St. Januarius, Bishop, Martyr & Co., Martyrs September 19th “...believed to have suffered in the persecution of Diocletian, c. 305. "At Pozzuoli in Campania [the memory] of the holy martyrs Januarius, …More
St. Januarius, Bishop, Martyr & Co., Martyrs
September 19th
“...believed to have suffered in the persecution of Diocletian, c. 305.
"At Pozzuoli in Campania [the memory] of the holy martyrs Januarius, Bishop of Beneventum, Festus his deacon, & Desiderius lector, together with Socius deacon of the church of Misenas, Proculus deacon of Pozzuoli, Eutyches & Acutius, who after chains & imprisonment were beheaded under the Emperor Diocletian. The body of St. Januarius was brought to Naples, & there honourably interred in the church, where his holy blood is kept unto this day in a phial of glass, which being set near his head becomes liquid & bubbles up as though it were fresh."
In the Breviary a longer account is given. There we are told that "Timotheus, President of Campania," was the official who condemned the martyrs, that Januarius was thrown into a fiery furnace, but that the flames would not touch him, & that the saint & his companions were afterwards exposed in the amphitheatre to wild beasts without any effect. Timotheus declaring that this was due to magic, & ordering the martyrs to be beheaded, the persecutor was smitten with blindness, but Januarius cured him, and 5,000 persons were converted to Christ before the martyrs were decapitated. Then, as the Breviary lesson continues, "the cities of these coasts strove to obtain their bodies for honourable burial, so as to make sure of having them advocates with God. By God's will, the relics of Januarius... were laid in the chief church [in Naples] & have been there famous on account of many miracles. Among these is remarkable the stopping of eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, whereby both that neighbourhood & places afar off have been like to be destroyed. It is also well known & is the plain fact, seen even unto this day, that when the blood of St. Januarius, kept dried up in a small glass phial, is put in sight of the head of the same martyr, it is wont to melt & bubble in a very strange way, as though it had but freshly been shed." (1913, Catholic Encyclopedia)
September 19th
“...believed to have suffered in the persecution of Diocletian, c. 305.
"At Pozzuoli in Campania [the memory] of the holy martyrs Januarius, Bishop of Beneventum, Festus his deacon, & Desiderius lector, together with Socius deacon of the church of Misenas, Proculus deacon of Pozzuoli, Eutyches & Acutius, who after chains & imprisonment were beheaded under the Emperor Diocletian. The body of St. Januarius was brought to Naples, & there honourably interred in the church, where his holy blood is kept unto this day in a phial of glass, which being set near his head becomes liquid & bubbles up as though it were fresh."
In the Breviary a longer account is given. There we are told that "Timotheus, President of Campania," was the official who condemned the martyrs, that Januarius was thrown into a fiery furnace, but that the flames would not touch him, & that the saint & his companions were afterwards exposed in the amphitheatre to wild beasts without any effect. Timotheus declaring that this was due to magic, & ordering the martyrs to be beheaded, the persecutor was smitten with blindness, but Januarius cured him, and 5,000 persons were converted to Christ before the martyrs were decapitated. Then, as the Breviary lesson continues, "the cities of these coasts strove to obtain their bodies for honourable burial, so as to make sure of having them advocates with God. By God's will, the relics of Januarius... were laid in the chief church [in Naples] & have been there famous on account of many miracles. Among these is remarkable the stopping of eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, whereby both that neighbourhood & places afar off have been like to be destroyed. It is also well known & is the plain fact, seen even unto this day, that when the blood of St. Januarius, kept dried up in a small glass phial, is put in sight of the head of the same martyr, it is wont to melt & bubble in a very strange way, as though it had but freshly been shed." (1913, Catholic Encyclopedia)