Saint Januarius
| Saint Januarius | |
|---|---|
Traditional portrait of Saint Januarius
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| Bishop and Martyr | |
| Born | 3rd century Benevento or Naples, Campania, Roman Empire |
| Died | c. 305 Pozzuoli, Campania |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Major shrine | Naples Cathedral, Italy and the Church of the Most Precious Blood, Little Italy, Manhattan, New York City. |
| Feast | September 19 (Western Christianity) April 21 (Eastern Christianity) |
| Attributes | vials of blood, palms, Mt. Vesuvius |
| Patronage | blood banks; Naples; volcanic eruptions |
Januarius (Latin: Ianuarius; Italian: Gennaro), also known as Januarius I of Benevento, was Bishop of Benevento and is a martyr and saint of the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later sources and legends claim that he died during the Great Persecution which ended with Diocletian's retirement in 305.
Januarius is the patron saint of Naples, where the faithful gather three times a year in Naples Cathedral to witness the liquefaction of what is claimed to be a sample of his blood kept in a sealed glass ampoule.
Little is known of the life of Januarius, and what follows is mostly derived from later Christian sources, such as the Acta Bononensia (BHL 4132, not earlier than 6th century) and the Acta Vaticana (BHL 4115, 9th century), and from later-developing folk tradition.
According to various hagiographies, Januarius was born in Benevento to a rich patrician family that traced its descent to the Caudini tribe of the Samnites. At a young age of 15, he became local priest of his parish in Benevento, which at the time was relatively pagan. When Januarius was 20, he became Bishop of Naples and befriended Juliana of Nicomedia and Saint Sossius whom he met during his priestly studies. During the 1 1⁄2-year-long persecution of Christians by Emperor Diocletian, he hid his fellow Christians and prevented them from being caught. Unfortunately, while visiting Sossius in jail, he too was arrested. He and his colleagues were condemned to be thrown to wild bears in the Flavian Amphitheater at Pozzuoli, but the sentence was changed due to fear of public disturbances, and they were instead beheaded at the Solfatara crater near Pozzuoli. Other legends state either that the wild beasts refused to eat them, or that he was thrown into a furnace but came out unscathed.
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