
Today the Church celebrates and remembers St. Padre Pio (1887 - 1968), one of my personal favorite saints. Please read my post on the Memorial of St. Padre Pio for today.
Sep. 19 (CWNews.com) - The familiar "miracle of St. Januarius"-- the liquefaction of the blood of the 4th-century martyr-- occurred once again in Naples on the saint's feast day, September 19.
Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, newly installed as the Archbishop of Naples presided for the first time at the celebration of the city's patron saint, who died in the persecutions under Emperor Diocletian. A vial containing the preserved blood of the martyr was brought into the sanctuary. After the Gospel was read, the cardinal told the congregation that "the blood is starting to melt." The announcement drew warm applause.
According to a popular tradition, the liquefaction is a sign of assurance that the year will be free from disasters. (One of the rare years in which the miracle did not occur was 1939, the year that saw the beginning of World War II.)
“On a certain morning about the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross [September 14], while Francis was praying on the mountainside, he saw a Seraph with six fiery and shining wings descend from the height of heaven. And when in swift flight the Seraph had reached a spot in the air near the man of God, there appeared between the wings the figure of the a man crucified, with his hands and feet extended in the form of a cross and fastened to a cross. Two of the wings were lifted above his head, two were extended for flight and two covered his whole body"
Prayer:“....the marks of nails began to appear in his hands and feet, just as he had seen them slightly earlier in the crucified man above him. His wrists and feet seemed to be pierced by nails, with the heads of the nails appearing on his wrists and on the upper sides of his feet, the points appearing on the other side. The marks were round on the palm of each hand but elongated on the other side, and small pieces of flesh jutting out from the rest took on the appearance of the nail-ends, bent and driven back. In the same way the marks of nails were impressed on his feet and projected beyond the rest of the flesh. Moreover, his right side had a large wound as if it had been pierced with a spear, and it often bled so that his tunic and trousers were soaked with his sacred blood.”