St. Januarius

St. Januarius, in Italian San Gennaro, was bishop of Benevento in southern Italy and was martyred, according to tradition, during the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian, about the year 305. The accounts relate that he was arrested while visiting imprisoned Christians, cast to wild beasts that would not harm him, and at last beheaded near Pozzuoli. His relics were later translated to Naples, of which he became the beloved patron and protector.

He is famous throughout the Christian world for the remarkable phenomenon associated with his relics: a quantity of what is venerated as his blood, kept in sealed glass vials in the cathedral of Naples, is observed on his feast and certain other days to change from a solid, congealed mass into a liquid. This liquefaction, witnessed for centuries, is regarded by the faithful as a sign of his continuing protection; the Church permits the devotion while not requiring belief in it as a miracle. He is celebrated on 19 September.