Feast of St. Philomena

Posted on 11 August 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

His Hermeneuticalness has posted on St. Philomena:

Happy St Philomena’s day!

Today is St Philomena’s Day so happy feast day to all those named after her and to all those who have a special devotion to her.

In the Year of the Priest it is appropriate to remember the great love that St John Vianney had for St Philomena. Here is a Litany to St Philomena composed by the Curé of Ars.

For many people, the only thing they know about St Philomena is that she "didn’t exist", and therefore how silly it is to have devotion to her. The relatively recent scientific report shows that those who had the courage to doubt the blanket of doubt had good reason, and those who had devotion to her were not so foolish after all. As well as St John Vianney, these devotees include Bl Pope Pius IX, St Pius X, Bl Bartolomo Longo, and, of course, Ven Pauline Jaricot, founder of the APF.

See: The Saint Philomena Question Answered.

A close friend is very interested in the cause of Ven. Pauline Jaricot.

 

You might pray to her for miracles.
 

Feast of St. Philomena
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About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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14 Responses to Feast of St. Philomena

  1. Cath says:
    11 August 2009 at 6:15 pm

    Thank you for this. Our priest, Fr. Neal Stull, S.O.L.T. is suffering from cancer and has been taking chemo off and on for two years. He needs all the prayers anyone can say on his behalf.

  2. servusmariaen says:
    11 August 2009 at 6:28 pm

    Father,
    Thank you so much for remembering St Philomena today! A few months ago I became a member of the Universal Living Rosary and have developed a devotion to this little Saint. I am most grateful for the many graces that i’ve received through her intercession.

  3. peaceforum2 says:
    11 August 2009 at 6:56 pm

    I have prayed to St. Philomena and she answered and interceded for me. She is one of my favorite Saints along with St. Joseph, St. Therese and the Blessed Mother.

  4. dcs says:
    11 August 2009 at 8:43 pm

    When my wife was expecting our third, we thought she was having a miscarriage. We prayed to St. Philomena and asked others to pray to her on our behalf as well, and when our daughter was born we gave her ‘Philomena’ as a middle name.

  5. Chris says:
    11 August 2009 at 9:45 pm

    Is it too much to ask that we follow the traditional calendar if we are truly working towards restoration on this site?

    Do Sts. Tiburtius, M & Susanna, VM not even deserve a mention any more?

  6. Suburbanbanshee says:
    11 August 2009 at 10:20 pm

    Obviously, Chris, you want to start a blog all about the saints of the calendar. Do so, and I shall drop by.

    And then I shall inquire why you are dissing most of the saints in the more obscure martyrologies, and request that you clearly distinguish all six saints named Cellach in your answer. :)

  7. dcs says:
    11 August 2009 at 10:21 pm

    Since today is St. Philomena’s feast day, by posting about this great Saint we are indeed following the traditional calendar.

  8. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf says:
    11 August 2009 at 10:21 pm

    Chris: You just mentioned them. And I said their Mass today.

    BTW… what are WE working for on this site?

    This is my blog and I have my agenda here.

    o{]:¬)

  9. jbalza007 says:
    11 August 2009 at 11:33 pm

    Fr. Z, thanks for posting this on time! I initially didn’t plan on going to the 6pm low mass at our parish (first, heavy workload; and second, I was having a little headache!) until I saw this post. I visited St. Philomena’s Shrine in Mugnano, Italy (as part of a pilgrimage) back in 2001, and had recourse to her on some occasions. Well, I prayed to her for an end to this headache (I can always go to work early tomorrow so no problem with the workload!) and the headache disappeared! I made it in time, with even some minutes to spare to go to confession before mass! What a treat! :)

  10. Jane says:
    12 August 2009 at 3:37 am

    St John Vianney used to recommend St Philomena’s devotion to everyone. His words were: “My children, Saint Philomena has great power with God, and she has, moreover, a kind heart; let us pray to her with confidence. Her virginity and generosity in embracing her heroic martyrdom have rendered her so agreeable to God that He will never refuse her anything that she asks for us.”

    The story of how I came to know St Philomena and the wonderful answer to my first novena to here is at this link:

    http://brendakaren.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/how-i-came-to-know-st-philomena-the-wonder-worker/

  11. Prudentius says:
    12 August 2009 at 8:31 am

    I was left a really nice little statue of St Philomena by my Grandmother, I keep meaning to build an alcove shelving for it but I am unsure where to put it. I would be keen to know other peoples thoughts on how they arrange private devotions at home with regards to statues, flowers and candles ect…Is there any fixed form to this, should such things sit in a specific place in the house?

    I guess in a way, it’s kind of like the liturgy in the sense that I am trying to re-introduce a common Catholic practice in my home from my Grandparents generation which seems to have died out in my parents time?

    Ironically, most people of my generation have Eastern Icons at home because Statues are somehow considered not as fashionable? It seems strange to me that Western (Roman) Catholics often practice Eastern Rite private devotions.

  12. Tricia says:
    12 August 2009 at 8:45 am

    Thank you for spreading devotion to St. Philomena. She is my beloved heavenly friend. She has provided so many favors for me and my family.
    The most notable one was that my cousin and his wife in Ireland desperately wanted another baby and they were considering in vitro methods. I begged him not to do that and to petition St. Philomena instead. He agreed. My children and I and he and his wife started the novena. She conceived IMMEDIATELY and gave birth to a gorgeous baby girl! Now they too are spreading the devotion to this Wonder Worker!

  13. C. says:
    13 August 2009 at 6:48 am

    Thank you for posting this, Father.

  14. Marysann says:
    17 August 2009 at 7:53 am

    I have never prayed to St. Philomena because I wasn’t sure if she was a real saint. After this blog cleared the matter up for me, I asked her to intercede for my son who was interviewing last week for a promotion at work. It was his first try, and not many make it on the first try. Over the weekend he e-mailed us to tell us that he had gotten the promotion! Thank you, St. Philomena!