6. Good Omen Announcement
On the morning of September 19th, Saint Gennaro’s Feast Day, the hosts of the festival will announce the liquefaction of San Gennaro’s 1,713 year-old blood at the church where it is kept: the Naples Cathedral in Italy. The blood of San Gennaro, who died in 305 A.D., is kept in a vial and liquefies three times a year.
When the dark brown blood crystals liquefy quickly, it is seen as a good omen of things to come. However, if the blood fails to liquefy (or if it takes hours/days to do so), it is a signal of “impending disaster.”
