Allentown Diocese begins annual blood drive on feast of St. Januarius amid nationwide shortage

The Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, began its third annual blood drive on Sept. 19, the feast of St. Januarius, the martyred fourth-century bishop whose blood at times miraculously liquefies.

The diocese has partnered once again with the Miller-Keystone Blood Center, which during the 2025 campaign collected 821 units of blood — 40% more than the previous year, according to a diocesan press release. Sixty-three parishes and schools throughout the diocese participated in the blood drive last year.

“Blood cannot be manufactured or replaced,” Allentown Bishop Alfred A. Schlert said in the release. “It can only come from individuals willing to give of themselves for others.”

The Miller-Keystone Blood Center said that because of a national shortage of donated blood, most centers around the country are operating with only a one- or two-day inventory.

“Blood is perishable, and there is no substitute,” said Monika Kotlarska-Gross, director of donor relations at Miller-Keystone. “The only source is the volunteer blood donor.”

Someone in the U.S. is transfused about every two seconds, according to the Red Cross, which said in July that an emergency shortage it had declared the month before had escalated to a national blood supply crisis, the second in the Red Cross’ history (the first was in 2022).

Summer is “trauma season,” according to the Red Cross, with more wrecks and outdoor injuries, and a single trauma patient can use dozens of units. The shortage comes as school blood drives disappear in the summertime. The Red Cross also blamed heat, air quality, and foodborne illness for keeping donors at home.

A diocesan spokesman told EWTN News the campaign can “become a straightforward model other dioceses around the country could adopt.”

Donors who give under their parish’s sponsor code will receive a St. Januarius medallion blessed by the bishop, he said.

The blood drive will end on Dec. 16, one of the dates St. Januarius’ blood is venerated for its miraculous liquefaction. According to the Diocese of Naples, Italy, the saint’s blood liquefied this year on Sept. 19 at 10:04 a.m.

St. Januarius, patron of blood banks

St. Januarius, the patron saint of blood banks and those who’ve suffered heart attacks, was the bishop of Benevento in the early 300s. Tradition holds that he hid Christians during the persecution of Roman Emperor Diocletian and was eventually caught and executed.

After his death, a woman named Eusebia is said to have saved some of his blood in two flasks, and since at least 1389, his dried blood has often miraculously liquefied and then solidified again, especially on his feast day and sometimes before popes and other holy people.

His blood is kept in Naples, nicknamed the “City of Blood,” which observes an annual feast and procession in his honor.