what science says (and how the “prodigy” was born) – Corriere.it

There is Covid, Diego Armando died Maradona nor the blood of San Gennaro It works very well. The news that this year’s popular and revered patron relic is struggling to melt immediately gave way to a jumble of interpretations between the superstitious and the religious. And without bothering with him Not true, but I believe in Peppino By FilippoIt should be remembered that the official Church does not consider the transmutation of the blood of San Gennaro a true miracle but a simple wonder. That Sciences he tried several times to explain himself.

The best known and most reputable experiment dates back to 1991 and was carried out in the name of Cicap by three researchers fromUniversity of Pavia (Franco Ramaccini, Sergio Della Sala and Luigi Garlaschelli) and even in the magazine Nature. All three scholars have resorted to the concept of thixotropy that is, the ability of some gelatinous substances to turn into a liquid state if shaken: without entering into the merits of what is the true content of the ampoules stored in Naples cathedral the experiment had reproduced the miracle in the laboratory thanks to substances that were known even in past centuries.

Although the Church considers inexplicable A phenomenon that has been repeated for centuries, there is no certainty that the substance that is kept inside the two vials in the center of the celebration is actually the blood of San Gennaro. Certainly the evidence of its liquefaction goes back to the 14th century (the patron and martyr lived and died in the 3rd century) while today’s celebration, on December 16, dates back to a very specific historical event: Vesuvius eruption Dated to 1600 which, according to popular tradition, stopped during a celebration in which the bust and the ampoules with the relics of San Gennaro were exhibited.