PHILOMENA, Saint. - In 1802 a body was extracted from the cemetery of Priscilla, whose tomb bore an inscription in red lead, on three tiles, of which the last had been moved to the first place, so as to give the following reading: LUMENA PAX TECUM FI. In the tomb a small vial was also found, which was regarded as a blood ampulla (v.).

After the body was brought to Mugnano del Cardinale (diocese of Nola) in 1805, Canon Francesco Di Lucia claimed to narrate the story of St. Philomena and of her martyrdom, whence arose the veneration of the Saint, rapidly spread within and outside Italy, increased by the fame of miracles. Among the many devotees of St. Philomena is also numbered the holy curé of Ars. At the request of the bishops of Naples and Sutri and of Nola, and on the basis of the fame of 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 about her martyrdom (Decreta ann. 1837-38, f. 18).

Historically St. Philomena is unknown to every hagiographic and liturgical source of Christian antiquity. The accounts divulged by Canon Di Lucia, who places the Saint in the time of Diocletian and calls her the daughter of a king of Greece, are simply imaginary. Everything leads one to believe that the inscription was reused, so that the name too would not correspond to the body venerated.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: F. Di Lucia, Relazione istorico della traslazione del sacro corpo di s. F. da Roma a Mugnano del Cardinale, 4th ed., Naples 1831; A. De Waal, Die Grobschrift der Philomena aus dem Coeneterium der Priscilla, in Röm. Quartarchiv., 12 (1898), pp. 42-54; G. Cascioli, S. F., versione e martire, Rome 1904; G. Bonavena, Controversia nel celebre epitafio di s. F. versione e martire, ibid. 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. Further proof of this is the wide use of this baptismal name among the lower classes. The legend of the Saint inspired a short poem in 43 octaves (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 figure on the frontispiece, representing the Saint with a palm in her right hand and a staff in her left, and an angel descending to bring her the laurel wreath: on the left the same Saint in the act of being struck by the arrows of a ruffian. This last song spread and was preserved among the people also through oral tradition. Both compositions are of incorrect form and contain Neapolitan expressions.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: G. Amalfi, Due miracoli, in Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari, 3 (1888), pp. 83-88; G. Giannini, La poesia popolare a stampa nel sec. XIX, I, Udine 1938, p. 208.

Paolo Toschi

@incollection{ec5_filomena_santa, author = {Toschi, Paolo and Antonelli, Ferdinando}, title = {Filomena, santa}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {1343--1344}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/filomena-santa} }

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Philomena, Saint

FOLKLORE

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