St. Januarius & Companions, Martyrs–R (III)

Januarius, also known as Januarius I of Benevento, was Bishop of Naples and is a martyr and saint of the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later sources state that he died during the Great Persecution which ended with Diocletian’s retirement in 305. Januarius is the patron saint of Naples, where the faithful gather three times a year in Naples Cathedral to witness the liquefaction of a sample of his blood kept in a sealed glass ampoule.