The miracle of the blood of San Gennaro: alchemical miracle or trick?

The most famous Neapolitan mystery in the world is undoubtedly the ampoule in the cathedral and is said to contain the blood of San Gennaro. The peculiarity of this relic is that three times a year by the solid substance becomes liquid, a phenomenon considered miraculous by the faithful.

It happens on December 16, the Saturday before the first Sunday of May (anniversary of the transfer of the body of the saint from Pozzuoli in Naples) and 19 September, during the feast of the saint. It is a miracle, of an inexplicable phenomenon or of a chemical makeup?

In an article published in Nature, some scholars of direct CICAP by Luigi Garlaschelli were shown to have a substance obtained by the color of blood using molysite (mineral present on the Vesuvius), table salt and calcium carbonate. The origin of San Gennaro prodigy (the Church does not call him Miracle) would be their due according to the thixotropic properties of the re essence, that is, its ability to liquefy from solid if agitated.

"The behavior of the blood of San Gennaro, however, is unpredictable," said the abbot Vincenzo De Gregorio, who for 12 years handling ampoules during ceremonies. "Sometimes it liquefies immediately exit from the safe or even inside. Before Pope Ratzinger feel I have moved enough ampoules, but the blood is dissolved. And it was the pope. "