Discovery of the Catacomb Loculus in May 1802
On 24 and 25 May 1802, excavators conducting official excavations in the Catacomb of Priscilla along the Via Salaria in Rome uncovered an intact subterranean burial chamber. The tomb was enclosed by three baked terracotta slabs bearing painted red lettering. Once carefully transcribed, the individual segments read: LUMENA / PAXTE / CVM FI. When rearranged in grammatical sequence, the Latin inscription forms the sentence PAX TECUM FILUMENA (‘Peace be with thee, Philomena’). Alongside the lettering, the terracotta tiles displayed early Christian iconography, including an anchor, three arrows, a palm frond, and a white lily. Inside the loculus lay the physical remains of a young female, accompanied by a small glass phial containing a dark, solidified residue. In accordance with early nineteenth-century antiquarian practice, Roman authorities classified the glass container as an ampulla of martyr’s blood, interpreting the discovery as the burial site of an early virgin martyr from the Roman persecutions.
Translation of the Relics to Mugnano del Cardinale
The excavated bones remained in Roman depositories under ecclesiastical custody until the summer of 1805. Don Francesco De Lucia, a priest serving the parish of Mugnano del Cardinale in the diocese of Nola, travelled to Rome seeking authentic sacred relics for his local community. Through official grants from the Holy See, Don Francesco received custody of the remains on 8 June 1805. The solemn translation from Rome across the Kingdom of Naples concluded on 10 August 1805, when the reliquary was placed in the Church of Our Lady of Grace in Mugnano del Cardinale. The Neapolitan township swiftly emerged as a major regional pilgrimage site, where local witnesses reported numerous physical recoveries and spiritual conversions attributed to the intercession of the martyr.
The Terracotta Inscription and the Papal Gift of Leo XII
For more than two decades following the 1805 translation, the archaeological artefacts recovered from the Priscilla catacomb remained separated. While the bones rested beneath the sanctuary altar in Campania, the three original terracotta tiles were preserved in papal collections in Rome. On 11 July 1827, Pope Leo XII executed an official deed of gift transferring the inscribed tiles to the church in Mugnano del Cardinale. This reunion of the physical inscription with the reliquary provided tangible antiquarian support to the flourishing pilgrimage centre, as documented in the historical records maintained by the Santuario di Santa Filomena.
Private Revelations of 1833 and the Hagiographical Narrative
During the initial decades of devotion, no contemporary historical documentation or ancient patristic testimony existed to clarify the lineage, exact chronology, or historical circumstances of the individual buried in the Priscilla catacomb. On 3 August 1833, Sister Maria Luisa di Gesù, a Dominican tertiary nun living in Naples, recorded receiving an extensive series of locutions and private visions. In these accounts, Philomena was identified as a thirteen-year-old Greek princess who had consecrated her virginity to Jesus Christ and was subjected to imprisonment, scourging, and execution under Emperor Diocletian after refusing the emperor's matrimonial proposal. Catholic hagiography and liturgical historians maintain a clear demarcation regarding these texts: the biographical narrative originated entirely from nineteenth-century private revelation rather than ancient documentary records or imperial Roman archives.
Pauline Jaricot and the Expansion of the Living Rosary
In Lyon, France, the lay organizer Pauline-Marie Jaricot (1799–1862) played a decisive role in nineteenth-century Catholic renewal. Having established the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in 1822, Jaricot founded the Association of the Living Rosary in 1826. The Living Rosary structure grouped the faithful into dedicated bands of fifteen individuals, each member committing to recite one assigned mystery and decade daily. This organisational framework ensured that entire decades and the complete Rosary were continuously offered across widespread urban and rural communities. By the early 1830s, the Living Rosary included hundreds of thousands of active members across France, Italy, Belgium, and North America. However, by 1834, severe cardiovascular illness and chronic physical exhaustion left Jaricot bedridden and functionally incapacitated.
The Mugnano Pilgrimage and the August 1835 Event
In the spring of 1835, despite grave medical warnings regarding the hazards of long travel, Jaricot undertook a pilgrimage to Italy to seek spiritual comfort and physical healing. Passing through Rome, she was granted a private audience with Pope Gregory XVI, who observed her severe physical debility and offered his blessing. Jaricot arrived at Mugnano del Cardinale on 8 August 1835 and participated in liturgical devotions inside the sanctuary during the solemn feast of the translation on 10 August 1835. During public prayer before the reliquary of Saint Philomena, Jaricot reported a complete and immediate cessation of her cardiac symptoms, standing up and walking unassisted before the assembled congregation. Following a period of observation, Jaricot returned to Rome, where Pope Gregory XVI personally witnessed her physical recovery and authorised formal investigations into the event.
Liturgical Approbation under Pope Gregory XVI
The documented recovery of Pauline Jaricot served as a major impetus for the formal recognition of the cultus by the Roman Curia. On 30 January 1837, followed by a formal decree on 13 February 1837, the Sacred Congregation of Rites under Pope Gregory XVI approved a proper Mass (Missa propria) and liturgical Office in honour of Saint Philomena for the diocese of Nola. In subsequent years, the Holy See extended this specific liturgical privilege to various dioceses, religious institutes, and overseas missionary jurisdictions upon formal episcopal petition. This papal sanction represented a unique administrative procedure, establishing local liturgical commemorations based upon modern intercessory prodigies and catacomb findings rather than an established ancient martyrology entry.
French Promotion and the Shrine of Ars
Upon her return to Lyon, Jaricot placed the entire international organisation of the Living Rosary under the patronage of Saint Philomena, attributing both the survival of the movement and her personal restoration to her heavenly advocacy. At her Lyon residence, preserved today by the Pontifical Mission Societies and detailed in archival records of La Maison de Lorette, Jaricot constructed a private chapel in 1839 dedicated to the saint, housing an authentic relic obtained from Mugnano. Devotion quickly reached Saint John Mary Vianney, the parish priest of Ars. In 1837, Vianney dedicated a chapel in his parish church to the martyr, consistently directing thousands of visiting pilgrims toward her intercession and attributing the numerous spiritual conversions and physical cures in Ars entirely to her prayers.
Pontifical Pilgrimages and Nineteenth-Century Devotion
Ecclesiastical devotion to the martyr extended to the highest ranks of the Roman hierarchy throughout the mid-nineteenth century. Pope Pius IX, who maintained a personal devotion to the saint following his own recovery from illness, made a formal pilgrimage of thanksgiving to the sanctuary at Mugnano del Cardinale on 7 November 1849 while residing in Gaeta. During this visit, the pontiff celebrated Mass at the high altar, inspected the original catacomb artefacts, and bestowed apostolic privileges upon the shrine. Between 1840 and 1890, confraternities, devotional cords, and dedicated altars multiplied across Europe, the Americas, and mission territories throughout Asia and Oceania.
Twentieth-Century Archaeological Revision and Epigraphic Critique
Between 1903 and 1907, the Christian archaeologist Orazio Marucchi published comprehensive critical studies examining the epigraphy and excavation context of the Priscilla catacomb. Marucchi demonstrated that the three terracotta tiles had originally belonged to an earlier second- or third-century burial and were subsequently reused in the fourth century to close a newer loculus. The anomalous arrangement of the tiles (LUMENA / PAXTE / CVM FI) indicated deliberate architectural reuse of pre-existing material rather than an accidental transposition by an illiterate gravedigger. Furthermore, modern chemical and archaeological investigations demonstrated that the small glass phials found inside catacomb niches customarily held funerary perfumes, aromatic oils, or ointments rather than physical blood. These critical findings were subsequently summarised and published by Johann Peter Kirsch in the Catholic Encyclopedia, leading hagiographical scholars to conclude that the inscription did not reliably attest to the name or historical status of the fourth-century person buried within.
The 1961 Holy See Instruction on Particular Calendars
On 14 February 1961, the Sacred Congregation of Rites issued the general instruction Instructio de calendariis particularibus atque Officiorum et Missarum propriis ad normam et mentem rubricarum redigendis, promulgated in the official bulletin Acta Apostolicae Sedis (AAS 53, 1961, p. 174). As part of a systematic reform of liturgical rubrics aimed at aligning the calendar with rigorous historical-critical standards, the Holy See ordered the removal of all feasts lacking ancient documentary evidence from diocesan and congregational calendars. Section 33 of the instruction explicitly decreed: Festum autem S. Philumenae V. et M. (11 augusti) e quolibet calendario expungatur (‘The feast of St. Philomena, Virgin and Martyr [11 August], is to be expunged from every calendar’).
Ecclesiastical Demarcation between Liturgy and Pastoral Practice
The 1961 instruction constituted a technical liturgical reform regarding the composition of calendars rather than a doctrinal condemnation, excommunication, or declaration of nullity. Saint Philomena had never been inscribed in the universal Roman Martyrology or the General Roman Calendar; her public liturgical celebration had always been restricted to authorized diocesan and provincial schedules. While public liturgical Masses under her specific name were removed from particular diocesan calendars, the Holy See maintained the canonical status of the Sanctuary of Mugnano del Cardinale, permitting uninterrupted private devotion, local pastoral veneration of the relics, and the administration of the sacraments under the jurisdictional authority of the Bishop of Nola.
Sources and further reading
- Kirsch, Johann Peter. “St. Philomena.” In The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12025b.htm.
- Sacra Congregatio Rituum. “Instructio de calendariis particularibus atque Officiorum et Missarum propriis ad normam et mentem rubricarum redigendis.” Acta Apostolicae Sedis 53 (1961): 168–174.
- Santuario di Santa Filomena. “Cenni Storici e Documentazione del Santuario.” Mugnano del Cardinale: Diocesi di Nola. https://www.santuariosantafilomena.it/.
- Œuvres Pontificales Missionnaires. “La Maison de Lorette et la Chapelle Sainte-Philomène à Lyon.” Lyon: Diocèse de Lyon. https://www.paulinejaricot.org/la-maison-de-lorette.
Frequently Asked Questions
What archaeological artefacts were discovered in the Catacomb of Priscilla in 1802?
Excavators unearthed a fourth-century loculus closed by three reused terracotta tiles bearing the inscription LUMENA PAXTE CVM FI, alongside early Christian symbols (an anchor, palm frond, arrows, and lily), skeletal remains, and a small glass phial containing dried residue.
What historical role did Pauline Jaricot play in the spread of devotion to Saint Philomena?
Following her immediate recovery from severe illness at Mugnano del Cardinale on 10 August 1835, Pauline Jaricot dedicated the international Living Rosary association to the saint, constructed a chapel in Lyon, and promoted her patronal advocacy across France.
Did Pope Gregory XVI approve public liturgical veneration for Saint Philomena?
Yes. On 30 January 1837, the Sacred Congregation of Rites under Pope Gregory XVI issued a decree authorizing a proper Mass and liturgical Office for the diocese of Nola, later granting permission to other particular dioceses.
What did twentieth-century archaeological research determine regarding the catacomb tiles?
Archaeologist Orazio Marucchi demonstrated that the terracotta tiles belonged to an earlier second- or third-century burial and were reused in the fourth century to seal a newer tomb, indicating that the inscription did not reliably identify the deceased.
Why did the Holy See remove the feast of Saint Philomena from liturgical calendars in 1961?
On 14 February 1961, the Sacred Congregation of Rites mandated the removal of her feast from all particular calendars in the AAS (53, p. 174) in accordance with historical-critical rubrical standards requiring contemporary documentation for liturgical inclusion.
Does the 1961 Vatican decree prohibit private devotion at Mugnano del Cardinale?
No. The decree applied strictly to public liturgical calendars. The Holy See did not prohibit private veneration, and the Sanctuary of Mugnano del Cardinale continues to function under the authority of the Diocese of Nola.