The Path Less Taken

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PHILOMENA, A POWERFUL PRINCESS IN HEAVEN Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:37 PM PST I was astounded by the reaction to my last column on St Philomena. I'd known St Philomena to be an awesome advocate, but after I shared my devotion to her with certain young friends of mine, they invited her intercession, and the results were staggering. Some of them are very young and had certainly never heard of her or prayed to her. But when they did, they suddenly recovered from illnesses, both physical and mental, and baffled the doctors. I prayed to St Philomena for someone who'd been far from the sacraments for some time and now they have made a sincere confession and they are going to the Latin Mass! Most especially a few pregnant women enjoyed Philomena's grand help and had very easy labors.  So much so, that champagne corks were flying in the wake of Philomena's intercession, and we joked that maybe champagne could be a symbol of Philomena's amazing aid. There was, however, one persistent question asked about her. They were surprised that since Philomena was a princess, the daughter of a Greek king, why did she suffer so horribly under Emperor Diocletian? I mean, if she was a royal, did she not have special protection? For the daughter of a king, she was subject to several martyrdoms, and could her father not have used his regal influence to save her? Well, as it turns out, Philomena was not a powerful princess in this life, but she certainly is in Heaven.  So, this is the second in a two-part series about St Philomena, where I seek to give her life context, because in this pandemic, we need her more than ever! Philomena was born in modern day Corfu. Both her parents were royals. But here's the kicker: It was the year 291 and Greece was under Roman rule.  For some years before Philomena was born, her parents had suffered the cross of infertility. They were pagans and they sacrificed to their false gods for the intention that they have a baby, but they remained childless. They were attended by Publius, a Roman doctor who led them to Christ and he even promised that they would have a baby if they became Christians. His words proved prophetic. Not long after they were baptized, they welcomed baby Philomena into their household, a name that means "Friend of the Light". The royal couple doted on their little girl, and she was a daddy's girl. When she was about to turn 13, a declaration of war was made on their isle in the Ionian Sea, and her father decided to go to Rome and negotiate peace with Emperor Diocletian. He went with his wife and daughter, who was young but gloriously beautiful. When they had an audience with the thick-necked Diocletian, he heard the Greek king implore him not to make war, but Diocletian kept giving Philomena the eye.  After the Greek king had pleaded his case, Diocletian assured him that he would not start a conflict were he to get one caprice, "I will place the forces of the Empire at your disposal on condition that you give me the hand of your fair daughter Philomena in marriage". This offer seemed sweet to Philomena's parents, and they agreed ever so willingly. Then they tried to pressure their daughter into marrying the emperor, telling her that it would be a grand life, to be Empress of the world. They were not respectful of Philomena's vow, made only 2 years before when Philomena had pledged to be the Divine King's virginal spouse forever. There was also the fact that Diocletian was 59 years of age and was 46 years older than sweet Philomena. Philomena's parents wanted her to enter a nasty, bigamous affair. At the time, Diocletian was married to Empress Prisca who was only 18, and she was doing her utmost to shield their little girl Valeria from the worst of her father's rages. Pretty Prisca had to keep her distance from her husband, who was the most powerful man on earth. Truly, Diocletian was not gentle husband material. That said, Philomena's parents were in quite a quandary and the fact that they were royal meant they were answerable to the many people back home in Corfu who did not want Emperor Diocletian to wage a bloody war on them. Perhaps they figured myriad lives could be saved if they offered Philomena to Diocletian. And there were other reasons, not just short-term, why it would have been politically advantageous for a Greek princess to marry the most powerful man in the world. Had Philomena "married" Diocletian, she may well have been able to lobby for Greece's best interests well into the decades to come!  Philomena, however forfeited the life of privilege offered her, and when she spurned Diocletian's advances, the pathologically possessive Emperor treated her to the most sadistic torture. First, Diocletian had her cast in a dungeon and bound in the heaviest chains, in the hope she would consent to be his bride. When she did not, Diocletian had Philomena tied to a pillar and scourged while the nastiest blasphemies filled the air. Afterwards, she was "one gaping wound" and Diocletian sent her back to prison to die.  The sadistic emperor did not count on angels from heaven coming to soothe her wounds while she languished in a prison cell with supernatural balm. And after the angels had delivered their graces in the form or a total-body facial on Philomena, Diocletian was even more stupefied to see her more beautiful than ever. When she rejected him again, he gave orders that an anchor be tied around her neck so as to drown her in the river. Angels, sent by Our Lord, cut the rope of the anchor and Philomena was seen on the bank, more gorgeous than ever.  The tyrannical emperor was enraged and ordered that she be pierced with arrows. The archers, however, when they trained their arrows on Philomena were dumbfounded because their arrows refused to leave their bows.  The possessive emperor hinted that she was a witch and commanded that the arrows be treated in a furnace, that their fiery tips might soar through the air against any spell she had cast, but the arrows turned around and pierced the same archers who had intended them for Philomena. Finally, Diocletian had the object of his obsession decapitated and an axe fell on her neck, sundering her head from her body.  Philomena was martyred in the year 304. I beg you to consider that while she was not a powerful princess in this life, she certainly is in eternal life, and I ask you to entreat her intercession for you and your loved ones. * * * I wrote this column for The Latin Mass Society magazine, Spring 2022 edition. You may read the entire magazine here.

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