Feast day: September 19

St. Januarius

Bishop, Martyr · d. c. 305

Patron of Naples, blood banks

A bishop of Benevento beheaded in the last great persecution, whose dried blood, kept in a vial at Naples, is famous for liquefying on his feast day before crowds of the faithful.

Several times a year the congealed blood of San Gennaro is held up in Naples cathedral and seen to turn liquid again — a wonder watched by the whole city.