On May 25, 1802, excavators in the ancient Catacomb of St. Priscilla in Rome came upon a well-preserved shelf tomb sealed with terra-cotta slabs in the manner usually reserved for nobility or great martyrs. The tomb was marked with three tiles, inscribed with the following confusing words: LUMENA / PAXTE / cuмFI. However, if one places the first tile last and separates the words properly, the very intelligible sentence emerges: "Pax tecuм, Filumena", which is, "Peace be with you, Philomena" Also inscribed on the tiles were symbols: a lily, arrows, an anchor and a lance, which would appear to indicate virginity and martyrdom. Inside the coffin there were discovered the remains of a girl of about twelve or thirteen years of age, along with a vial or ampulla of her dried blood.

Transferred to the Treasury of the Rare Collection of Christian Antiquity in the Vatican, the remains were soon forgotten by the public, especially since no record existed of a virgin martyr named Philomena. But in 1805, a Neapolitan priest, Don Francesco di Lucia, traveling to Rome with his newly appointed bishop, requested and, after a brief delay, received the relics of this martyr "Philomena" to enshrine in his village church at Mugnano, near Naples.

Immediately upon the official donation of St. Philomena’s sacred remains, signal favors began to be granted through her intercession and unusual events to occur. The favors, graces and even miracles started to increase, even before her enshrinement at Mugnano, and they steadily grew in number thereafter-such that this virgin martyr soon earned the title, "Philomena, Powerful with God." In 1837, only 35 years after her exhumation, Pope Gregory XVI elevated this "Wonder-Worker of the Nineteenth Century" to sainthood. In an act unprecedented in the history of Catholicism, she became the only person recognized by the Church as a Saint solely on the basis of her powerful intercession, since nothing historical was known of her except her name and the evidence of her martyrdom.

But truly, as her devotees have discovered, no case, of whatever matter is too trivial or too unimportant to concern her. Among her most devoted clients was St. John Vianney (the Cure D'Ars) whose childlike devotion to this virgin Saint played an intimate part in his daily life. Other Saints who were always devoted to her, prayed to her and sang her praises were : St. Peter Julian Eymard, St.Peter Chanel, St. Anthony Mary Claret, St. Madelaine Sophie Barat, St. Euphrasia Pelletier, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, St. John Nepomucene Neumann, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi and Ven. Pauline Jaricot.

A number of Popes have also shown remarkable devotion to Philomena as well: Pope Leo XII (1823-1829) expressed the great admiration for this unknown child-saint and gladly gave his permission for the erection of altars and churches in her honor. Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846), who authorized her public veneration showed his esteem and devotion to the Saint by giving her the title of "Patroness of the Living Rosary." A Mass and proper Office in her honor were approved by him in 1834 or 1835. This is extraordinary privilege granted to comparatively few Saints. Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) proclaimed her "Patroness of the Children of Mary." Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) made two pilgrimages to her shrine before his election to the papacy. After he had become the Vicar of Christ, he gave a valuable cross to the sanctuary He approved the Confraternity of St. Philomena and later raised it to an Arch-confraternity (which is still headquartered at her shrine at Mugnano, Italy). Pope St. Pius X (1903-1914) spoke warmly of her and manifested his devotion to her in various ways. Costly gifts were given by him to her shrine.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2014-08-11

The Facts of St. Philomena

In spite of much research, little is known of the life of Saint Philomena before the discovery of her celebrated tomb in the Catacombs of Pricilla at Rome. The only information we have about the life of the Saint is derived from the revelation that she herself made to the Servant of God, Sister Maria Luisa of Jesus, her fervent devotee, on August 3, 1833. Speaking to the holy sister while she was in prayer before a statue of her, the Saint recounted in detail all her life.



On this page, we lay out for you the known facts about our dear Saint including some historical perspectives.





May 24, 1802 – A TOMB IS DISCOVERED

To begin telling the story, let us paint a brief picture of the times: revolution, war, famine, atheism, and persecution had trodden Europe hard during the eighteenth century, and the icy Jansenist heresy had touched and withered the spiritual vigor of Catholics. The only spirit that flourished in such circuмstances, it seemed, was the spirit of self-sufficiency. Men were well content to believe in nothing but their own abilities. They talked about the rights of man, meaning the right of any man to think as they did.



In these fierce days of persecution the primitive Christians were obliged to perform the sacred rites of their holy religion in the subterranean caverns (cryptœ) which extend on every side of the Eternal City, but clustered most thickly at the south-east corner, near the Appain way and the Ardeatine Way. These caverns, long believed to have been originally mere sand-pits, arenaria, out of which sand was dug for building purposes, are now proved beyond all doubt to have been constructed at great expense by noble and wealthy Christian families as places of burial. The Catacombs, as they are called, during three consecutive centuries were the places where the faithful had their temples and altars; where they met to pray in common and where the Pontiffs celebrated "The Gathering," or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They were in constant use also up to the cessation of persecution, and even to 410 A.D as the last resting-place of the saints and martyrs. In the terrible eruptions of the Goths and Lombards, many of these cemeteries, especially of the Via Salaria, were sacrilegiously plundered of their sacred treasures, and in part destroyed. When happier times ensued -- at the commencement of the eighth century and culminating with Pope St. Paschal -- all the relics of the Popes and principal martyrs and confessors which had hitherto lain in the Catacombs were removed for greater safety to the churches of Rome. As time went on the Catacombs were abandoned and in great part closed, and the knowledge of them was lost altogether, until they were accidentally re-discovered by some laborer in the year 1578. Even then they seem to have been left unguarded, and permission was given to the faithful to take away whatever relics they chose. But by a special providence of God the sacred tomb of St. Philomena was left unnoticed and undisturbed until it pleased Him in these later days to reveal her glory to the entire world.


However, the story begins quite plainly, though and perhaps a little pathetically. On May 24th, 1802, workers had just returned to the excavations begun earlier in a tufa pit in an underground cemetery dedicated to the family of Priscilla (the ancient Catacomb of Saint Priscilla), underneath the soil on the road that goes out of the Porta Salaria from Rome to Ancona.



Laboring in the darkness, a worker reached the center of the catacomb not far from the Greek Chapel, and very close to the largest luminaries where he was clearing loose sand which had fallen from one of the galleries on the upper level from a loculus when his pick struck a cemented surface.



Upon closer examination the concrete surface appeared to be some tiles which would normally enclose a loculus and, as previously instructed by Msgr. Ponzetti, Custodian of the Holy Relics, immediately ceased the excavation.





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AUGUST 10 1805 - TRANSFER OF THE RELICS TO THE SANCTUARY

The remains of Filumena departed from Rome on July 1, 1805 and arrived at Mugnano on August 10, 1805 where they have remained since the transferal.



In 1805, England was at war with France, because France had been intriguing with Ireland and Scotland, had attempted to invade England and had designs on the Indian Empire. Napoleon, who had been the Commander-in-Chief of the French Army which invaded and conquered Italy, was now Emperor of the French.



That summer, the Bishop-elect of Petenza went to Rome to be consecrated, and also to congratulate the Pope, Pius VII, on his return from France, on behalf of the King of Naples, the Spanish Don Carlos. He took with him as his chaplain, a holy missionary priest who was serving the parish of Mugnano north of Naples, and this priest's name was Don Francesco De Lucia. Don Francesco, a cultured and pious priest, was born at Mugnano del Cardinale on September 19, 1772. He completed his studies in the Congregation of the Most Blessed Sacrament of Lucera. Ordained priest on September 19, 1796, he opened in Naples a school of philosophy and literature. He quickly gained the esteem and affection of distinguished Neapolitan people in education circles. Amongst these there was the Venerable Jesuit Servant of God, Guiseppe Maria Pignatelli.



Don Francesco had a heavy heart. His parish was infected with revolutionary ideas, resentment against the authority of the Church, unbelief, and immorality. His secret hope was to get the Bishop to use his authority to get him the relics of a martyr -- a saint who would come back with him and help him with his parish, which only a saint could convert. He knew exactly what he wanted -- a virgin martyr whose name was known.


The Guardian of the Custodia Generale, which Don Francesco soon got permission to visit, was evidently taken by this devout and humble priest, and said he would help him to get what he wanted, and told him to choose among the relics in the Custodia. About the middle of May, Don Francesco was taken to the Treasure House of Relics, which was under the care of a worthy guardian, Monsignor Don Giacinto Ponzetti. There were those of thirteen martyrs, but only the names of three were known -- one was a child, one an adult and then there was 'Filumena.' He had wanted a virgin martyr from the first, but what was more, when he stood before the case containing Filumena's relics, he felt filled with spiritual joy, the heaviness of heart gone as though she had instantly taken it from him. This was undoubtedly the helper he wanted! The Guardian promised to arrange for him to have her. Imagine his disappointment, then, when the official reply came that bodies of martyrs whose names were known were so few, that such as were found must be kept for special churches or dioceses.



His sadness returned, redoubled. Rome is not the best place in which to spend the summer -- or at least it was not in those days, when the marshes of the Campagna had not been drained. And what with overwork and worry, and the heat, and the disappointment, Don Francesco lost his sleep, his appetite and his health. A friend offered him the relics of another and unnamed martyr to comfort him, but had got it into his head that it was Filumena or nobody who could and would convert his parish. And one night, when he found himself burning with fever and not a breath of cool air to bring him sleep, he promised desperately that if Filumena would make him sleep, he would take her for his patron and bring her to Mugnano by hook or crook. His fever left him; he fell into a refreshing sleep, and woke in the brilliant Roman morning in perfect health.



That decided it. Filumena wanted to come with him as much as he wanted to have her. This time he went to the newly consecrated Bishop, and asked him to use his influence. When the Bishop heard the story, he agreed that the little saint seemed to want to come to Mugnano, and he added his request to Don Francesco's, with the result that the Bishop could not be refused. The Guardian gladly acted on the permission he received to hand over the relics, saying that he felt sure Filumena wished to go to Mugnano and work miracles there.



Joyfully, the good Bishop and Don Francesco took possession of the precious casket, and determined to bring Filumena to Naples with many prayers and every honor, the casket to be put in front of the Episcopal carriage.


The cortege was due in the little town on Sunday, 10th August, and on the vigil, bells were rung joyously to announce the morrow's event. At dawn of day a messenger was sent by Don Francesco himself to proclaim that the sacred body was coming. Soon an unusual excitement reigned, and the crowd might be seen proceeding from all directions to meet and welcome it. The day was to be noted as a memorable one in the archives of Mugnano. More than forty priests in their richest vestments, the members of the various confraternities and representatives from the neighboring parishes went in procession with banners displayed. The road was strewn with olive branches and exquisite flowers. And when the body of the saint was in sight, all the bells were heard "sprinkling the air with holy sounds." choice music added its charms to the rejoicing; bombs and guns mingled their voice of thunder with the imposing concert; groups of young men and young girls united in singing hymns and canticles in their honor. After entering the town the cortege took fully two hours to reach the church of the Madonna del grazie. When it arrived the sacred body was deposited under a triumphal dias near the Gospel side of the high altar, and Solemn High Mass was sung.



Don Francesco Lucia, to give a solid and profound base to the devotion to the saint, founded the Association of the Children of Saint Philomena. He was the first rector of the sanctuary and most vigilant guardian of the holy remains of the saint. He dedicated his priestly life for the glory of God and for souls. After 41 years of untiring apostolate in the propagation of devotion to Saint Filumena in all the Kingdom of the Two Sicilys, acquiring the regard of cardinals and bishops, he rendered his great soul to God on April 9, 1847.

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The two arrows pointing in opposite directions signify torment similar to that which Diocletian exercised on St. Sebastian.

Among the three verified apparitions of St. Philomena revealed to three people of diverse locales (they did not know each other yet their description of what the saint had told them about her life was as similar to each other as the three synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke), was the explanation of the meaning of those two arrows pointing in opposite directions.

The saint had told these visionaries that during her persecution, one of the methods that the emperor had ordered committed upon her was to be shot with arrows.  First, the archers tried to shoot her as in a firing squad, but the arrows would not hit their mark.  Then they were ordered to use flaming arrows, and upon unleashing them toward their victim, they reversed direction in mid flight, and returned to inflict their damage on the archers themselves, who then died:  except for one.  He lay bleeding on the ground, having been shot in the eye by his own arrow, and he had cried out in pain to the saint to help him.  She responded to him that when she died, if he would take some of her blood and apply it to his eye, he would be relieved.  He did so, and was cured on the spot, his eye being restored to normal as if never having been injured.  He was then condemned to death himself, and died in the grace of conversion.  We are not told what his name was.

Many of the soldiers who witnessed such prodigies converted and became Catholics, and this trend was most disturbing to the pagan Romans.  By this kind of thing, the saying arose that the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.  

Even to this day, olive oil from the lamp of St. Philomena that burns at her shrine in Mugnano, Italy, continues to be the stuff from which new miraculous cures of ailments continues to occur.  Among these cures are restoration of health to the eyes of those with diverse optical ailments.  I know of one person whose optic nerve was said to have withered and the doctors had told the victim that there was nothing they could do for treatment;  even so, after her faithful application of the oil from the lamp of St. Philomena to her own eye, and a simple prayer to the saint, her vision was restored and lasted to the end of her life, about 15 more years, during which time she never ceased to thank the little saint for this cure.  She had made several visits to the saint's shrine to thank her.  

Saint Lucy (Santa Lucia) is another Virgin Roman Martyr who is a patroness of those with eye ailments.

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Thanks so much Poche, Neil, and Luker.!

He was then condemned to death himself, and died in the grace of conversion.  We are not told what his name was.

I love when I hear about these hidden saints, I always like to ask a prayer of them. Soldier of St. Philomena, pray for us!

In 1833, Bishop Anselmo Basilici of the Diocese of Nepi and Sutri requested a feast and office in honor of St. Philomena from the Holy See, with the local ordinary from Nola having prepared a lesson for the breviary in her honor. The Basilici petition received the support of a significant number of Italian bishops, in spite of its unusual status due to the absence of reference to St. Philomena in any martyrology or in any other historical account. The loculus name, Filumena, and the ubiquitous miracles acquired through her intercession as testified by numerous Church authorities sufficed for many of the Italian hierarchy in substantiating the legitimacy of the petition. On September 6, 1834, the Congregation of Rites submitted to Pope Gregory XVI the formal request for the approval of the office and mass in honor of St. Philomena, virgin and martyr, due to the repeated request for this liturgical cult and veneration by several prelates.

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On January 30, 1837, Gregory XVI issued a solemn pontifical decree confirming the rescript of the Congregation of Rites authorizing her public cultus and approving the office, Mass of the Common of a virgin and martyr with a proper fourth lesson at Matins in honor of St. Philomena, virgin and martyr on August 11. This papal approval of public liturgical devotion was first granted to the clergy of the Diocese of Nola, and later extended to other dioceses, including Rome itself. The fourth lesson officially inserted into the Breviary in liturgical honor of St. Philomena on August 11 acknowledges the finding of her remains in the Priscilla catacombs, her martyrdom status, the rapid spread of her extensive popular devotion amidst the faithful due to her miraculous intercession, and the permission of Gregory XVI to celebrate liturgically the office and mass in her honor (as here presented):



DIE XI AUGUSTI

IN FESTO S. PHILUMENAE

Virginis et Martyris

In II NOCTURNO – LECTIO IV



Inter cetera martyrum sepulcra, quae in coemeterio Priscillae ad viam Salariam reperiri solent, illud exstitit quo repositum fuerat sanctae Philumenae corpus, uti ex tumuli inscriptione, tribus laterculis apposita, perlegebatur. Licet vero inventa fuerit phiala sanguinis, et alia descripta conspicerentur martyrii insignia, dolendum tamen est res ab eadem gestas actaque ac genus martyrii quod ipsa fecit obscura perstitisse. Ceterum ubi primum sacrum hoc corpus, ex beneficentia Pii septimi initio pontificatus ejus acceptum, cultui fidelis populi propositum fuit Mugnani in Nolana dioecesi, ingens illico famae celebritas ac religio erga sanctam martyrem percrebuit, praesertim ob signa quae ejusdem praesidio accessisse undique ferebatur. Hinc factum est ut complurium antistitum cultorumque martyris postulationibus permotus Gregorius decimus sextus pontifex maximus, universa rei ratione mature perpensa, festum ejusdem cuм Officio et Missa in memorata Nolana dioecesi et alibi agendum benigne permiserit.



C.M Episcop. Praenest. Card. PEDICINIUS;

S. R. E. Vice- C. S.R.C. Praef.;

V. PESCETELLI S. Fidei Promotor.



In sum, Pope Gregory XVI in a papal decree, granted official approbation of the liturgical cultus and, thereby, official ecclesiastical recognition of the sanctity of St. Philomena, virgin and martyr. The Pontiff, fully aware of the absence of any historical account of the martyr saint "Filumena," granted to her the privileges of public liturgical veneration based upon the foundation of the great quantity of miracles ecclesiastically docuмented and recognized as having occurred through her direct intercession.


The official positive decree of Gregory XVI in papal recognition of St. Philomena's status as deserving of liturgical cult reinforces the deeper truth that far more important than the historical account of Philomena's earthly life is the historical and docuмented account of her powerful intercession for the Church as sanctioned by God himself. Whoever this early Christian martyr is and whatever constitutes the particular circuмstances of her life and death, God is pleased with prayers of petition offered in the name of "St. Philomena," to which He has responded generously to the Christian faithful in granting an abundance of heavenly favors.



The historical abundance of miracles attests to God's desire to encourage devotion to the person behind the name of Filumena, regardless of the absence of a recorded history of her earthly life. This primacy of importance of her actual intercession for the People of God in our own times, over the details of her earthly life in ancient times, is what the Pope and the Church confirmed in the raising of St. Philomena to the level of public liturgical veneration, the beginning of the process of her public recognition as saint and martyr.

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Hagiographical Testimony



St. John Vianney, beyond any other saint or blessed, manifested an expansive testimony of faith and docuмented witness toward the reality of St. Philomena and her profound intercessory efficacy. The Cure, as recorded in the canonization process, attributed all the miracles docuмented at Ars to have been effected through St. Philomena's intercession; repeatedly spoke of having received apparitions of St. Philomena; and directly attributed his own personal miraculous cure from grave illness to her intercession.



The testimony and cure of Ven. Pauline Jaricot through the intercession of the young martyr saint has been noted. St. Peter Julian Eymard was cured from serious illness after having been instructed by Vianney to pray a novena to St. Philomena. St. Peter Channel, the first Oceanian martyr, preached of St. Philomena and referred to her as his "auxiliary" in his missionary apostolate.



Bl. Damien de Veuster dedicated his first chapel in Molokai to the young saint. Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat consistently invoked Philomena during difficulties in the establishment of her societies, and attributed the miraculous cure of a dying novice to her intercession.



Bl. Anna Maria Taigi, as related in her beatification proceedings, applied oil burned before the tomb of St. Philomena to the eye of her grandchild who had been medically diagnosed with an incurable pupil tear of the eye, and the eye was immediately healed. Other saints and blesseds who manifested veneration to St. Philomena include St. Magdalene of Canossa, Bl. Bartolo Longo, Bl. Annibale Da Messina, and Bl. Pius IX, who, shortly before his death, sent to Mugnano the chalice presented to him by the Belgian Federation of Catholic Circles on his golden Episcopal anniversary as one of several papal votive gifts sent in honor of and gratitude to St. Philomena.



The wisdom inherent in sanctity as personified in the lives of the aforementioned saints and blesseds provides a substantial confirmation of the decrees of the ordinary Magisterium which granted public ecclesiastical devotion to the martyr saint. Worthy of particular mention is the significant number of saints and blesseds who immediately participated in veneration of Philomena within the same half century of the discovery of her sacred remains, some before any certain statement concerning her public veneration was issued by Rome.



Note also the predominant importance of the supernatural intervention of miracles in the Church process of canonization. Without the docuмented miracles, an individual cause does not typically advance past the status of "Servant of God," even with extensive historical evidence of an earthly life of heroic virtue. The Church places its greatest emphasis for canonization, along with an essential historical basis, upon God's witness to the sanctity of the candidate through the manifestation of miraculous intercession by the person. It was therefore most appropriate for Gregory XVI to give far greater importance to the miracles docuмented to the intercession of Philomena, rather than to the history of her earthly existence beyond the Church approved criteria of historically establishing her martyrdom. The present inquiry into the case of St. Philomena should follow the same criteria as those followed by Popes Gregory XVI, Bl. Pius IX, Leo XIII and St. Pius X.

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