When one claims to believe in miracles, they’re usually met with a fair amount of skepticism. Still, if you are a believer in miracles, the past couple of days must have been supremely interesting for you. While on a visit to Naples, Pope Francis is said to have performed a miracle unlike anything people have ever witnessed.
This is the blood relic of St. Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples, Italy. According to legend, St. Gennaro’s blood was saved by a woman named Eusebia just after his death. It may seem strange now, but the practice of gathering blood for relics was a common practice beginning in the days of persecution.
While visiting Naples, Pop Francis examined the relic and, in his presence, the blood in the relic liquefied. This is an extremely rare occurrence. The last time the blood liquefied in the presence of a Pope was in 1848, when the blood liquefied in the presence of Pope Pius IX.
“His blood has half-liquefied,” said the Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepez at the conclusion of Pope Francis’ address. “It’s a sign that St. Gennaro loves the Pope, who is Neapolitan like us.” Pope Francis immediately and lightheartedly replied: “The archbishop said the blood is half-liquefied. It means the saint loves us halfway. We all have to convert a little more so that he loves us more.”
If this doesn’t make a believer out of the doubters, I’m not sure what will. This is such a rare happening that it caused the people in the streets of Naples to shout about the miracle. A lot of things are going right for Pope Francis these days, and I’m not sure that it’s a coincidence.
As Albert Einstein used to say… Science is a great way to understand our universe… in between miracles.
Great! Now we just need to fix world poverty, de-militarization and climate change