Feast of St. Januarius
The Feast of St. Januarius, also known as San Gennaro, is an annual observance honoring the patron saint of Naples, Italy, celebrated on September 19. This date commemorates the martyrdom of St. Januarius, a bishop from Benevento who lived during the late third and early fourth centuries. His story includes various legends, notably his efforts to support imprisoned Christians during the persecutions of Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian. St. Januarius faced multiple execution attempts, including being thrown into a fiery furnace and to wild beasts, yet he miraculously survived these ordeals until he was ultimately beheaded. His relics, particularly a vial of blood believed to liquefy under specific conditions, are housed in the Naples Cathedral and are central to the feast's observances.
The celebration of his feast has transcended Italy, with significant festivities taking place in Italian-American communities, especially in New York City, where the Festa di San Gennaro blends religious traditions with carnival celebrations. The event, which began in 1926, is marked by vibrant processions, food, and cultural activities, reflecting the enduring legacy of St. Januarius and the deep cultural connections among Italians and their descendants.
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Feast of St. Januarius
Feast of St. Januarius
The Feast of St. Januarius, also known as San Gennaro, honors the patron saint of Naples, Italy. It falls on September 19 of every year, the date of his death as recorded in an early medieval source and as established officially at Rome in 1586.
There is little reliable information either about Januarius or about his martyrdom, although legends and traditions abound. He was apparently a bishop of Benevento in southern Italy who lived at the end of the third century a.d. and the beginning of the fourth century. Januarius supposedly sought to bolster the faith of four Christians who had been imprisoned for their religious beliefs during the severe persecution launched by Diocletian and Maximian, joint Roman emperors at the time. In about 305, during a visit to console his fellow believers, he was denounced as a Christian and seized.
Accounts of Januarius's death vary. According to one version, Timotheus, governor of the Campania region of southern Italy, ordered Januarius tossed into a fiery furnace, but he was not harmed. After the flames proved ineffective, Januarius is said to have been thrown to wild beasts in an amphitheater, located perhaps at Pozzuoli. The animals ignored him. Incensed, Timotheus declared that Januarius's immunity was the result of magic and ordered his beheading, at which moment the governor suddenly became blind. Januarius restored his sight, a miracle that swayed 5,000 spectators to profess Christianity. He finally met his martyrdom by the sword.
The martyr's relics were at first preserved in Benevento, but they were later removed to Monte Vergine and then to Naples, where they are now honored in the cathedral. The oldest extant reference to the saint, namely that of Uranius in 431, attests to the existence of a cult devoted to Januarius as early as the fifth century. In the Naples area, many locals attributed the sudden arresting of an eruption of the famous local volcano known as Mount Vesuvius to his divine intercession. The bishop's relics continued to be venerated throughout the Middle Ages as protection against future upheavals, and so Januarius became the patron saint of Naples.
In modern times, St. Januarius has acquired renown not so much because of his obscure life and death, but because of his relics. A silver bust in the cathedral of Naples reputedly encloses his skull, and a flagon-shaped vial contained in a glass reliquary on a jeweled stand holds a substance said to be his blood, caught by a pious female onlooker at his martyrdom. Since the mid-15th century, the relic of his blood has increasingly attracted worldwide attention. About 18 times yearly, especially in May, September, and December, it is exhibited publicly before the silver bust. The anniversary of the transportation of the saint's relics to Naples falls in May, September is his feast-day month, and the December commemoration marks the occasion in December 1631 when the saint is said to have answered the desperate pleas of the residents of Naples and protected them from another volcanic eruption. When exposed, the apparently dried or congealed blood seems to liquefy after anywhere from several minutes to several hours.
Not only Neapolitans but also their descendants in the United States celebrate the Festa di San Gennaro, namely the feast of St. Januarius or San Gennaro, every year around the third week in September. In particular, Italians in New York City stage an impressive celebration in the center of Little Italy, an Italian neighborhood between Chinatown and Greenwich Village. The combined religious observance and carnival has been held annually since 1926.