SOME FAVORITE MIRACLES OF SAINT PHILOMENA

A very happy feast of Saint Philomena to one and all; it is a better time than ever to marvel at some of the Wonder Worker's miracles. 

A young Italian priest went to Mugnano, the Sanctuary of Saint Philomena. He was Padre Guida and he witnessed the miracle of the statue of Philomena, her face became lifelike, and blushed with a healthy radiance, and he felt he had met her in the flesh. This enlivened his devotion to her, and he did his utmost to spread devotion to the exquisitely beautiful princess, martyred at 13. 

In 1933, this young priest was so ill, he was preparing for death. He and others offered a novena to Saint Philomena and at the end of it, his condition was the same, and he surrendered his life. Then suddenly, he felt a knock on his right arm and two lighter ones upon his head; three in total. Next he beheld Philomena in a white robe, embellished with flowers. 

She rebuked him, "How quickly you have given up hope!" Promptly, the Princess informed him he'd be a prince of the Church, "No, you are not going to die; you are going to labor for God's Church. Look up and see what is prepared for you!" Padre Guida was given a vision of a mitre.

He didn't know what to make of it; was it fantasy or perhaps the evil foe. But sure enough, he recovered his health, and was made Bishop of Oria. 

The sacristan of a chapel dedicated to Philomena beseeched her to intercede for his son who had an agonizing cancer. Nothing happened. His prayer seemingly was not being heard. The sacristan gave into anger and he extinguished the lamp before her statue and promised he would have nothing more to do with her. But Philomena did not hold his rage against him; when the doctors went to perform surgery on his son, the cancer had disappeared. 

If you have just read the above, you may remember occasions when Philomena, true to her feisty nature did not like being micromanaged, and did not take kindly to people who were irascibly impatient with her, or blaming her. This is evident from the following; a woman was fixing a picture of Saint Philomena above her bed, when news came that she had been accused of pocketing money. In distress, she accused Philomena of bringing bad tidings to her, but then news came that the money had been found. 

The woman who had vilified Philomena turned to the picture, but it had slid to the floor and was inching its way towards the door. Scared out of her wits, the woman promised to give a donation to the shrine at Mugnano, and she restored the picture to its rightful place over her bed. 

These accounts show that if it is a statue or a picture of the Princess, these material objects carry the presence of the spunky sovereign they represent, and she is not afraid to make herself known, but she can if she sees fit hide herself, as she did for seventeen centuries in the catacombs. 

This post was informed by Cecily Hallack's Wonder Worker. 

Cecily, pictured below, like Saint Philomena deserves a wider, worldwide audience.