In Naples, for many centuries, a wondrous phenomenon, the so-called "miracle of the blood" of St. Januarius, takes place every year. Namely, the coagulated clot suddenly "comes to life" and turns into a liquid state. Scientific research has shown that this is real human blood, which has all the properties of the blood of a living person. This miraculous phenomenon is repeated annually on September 19 on the day of the saint's martyrdom, as well as on the first Sunday in May, sometimes on December 16, and even on special occasions.
In the Middle Ages, it was customary to collect drops of blood from the dead, famous for their holiness. This custom was especially widespread in Italy. The blood was stored in bowls, where it dried and turned into a crust. But sometimes taken from the crypts of various monasteries and churches in Italy, it briefly became liquid again. Sometimes, losing hardness, the blood bubbled and exuded foam. This happened even with the one that was collected and hardened many centuries ago. This miracle, figuratively called the boil of blood, occurs several times a year in Naples, where two bowls with the blood of Saint Januarius are kept in the local cathedral. Saint Januarius was born at the very end of the 3rd century and was Bishop of Benevento. He wandered throughout Italy, tirelessly spreading the Word of God, thus provoking the wrath of Diolektian, the Roman emperor and a fierce persecutor of Christians. Januarius was captured in Naples in 305, along with several students and thrown to be torn apart by lions in the city's amphitheater. The lions, according to legend, did not touch the preachers. Then on September 19, all Christians were herded to a forum near the city of Pozzuoli and beheaded. Legend says that the maid collected two bowls of his blood from the stone on which Januarius was executed. Then they were allegedly buried along with the body of the saint in the catacombs near Naples. An altar was erected in his honor, and the bowls were placed in a small urn. There the blood gradually hardened. But from time to time it miraculously became liquid …that the maid collected two bowls of his blood from the stone on which Januarius was executed. Then they were allegedly buried along with the body of the saint in the catacombs near Naples. An altar was erected in his honor, and the bowls were placed in a small urn. There the blood gradually hardened. But from time to time it miraculously became liquid …that the maid collected two bowls of his blood from the stone on which Januarius was executed. Then they were allegedly buried along with the body of the saint in the catacombs near Naples. An altar was erected in his honor, and the bowls were placed in a small urn. There the blood gradually hardened. But from time to time it miraculously became liquid …
Today, blood is kept in a chapel inside the Naples Cathedral, where it is usually locked in a special crypt and is constantly guarded by both secular and spiritual authorities. The blood itself is in two glass bowls, which are enclosed in a small cylinder (cyst) of silver and glass. This cyst is several centuries old (the exact date of its manufacture is unknown) and is approximately twelve centimeters in diameter. The cyst, in turn, is enclosed in a large silver monstrance with a handle. One of the bowls is noticeably larger and is two-thirds full of blood. The other contains only a few drops of a substance that clearly does not turn into liquid during a miracle. Unfortunately, these bowls are permanently sealed with a putty that has hardened so hard that they cannot be opened without breaking the cysts. This makes chemical analysis of the blood impossible. Only one attempt was made to remove the bowls. In 1956, church authorities decided to clean up wood dust that had leaked inside the cyst when the relic was hidden in shavings during the war. But the procedure was canceled as soon as it became clear that opening the case could destroy the relic itself. But the substance in these bowls is real blood! A group of scientists from the University of Naples examined the bowls. By passing a beam of light through the glass cyst, they were able to carry out a spectral analysis of the substance. The conclusions were as follows: the bowls contain blood, although the presence of some foreign substances is not excluded. The blood in the bowls seems rather old; but it liquefies - even to a state of pseudo-boiling, with foam and bubbles - several times a year during public ceremonies held in honor of St. Januarius, and even "off-schedule."Unsuccessful" blood boiling is perceived as a bad sign. For example, the miracle did not happen in May 1976, just before the worst earthquake in the history of Italy.
French publicist David Guerdon compiled. commissioned by Psi International magazine for a summary report on this phenomenon. After visiting Naples, seeing the miracle with his own eyes and studying the historical chronicles, Gerdon published an extensive work describing the many paranormal aspects of this phenomenon. He was able to identify three more additional mysteries associated with liquefaction, which, apparently, only confirm the phenomenon of this phenomenon.
1. The miracle happens completely regardless of the temperature in the cathedral.
2. Liquid blood differs in volume from solid blood. Although in the condensed state the blood occupies two-thirds of the bowl, the volume of the diluted one can either increase or decrease. In May, blood usually becomes more - to the point that it fills the entire bowl. In September, on the contrary, it decreases noticeably. For unknown reasons, blood usually increases in volume if it slowly changes from a solid to a liquid state, and decreases if it happens quickly. The volume varies from twenty to twenty-four cubic centimeters, which is completely unimaginable given the size of the bowl. Even in themselves, these changes are quite surprising, due to the fact that any substance can either decrease or increase when it liquefies. But in the case of the blood of Saint Januarius, this simple law of physics is violated. Even the weight of the bowls themselves changes. It's amazingbut sometimes it decreases when the volume of liquid increases, and vice versa! This discovery was documented by Italian blood scientists. No purely scientific explanation will help here, especially when you consider that the difference in weight reaches several grams.
3. Blood doesn't just thin out. The color of the solution goes through several stages of changes throughout the entire process. Sometimes not all the contents of the bowl liquefy, leaving a central solid "ball" or clot that dangles in the middle of the liquid. This central clot is the strangest part of the whole phenomenon. Eyewitnesses show that he literally emits liquid blood from himself, as if serving as a kind of filter for some miraculous forces, and then as if draws the liquid back into himself.
Physicists and hematologists agree that the presence of blood for so many years in a morphologically unchanging state, as well as sudden changes in volume and density, transition to a liquid state and return to the original clot - all this cannot be evaluated from a scientific standpoint. Modern science cannot provide a single more or less sensible explanation of the ongoing mysterious phenomenon.
Promotional video:
The blood of Saint Januarius holds another mystery. It turns out that when it liquefies, mysterious rays of light emanate from it. Unfortunately, blood tests are currently not possible. Even if you open the bowls. By studying the essence of a miracle, you can destroy all the factors that allow it to happen. The carbon-14 test can tell how old the substance is, but it will require the donation of at least half of the available blood, which church authorities will never allow.
Mikhail Moro