Pope Francis turned dry blood into liquid during a visit to Naples, and some are calling it a miracle. According to the Christian Post , the pope held a vial of blood that belonged to Neapolitan patron St. Gennaro. As he prayed over the vial, and then touched it with his lips, the dried blood began to liquefy. The last time this happened was back in 1848 in the presence of Pope Pius IX. Other popes, including Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, prayed over the blood, but did not turn it to liquid.
“The dry blood turned to liquid after the pontiff prayed the ‘Our Father’ over it and kissed the relic, prompting the Archbishop of Naples, Crescenzio Sepe, to declare the rare phenomenon a miracle.”
The pope turned the dry blood to liquid in front of a crowd, and all of them cheered with great joy when the miracle occurred before their very eyes. While the blood of St. Gennaro is known to liquefy with enough prayers, those who believe in the miracle know that it only happens on certain days, one of which was not the day that Pope Francis got the vial to turn over.
“The faithful believe St. Gennaro’s blood liquifies [sic] three times a year if they pray enough: on the saint’s feast day of Sept. 19, on the Saturday before the first Sunday of May and on December 16.”
According to the Huffington Post , only half of the blood turned to liquid , however, something that Pope Francis said was a sign.
“If only half of it liquefied that means we still have work to do; we have to do better. We have only half of the saint’s love,” Pope Francis said.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr , Pope Francis had another interesting moment while in Naples. During a service on Monday, a group of eager nuns couldn’t wait to get close to him. While at Naples cathedral, the nuns hurried over to the pope, hugging him, and practically knocking him over.
Pope Francis has to be saved from overzealous nuns http://t.co/4xDg3hGxaX pic.twitter.com/zzEhWAhFJX
— The Independent (@Independent) March 23, 2015
“The pontiff was able to see the funny side of the nuns’ efforts though. However, he also looked to be a tad bemused by them at the same time,” reports the Inquisitr .
That said, the pope’s security still needed to step in to ensure that he was safe.
[Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images]
