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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
St. Philomena	Maria	Saturday, January 29, 2005
Question: Dear Brother, One of the saints who I have specially interceded with over the years has been St. Philomena. God has always granted requests I have made through her intercession. However, recently, I was wondering why I have never seen her name on a calender of saints. I checked, and it seems that Pope John XXIII suppressed the - the website calls it - 'cultus' due to a lack of historical evidence. I have heard about how St. John Vianney - a really powerful saint, had a deep devotion to St. Philomena. My question is, because her name has been taken off the calender of saints and whatnot, does it make it improper for me to pray to her for intercession? Also, I have heard all sorts of miracles surrounding her relics and such at the church where they are keep in Naples and I was wondering, is there any chance that Pope John Paul will reinstate her name on the calender? In Christ, Maria
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Maria: There is a common misunderstaning among the Catholic public concerning Saints and the calendar. For example, it was commonly thought that St. Christopher was "de-sainted" because he was taken off the Calendar. This is not so. Once a Saint, always a Saint. A Saint cannot be de-sainted. Because the calendar is not big enough to list every Saint (some 8,000 or more) the Church has to pick and choose who will be on the calendar based upon which saints are the most popular on a global basis and the best documented for the universal calendar. Countries, dioceses, religious communities, and even parishes can have additional Saints on their calendars that are special to them. There is nothing improper with a devotion to a Saint not on the calendar. They are still Saints, but just not on the calendar. St. Philomena is one of the Saint we look to in doing our Spiritual Warfare work. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

St. Philomena

Maria

Saturday, January 29, 2005

Question:

Dear Brother,

One of the saints who I have specially interceded with over the years has been St. Philomena. God has always granted requests I have made through her intercession. However, recently, I was wondering why I have never seen her name on a calender of saints. I checked, and it seems that Pope John XXIII suppressed the - the website calls it - 'cultus' due to a lack of historical evidence. I have heard about how St. John Vianney - a really powerful saint, had a deep devotion to St. Philomena.

My question is, because her name has been taken off the calender of saints and whatnot, does it make it improper for me to pray to her for intercession? Also, I have heard all sorts of miracles surrounding her relics and such at the church where they are keep in Naples and I was wondering, is there any chance that Pope John Paul will reinstate her name on the calender?

In Christ,

Maria

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Maria:

There is a common misunderstaning among the Catholic public concerning Saints and the calendar. For example, it was commonly thought that St. Christopher was "de-sainted" because he was taken off the Calendar. This is not so. Once a Saint, always a Saint. A Saint cannot be de-sainted.

Because the calendar is not big enough to list every Saint (some 8,000 or more) the Church has to pick and choose who will be on the calendar based upon which saints are the most popular on a global basis and the best documented for the universal calendar. Countries, dioceses, religious communities, and even parishes can have additional Saints on their calendars that are special to them.

There is nothing improper with a devotion to a Saint not on the calendar. They are still Saints, but just not on the calendar. St. Philomena is one of the Saint we look to in doing our Spiritual Warfare work.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below:
Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum.
Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum
Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum
Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum
Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum