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Biography (according to Sister Maria Luisa of Jesus)
Information about SAINT PHILOMENA can be obtained from the private revelation received on August 3, 1833, by the servant of God Sister Maria Luisa of Jesus (1799-1875), her fervent devotee. The nun stated that Saint Philomena appeared to her while she was praying in her cell in front of a statuette of her and told her the story of her martyrdom.
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Philomena was the beautiful princess of the island of Corfu, born around January 10, 290 AD. Her father, king of a domain in Greece, and her mother, of royal blood, implored the gods to grant them the grace of having a child despite their sterility. A Roman Christian doctor, named Publius, promised them offspring if they received baptism. In fact, the couple, having converted to Christianity, were blessed with the birth of a daughter, whom they named Philomena, daughter of the light of baptismal grace.
At the age of 13, her father took her to Rome to meet Emperor Diocletian, who was threatening war against his kingdom. Diocletian immediately became infatuated with Philomena and offered her the throne of empress of Rome. However, at the age of 11, she had made a vow of chastity to God and refused marriage, despite her parents' consent. For this reason, she was imprisoned. After 37 days in prison, the Virgin Mary appeared to her and announced that, after 40 days, she would be subjected to various tortures, but would emerge unharmed. And so it was: exposed naked to flogging, the next day she was miraculously healed; condemned to the martyrdom of arrows, these turned back and killed the archers; an anchor tied around her neck and thrown into the Tiber, Angels broke the rope and saved her, until Diocletian had her beheaded. It was Friday, August 10, 302 AD, when she ascended, triumphant and glorious, to heaven.
Saint Philomena of Rome is a saint whose life remains mysterious. Her remains were found on May 25, 1802, in the catacombs of Priscilla in Rome, but the absence of the word martyr made it impossible to confirm her death as a martyrdom, as had been previously believed.
For this reason, she was removed from the calendar by the Sacred Congregation of Rites during the Liturgical Reform in the 1960s, despite the widespread devotion and personal veneration by various popes and saints.
Inside the tomb, an oval-shaped vial containing the saint's blood was found. The niche was sealed by three terracotta tiles, on which was painted the inscription Lumena pax te cum fi. The person who placed and cemented the tiles made a mistake in the sequence, which, in the correct order, should have been: Pax tecum Filumena, meaning "Peace be with you, Philomena." The tiles date from a period between the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th century AD.
Information about Saint Philomena can be gathered from the private revelation received on August 3, 1833, by the servant of God Sister Maria Luisa di Gesù (1799-1875), her fervent devotee. The Congregation of the Sacred Roman and Universal Inquisition approved the revelation on December 21, 1833. Don Francesco De Lucia of Mugnano del Cardinale, with the help of the Bishop of Potenza, Monsignor De Cesare, obtained from Pius VII the body of the martyr and a vial of her blood, which were placed in a side chapel of the church Madonna delle Grazie where, to this day, they remain.
Famous devotees of the saint were: Leo XII, Gregory XVI, Pius IX, Leo XIII, Saint Pius X, the Curé of Ars, the servant of God Pauline Jaricot, the servant of God Maria Cristina of Savoy, Blessed Bartolo Longo and Padre Pio of Pietrelcina.
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