The blood of St. Januarius, patron of the Italian city of Naples, liquefied on Sunday. The miraculous event took place in the city’s Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary during morning Mass on Sept. 19, the saint’s feast day. Before the Mass, Naples Archbishop Domenico Battaglia went to the Royal Chapel of the Treasure of St. Januarius with Msgr. Vincenzo de Gregorio, the chapel’s abbot, and city mayor Luigi De Magistris. 

Archbishop Battaglia opened the safe containing a reliquary with a circular sealed vial filled with the third-century bishop’s blood. The 58-year-old archbishop brought the reliquary to the cathedral’s high altar. During the miracle, the dried, red-colored mass confined to one side of the reliquary becomes blood that covers the entire glass. In local lore, the failure of the blood to liquefy signals war, famine, disease, or other disaster.