DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.53553#0110
92
and without any cement whatever, so firmly, that it has ever
since remained where you see it, and no force will ever be
able again to sever it. And here/’ pointing to a place be-
hind the ear, f<ryou observe the mark left by a boil, that
shewed itself, as a presage of the great plague which desola-
ted the kingdom and city of Naples, in the year 1686. ”
At the other side of the altar was the celebrated stone on
which some of the drops of the blood of St. Januarius had
fallen, when he was beheaded; and although day-light in
this chapel was as sparingly administered as in any of our
linen-drapers’ shops in Cranbourn-alley, yet I should be
wanting in truth were I not to confess, that some brown spots
were certainly visible on the surface of the stone. How far
the assertion is correct, that on the day, or rather at the mo-
ment, of the liquefaction of the saint’s blood at Naples, these
spots turn to a bright red, I will not pretend to decide ; nor
shall I be able to ascertain the fact, since I intend to witness
the superior miracle of the two, at the approaching celebra-
tion of the solemnity in Naples.
Father Anselm perceiving, with evident marks of inward
satisfaction, the attention with which I viewed the wonders
he had exhibited to me, asked in a tone of innocent triumph,
“ Dite mi, caro Signor mio, cosa pensate di tutto questo ?”
“ Non mi maraviglio pin della divazione del popolo Napo-
letano, con tanti miracoli e monumenti sacri attorno di loro.”
“ Ah, Signor Don Luigi, abbiamo, per disgrazia nostra,
pecore rognose assainella mandra nostra.”
“ Non e colpa de’ pastori certamente*.” On
* “ Well, my dear sir, what do you think of all this ?”
“ I am no longer surprised at the devotion of the Neapolitan people, surrounded as
they are by so many miracles and holy monuments.”
“ Alas, dear sir, we have plenty of scabby sheep in our flock.”
“ Surely this is not the fault of the shepherds.”
and without any cement whatever, so firmly, that it has ever
since remained where you see it, and no force will ever be
able again to sever it. And here/’ pointing to a place be-
hind the ear, f<ryou observe the mark left by a boil, that
shewed itself, as a presage of the great plague which desola-
ted the kingdom and city of Naples, in the year 1686. ”
At the other side of the altar was the celebrated stone on
which some of the drops of the blood of St. Januarius had
fallen, when he was beheaded; and although day-light in
this chapel was as sparingly administered as in any of our
linen-drapers’ shops in Cranbourn-alley, yet I should be
wanting in truth were I not to confess, that some brown spots
were certainly visible on the surface of the stone. How far
the assertion is correct, that on the day, or rather at the mo-
ment, of the liquefaction of the saint’s blood at Naples, these
spots turn to a bright red, I will not pretend to decide ; nor
shall I be able to ascertain the fact, since I intend to witness
the superior miracle of the two, at the approaching celebra-
tion of the solemnity in Naples.
Father Anselm perceiving, with evident marks of inward
satisfaction, the attention with which I viewed the wonders
he had exhibited to me, asked in a tone of innocent triumph,
“ Dite mi, caro Signor mio, cosa pensate di tutto questo ?”
“ Non mi maraviglio pin della divazione del popolo Napo-
letano, con tanti miracoli e monumenti sacri attorno di loro.”
“ Ah, Signor Don Luigi, abbiamo, per disgrazia nostra,
pecore rognose assainella mandra nostra.”
“ Non e colpa de’ pastori certamente*.” On
* “ Well, my dear sir, what do you think of all this ?”
“ I am no longer surprised at the devotion of the Neapolitan people, surrounded as
they are by so many miracles and holy monuments.”
“ Alas, dear sir, we have plenty of scabby sheep in our flock.”
“ Surely this is not the fault of the shepherds.”