Saint Januarius (San Gennaro), Bishop and Martyr

Saint Januarius (San Gennaro) (d. c. 305 A.D.) was the Bishop of Benevento, Italy, who suffered martyrdom during the brutal Diocletianic Persecution. When his friend Deacon Sosius was arrested for his Christian faith, Januarius visited him in prison, openly professing Christ and accepting arrest. After surviving thrown to wild beasts in the amphitheatre of Puteoli (when the animals refused to harm the confessors), Januarius and his companions were beheaded at Solfatara. A pious woman named Eusebia collected Januarius's sacred blood in vials. For centuries in Naples Cathedral, the dried blood of Saint Januarius has liquefied predictably multiple times each year before crowds of pilgrims—a famous standing miracle of divine intercession.