Saint Philomena

Invocation

“Saint Philomena, virgin martyr, pray for sick children and for those who are waiting to receive one.”

Life and Devotion

Saint Philomena is a figure whose story rests entirely on an archaeological discovery and its interpretation: in 1802, in the catacombs of Priscilla in Rome, workers uncovered a loculus — a burial niche — bearing the inscription LUMENA PAX TECUM FI (most likely a reconstruction of 'Pax tecum Filumena,' 'Peace be with you, Philomena'). Three stone slabs sealed the tomb; inside were found a vial of dried blood, interpreted as a sign of martyrdom, and human bones. Local tradition and accounts of private revelations — notably those of Sister Maria Luisa di Gesù, a Neapolitan visionary — gradually built the narrative of a young Greek princess, a virgin martyr of the fourth century put to death for refusing the marriage offer of the emperor Diocletian. The devotion grew enormously after the relics were transferred to Mugnano del Cardinale in Campania in 1805, and above all through Jean-Marie Vianney, the Curé of Ars, who attributed to her the many miracles worked at his confessional. She was inscribed in the universal calendar but was removed by John XXIII in 1961, her very thin historical basis not permitting certainty about her actual existence. Her memory nonetheless lives on in popular piety, sustained by an unbroken devotion spanning two centuries.

Philomena's patronage over sick children and the longing for a child arose from the convergence of two elements: her condition as a very young virgin martyr (tradition places her at sixteen years of age) and the spectacular healing miracles — especially of children — that multiplied around her relics at Mugnano from the very first years. Jean-Marie Vianney called her his 'dear little saint' and held her to be the direct intercessor for several medically inexplicable cures, including children whom the medicine of the time had given up. Her supposed youth and consecrated virginity naturally placed her on the side of the protection of children, mothers awaiting a birth, and homes bereaved by the loss of a little one.

To invoke Saint Philomena, the nine-day novena uses holy water touched to the forehead morning and evening — an ancestral gesture of protecting the head and mind of the sick child. The offering of white flowers, particularly lilies, the Marian symbol of virginal purity, associates naturally with a virgin martyr. Her feast is celebrated on August 11. At Mugnano del Cardinale, the annual pilgrimage still draws families who come to present their sick children or give thanks for a birth that was granted. Prayer is addressed to her with the simple, direct trust characteristic of popular piety — without the theological qualifications that might more appropriately accompany saints with more solidly documented cases.