The blood of St. Januarius liquefied in Naples on Friday, with Archbishop Mimmo Battaglia confirming at 10:07 a.m. that “the miracle has happened” on the saint’s feast day.
The liquefaction has been recorded since at least 1389. The dried, dark blood of St. Januarius—martyred in 305 AD—is preserved in two glass ampoules kept in a reliquary inside Naples Cathedral. When the phenomenon occurs, the solid mass turns red and becomes liquid, covering the inside of the glass from side to side.
Tradition holds that the miracle occurs three times each year: on the first Saturday in May, marking the transfer of the relics from Pozzuoli to Naples; on September 19, the saint’s feast day; and on December 16, commemorating his intervention during the 1631 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. When the blood fails to liquefy, as in 1939, 1940, 1943, 1973, 1980, 2016, and 2020, Neapolitans often interpret it as a bad omen.
The reliquary remains on display for eight days after each miracle, allowing the faithful to venerate the relic before it is returned to the cathedral treasury. Despite numerous scientific investigations, no definitive explanation for the liquefaction has been found.
