SAINT PHILOMENA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR:
Philomena – means “daughter of light”. St. Philomena (291- 304) Wonder Worker, Virgin and Martyr is a fascinating saint. “To Philomena, nothing is refused .”
St. Philomena, Powerful with God! St. Philomena was a Greek Princess who lived on the Island of Corfu during the third to fourth century. St. Philomena would have been forgotten to history if not for a miraculous vision that identified her with a tomb discovered over 1,500 years later. This and other extraordinary events surrounding St. Philomena have given her a particular reputation for miracles. In fact, the Blessed Virgin Mary reportedly said in a vision, “To Philomena, nothing is refused.” St. Philomena was the daughter of a king in Greece who, with his wife, had converted to Christianity. St. Philomena was born on January 10, 291 at Corfu, Greece and died on August 10, 304 at the age of 13 in Rome, Italy. At the age of about 13 she took a vow of consecrated virginity. When the Emperor Diocletian threatened to make war on her father, he went with his family to Rome to ask for peace.
The Emperor fell in love with the young Philomena and, when she refused to be his wife, he subjected her to a series of torments: scourging, from whose effects two angels cured her; drowning with an anchor attached to her, but two angels cut the rope and raised her to the river bank; being shot with arrows, but on the first occasion her wounds were healed, on the second the arrows turned aside, and on the third, they returned and killed six of the archers, and several of the others became Christians. Finally the Emperor had her decapitated, which occurred on a Friday at three in the afternoon, as with the death of Jesus. The two anchors, three arrows, the palm and the ivy leaf on the tiles found in the tomb were interpreted as symbols of her martyrdom. Saint Philomena’s remains were discovered on May 24-25 1802, during the quest for the graves of Roman martyrs in the Catacomb of Priscilla, a tomb was discovered and opened; as it contained a glass vessel it was assumed to be the grave of a martyr. The view, then erroneously entertained in Rome, that the presence of such vessels (supposed to have contained the martyr’s blood) in a grave was a symbol of martyrdom, has been rejected in practice since the investigations of De Rossi (cf. Leclercq in “Dict. d.archéol. chrét. et de liturg.”, s.v. Ampoules de sang). The remains found in the above-mentioned tomb were shown to be those of a young maiden, and, as the name Filumena was discovered on the earthenware slabs closing the grave, it was assumed that they were those of a virgin martyr named Philumena.
On 8 June, 1805, the relics were translated to the church of Mungano, Diocese of Nola (near Naples), and enshrined under one of its altars. In 1827 Leo XII presented the church with the three earthenware tiles, with the inscription, which may be seen in the church even today. On the basis of alleged revelations to a nun in Naples, and of an entirely fanciful and indefensible explanation of the allegorical paintings, which were found on the slabs beside the inscription, a canon of the church in Mugnano, named Di Lucia, composed a purely fictitious and romantic account of the supposed martyrdom of St. Philomena, who is not mentioned in any of the ancient sources. In consequence of the wonderful favours received in answer to prayer before the relics of the Saint at Mugnano, devotion to them spread rapidly, and, after instituting investigations into the question, Gregory XVI appointed a special feast to be held on 9 September, “in honorem s. Philumenae virginis et martyris” (cf. the lessons of this feast in the Roman Breviary). The earthenware plates were fixed in front of the grave as follows: PAX TECUM FILUMENA. These tiles enclosing the tomb bore an inscription, Pax Tecum Filumena, which is, “Peace be with you, Philomena”. The plates were evidently inserted in the wrong order, and the inscription should doubtless read PAX TECUM FILUMENA. The letters are painted on the plates with red paint, and the inscription belongs to the primitive class of epigraphical memorials in the Catacomb of Priscilla, thus, dating from about the middle or second half of the second century. The disarrangement of the inscription proves that it must have been completed before the plates were put into position, although in the numerous other examples of this kind in the same catacomb the inscription was added only after the grave had been closed. Consequently, since the disarrangement of the plates can scarcely be explained as arising from an error, Marucchi seems justified in concluding that the inscription and plates originally belonged to an earlier grave, and were later employed (now in the wrong order) to close another. Apart from the letters, the plates contain three arrows, either as adecoration or a punctuation, a leaf as decoration, two anchors, and a palm as the well-known Christian symbols. Neither these signs nor the glass vessel discovered in the grave can be regarded as a proof of martyrdom. St. Philomena was Canonized on January 30, 1837, liturically canonized in an act of the ordinary Papal Magisterium, Vatican City by Pope Gregory XVI.
“God will never refuse her anything that she asks for us ” ~ St. John Vianney. St. John Vianney, a holy priest of the 19th century, developed a personal relationship with St. Philomena and frequently invoked her miraculous intercession. Whenever he needed something done, he turned to St. Philomena to intercede for him. Out of this relationship St. Vianney composed his own litany of St. Philomena that he prayed and encouraged others to do so as well. While no one is ever guaranteed a miracle, St. Philomena will certainly intercede for that person and make God’s will known to them, sometimes in a miraculous fashion. As with all prayer, the key is to trust in God and his divine providence.May our efforts to retrace some of the glories which surround the name of the youthful martyr of the Catacombs increase the fervor of those devoted to her. May they urge others to spread wider still veneration for her virtues of constancy and heroism, by which she obtained such favor with God, and merited so many benedictions for those who invoke her! St. Philomena! Pray for us. St. Philomena is the Patron Saint of children, babies, infants, youth, students, test takers, priests, lost causes, againt infertility, sterility, virgins, desperate causes, impossible causes, forgotten causes, orphans, the poor, prisoners, the sick, mental illness, against barrenness, against bodily ills, Children of Mary, The Universal Living Rosary Association, Sibonga, Cebu, Pulupandan, Negros Occidental.
PRAYER TO SAINT PHILOMENA FOR A FAVOR (KNOWN TO BE A VERY POWERFUL PRAYER): O faithful virgin and glorious martyr, Saint Philomena, who works so many miracles on behalf of the poor and sorrowful, have pity on me. Thou knowest the multitude and diversity of my needs. Behold me at thy feet, full of misery, but full of hope. I entreat thy charity O great Saint. Graciously hear me and obtain from God a favourable answer to the request which I now humbly lay before you (here specify your petition). I am firmly conviced that through the merits, through the scorn, the sufferings and the death thou didst endure, united to the merits of the Passion and Death of Jesus thy Spouse, I shall obtain what I ask of thee and the joy of my heart I will bless God, who is admirable in His saints. Amen 🙏
St. Philomena, powerful with God, pray for us!🙏
ST. PHILOMENA CHAPLET: This chaplet consists of 3 white beads and 13 red beads. On the medal say the Apostles Creed to ask for the grace of faith.
On each of the white beads say an Our Father in honor of the 3 Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity in thanksgiving for all favors obtained through her intercession.
On each of the red beads, which are 13 in number to represent the 13 years that St. Philomena spent on earth, say the following prayer:
PRAYER: Hail, O holy St. Philomena, whom I acknowledge, after Mary, as my advocate with the Divine Spouse, intercede for me now and at the hour of my death. St, Philomena, beloved daughter of Jesus and Mary, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Amen 🙏
Concluding Prayer: Hail, O illustrious St. Philomena, who shed so courageously your blood for Christ! I bless the Lord for all the graces He has bestowed upon thee during thy life, and especially at thy death. I praise and glorify Him for the honor and power with which He has crowned thee, and I beg thee to obtain for me from God the graces I ask through thy intercession. Amen.
Saint Philomena, beloved daughter of Jesus and Mary, pray for us who have recourse to you! Amen🙏
