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Saint Philomena

Known only from a young girl’s tomb found in a Roman catacomb in 1802

Patron of
newlyweds
Western calendar
13 August, Vatican News's day; no longer on the Church's calendar
Orthodox calendar
Not kept

Philomena is known to us from a tomb opened in the Catacomb of Priscilla in Rome on 25 May 1802, which held the bones of a young girl and was closed by tiles that read, once put in order, PAX TECUM FILUMENA, "Peace be with you, Philomena." No ancient source mentions her, and the story of her martyrdom under Diocletian comes from revelations claimed by a nun of Naples, so in the 1960s the Church removed her from the calendar. Her relics rest at Mugnano del Cardinale near Naples, where devotion to her still draws pilgrims, and the Curé of Ars, who called her his "dear little saint", was among those healed through her prayers.

Sources

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What is a saint’s feast day?

It is the day each year when the Church remembers a saint in its prayers, and for most saints it is the day they died and went home to God. Many saints here have two dates, because the Western and Orthodox Churches keep their own calendars, and some Orthodox churches still count by the old Julian calendar, which runs thirteen days behind ours.

What is a patron saint?

A patron saint is one we ask to pray for us in a particular place, work or need, as many ask Anthony of Padua for help when something is lost, and as Ireland looks to Patrick. A few patronages were declared by a pope, and most grew from long custom. A card says “Patron of” only where a source we checked names one.

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Why did you choose these saints and not others?

We began with the saints people search for most, by name, by need and by date, along with the apostles and the saints Orthodox Christians look for. Then we made sure every day of the year has at least one saint. That gives 378 so far, and we keep adding the saints readers ask for.

Every saint here, by feast day