The September 19 in Naples is celebrated the Feast of San Gennaro, Patron Saint of the city. San Gennaro owes its fame and election to Patron Saint of Naples especially to the phenomenon of blood dissolution.

The martyrdom of Gennaro

According to an ancient tradition handed down by the Church, Gennaro was born on April 21, 272 in Benevento.

In the early 4th century, Gennaro, then bishop of Benevento, visited the faithful of Pozzuoli together with the deacon Festus and the reader Desiderius, during the persecution of Christians by the emperor Diocletian.

In those days his friend Sossio, deacon of Miseno, was arrested by order of the governor of Campania Dracontius. Gennaro, Festus and Desiderius then tried to intercede for his release, for which they were arrested and sentenced to be mauled by lions in the amphitheater of Pozzuoli.

San Gennaro and the beasts

According to tradition, a miracle occurred at the time of the torture: the beasts prostrated themselves before Gennaro and began lapping at his feet.This episode also appears in a painting by Artemisia Gentileschi dated 1636 and currently preserved in the Cathedral of Pozzuoli.

Faced with this prodigy, the persecutor Dragontius ordered that Gennaro and his friends be beheaded. They were then led near the Volcanoes Forum (the current Solfatara of Pozzuoli), where they suffered martyrdom. It was the September 19 305.

After the beheading, a pious woman named Eusebia collected the martyr's blood, according to the custom of the time, gathering it into two cruets.

Burial of San Gennaro

Gennaro's body was buried in theAgro Marciano (area between Fuorigrotta, Agnano, and Pianura) and only a century later, precisely between 413 and 431, was it moved by the bishop of Naples John I to the lower part of the Neapolitan catacombs of Capodimonte (now called precisely Catacombs of San Gennaro).

The blood of San Gennaro

The two ampoules containing the blood of San Gennaro are found in the Naples Cathedral, inside a small round case kept behind the altar of the Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro. One of the cruets is 3/4 filled while the other, the taller one, is almost empty, as King Charles of Bourbon took its contents to Madrid when he became king of Spain.

The Miracle of San Gennaro

The miracle of San Gennaro consists of the liquefaction of the blood contained in the ampulla.

It occurs three times a year, during a solemn religious ceremony presided over by the archbishop: Sept. 19 (the day the Catholic Church celebrates the cult of the saint), the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, and Dec. 16.

Despite numerous theories about it (from science but also from the Church itself), on these anniversaries hundreds of faithful, Neapolitans and non-Neapolitans alike, flock to the Naples Cathedral to witness the prodigy: in fact, according to popular tradition, the melting of blood is believed to herald good omens for the city; failure to melt it, on the other hand, is considered an ominous omen.

The Sanctuary of San Gennaro

In Pozzuoli, near the place of martyrdom stands the Shrine of San Gennaro, we find a marble slab, long believed to be the one on which the Saint's beheading took place: oozes of reddish liquid, which many have identified as the blood of San Gennaro.

However, this prodigy has reportedly been refuted by recent scientific studies according to which the slab is an early Christian altar fragment on which there are traces of red paint and wax. Nevertheless, there are still many Neapolitan and Puteolian devotees who continue to venerate this slab as a prodigious relic.

The Feast of San Gennaro

"It was the feast of San Gennaro,

What a crowd on the street!

[...]

Pignataro's gang was there.

playing the "Parsifallo"

And the master, on the pedestal,

He used to make us delighted...

[...]

It was the feast of San Gennaro,

The following year, songs and sounds,

stalls and prucessions

Who can forget?

Pignataro's gang was there,

hundreds of stalls

of nougat and walnuts

Who were doing 'ncanta'."

This very famous Neapolitan song from 1944, composed by Raffaele Cutolo and Giuseppe Cioffi and titled "Dove sta Zazà?" gives us a glimpse of the celebration dedicated to San Gennaro as early as the first half of the 20th century.

Even today, since the beginning of September the city of Naples is already dressed up for the festivities: stalls selling dried fruits, sweets and toys crowd the squares, and flashy illuminations fill the main streets with lights and colors. The excitement and festivities culminate on the September 19, a day of commemoration of the saint's death: the relics are exposed to the faithful for adoration, solemn rites, processions, raffles, parades and musical and cultural events are organized, as well as impressive fireworks displays.

The whole city of Naples, on this occasion more than ever, huddles under the protective aura of the patron saint. The crowd, also gathered outside the Naples Cathedral, indulges in jubilation and acclaims the miracle that has taken place to the cry of "Long live San Gennaro!"

The faithful show an almost familial relationship with the saint: it is not uncommon to hear some of them confidentially call him "Gennà" in the act of prayer, or even "Yellow Face," in reference to the bronze color of the statue carried in procession. There are apparently more than 25 million devotees scattered around the world.

This year, due to restrictions, only 450 people will be able to attend the celebration. The rites will begin on September 18 and then continue on September 19 when the Solemn Concelebration will take place where there will be the long-awaited event of the liquefaction of the Saint's Blood.

The Feast of San Gennaro in New York.

Toward the middle of September, New York also holds a fair dedicated to San Gennaro. It was originally a religious commemoration, but nowadays it has become representative of the relationship between Italians and Americans. It was first held in 1926.

The celebration takes place in the Manhattan neighborhood called Little Italy, and in particular revolves around Mulberry Street, which is closed to traffic to host parades, games, and food and wine stalls (particularly zeppole and sausages). The celebrations begin with a religious procession from the oldest church in the neighborhood.

A similar festival is also organized in the Italian neighborhood of the Bronx, and it too lasts for several days. In short, in every way similar to the Feast of San Gennaro Neapolitan.