Patron saint performs a miracle every week
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| The Chapel of Saint Patricia inside the Church of San Gregorio Armeno in the centre of Naples |
The feast day of Saint Patricia is celebrated every year in
Naples on this day.
The saint, who is also sometimes referred to as Patricia of
Constantinople, is one of a long list of patron saints of Naples.
She is less well known than San Gennaro, also a patron saint
of the city, who attracts crowds to Naples Cathedral three times a year to
witness the miracle of a small sample of his blood turning to liquid.
But Saint Patricia’s blood, which is kept in the Church of
San Gregorio Armeno, is said to undergo the same miraculous transformation every Tuesday morning as
well as on August 25 each year - her feast day - which was believed to be the
day she died in 665 AD.
Saint Patricia was a noble woman, who may have been
descended from St Constantine the Great.
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| Saint Patricia |
She was a devout virgin and travelled to Rome to become a
nun in order to escape an arranged marriage.
She received the veil – symbolising her acceptance into the monastic
community – from Pope Liberius.
When her wealthy father died, she returned to Constantinople
and, renouncing any claim to the imperial crown, distributed her wealth among
the poor.
She was planning to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but was
shipwrecked after a terrible storm on to a small island off the coast of
Naples, which is now the site of Castel dell’Ovo.
Patricia died shortly afterwards from disease, but according
to a legend, a man pulled out one of her teeth after her death, which caused
her body to haemorrhage. Her devoted followers collected the blood, which they
preserved.
Patricia’s remains were transferred in the 19th century to
the monastery of San Gregorio Armeno in Naples.
Every Tuesday morning, Saint Patricia’s blood liquefies
after the service at the Church of San Gregorio, as it does on August 25, her
feast day.
Patricia’s remains lie inside a coffin at a side altar in
the church, but during Tuesday mass, a vial of her blood is hung from the main
altar covered with a cloth. Worshippers queue up to kiss the receptacle
containing the blood, which is said to turn into a dark liquid.
San Gennaro performs his miracle at the Duomo in Naples
three times a year but attracts a lot more publicity.
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| Via San Gregorio Armeno is famous for its stalls selling hand-made presepi |
Travel tip:
The Church of San Gregorio Armeno, where Saint Patricia’s
remains are kept, is in Via San Gregorio Armeno, a street just south of Via dei Tribunali that is well-known for its
stalls of hand-made presepi - Christmas crib scenes - which are for sale all
the year round. Construction of the Baroque Church began in the 16th century
using designs by Giovanni Battista Cavagni, and much of the decoration was done by Luca Giordano, in particular the cupola,
which is painted with the Glory of San Gregorio. The cloister, added in 1580, has in its centre a marble fountain, decorated with dolphins and other marine creatures, with the statues of Christ and the Samaritan Woman by Matteo Bottiglieri.
.jpg "The imposing facade of the Duomo di Napoli, which contains the relics of San Gennaro") |
| The imposing facade of the Duomo di Napoli, which contains the relics of San Gennaro |
The Duomo in Naples, in Via Duomo, off Via dei Tribunali, was
built over the ruins of two earlier Christian churches for Charles I of Anjou
at the end of the 13th century. One of the main attractions inside is the Royal
Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro, which contains many precious works of
art, including frescoes by Domenichino and Giovanni Lanfranco, altarpieces by Domenichino, Massimo Stanzione and Jusepe Ribera, the rich high altar by Francesco Solimena. The Duomo is also sometimes referred to as Cattedrale di San Gennaro. In addition to the remains of San Gennaro, the cathedral is also the burial place of Pope Innocent IV and of Charles I of Naples and Sicily. It
is open to the public from 8.30am to 1.30pm and 2.30pm to 8pm Monday to
Saturday and 8.30pm to 1.30pm and 4.30pm to 7.30pm on Sundays.
More reading:
Also on this day:
(Picure credits: Chapel of Saint Patricia by Giuseppe Guida via Wikimedia Commons)
