Philomena

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Saint Philomena
Statue of Saint Filomena in Molve, Croatia
Martyr
Born c. January 10, 291, Corfu, Greece
Died c. August 10, 304, Rome, Italy
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Major shrine Church of Our Lady of Grace in Mugnano del Cardinale
Feast August 11 (not celebrated liturgically)
Attributes Youth, palm of martyrdom, flower crown, orange or white robes, palm, arrows, anchor, sometimes a partially slit throat
Patronage Children, youth, babies, infants, lost causes, sterility, virgins, Children of Mary, The Universal Living Rosary Association
Saints Portal

Saint Philomena is a saint and martyr of the Roman Catholic Church, said to have been a young Greek princess martyred in the 4th century. Her veneration began in the early 19th century as a result of an archaeological find; after news of the find spread, several miracles were credited to her intercession. Devotion to her was especially publicised by Saint Jean Vianney, who attributed some of his works of faith healing to her aid.

In 1961, Philomena was dropped from the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar of saints. The Church's decision to drop Philomena from the calendar was a liturgical directive, not a denial of sainthood.[1] Her melodramatic biography is an example of how legendary saints arose in hagiography; her story is exceptional largely because her legend arose during a period of widespread literacy, so the spread of her fame can be documented.

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[edit] Discovery of a tomb

The remains of a teenage girl no older than 14 were discovered on May 24, 1802 in the Catacombs of Saint Priscilla at the Via Salaria in Rome. Accompanying these remains was a set of tiles bearing a fragmentary inscription containing the words LUMENA PAXTE CUMFI, words of no known meaning in any language. The letters were rearranged to read PAX TECUM FILUMENA, Latin for "Peace with you, Filumena." Various vessels, including one allegedly containing blood, were also found in the tomb.

From these discoveries, it was concluded that a Christian named Filumena — i.e. Philomena — was buried there; the vessel containing blood was thought to be her relic, evidence of a martyr's death. On June 8, 1805, her remains and relics were transported to the church of Mugnano, a diocese of Nola, outside of Naples. The terra cotta slabs from her tomb were given to the Mugnano church in 1827 by Pope Leo XII.

[edit] Philomena venerated as a saint

The discovery of these relics or alleged relics resulted in a wave of devotion to Philomena. In 1835, Venerable Pauline Jaricot, a young French woman and future founder of the Association of the Living Rosary and the Society for the Propagation of the Faith,[2] gave credit to Philomena for her recovery from heart disease. St. John Marie Vianney (The Cure of Ars), who was well known as a faith healer, also frequently credited Philomena's intervention in working his cures. Other noteworthy devotees include Father Damien, who named a chapel in the leprosarium at Molokai, Hawaii after Philomena. In Chile, Servant of God "Fray Andresito" (Franciscan brother Andrés García Acosta) was extremely devoted to Philomena as well, after obtaining a beautiful portrait of hers; there's a small altar dedicated to Philomena in the Recoleta Franciscana church, the main Fray Andresito shrine in Chile, which is located not too far from both a church and a city street also named after her.

It was largely on account of these reports of miracles that Pope Gregory XVI authorized the public veneration of Philomena as a saint, and instituted a feast day that was formerly observed on September 9. This papal approval of public liturgical devotion was first granted to the clergy of the diocese of Nola, and later extended to a number other dioceses, including Rome itself.

[edit] Story of her martyrdom

Three unrelated people in different parts of the world who had devotion to Philomena received similar private revelations regarding Philomena's life and martyrdom. They were an artist, a priest, and a nun from Naples named Sr. Luisa; by private revelation, she produced a life of Philomena, after praying before a statue of hers specifically asking for details about her life, and supposedly having a vision of the saint a few times after this.

Philomena herself was allegedly a young girl, not older than 13 at the time of her death; the inscriptions found on terracotta slabs which formed the sides of her vault (an anchor, two arrows, a lance, a palm and a lily) were considered by the discoverers to indicate that she suffered a Christian martyr's death, that she overcame, and that she was a virgin.

According to the nun's account, Saint Philomena was a Greek Princess from a city-state located in the Island of Corfu. Her father and mother were of Greek royalty, and for many years were unable to conceive a child. They prayed and offered sacrifices to false gods to no avail. Eventually, the court doctor Publius converted them, telling them that if they prayed to the Christian God he believed in, He would hear their prayer and grant them a child. They followed his advice and soon they had a baby girl, whom they named Philomena (at first thought to mean "friend of light" in Greek, but later revealed to mean "beloved" in the same language). Philomena was raised as a Christian as well, closely watched over and even pampered by her parents.

When Princess Philomena was around 13 years old, her parents were called to Rome when the Emperor Diocletian wished to inflict war on their city-state. On having witnessed Philomena's extreme beauty and being impressed by her proper manners, Diocletian asked for her hand in marriage as a sort of peace treaty, offering Philomena's parents great honors and riches along with peace. They accepted the offer to engage Philomena to Diocletian, but when she was asked about the matter, Philomena refused to become the Empress; not only had her family not asked her opinion from the beginning, but she had already vowed her virginity to Jesus Christ. Not even her parents' pleas and promises would make her change her mind.

Trying to get Philomena to accept marriage to the Emperor, her parents brought her to Diocletian's presence, who also attempted to win her favor but she still refused. She was thrown in jail and ordered to be executed. During her time in the prison, Philomena had a vision of Virgin Mary, who warned her about what would happen and promised heavenly glory and protection if she endured the tortures.

After 37 days of imprisonment, Philomena was tied to a post and flogged all over, but after she was thrown back to her cell, angels came from Heaven and healed her with a miraculous balm. Then, she was ordered drowned with an anchor tied about her neck, but the rope was rent by angels and Philomena was returned to dry land completely unharmed. Later, she was meant to be killed by archers, but not only was she healed again by the angels in jail, when she was shot, the arrows returned upon the bowmen and killed them. Now accused of witchcraft, Philomena was finally decapitated when a mob ran amok, after seeing the miracles performed on her behalf.

The incidents of this biography go far beyond the evidence found in the tomb. They strongly resemble the accounts of other Christian martyrs told in medieval hagiographies such as the Golden Legend. The anchor symbol found in the tomb was used to link her with traditional accounts of the martyrdom of Saint Clement; a 9th century narrative has him being drowned tied to an anchor; earlier accounts say he died a natural death. The arrows linked her with the story of the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian; traditional accounts of his martyrdom have him being shot with arrows.

[edit] Philomena's feast day removed

On February 14, 1961, prior to the Second Vatican Council, the Sacred Congregation of Rites in Rome issued an instruction that St. Philomena's feast day was to be removed from the liturgical calendars. This occurred well before the well known purging of supposedly non-historical saints like Saint Christopher from the Roman Catholic church calendar in 1969.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia and other books, the plates found on the actual grave, which had apparently been arranged in an incorrect order, were in fact from an older grave, and were reused on the grave where they were found. Neither these signs nor the glass vessel discovered in the grave can be regarded as a definitive proof of martyrdom.

The removal of the name from the calendar was a directive stating that Philomena is no longer publicly commemorated in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church; it was not, however, an ecclesial declaration of decanonization, nor did it prohibit popular devotion to St. Philomena, which has received repeated approbation by the papal Magisterium.

The Feast of Saint Philomena is still celebrated in Mass by parishes and missions named for her.[3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Mohr, Saint Philomena, Powerful with God.
  2. ^ Letter from Pope John Paul II
  3. ^ Saint Philomena Parish home page

[edit] References

Saints Portal
  • Sister Marie Helene Mohr, S.C. (1988), Saint Philomena, Powerful with God, Rockford (Illinois): TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.
  • "Philomena", in David Hugh Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0-19-860949-3
  • Dr. Mark Miravalle, Present Ecclesial Status of Devotion to St. Philomena (Queenship Publishing, 2002) ISBN 1-57918-228-3

[edit] External links