SAINT PATRICIA
ON AUGUST 25
THE BLOOD OF THE
CO-PATRON SAINT OF NAPLES
PROTECTOR OF SINGLE WOMEN, WOMEN IN CHILDBIRTH AND SAILORS

by Luciano Troiano

Few people know that Naples, together with the famous San Gennaro, has 50 other co-patrons for the beauty of 51 saints to whom you can entrust your prayers and ask for graces. Together with the most famous saint in the world there is also Saint Patricia: her blood melts every Tuesday of the year with the religious feast of August 25.

The Church of San Gregorio Armeno, known as the Church of Santa Patrizia, is an oasis of peace within the chaos of the historic center, founded on the ruins of the temple of Ceres around the year 1000. Legend has it that the monastery was founded by Emperor Constantine's mother, St. Helena the Empress. Others say that the monastery was inhabited by the followers of the Saint, the Basilian nuns, who would have settled there after her death, preserving and venerating her relics and those of San Gregorio Armeno.

Saint Patricia, a descendant of Constantine, would have lived in the monastery in the fourth century following a shipwreck on the coast of the Neapolitan capital, where she would have remained until her death on August 13, 365.

His relics were transferred to the church in 1864, venerated today by the nuns who live in the convent complex, contained in a gold and silver reliquary. Together with the better known miracle of San Gennaro, that of Santa Patrizia also sees the liquefaction of the saint's blood take place, every Tuesday and every August 25, the day on which it is generally celebrated.

It is known from her biography that Saint Patricia was born in Constantinople on January 3, 664 A.D. and was the descendant of Constantine the Great, the most influential figure of the Roman Empire who sanctioned the freedom of worship and tolerance of Christianity with the famous Edict of Milan in 313 A.D. C.

Saint Patricia was of noble lineage, rich and of rare beauty, she was forced to marry by her relative Constans II even though from an early age she expressed the vow of virginity and, to keep faith with her oath, she decided to flee with her nurse Aglaia to Rome where she wished to receive the blessing of Pope Liberius, abandoning the luxury and privileges of monarchical life, embracing a sober and spiritual life. She soon became the bride of Christ.

Back in her homeland for the death of her father, she decided to abandon the royal palace and the rights to the imperial crown and distributed her part of the inheritance to the most needy, having the desire to leave on pilgrimage to the Holy Land to pray at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

During the sea voyage she was surprised by a terrible storm that pushed her to shipwreck in Naples on the islet of Megaride where she was rescued by a small community belonging to the monastery of the Basilian friars which is now Castel dell'Ovo. The religious gave her assistance from her arrival until, in a few months, a short illness brought her to the age of only 21. The hagiography of Saint Patricia connects her, rightfully in the pantheon of female figures of the Neapolitan capital together with the mermaid Parthenope.

Over time, a small community of devotees developed around her who closed themselves in the cloister to stay and watch over the body of the virgin without leaving the friars' convent. In the end, it was the latter who gave up their monastery to meet the needs of the new community.

The date of St. Patricia's death falls on August 25, 685 and was brought to the honors of the altars in 1625.

Of a simple and charitable soul, she was attributed a very strong cult by the Neapolitan people who welcomed her remains, first in the monastery of Saints Nicandro and Marciano in Caponapoli (where it is said that she prophesied this as a burial place) and later the sacred remains are transferred to the beautiful monastery of the Church of San Gregorio Armeno where, since 1864, they have been guarded by the Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist, called "Patriziane" according to the monastic order practiced by the saint.

The prodigy of St. Patricia has been known since the twelfth century for the exudation of manna (a pure liquid similar to water) that would have taken place along the burial walls of the body.

The liquefaction of blood, similar to that of San Gennaro, however, takes place at different times and according to tradition every Tuesday when it is possible to ask for a grace and on August 25, the day of martyrdom.

Among the most famous stories is that of the knight afflicted by enormous suffering who wanted to go and pray at the tomb of the saint to be healed. He prayed incessantly all night without detaching himself from the relic and, driven by great devotion, he opened the urn and pulled out a tooth from the virgin, who had died a few centuries earlier. Blood gushed from Patrizia's mouth as if it were a living body. For the enormous wonder, the blood was collected in two ampoules, still kept today, from which the miracle or the dissolution of the holy clots is witnessed annually on August 25, in the presence of devotees and cameras.

This is why his name is associated with that of the patron saint San Gennaro: for the liquefaction of blood certified by the ecclesiastical authorities.

Saint Patricia is the protector of unmarried women, of girls looking for a husband who go to her tomb during the year to pray to her to arrange a good marriage. But she is also the protector of sailors, women in labor and the needy.

Sources:

Neapolitan stories and legends by Benedetto Croce
SulSud.it
Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist of Naples
Church of Naples
Greco-Roman Naples by Bartolommeo Capasso
Beyond the remains
Veiled and unknown Naples by Maurizio Ponticello
He asks her about Naples by Vincenzo Regina
Neapolitan mysteries Siegfried E. F. Hoebel

Photo credits:

Mysterious Naples
The voice of the neighborhood
Naples tourist
Norman Studies Center
Vistanet

How to Get to the Church of San Gregorio Armeno – Naples