Saint Philomena, Virgin and Martyr (c.291-304), is an Ancient Greek Princess. Philomena's parents were Pagans, rulers of a Greek state. They were converted to Christianity when they received a blessing from God, a baby girl, whom they named "Philomena" which means "Daughter of Light". Philomena was the Princess of Corfu (Kerkyra in Greek).
Philomena grew up to be a lovely, beautiful and religious maiden. When she was 14 years old, the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who is responsible for the persecution of the early Christians, declared a war against Greece. Philomena and her parents went to Rome to make peace with Diocletian. When Diocletian saw the young Philomena for the first time, he was amazed by her beauty, and he fell in love with her, and he asked her to marry him and to become his Queen. Philomena refused his offer, saying that she belongs only to Jesus Christ. Diocletian became furious and he ordered Philomena to be thrown into Prison.
Again, Diocletian tried to convince Philomena to marry him, but she refused again. He became even more furious, and he had Philomena scourged at the pillar badly. But God, in his mercy, sent his angels to heal Philomena's wounds. Upon seeing what the angels did to Philomena, Diocletian became very mad, and again he ordered her to be thrown onto the Tiber River with a heavy anchor tied around her neck. Again, Philomena survived when the angels removed the anchor around her neck. Diocletian didn't give up, and again, he ordered that Philomena be killed by arrows, but she survived it too with the help of God's angels. Finally, having had enough, Diocletian ordered that Philomena be put to death by decapitation; this ended the earthly life of the young Greek Princess.
The early Christians, upon hearing her fate, mourned for the death of Philomena, and they buried her body with great honour in the Catacombs of Saint Priscilla in Rome. Thousands of years after her death, on May 25, 1802, Philomena's remains were found by the Archeologists at the Catacombs of Saint Priscilla in Rome. It was identified that the remains belong to Philomena when three stone tiles covering her tomb has a Latin Inscription written on it: PAX TECVM FILVMENA - in English, it translates "Peace be with you, Philomena". It was a custom for the early Christians in Rome to put a sign on the tombs so that the remains lying inside them would never be forgotten. Soon after the discovery of Philomena's remains, miracles were attributed through her intercession, making her recognized by the Church and the people as a Saint. Devotion to Saint Philomena became even more famous through the help of Saint Jean Marie Vianney, Venerable Pauline Marie Jaricot, and Servant of God, Maria Luisa of Jesus.
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