Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Naples: Miracle of the Blood of St. Januarius Happened on Schedule

Cardinal Sepe made sharp criticisms of the most recent Mafia Crimes when he preached at the St. Januarius Feastday Service.

Rome (kath.net/KAP) At the time of the feast of St. Januarius, the legendary transformation of blood in Naples takes place again. Still, before the sermon of Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe during the Sunday Mass happens in the Cathedral he shows with the motion of a white drapery, the expected miracle. Finally, Sepe presented the ampules of the early Christian martyrs flowing blood to applause.

A delay or the absence of the miracle of blood will be viewed by the Neapolitans as a sign of foreboding. The enthusiasm of the Faithful was in any case damp during Sepe's sermon. Naples has lived on hope in the absence of bread, said the Cardinal to the Italian media afterwards. IN the meantime the city longs for a turning point; there is "neither bread nor hope".

Sepe rebuked mafia crimes in his description of the situation, from the massacre in Castel Volturno in 2008 to the cold-blooded shooting of the mayor of Pollica, Angelo Vassallo, two weeks ago. Further, he recalled also the difficulty of unemployment and the virus of organized crime. All of this goes together to make the region around Naples a land without hope, says the Cardinal.

Januarius, in Italian "San Gennaro", was, according to tradition, martyred in the persecutions under Diocletian on the 19th of September in 305. The stored blood of the saint is normally in solid form. His "miraculous" [doubting Thomas] liquefaction has been happening since the Middle Ages and occurs usually on 19 September, 16 December and on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May.

Link to original kath.net...

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