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Rome Newsroom, May 3, 2020 / 08:30 am (CNA).- The liquefaction of the blood of the early Church martyr St. Januarius occurred Saturday amid the coronavirus lockdown, leading the Archbishop of Naples to bless the city with the miraculous relic.
“Dear friends, I have a big announcement to make: even in this time of coronavirus, the Lord through the intercession of St. Januarius has liquified the blood!” Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe said May 2.
Cardinal Sepe, the Archbishop of Naples, offered a Mass via video livestream from the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary to celebrate the recurring miracle, and then used the relic of the liquified blood to bless the city.
“How many times our saint has intervened to save us from the plague, from cholera. St. Januarius is the true soul of Naples,” he said in his homily.
St. Januarius, or San Gennaro in Italian, the patron of Naples, was a bishop of the city in the third century, whose bones and blood are preserved in the cathedral as relics. He is believed to have been martyred during Diocletian persecution.
The reputed miracle is locally known and accepted, though has not been the subject of official Church recognition. The liquefaction reportedly happens at least three times a year: Sept. 19, the saint’s feast day, the Saturday before the first Sunday of May, and Dec. 16, the anniversary of the 1631 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
During the miracle, the dried, red-colored mass confined to one side of the reliquary becomes blood that covers the entire glass. In local lore, the failure of the blood to liquefy signals war, famine, disease or other disaster.
“Naples has never given up in the face of the misfortunes that have affected it,” Sepe said.
The cardinal praised the health care workers who are serving those infected by the coronavirus in the city. Naples is the capital of the region of Campania, where 4,459 people have been documented with COVID-19 by the Italian Ministry of Health.
“But there is another possible epidemic that worries me in the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city,” Sepe said, referring to the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia.
“There are those who are good at making a fortune in times of epidemic. … Let’s move, intervene immediately, because the underworld is faster than our bureaucracy. The Camorra does not wait. It is up to us to get rid of all [criminal] organizations. We must overcome and affirm the right to hope,” the cardinal said.
Amid Italy’s lockdown, anti-mafia experts have warned that Italy’s criminal organizations could take advantage of the redirection of police resources, and profit from the government stimulus that could inadvertently fund mafia-controlled industries.
The coronavirus lockdown also prevented the traditional procession for the miracle of St. Januarius from taking place. This procession had even continued in Naples during World War II, according to ACI Stampa.
Public Masses have not been allowed in Italy for the past eight weeks under the country’s coronavirus restrictions.
The president of the Italian bishops’ conference, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti said May 2 that the bishops had reached an agreement with the government, and that he expects public Masses to resume “in the coming weeks” if the infection curve flattens.
“As a Church, we have certainly shared in suffering the limitations imposed to protect the health of all,” he said.
Vatican City, May 3, 2020 / 06:30 am (CNA).- Pope Francis called on all Catholics to pray for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life on Good Shepherd Sunday, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
“Priesthood and consecrated life require courage and perseverance, and without prayer one does not follow this path. I invite everyone to ask the Lord for the gift of good workers for his kingdom who have their hearts and hands open to his love,” Pope Francis said on May 3.
In his Regina Caeli address, the pope said that the World Day of Prayer of Vocations is a reminder of Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few, so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Christ, the Good Shepherd, calls his sheep by name and the sheep listen to his voice, the pope said.
“Christian existence is always a response to the call of God, in any state of life,” he said.
Speaking from the library of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis offered advice for discerning the Lord’s voice from other voices of temptation or distraction.
He said that the voice of the evil one “seduces, assails, forces” with “tempting but passing emotions”.
“At first it flatters, makes us believe that we are omnipotent, but then it leaves us with emptiness inside and accuses us: ‘You are worth nothing,’” he said. “The voice of God, on the other hand, corrects us with much patience, but always encourages us, consoles us. It always nourishes hope.”
“The voice of God never binds: God proposes himself, he does not impose himself,” he said.
Pope Francis explained that the voice of temptation “always revolves around the self,” whereas the voice of God invites all to go “beyond ourselves to find true goodness and peace.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, in this time many thoughts and concerns lead us to turn in on ourselves. We pay attention to the voices that reach our heart. Let’s ask where they come from,” Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis said that May is “the Marian month par excellence” and encouraged people to place all of their concerns, expectations, and plans for the future “in the heart of the Holy Virgin.”
In his message for the 2020 World Day of Vocations, Pope Francis pointed to Mary’s courageous “yes” to God at the Annunciation as a model to follow:
“Cultivate the interior disposition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Grateful that Lord gazed upon her, faithful amid fear and turmoil, she courageously embraced her vocation and made of her life an eternal song of praise to the Lord.”
“Every vocation is born of that gaze of love with which the Lord came to meet us,” he said. “We will succeed in discovering and embracing our vocation once we open our hearts in gratitude and perceive the passage of God in our lives.”
The pope stressed that vocational discernment is not simply “a decision we make as isolated individuals.”
“Vocation, more than our own choice, is a response to the Lord’s unmerited call,” he said.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis led the traditional Marian Regina Caeli prayer via video livestream on May 3. The pope then appeared in the window of the Apostolic Palace above an empty St. Peter’s Square to offer a blessing for the city of Rome and the world.
“We ask for the grace to recognize and follow the voice of the Good Shepherd, who brings us out of the enclosure of selfishness and leads us to the pastures of true freedom. Our Lady, Mother of the Good Council, guide and accompany our discernment,” Pope Francis said.
Nairobi, Kenya, May 3, 2020 / 06:01 am (CNA).- At a one-room house outside Nairobi, a 23-year-old girl with disabilities claps her hands and throws herself at Sr. Rose Catherine Wakibiru, who has been visiting girls with disability at their homes since… […]
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