The procession, which every year is held the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, will start from the Cathedral of Naples and reach the Basilica of Santa Chiara. The ceremony is held in memory of the historic transfer of the relics of the Holy place from the cemetery in the Agro Marciano (in theterritoryofFuorigrotta) to the Catacombs of Capodimonte, then later called, for this reason, “the catacombs of San Gennaro.”

The procession of May was once called “the infrascati,” from the custom of the clergy who attended to protect themselves from the sun by covering their heads with wreaths of flowers. It is the memory silver crown above the throne on which is placed the reliquary containing the blood of the saint, which leads to the center of a huge emerald.

L'articolo Naples awaits the miracle of San Gennaro proviene da Charme.

Three days of celebrations, animated by the parish priest Father Renato de Simone, will accompany the faithful who want to pray before the blood of the unforgettable Pontiff who in 1990 chose the city of Partenope for its longest pastoral visit in Italy leaving so many memories in people of Naples (his image stands out for decades on the stalls of the figurines in San Gregorio Armeno). A visit strongly supported by the then Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Michele Giordano, who right from the Polish Pope received the red hat in 1988 after being appointed by him, the previous year, the leadership of the diocese of Naples.

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The church chosen to host the holy relic of John Paul is going quite old, in fact, to the sixteenth century. It was founded in 1571 by Father Filippo da Perugia to accommodate the sacred image of the Virgin and further expanded during the seventeenth century. The original project was entrusted to the architect Giovan Battista Cavagna.

The dedication of the “temple” in Santa Maria Apparente finds confirmation in a tombstone dating back to 1624, but according to tradition the title of “apparent” was chosen by the people, after some fishermen, scattered in the sea in a stormy night , they saw “appear” a miraculous light right from the hill on which stands the present church of Corso Vittorio Emanuele. A few steps from the parish is what was once a convent, then transformed into a prison (was imprisoned, among others, the writer and patriot Luigi Settembrini), then in the “Palace of the Officers” and is now used as private homes.

Church of Santa Maria Apparente
Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 196 Napoli
tel. +39.081.400751

L'articolo In Naples, the relics of Blessed John Paul II proviene da Charme.