St. Philomena's Story
as revealed to Mother Mary Louisa of Jesus*
(courtesy of the Universal Living Rosary Association
of St. Philomena)
My dear sister, I am the daughter of a prince who governed a small state
in Greece. My mother was also of royal blood; and as they were without
children, and they both still idolaters, in order to obtain some, they
used continually to offer to their false gods sacrifices and prayers. A
doctor from Rome, named Publius, now in Paradise, lived in the palace in
the service of my father; he professed Christianity. Seeing the affliction
of my parents, and moved at their blindness, and by the impulse of the
Holy Ghost, he spoke to them of our faith, and even promised them posterity
if they consented to receive baptism. The grace which accompanied his words
enlightened their understanding, and triumphed over their will; they became
Christians, and obtained the long desired happiness that Publius had promised
them as the reward of their conversion.
At the moment of my birth they gave the name of Lumena,
in allusion to the light of faith, of which I had been, as it were, the
fruit; and the day of my baptism they called me Filumena, or daughter of
light because on that day I was born to the faith. The affection which
my parents bore me was so great that they would have me always with them.
It was on this account that they carried me with them to Rome, on a journey
that my father was obliged to make on the occasion of an unjust war with
which he was threatened by the haughty Dioclesian. I was then thirteen
years old. Being arrived in the capital of the world, we three proceeded
to the palace of the emperor, and were admitted to an audience.
As soon as Dioclesian saw me his eyes were fixed upon
me...
As soon as Dioclesian saw me his eyes were fixed upon me; he appeared
to be prepossessed in this manner during the entire time that my father
was stating with animated feelings everything that could serve for his
defense. As soon as he had ceased to speak, the emperor desired him to
be no longer disturbed but that, banishing all fear, he should think only
of living in happiness. "I shall place at your disposal all the force
of the empire, and shall ask in return only one thing, that is, the hand
of your daughter.' My father, dazzled with an honor he was far from expecting,
willingly acceded on the spot to the proposal of the emperor, and when
we had returned to our own dwelling, my father and mother did all they
could to induce me to yield to Dioclesian's wishes, and to theirs.
"What!" said I to them, "do you wish that
for the love of a man I should break the promise I made two years since
to Jesus Christ?"
What! said I to them, do you wish that for the love of a man I should
break the promise I made two years since to Jesus Christ? My virginity
belongs to Him, I can no longer dispose of it. 'But you were then too young,'
answered my father, 'to form such an engagement', and he joined the most
terrible threats to the command that he gave me to accept the hand of Dioclesian.
The grace of my God rendered me invincible, and my father, not being able
to make the emperor allow of the reasons he alleged, in order to disengage
himself from the promise he had given, was obliged, by his order, to bring
me into his presence.
I had to withstand for some moments beforehand a new attack
from my father's anger and affection. My mother, uniting her efforts to
his, endeavored to conquer my resolution. Caresses, threats, everything
was employed to reduce me to compliance. At last I saw both of them fall
at my knees, and say to me with tears in their eyes, 'My child, have pity
on thy father, thy mother, thy country, our subjects.' No, no, I answered
them; God and that virginity which I have vowed to Him, before everything;
before you, before my country! My kingdom is heaven. My words plunged them
into despair, and they brought me before the emperor, who on his part,
did all in his power to win me; but his promises, his allurements, his
threats, were equally useless. He then got into a violent fit of anger,
and influenced by the devil, he had me cast into one of the prisons of
his palace, where I was forthwith loaded with chains.
Thinking that pain and shame would weaken the courage
that my divine Spouse inspired me with, he came to see me every day; and
then, after having my chains loosed, that I might take the small portion
of bread and water which I received as food, he renewed his attacks, some
of which, if not for the grace of God, would have been fatal to purity.
I ceased not to recommend myself to Jesus and His most
pure Mother.
The defeats which he always experienced were for me the preludes to
new tortures; but prayer supported me; I ceased not to recommend myself
to Jesus and His most pure Mother. My captivity had lasted thirty seven
days, when, in the midst of a heavenly light, I saw Mary holding her divine
Son in her arms. 'My daughter,' said she to me, 'three days more of prison
and, after forty days, thou shalt leave this state of pain.' Such happy
news made my heart beat with joy, but as the Queen of angels had added
that I should quit my prison, to sustain, in frightful torments a combat
far more terrible than those preceding, I fell instantly from joy to the
most cruel anguish; I thought it would kill me. 'Have courage, my child,'
said Mary then to me; 'art thou unaware of the love of predilection that
I bare to thee? The name which thou receivedst in baptism is the pledge
of it, by the resemblance which it has to that of my Son and to mine. Thou
art called Lumena, as thy Spouse is called Light, Star, Sun as I myself
am called Aurora, Star, the Moon in the fullness of its brightness, and
Sun. Fear not, I will aid thee. Now Nature whose weakness humbles thee,
asserts its law; in the moment of combat, grace will come to lend thee
its force, and thy angel, who was also mine, Gabriel, whose name expresses
force, will come to thy succor; I will recommend thee especially to his
care, as the well-beloved among my children.' These words of the Queen
of virgins gave me again courage, and the vision disappeared, leaving my
prison filled with a celestial perfume.
What she had announced to me was soon realized. Dioclesian,
despairing of bending me, took the resolution of having me publicly tortured,
and the first torment to which he condemned me was to be scourged. 'Since
she is not ashamed,' said he, 'to prefer, to an emperor like me, a malefactor,
condemned by his own nation to an infamous death, she deserves that my
justice shall treat her as he was treated.' He then ordered my clothes
to be taken off, and that I should be tied to a column; and, in the presence
of a great number of gentlemen of his court, he had me beaten with such
violence, that my body, bathed in blood, appeared but one single wound.
The tyrant, perceiving that I was going to faint and die had me removed
from his eyes, and dragged again to prison, where he believed I would breathe
out my last sigh.
But he was disappointed, as I was also in the delightful
hope of going quickly to rejoin my Spouse, for two angels, shining with
light, appeared to me, and pouring a health-giving balm upon my wounds,
rendered me more vigorous than I had been before the torture. The next
morning the emperor was informed of it; he had me brought into his presence,
viewed me with astonishment, and then sought to persuade me that I owed
my cure to the Jupiter whom he adored. 'He desires positively,' said he,
'that you should be empress of Rome.' And, joining to these seductive words
promises of the greatest honors, and the most flattering caresses, he endeavored
to complete the work of hell which he had begun; but the divine Spirit,
to whom I am indebted for my constancy, filled me at the moment with so
much light and knowledge, that to all the proofs which I gave of the solidity
of our faith, neither Dioclesian nor any of his courtiers could give any
answer whatever. Then his frenzy came on anew, and he commanded me to be
buried, with an anchor to my neck, in the waters of the Tiber. The order
was executed, but God permitted that it should not succeed; for, at the
moment in which I was precipitated into the river, two angels came again
to my succor, and, after having cut the rope that bound me to the anchor,
while the anchor fell to the bottom of the Tiber, where it has remained
till the present time, they transported me gently, in the view of an immense
multitude, upon the banks of the river.
This miracle worked happy effects upon a great number
of spectators, and they were converted to the faith...
This miracle worked happy effects upon a great number of spectators,
and they were converted to the faith; but Dioclesian, attributing it to
secret magic, had me dragged through the streets of Rome, and then ordered
that I should be shot in a shower of arrows. I was stuck all over with
them; my blood flowed on all sides; when he commanded me, exhausted and
dying, to be carried back to my dungeon. Heaven honored me with a new favor
there. I fell into a sweet sleep, and I found myself, on awaking, perfectly
cured. Dioclesian learns it. 'Well, then,' he cried, in a fit of rage,
let her be pierced with sharp darts a second time, and let her die in that
torture.' They hastened to obey him. The archers bent their bows, they
gathered all their strength; but the arrows refused to second their intentions.
The emperor was present; he became enraged at the sight; he called me a
magician, and, thinking that the action of fire could destroy the enchantment,
he ordered the darts to be made red in a furnace, and directed a second
time against me. It was done, indeed; but those darts, after having gone
over a part of the space which they were to cross to come to me, took quite
a contrary direction, and returned to strike those by whom they had been
hurled. Six of the archers were killed by them, and several among them
renounced paganism, and the people began to render public testimony to
the power of the God that had protected me.
These murmurs and acclamations made the tyrant fear some
more painful accident; he therefore hastened to terminate my days, by ordering
my head to be cut off. Thus did my soul take flight toward my heavenly
Spouse, who placed me, with the crown of virginity and the palm of martyrdom,
in a distinguished rank among the elect, who partake of the enjoyment of
his divine presence. The day that was so happy for me, and saw me enter
into glory, was a Friday, and the hour of my death was the third after
mid-day, (that is to say, the same hour that saw my divine master expire)."
*While the Holy See does not guarantee the authenticity
of this purported revelation, the Holy Office gave its sanction for dissemination
on December 21, 1883.
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