Wednesday was not a good day for superstitious Neapolitans.
The blood of San Gennaro, the patron Saint of Naples, failed to liquefy, despite two rounds of praying, which some in the southern Italian city see as an omen of bad things to come.
A vial containing the dried blood of the fourth-century martyr is put on public display three times a year in the city’s cathedral and the faithful pray for its liquefication, known as the “Miracle of San Gennaro.”
Photo: Reuters
It did not happen on Wednesday, despite hours of praying in the morning and a special Mass in the afternoon.
Fewer people than normal were allowed into the cathedral because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Scientists say that the substance inside the sealed vial appears to be dried blood, but cannot explain why it sometimes turns into liquid and sometimes does not.
Neapolitans get particularly nervous if the blood does not liquefy on the saint’s feast day, Sept. 19, but less so on the other two days that the vial is brought out for public veneration — the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, and on Dec. 16.
When the blood failed to liquefy on Sept. 19, 1980, a massive earthquake hit southern Italy two months later, killing more than 3,000 people.
On Wednesday, Naples Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe told people not to be overly dismayed.
“If something needs to melt, it is the hearts of people,” he said.
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