August 11th is the feast day of St. Philomena. On May 25, 1802, excavators in the ancient Catacomb of St. Priscilla in Rome discovered a well-preserved shelf tomb sealed with the terra-cotta slabs usually reserved for nobility or great martyrs. The tomb was marked with three tiles that were inscribed with the following words: LUMENA / PAXTE / CUMFI.
When the first tile was placed last and the words were properly separated, this sentence emerged: Pax tecum, Filumena, or ”Peace be with you, Philomena.” A lily, arrows, an anchor, and a lance were also inscribed on the tiles apparently indicating virginity and martyrdom. Inside the coffin were the remains of a girl of about twelve or thirteen years of age and a vial of her dried blood.
Her remains were transferred to the Treasury of the Rare Collection of Christian Antiquity in the Vatican and were soon forgotten by the public, as no record of her existed. In 1805 a Neapolitan priest, Don Francesco di Lucia, was traveling to Rome with his newly appointed bishop and requested the relics of the martyr “Philomena” which he subsequently received and enshrined in his village church at Mugnano, near Naples.
Immediately after St. Philomena’s sacred remains were donated, signal favors began to be granted through her intercession. Favors, graces and miracles increased before she was even enshrined at Mugnano and grew steadily thereafter, earning her the title “Philomena, Powerful with God.”
In the year 1827, 35 years after her remains were exhumed, Pope Gregory XVI declared her a saint. She is the only person ever recognized by the Church as a Saint on the basis of her powerful intercession alone, as nothing was known of her except her name and evidence that she was martyred.
In the year 1827, 35 years after her remains were exhumed, Pope Gregory XVI declared her a saint. She is the only person ever recognized by the Church as a Saint on the basis of her powerful intercession alone, as nothing was known of her except her name and evidence that she was martyred.
Many consider St. Philomena to be another patron of hopeless and impossible cases. She is also known to be very powerful in cases of the conversion of sinners, a return to the Sacraments, unhappiness in the home, expectant and destitute mothers, problems with children, sterility, priests and their work, help for the sick, missions, real estate, money problems, mental illness, and providing food for the poor.
St. John Vianney was very dedicated to her. Pope Leo XII gave permission for the erection of altars and churches in her honor. Pope Gregory XVI authorized her public veneration and gave her the title “Patroness of the Living Rosary.” He also bestowed upon her the extraordinary privilege of approving a Mass and proper Office in her honor, which has been granted to comparatively few Saints.
St. Philomena is a powerful intercessor. St. Philomena, powerful with God, please pray for us!
God is at work, in each one of us.
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Source of information: St. Philomena prayer card, Tan Books And Publishers, Inc.
Source of information: St. Philomena prayer card, Tan Books And Publishers, Inc.