SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 11TH

MEMORIAL OF SAINT PHILOMENA, VIRGIN & MARTYR; SAINT CLARE, VIRGIN; SAINT SUSANNA, VIRGIN & MARTYR AND SAINT TIBURTIUS, MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 11TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Philomena, Virgin and Martyr; Saint Clare, Virgin; Saint Susanna, Virgin and Martyr and Saint Tiburtius, Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and Saints Philomena, Clare, Susanna and Turbitius on this feast day, we humbly pray for the safety and well-being of our children and Youths all over world, we pray for those seeking for the fruit of the womb and those facing impossible causes. We also pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are sick with eye diseases and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏

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🙏

SAINT CLARE, VIRGIN: St. Clare (1194–1253) was born on July 16, 1194, as Chiara Offreduccio, in Assisi, Italy, to an aristocratic family, the beautiful eldest daughter of Favorino Sciffi, a wealthy Count of Sasso-Rosso and his wife Ortolana. Her father was a wealthy representative of an ancient Roman family and her mother was a very devout woman belonging to the noble family of Fiumi. From childhood St. Clare was pious after the example of her mother, and as she grew up her longing for God increased. Before her birth, St. Clare’s mother received a sign that her daughter would be a bright light of God in the world. As a child she was already very strongly drawn to the things of God, praying fervently, devoutly visiting the Blessed Sacrament, and manifesting a tender love towards the poor. When she was eighteen she heard St. Francis of Assisi preach a Lenten mission in the local church, in the town square and she knew at once that God wanted her to consecrate herself to Him. St. Francis holy example kindled her desire to renounce the world and follow Christ. She secretly begged St. Francis to help her live as he did, in simplicity according to the Gospel. St. Francis agreed. On Palm Sunday, Clare attended High Mass in all her finery for the final time. There she received a mystical experience which confirmed her desire to renounce the world and follow Christ after the example of St. Francis. That same night she secretly fled her father’s house, along with two companions, to a chapel, Portiuncula, where St. Francis prayed awaited, awaiting her with his friars. On March 18, 1212, she received the penitential habit, exchanging her fine clothes for a rough tunic and veil, and had her hair cut off. St. Francis placed St. Clare for a time with Benedictine nuns in the convent, because she could not stay with the brothers and also to escape the wrath of her family. She was soon joined by her younger sister, Agnes, and other young women whom St. Francis inspired. St. Clare and her sister had to resist much pressure from their family to return home. She persevered in her resolution, in spite of the opposition of her friends and relatives.

St. Francis permanently housed the women, with St. Clare as abbess at age 22, in the Church of San Damiano outside Assisi. Soon after, her mother and several other ladies, some of high nobility, united themselves to her. This became the first foundation of the Poor Clare nuns or the Second Order of St. Francis. She wrote their Rule of Life, the first set of monastic guidelines known to have been written by a woman. St. Clare was the first woman to practice the life of entire poverty as taught by St. Francis. Placed by him at the head of a few companions in the small convent of San Damiano, she governed her community for forty-two years in prayer, penance, and fasting until her death. Their Rule included austerities hitherto unknown in monasteries of women. They slept on the ground, kept perpetual abstinence and made poverty the basis of their lives. Together with other mortifications, their fast was perpetual. They walked barefoot around the town begging for alms, wearing sackcloth, and living without any possessions, completely dependent for their food on what was given to them. But the emphasis of their lives was, and still is, contemplation. Such was the spirit of poverty of St. Clare that when, after her profession, she fell heiress to the large fortune of her father, she gave all of it to the poor. She would accept no revenues for her monastery. Within a few years St. Clare founded a number of other monasteries and her Order spread to Germany and Bohemia. Many young noble women left all they had to take on the poor habit of Clare and the order grew rapidly, with houses being founded all over Italy, all of whom took St. Clare as their model and inspiration. St. Clare’s reputation for holiness was such that the Pope himself came to her deathbed in 1253 to give her absolution, and wanted to canonize her immediately on her death, but was advised by his cardinals to wait. According to legend, when the army of Frederick II was devastating the valley of Spoleto some of the soldiers placed a ladder against the convent wall. St. Clare caused herself to be carried to a window, and, holding the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament in sight of the enemies, she prostrated herself before the Eucharistic God. Her prayer was heard, and the enemies, struck with a sudden panic, fled in terror. St. Claire died in absolute tranquility on August 11, 1253, saying to one of the brothers at her side “Dear brother, ever since through His servant Francis I have known the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, I have never in my whole life found any pain or sickness that could trouble me.” She was canonized in 1255, two years after her death by Pope Alexander IV. St. Clare was designated as the Patron Saint of television in 1958 by Pope Pius XII, because when St. Clare was very ill, she could not attend mass and was reportedly able to see and hear it on the wall in her room. She’s the Patron Saint of Embroiderers; eye disease; eyes; gilders; goldsmiths; gold workers; good weather; laundry workers; needle workers; Santa Clara Indian Pueblo; telegraphs; telephones; television; television writers.

PRAYER: God, in Your mercy You led St. Clare to embrace poverty. Through her intercession help us to follow Christ in the spirit of poverty and come to see Your face in the heavenly Kingdom. Amen 🙏

SAINT SUSANNA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR: St. Susanna also known as Saint Susanna of Rome (280-295) was a Christian martyr of the Diocletianic Persecution. She was born in 280 AD, Rome, Italy, daughter of Saint Gabinus of Rome and a niece of Bishop Caius of Rome. She was raised in strict Christian piety and in her youth dedicated herself to God. Her family was related to Emperor Diocletian, who heard the reports of her virtue and beauty. Brutal Emperor Diocletian, known for large-scale persecutions of Christians, pegged secret Catholic Susanna as a possible wife for his son-in-law. Having decided to give St. Susanna in marriage to his co-emperor Maximian, Diocletian sent his own relative, the dignitary Claudius, to Susanna’s father, Gabinus, and then his own brother Maximus. Both of them, together with the wife of Claudius Prepedigna and her sons, Alexander and Cythius, accepted Baptism after they spoke to the pious family. The Emperor was enraged when St. Susanna refused, due to her vow to remain celibate as well as her distaste for marrying into a family with bloodlust for Christians. To add insult to injury, for converting two of Diocletian’s close relatives to Christianity.

Having learned that the entire family had been converted to Christianity, Diocletian sent them into exile. Soon, those who had accepted Baptist were taken and burned at Ostia, not far from Rome, and their ashes were thrown into the sea. They took the holy virgin Susanna to the palace, and the empress publicly tried to persuade her to give herself to Maximian. But the empress, secretly a Christian, supported St. Susanna in her intention to preserve her virginity for the sake of the Lord. She explained to the emperor about the virgin’s unwillingness to enter into marriage with a pagan. Diocletian gave permission to Maximian to defile the holy virgin, but an angel defended her. Macedonius began to urge Susanna to offer sacrifice to the idols. “I offer myself in sacrifice to my Lord,” she answered. Macedonius, who could prevail upon her neither with promises nor menaces, had Susanna cruelly scourged and then beheaded in her own house. During her martyrdom, she gave thanks to God that He had thought her worthy to suffer and die for His sake. The empress secretly buried the body of the saint. The room where the murder occurred was consecrated into a church by Bishop Caius. In 296, the father of St. Susanna, St. Gavinius, accepted a martyr’s end, as did St. Caius. St. Susanna was martyred in 295 AD, Rome, Italy for living her Faith in the face of death. She’s the Patron Saint of Martyrs. Her feast day is August 11th.

Saint Susanna, Virgin and Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT TIBURTIUS, MARTYR: St. Tiburtius, (died 286A.D) was a Christian Martyr. During the persecution of Diocletian, he was thrown into the flames. Armed with the sign of The Cross, the Martyr walked full of confidence on the burning coal. He was then led out of the City and beheaded on The Lavicanian Way in 286 A.D. St. Tiburtius, a son of the Roman prefect Chromatius, received holy baptism at the same time as his father, and not only endeavored to lead a Christian life, but also to bring others to the knowledge of the true faith. One day, while he was walking through the street, a boy fell from the roof of a house to the pavement, and was so injured that it was thought that every moment would be his last. Tiburtius going towards him, made the sign of the cross over him, and commanded him, in the name of Jesus Christ, to rise, and to abandon heathenism. The boy immediately arose, became a Christian, and persuaded many who had witnessed the miracle to do likewise. At another time Tiburtius went to a youth named Torquatus, who, although baptized and calling himself a Christian, did not conduct himself according to the dictates of the church. His dress was too luxurious; he spent too much time in idleness, gaming, dancing, and other amusements; he was unrestrained and licentious in his conversation and conduct. He was seldom at prayer, but frequently in dangerous company. Tiburtius exhorted him most earnestly to change his unchristian behavior. Torquatus feigned a determination to follow his advice, but secretly went to the judge Fabian, and revealed to him that Tiburtius was a Christian.

This he did in revenge for the reproofs which Tiburtius had given him. But, that he might not be known as the accuser, he requested to be arraigned with Tiburtius. When this had taken place, the judge asked Torquatus who he was. “I am a Christian,” was his reply, “and this man Tiburtius has converted me to the true faith.” But Tiburtius said: “I have never recognized you as a Christian; for, your life has not been that of a Christian. To dress luxuriously, not to observe the fast days, to be indifferent to your prayers, to pass the day in idleness, to associate with the other sex, to be licentious in your words, are not the characteristics of a Christian. Christ does not recognize such as His followers.” Fabian would not listen to these reproofs, but, having the ground strewn with hot coals, he said to the saint: “You have your choice either to throw incense over these coals, and thus offer to the gods, or to walk barefoot over them.” St. Tiburtius, without a moment’s hesitation, took off his shoes, and courageously stepping upon the coals, walked up and down over them, without a sign of pain. Addressing the judge, he said: “See and know, that the God of the Christians is the only God, whom all creatures obey. Your live coals seem to me but lovely flowers.” The judge, highly incensed, exclaimed: “I knew long since that your Christ instructed his followers in magic. I shall, however, pay no attention to it.” The holy martyr rebuked this blasphemy, and as Fabian saw that the heathens began to admire the God of the Christians, he ordered him to be beheaded, thus bestowing upon him the crown of martyrdom.

Saint Tiburtius, Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏