This Italian saint is famous for his relic, a phial of dark, solid blood that liquefies annually on three different feasts: the date commemorating his martyrdom, the date when the relic was transferred back to Naples, and the date marking a liquefaction that allegedly averted an eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius. Januarius reportedly was killed during the persecution of Diocletian in 303. As bishop of Benevento, he was visiting some imprisoned deacons and laymen when he was arrested. These Christians were all condemned to death in an arena containing wild beasts, but when the animals wouldn’t touch them, they were beheaded. Januarius, the patron saint of Naples, is also invoked against volcanic eruptions.