ST JANUARIUS and THE MAGIC TRICK OF HIS LIQUEFYING BLOOD

Many Catholics boast how God supposedly makes the blood of St Januarius turn to liquid at times. There is something in an ampule which seems to be blood but nobody knows for sure for it has never been tested. And the "miracle" attracts mostly people who have more interest in it than in Mass or the Catholic faith or in virtue. When the substance fails to turn to liquid they call the saint abusive names. So far, by Catholic standards, what is happening cannot be called an act of God. The bad fruits indicate a human explanation or a satanic one. The fact that the "blood" bubbles is grotesque and not like a real sign from a respectable God.
 
The book, The Vatican Prophecies speaks of a man called Onofri who prefers visiting the statue of the saint to Mass and who thinks the statue is the saint and can telepathically communicate with him.
 
So there is a phial of what is supposed to be the dried blood of the martyr bishop St Januarius in Naples. The odd thing about it is that it is alleged to liquefy regularly. Naples has twenty other vials that do the same. It has been observed that this must mean that people in the region made the phials for they were in on the ingredients and knew how to make it seem that blood could turn back into liquid. This can be done scientifically. Certain components using chalk and hydrated iron chloride and salt water can form hard lumps that liquefy when shaken or when they get a little warm. They look like lumps of dried blood that turn into flowing red blood.
 
The reliquary containing Januarius’ blood is always vigorously moved while carried in procession and the excuse is for the blood to be seen running in the vial. The times it fails to liquefy are down to the relic not getting enough shaking. The Cardinal Michele Giordano who carried the vial of Januarius and thereby effected the miracle is under suspicion of involvement in loan sharking and blackmail. Since the miracle is trickery and is uncommon one cannot blame any scientist who thinks what is inside the phial is real blood for they can only look at it. The Church won’t allow any of the contents to be tested in a lab.

It is a problem that the accounts of the origin of the relic all conflict (page 100, The Book of Miracles). The power of the blood to return to the state of fresh blood was unknown before 1389 (ibid page 100). The bubbles in the blood seen in 1970 by Dr Georgio Giorgi show that it is not real blood (ibid page 101). The weight changes in the blood have been recorded but consistency is lacking indicating that this is bad measurement. The saint is masked in legend and no God would do miracles for a saint like that. He could have been a great sinner for all we know. It has been observed that the miracle is absurd and it is hard to imagine a God wasting his time to do it (ibid, page 102).

The miracle is only tolerated by the Church because it pulls in the numbers. The miracle has failed to happen at times when great disaster or war was thought to be around the corner so the miracle has been a master at political manipulation. The Church cannot recognise a miracle that does that.
 
Vatican II opened the way for saints whose sainthood was doubtful or whose existence was unlikely to be dropped from the list of saints. The Church kept Januarius on the list for there was an uproar. When it is able, the Church will drop this saint. There is no evidence that St Januarius ever existed or that the blood is his or that it even existed before 1389 (Joe Nickell, The Jesus Relics, page 53).
 
One time the liquefaction happened when the vessel it was in was being repaired (page 55). As if God would do a miracle in that circumstance!
 
The miracle of St Januarius and the saint himself is all based on deception.

WORKS CONSULTED
 
Believing in God, PJ McGrath, Millington Books in Association with Wolfhound, Dublin, 1995
Bernadette of Lourdes, Rev CC Martindale, Catholic Truth Society, London, 1970
Bernadette of Lourdes, Her Life, Death and Visions, Therese Taylor, Continuum, London, 2008
Everything You Know About God is Wrong, The Disinformation Guide to Religion, Edited by Russ Kick, The Disinformation Company, New York, 2007
Looking for a Miracle, Joe Nickell, Prometheus Books, New York, 1993
Miracles in Dispute, Ernst and Marie-Luise Keller, SCM, London, 1969
Miracles, Ronald A Knox, Catholic Truth Society, London, 1937
Mother of Nations, Joan Ashton, Veritas, Dublin, 1988
Spiritual Healing, Martin Daulby and Caroline Mathison, Geddes & Grosset, New Lanark, Scotland, 1998
St Catherine Laboure of the Miraculous Medal, Fr Joseph I Dirvin C.M., Tan, Illinois, 1984
The Appearances of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Grotto of Lourdes, JB Estrade, Art & Book Company Westminster, 1912
The Book of Miracles, Stuart Gordon, Headline, London, 1996
The Incorruptibles, Joan Carroll Cruz, Tan, Illinois, 1977
The Jesus Relics, From the Holy Grail to the Turin Shroud, Joe Nickell, The History Press, Gloucestershire, 2008
The Sceptical Occultist, Terry White, Century, London, 1994
The Supernatural A-Z, James Randi, Headline Books, London, 1995
The Wonder of Guadalupe, Francis Johnson, Augustine, Devon, 1981
Aufderheide Arthur C. The Scientific Study of Mummies. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2003. 273-276.
Edwards, Harry. "Incorruptibility: Miracle or Myth?" Incorruptibility: Miracle
or Myth? Investigator Magazine, 1 Nov. 1995. Web. 10 Jan. 2010.
<http://users.adam.com.au/bstett/PaIncorruptibility.htm>
Faure, Bernard. The Rhetoric of Immediacy. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton
University Press, 1991. 148-178.
Nickell, Joe. Looking for a Miracle: Weeping Icons, Relics, Stigmata, Visions &
Healing Cures. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 1993. 85-92.
Spindler, K., Wilfing, H., Rastbichler-Zissernig, E., Nothdurfter, H. Human
Mummies. New York: Springer-Verlag Wien, 1996. 161-171.
Reference this article:
Dunning, Brian. "The Incorruptibles." Skeptoid Podcast. Skeptoid Media, Inc., 4
Nov 2008. Web. 29 Nov 2010. <http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4126>