Tornado Alley (PROG)

[F6]

St. Gennaro’s Blood Relic Miraculously Liquefies In The Presence Of Pope Francis In Naples

Pope Francis holds a relic believed to contain the blood of St. Gennaro. He's credited with a 'half-miracle' after the blood 'half-liquified' in his presence.
[ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/22/pope-francis-miracle_n_6920624.html ]

Francis kisses the vial
[ http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/francesco-napoli-39932/ ]
The first time the miracle has occurred in the presence of a pope since Pius IX
March 21, 2015
[...]
Today’s wondrous occurance knows just one precedent. It is the first time St. Gennaro’s blood relic has liquefied in the presence of a pontiff since the miracle occurred in the presence of Pope Pius IX in 1848.
Pius IX was the longest-reigning elected pope in the history of the Catholic Church (31 years). He convened the First Vatican Council, which decreed papal infallibility; defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, meaning that Mary was conceived without original sin; and he was the last Pope to rule as the sovereign of the papal states which fell to the Italian army in 1870.
Fleeing the Mazzini riots in 1848, Pope Pius IX was rescued by a ship sent by Francis II of Bourbon, who took him to the Royal Palace of Portici. The Pope expressed his desire to go to the Cathedral of Naples. There the miracle of St. Gennaro occurred in his presence.
As a token of his gratitude, the pontiff donated a golden chalice to the cathedral in the saint's honor. The chalice is today numbered among the “Ten Wonders of the Treasure of St. Gennaro.”
[...]
http://www.aleteia.org/en/religion/article/st-gennaros-blood-relic-miraculously-liquifies-in-the-presence-of-pope-francis-in-naples-5869691155251200 [with comments]


--


It’s a Miracle! Vatican Claims Coagulated “Blood” of St. Gennaro Liquefies After Pope Francis Kisses the Vial


The miraculous liquefaction of the blood of Saint Januarius.
(Image by Paola Magni [ https://www.flickr.com/people/42107329@N00 ] via Wikipedia [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Januarius#/media/File:Napoli._Il_sangue_%C3%A8_vivo.jpg , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Januarius ])

by Terry Firma
March 22, 2015

The Catholic network Aleteia [ http://www.aleteia.org/en/world/article/about-us-6342305057341440 ] is named after the Greek word for truth, so this report [ http://www.aleteia.org/en/religion/article/st-gennaros-blood-relic-miraculously-liquifies-in-the-presence-of-pope-francis-in-naples-5869691155251200 ] must be totally truthful:

The blood relic of St. Gennaro [a.k.a. Januarius], patron saint of Naples, [yesterday] miraculously liquefied in the presence of Pope Francis, the first time the miracle has occurred in the presence of a pontiff since 1848.

“His blood has half-liquefied,” the Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, said at the conclusion of Pope Francis’ address to diocesan priest and religious in the city’s cathedral. “It’s a sign that St. Gennaro loves the Pope, who is neapolitan like us.”

Half-liquefied? Was it only a half-miracle, then? Not to these folks:

As Cardinal Sepe … announced the miracle, in the adjacent streets people could be heard shouting with neapolitan passion: “It’s a miracle, it’s a miracle!” …

The dried blood of St. Gennaro, which is preserved in two glass phials in the Naples Cathedral, traditionally liquefies three times a year: on the saint’s September 19 feast, which commemorates his martyrdom in the Catholic liturgical calendar; December 16, the date of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 1631, which was believed to have been halted through the saint’s intervention; and the Saturday before the first Sunday in May.

Wait — St. Gennaro halted the 1631 eruption of Vesuvius [ http://www.vesuvioinrete.it/e_storia.htm ]? The one in which up to 6,000 people perished [ http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/interior/Mt_Vesuvius_1631.html ]? That’s one helluva redefinition of success!

But if you’re a believer, it’s skeptics who have taken leave of their senses. The 18th-century bishop Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonsus_Maria_de%27_Liguori ] wrote [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Januarius ] that the blood miracle was evident to everyone:

The most stupendous miracle, and that which is greatly celebrated in the church, is the liquefying and boiling up of this blessed martyr’s blood whenever the vials are brought in sight of his head. This miracle is renewed many times in the year, in presence of all who desire to witness it; yet some heretics have endeavored to throw a doubt upon its genuineness, by frivolous and incoherent explanations; but no one can deny the effect to be miraculous, unless he be prepared to question the evidence of his senses.”

The Catholic Church could lay all doubts to rest by allowing independent scientists to examine the creepy substance, starting with a chemical analysis to see if it even is blood. But alas [ http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/8205/does-st-januarius-blood-congeal-and-liquefy ]:

[The Church] has not allowed independent tests on the phials containing the blood.

Such suspicion-raising reticence has given rise to an obvious conclusion: that the whole thing is just a pious hoax. This [id.] is how it could be done:

In 1991 a group of Italian scientists — Luigi Garlaschelli and two colleagues, Franco Ramaccini and Sergio Della Sala — demonstrated that they could simulate the effect with a thixotropic gel, a substance that liquefies when agitated and resolidifies when allowed to stand.

[At] about the same time, two American researchers — forensic analyst John F. Fischer and paranormal investigator Joe Nickell — showed they could reproduce a liquefying and recongealing miracle blood using a colored oil-and-wax mixture. When slightly warmed by heat sources such as nearby candles and body heat, the bogus blood can suddenly liquefy. Nickell and Fischer jokingly attribute their phenomenon to “Saint Februarius.” …

Adding to skeptics’ suspicions, there are some twenty other saints’ bloods that liquefy, virtually every one of them from the Naples area – suggestive of some local secret.

It is, however, true, that Catholicism has the power to severely influence people’s vital fluids; the Church has made my blood boil on plenty of occasions.

Copyright 2015, Patheos (emphasis in original)

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/03/22/its-a-miracle-vatican-claims-coagulated-blood-of-st-gennaro-liquefies-after-pope-francis-kisses-the-vial/ [with

comments]


--


(linked in):

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=104144497 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=105475489 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=106679323 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=108924126 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=109459258 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=109761596 and preceding (and any future following)

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=110391879 and preceding (and any future following),
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=111807041 and preceding (and any future following)

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=110530684 and preceding and following