In miracles we trust

San Gennaro made his miracle for the second time in a row this year. He's the patron saint of Naples and when his dried blood liquefies, it guarantees good fortune. Otherwise, its failure is presage of disasters. So yesterday, in the usual atmosphere of hysteria that surrounds this peculiar event, the archibishop held the glass phial that contains his reliquies and declared the liquefation in the Duomo.

Lord Mayor paying tribute to the miracle. source

Luigi De Magistris, the new Lord Mayor of the city, kissed the phial and said that this day is a central part of life in Naples. It belongs to its history as a popular tradition and a religious identity that unite its people against the problems with camorra and trash disservice. He insisted that it's very important to keep this tradition high, despite the decision of our falling government to abolish all term festivities, in a controversial austerity plan against recession (see more of the drama on this Wall Street Journal article.)

Even if all scientists said that you can make that blood at home, because it's based on an iron-based chemical cmpound dating from Medieval times, people take it seriosuly. The saint is the symbol of the cuty, it represents its soul and it's better to leave him alone. Disasters that struck when the blood failed include the plague of 1527 and the huge earthquake in Southern Italy in 1980.

Successful liquefation or not, when the miracle repeats it's a sign of hope and ecouragement, so why suppressing this common good? My only hope is that next December the saint's blood remains dry, so that it'll put an end to the silly and outrageous dwarf's empire. Fingers crossed because, at this point, this country can only be saved by a miracle!