FILOMENA, saint. — In 1802, a body was removed from the cemetery of Priscilla, whose tomb bore an inscription in minium, on three tiles, the last of which had been moved to the first position, yielding the following reading: LUMENA PAX TECUM FI. A small flask was also found in the tomb, which ampulla (v.).
When the body was brought to Mugnano del Cardinale (diocese of Nola) in 1805, Canon Francesco Di Lucia undertook to recount the history of St. F. and her martyrdom, giving rise to devotion to the Saint, which rapidly spread within and beyond Italy, increased by the fame of miracles. Among the many devotees of St. F. was also the saintly Curé of Ars. At the request of the bishops of Napi and Sutri and of Nola, and on the basis of a reputation for miracles, the Sacred Congregation of Rites granted the Mass and office de communi for 11 August, with a proper lesson in which no assertions are made either about her life or her martyrdom (Decreta ann. 1837-38, f. 18).
Historically, St. F. is unknown to every hagiographical and liturgical source of Christian antiquity. The information disseminated by Canon Di Lucia, who places the Saint in the time of Diocletian and calls her the daughter of a king of Greece, is simply imaginary. Everything suggests that the inscription was reused, so that even the name would not correspond to the venerated body.
dem Coeneterium der Priscilla, in Röm. Quartarchiv., 12 (1898), pp. 42-54; G. Cascioli, S. F., versione e martire, Roma 1904; G. Bonavena, Controversia nel celebre epitafio di s. F. versione e martire, ivi 1906; O. Marucchi, Studio archeologico sulla celebre iscrizione di Filomena scoperta nel cimitero di Priscilla, in Nuovo bull. di arch. crist., 12 (1906), pp. 213-300; the best study from the Catholic point of view. Ferdinando Antonelli
FOLKLORE. – The popular cult of the Saint is particularly widespread in southern Italy. The widespread use of this name as a baptismal name among the humble classes is also evidence of this. The legend of the Saint inspired a short poem in 43 ottave (Storia della gloriosa vergine a martire a Filomena [sic] composta in ottave da un suo diporto, Lucca 1855; reprint, Prato 1857) and a song in 32 quatrains of seven-syllable lines (Naples 1849; reprint, Florence 1901), with a crude illustration on the frontispiece depicting the Saint with a palm in her right hand and a pilgrim’s staff in her left, and an angel descending to bring her a laurel wreath; on the left, the same Saint in the act of being struck by the arrows of an executioner. This latter song also spread and was preserved among the people through oral tradition. Both compositions are formally crude and contain Neapolitan expressions.