medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Not really within our time frame, but another interesting phenomenon
attested by Ebay is the resurgence in recent years of devotion to St.
Philomene. I can't help being curious if anyone knows how this
happened.
Ramsgate Abbey's _Book of Saints_ says as follows:
"In 1802 the remains of a young woman were discovered in the
catacomb of St. Priscilla on the Via Salaria. The tomb was closed by
three stones bearing the description LUMENA PAX TE CUM FI. The
conclusion was drawn that here was buried a martyr called St.
Philomena, and a shrine was set up at Mugnano, in the diocese of
Nola. The cult spread throughout the world. Further archaeological
investigation proved however that the disarrangement of the stones
was a regular habit of the sextons in the fourth century when they
re-used materials already engraved, and intended to indicate that it
was NOT the same person. The shrine was disbanded and cultus
forbidden by decree of Rome, 1961."
I do recall when this happened (and I know, I'm dating myself
here...:) because a school friend of mine who had been christened
Philomena had to quickly find, for her confirmation ceremony, a
different saint to be named after. However, not only do I pass a
church dedicated to Philomena on my way to work every morning, with
its glories seemingly undiminished, but there is a proliferation of
rosaries for sale on Ebay dedicated to her as a "cancer saint",
specifically "the saint of breast cancer". Anyone know about this?
--
_________________________________________________________
O Chris Laning
| <[log in to unmask]>
+ Davis, California
_________________________________________________________
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|