Philomena and the Curé of Ars

Mary O’Regan remembers her favourite saint

I have a thorny question for the Curé of Ars, St Jean Marie Vianney, one of the most remarkable parish priests to have ever lived. I’d love to ask him if he had any regrets about how he tried to micromanage the marvels worked by his beloved St Philomena.

During the Curé’s 41 years of ministry in the remote hamlet of Ars in Eastern France, he became known as a grand miracle worker, but he refused credit and said the miracles seen in Ars were the work of the virgin-martyr Philomena, who was beheaded under Diocletian. But while he loved Philomena dearly, there was a time when he tried to dictate the kind of miracles she worked among the multitude who came as pilgrims to his church. He wanted her to prioritise the conversion of those sick in soul as opposed to those sick in body, and he was even known to say, ‘She must cure souls before all else’. Once the Curé even forbade Philomena outright from healing the physically ill while they were in Ars. Then a disabled child called on Philomena and got back the full use of her limbs. To the Curé’s consternation this was the talk of Ars and he griped: “St Philomena has broken her word, she should have cured the child elsewhere.”

The Curé also tried to keep Philomena to a timetable, asking that she cure people when they got home! When someone began a novena to Philomena, the Curé asked her to heal them during the last days of the novena, when it was Philomena’s way to answer them on the first day. The gaunt-faced Curé and Philomena were close friends, even familiars. Once a parishioner crept up behind the Curé and overheard him talking with Our Lady. Afterwards the Curé said, “With the Holy Virgin and with St Philomena, we know each other pretty well.” Yet he disliked the fact that miraculous cures of the body took all the attention from souls being converted to Christ. I think, however, this was a better situation than the one that has held sway over the past six decades, during which people have utterly doubted Philomena is a saint and failed to ask her help. She is my favourite saint and I grieve for those who do not know her.

Alongside the Curé, other luminaries and great saints have highly esteemed Philomena. I interviewed a disciple of Padre Pio’s who quoted Pio as saying, “St Philomena is the Princess of Heaven”. Pio also stated firmly that Philomena is a saint and that “the confusion is the work of the devil”. It is noteworthy that Pio was so declarative, honouring Philomena as being a royal in Heaven, because Philomena was the object of Diocletian’s obsession. The blood-thirsty emperor wanted Philomena for his bride, and had she accepted she would have been Empress of the Roman Empire. When she spurned Diocletian’s marriage proposals, he had her murdered.

Her relics remained hidden for many centuries, but in 1802 they were discovered in the Catacombs of Priscilla. In the decades that followed, her cult attracted a dizzying variety of devotees. Popes Gregory XVI, Leo XII, Leo XIII, Pius IX and Pius X were in awe of her. St Damien of Molokai was greatly devoted to Philomena, and the church where he had his ministry to lepers was named in her honour. Blessed Bartolo Longo enjoyed Philomena’s favour. Blessed Anna-Maria Taigi’s granddaughter, Peppina, suffered a terrible injury to her eye and the doctors despaired of her recovery. Anna Maria blessed Peppina with the oil of St Philomena and her eye was miraculously restored. St Peter Julian Eymard, St Peter Chanel, St Hannibal Mary, St John Nepomucene, Mother Cabrini, St Madeleine Sophie Barat and St Geltrude Comensoli were all amazed by how Philomena answered their prayers.

Of all her ardent followers, the one who owed most to Philomena was the Curé of Ars. He may have tried to stop her curing bodies, but even he must have been grateful when she cured him of an illness that would otherwise have been fatal. In 1843, 25 years into his time at Ars, the Curé fell ill and was diagnosed with pneumonia. He was given the Last Rites. He asked that Mass be offered in St Philomena’s honour and at the exact moment Mass was being offered, the Curé was healed.

Catacombs where Philomena was found