The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1874-10-25
The Liqaefaction Of the Blood q q. Janaarias.

1t is the Catholic Church alone which asserti
that miracles are still wrought upon earth
through the power of God, even as they wert
in the days of the Apostles.
| OF all the miracles which have taken place
and which do still take place in the Fold Of
Christ, there is none more wonderful nor more
interesting than that which is known under
the name of the Liquefaction of the Blood o
st. Januarius. There are many, even among
Catholics, who know nothing of this stupen
dous prodigy, and therefore we will CLEAN, TO
their benefit, from the stores before us, a.
| much information on this subject as we pos
sibly can.
| First, in regard to the miracle itself, ant
| secondly. in regard to the Saint in whose homo,
| it is wrought. 1t is not known at what time
| this iquefaotion of the blood first took place
| in fact, there is evidence proving that in the
year 920 it was not known but in the year
1870 it was SO well known as to be reputed OF
long standing. Since then there has been a
long time in which to study this subject in all
its bearings and we find that ever since Sep
TENDER, 1859, an official diary has been kept in
Naples, recording day by day each exposition
of the relics, and all the facts in connection
with them,-such as the time required for the
liquefaction of the blood, it's condition during
the exposition, and every other item deemed
important by the officers charged with this
duty.
In a glass vial, firmly soldered into q silver
reliquary, there is o mass of dark-colored, solid
substance, occupying about four fifths of the
space within the vial this is held to be por-
ton of the blood of a martyred Saint, gathered
~ he hris fia xvh he 10 Haaf
and carefully preserved through more than
fifteen hundred and sixty years.
This reliqsary has never been away from the
city of Naples, and at least three times during
each year it is exposed to the veneration of all
who may choose to present themselves for that
purpose. 1t is kept in the Cathedral of Naples,
and is under the charge of the Cansns of the
church and the city authorities, conformity.
Daring the exposition, which consists in
placing the reliquary containing the blood in
close proximity with that containing the bones
of the head of the Saint, prayers are offered
up by the congregation, litanies are recited,
and after greater smaller length of time,
the solid mass within the vial becomes liquid,
moving about from side to side, increasing or
decreasing in volume, and often showing signs
of ebulliton or frothing-and it is this change
which is known as the liquefaction of the blood
of St. Jauuarius, and of which thousands of
all nations, in all ages, have been eye-witnesses.
Scoffers and non-Catholics declare that this
so called miracle has been handed down to US |
through the middle ages-and is therefore only
a relic of that benjghted past-and is either |
unworthy of belief or too puerile for the atten-
ton of intelligent minds. But as an able writer |
says If it belongs to the past, il occurs STILL
and belongs equally to this nineteenth CEN |
fury. 1t takes place in one of the most polish |
ed, most delightful and most accessible cities |
of Italy. 1t is not an event of which a few |
only be witnesses, and which all others |
must learn OF their testimony. 1t occurs in |
public 1t occurs fifteen or twenty times each |
year. and year after year. No mystery is made |
of anything abont it,"
1t is said that Sir Humphrey Davy, who |
witnessed the liquefsoton when he visited
Naples, and who carefully examined it, made |
no secret afterwards among his friends of the |
deep impression it produced his mind and
of his decided judgment that chemistry, SO far |
as he knew it, could not account for the change |
he witnessed. This may have been one of the |
causes of that inclination toward the Catholic !
Church which, from the period of that visit, |
was manifested by that eminent scholar, and |
which led him to think seriously, at least, of |
entering her fold, even if he did net-as some
thought he did-carry his purpose into effect |
before DEATH"
After this testimony, it is useless to discuss
the objections raised against this miracle by
those who pretend that it is q fraud, @ trick,
an imposition.
Surely, in the long period of fifteen hundred
years, the trick must have been discovered, the
imposition must have been made known but
All intelligent persons know that we have never
been told of either the one or the other. Alex
Dumas, in his fippant dramatic style, attempts
to throw ridicnle upon this prodigy of Gods
goodness; but q contemporary letter in the
Paris Moniteur, June 10, 1899, affords COM
plete refutation of his absurd charges.
The old rellquary which contains the vial
was made about seven hundred years ago. We
are not told how, before that time, the ampulla
lxent huf ita lad ba1 |