.
There are a lot of advocates and devotees of the Cure d'Ars, St. John
Vianney, but it is not so often recognized that when people would say
to him how wonderful his miracles were, his response was always,
Don't thank me - thank her (St. Philomena), for these miracles are
all her doing! I have nothing to do with it. It was due to the commission that the Cure d'Ars gave to Ven. Pauline
Jaricot, to go to Rome and visit the Pope on the way to the shrine in
Mugnano, that St. Philomena was later raised to the altars. It was a
great exception, for at the time there had never been any saint who
was so honored without any historical record of him ever having
existed. But due to the advice that the priest of Ars gave to this
sickly French woman, and then due to her faithfulness in following his
direction, St. Philomena was given the honor she had been waiting for,
for over 15 centuries.
We have to take his word at face value, for he said that he "had nothing
to do with it." But how did he know? Certainly the spirit of this Roman
virgin martyr gave Fr. John Vianney what he needed to know, and he did
not resist it. This is the meaning of the COMMUNION OF SAINTS.