A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr
Find today’s readings here.
“Therefore, do not throw away your confidence;
it will have great recompense.
You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.” (Heb. 10: 35-36)
Last summer, while driving through the town of Naples, New York, I spotted a unique church named in honor of the bishop and martyr we remember today. St. Januarius is the patron saint of Naples, Italy, so it makes sense that the residents of Naples, New York, would name their church for him. The church caught my eye for another reason. The windows are designed in the shape of grapes, a tribute to the winemaking industry in the region.
I didn’t visit St. Januarius that day. We had other plans—a local hike, followed by dinner at a local vineyard. I was preoccupied with finding my way around a new town and making sure my family got something to eat. It was only later that I dove into the history of the Church of Saint Januarius, and by extension, St. Januarius himself, a martyr who died under Roman persecution in 305 C.E.
In “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis wrote: “People live poised between each individual moment and the greater, brighter horizon of the utopian future as the final cause which draws us to itself.” I confess that I mostly live in the individual moment and only rarely glimpse the “greater, brighter horizon.” But in Naples that day, because something caught my eye, I was led on a journey that took me to the earliest days of the church, and I was reminded of the timeless nature of our faith.
Every year in Naples, Italy, Catholics have another way to remember St. Januarius. After he died, his followers collected a vial of his blood, which is kept in the cathedral in Naples. And every year on the feast of St. Januarius on September 19, his blood reportedly liquifies. It is an old tradition, one that we might find a little odd, but it connects in a rather physical way with a martyr who lived almost 2,000 years ago. It lifts us out of the individual moment and gives us a chance to see the greater, brighter horizon.
St. Paul knew how important such moments were, for martyrs but also for everyday Catholics. You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised. Where does that endurance come from? From God, of course, but also from the example of the saints and martyrs and the traditions of the church, which point back to the story of Christ and forward to “the final cause which draws us to itself.”
