St. Philomena and Mystical France
“Hail, O holy Saint Philomena, whom I acknowledge after Mary as my advocate with the Divine Spouse.” ~ Prayer to St. Philomena, Fr. Paul O’Sullivan, Saint Philomena the Wonder Worker.
St. Philomena is extraordinarily powerful in heaven. The late 3rd-early 4th century martyr, a Greek Princess, suffered the cruelest tortures at the hands of Diocletian. To protect her vow of virginity made to Jesus, she refused the emperor’s offer of marriage. The instruments of her persecution are notorious. Diocletian had her scourged, thrown into the Tiber tied to an anchor, shot with flaming arrows, and after each of those attempts to kill her miraculously failed, beheaded her. Buried in the catacombs and only discovered in the early 19th century, Philomena astonished the world with miracles after she emerged. These miracles continue in the present age. Her popularity grows by the day. God revealed her from the sublime heights of heaven to restore the true faith among the people of God and to convert sinners. She is the patron saint of lost causes, among others.
As a Greek Princess under Roman rule, Philomena represents the emergence of the Church into the Greco-Roman world. No doubt Philomena’s martyrdom at the hands of Diocletian played a significant role in gaining the freedom and preeminence of the Catholic Church under Constantine soon after her glorious death.. Just as Magdalene is the gestalt of mystical France for the House of New Bethany, Philomena is the gestalt of the converted Greco-Roman world, where the one true Church of Jesus Christ conquered every pagan god.