what time the head of the holy bishop was removed from the reliquary where his bones were enclosed. The most likely opinion is that it was around the 8th or 9th century. The bust where this head is today was given in 1656 by King Charles II, Duke of Anjou. The blood is frozen and blackish in color. Here is how the miracle occurs: The head is placed on the altar on the Gospel side, and the vials on the Epistle side. The blood has sometimes been found liquid, but in general it is solid. When the vials are opposite the head, the blood liquefies, either at that very moment or within a few minutes. This liquefaction is followed by a boiling. When the blood has been removed and is no longer in the presence of the head, it becomes solid again. Although there are several candles on the altar, one finds, upon touching the vials, that they are almost entirely cold. They are offered to the people to be kissed on certain occasions. Sometimes the blood has liquefied in the hands of those holding the vials, and sometimes it has also become solid again, from the liquid state it was in, as soon as it was touched. The liquefaction also takes place when the vials are in the presence of a bone or some other part of the body of Saint Januarius. It has sometimes happened that the liquefaction did not occur; which was regarded as a sign of heavenly wrath. The two vials are placed together on the altar, and the blood liquefies in both at the same time and to the same degree, although there is little in the smaller one, and it is attached to the walls of the glass.

This miracle also occurs in all seasons of the year, but usually on the feast of Saint Januarius, which is celebrated on September 17; on that of the translation of his relics from Pozzuoli to Naples, the first Sunday of May; on December 16, the day on which the memory of the deliverance from an eruption of Vesuvius, obtained through his intercession in 1631, is honored; and finally, in some other extraordinary circumstances. Cardinal Ximenes-Sylvias, later Pope under the name of Pius II, speaks of the liquefaction and boiling of the blood of Saint Januarius, under the reign of Alfonso I of Aragon, in 1450. Angelo Cato, a famous physician of Salerno, who flourished in 1474, and other authors of that century also mention it. Historians who wrote two hundred years earlier report that when Charles I of Anjou came to Naples, the archbishop of that city exposed the head and blood of the holy martyr. — According to the continuator of the chronicle of Maraldus, King Roger venerated these relics in 1140. The same thing is reported by Fulco of Benevento. Finally, it is said that the miracle in question has occurred regularly until now on the feast of Saint Januarius, and on that of the translation of his relics, which is placed around the year 400. Many people have tried to explain this fact naturally, instead of considering it a miracle; but no one has ever contested the reality and the circumstances of this phenomenon.

Acta Sanctorum; Godascard.