St. Philomena
STATUES ON THE VESTMENT DRESSER
IN QUO HABEMUS REDEMPTIONEM
'IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION'
'The Chapel on the Hill'
OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
Verla, Canca, Parra, Bardez, Goa. India
It happened to be a chance visit to the sacristy of the
chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary at Verla, Bardez, Goa, on a Sunday in early
March 2012, to greet and meet some friends after the early morning Mass. There
on the vestment cabinet I noticed for the first time in more than 50 years a
statue of St. Philomena. In all probability there must have been a time when
this statue was assigned a significant and prominent place on one of the altars
in the main chapel, for veneration by the faithful. However, my consolation was
to see this statue in the vestry. I was also glad that it was not removed from
the chapel altogether.
It is during the reign of Pope Paul VI, (26 September 1897 –
6 August 1978) that this popular saint was removed from the liturgical calendar,
and the Holy See ordered that the name of Saint Philomena be removed from all
liturgical calendars that mentioned her. The apparent reason for this annulment
and removal of statues and images from churches and chapels was the lack of
historical documentation regarding the life of Philomena, though one is still
free to believe in the saint and in her saintly life.
As a young lad, I remember we had a framed picture of about
10" x15" of St. Philomena among the 6 or 7 other holy pictures
(Konkani: painolam, pl.; painol, sing.) hanging on the wall around the
‘olontor’* in our old house in Guirim, Cumbiem Morod.
I remember my mother appeared very sad on hearing this
order, but left the picture on the wall untouched till our old house was
demolished in the late 1980’s.
Saint Philomena
Venerated as a virgin martyr saint of the Catholic Church,
she is said to have been a young Greek princess martyred in the 4th century.
Her veneration began in the early 19th century after the archaeological
discovery in the Catacombs of Priscilla of the bones of a young woman, which
were interpreted as those of a martyr. Nothing else was known about her, but an
inscription found at the tomb was taken to indicate that her name was (in the
Latin of the inscription) Filumena; corresponding to the English name
Philomena. The day of her feast is August 11, and she is a patron of Babies,
Infants and Youth. Among the symbols representing her martyrdom are two
anchors, three arrows, a palm and a lily.
Read more about St. Philomena:
St. Christopher
While on the topic of saints, another annulment made during
the reign of Pope Paul VI comes to mind. After being venerated for generations
as a patron saint of travellers, St. Christopher was removed from the Catholic
Liturgical Calendar in 1969 and annulled as a saint in a reform. The day of the
feast of St. Christopher is July 25. Before the 1969 reform of the Roman
calendar, Christopher was listed as a martyr who died under Decius. Nothing
else is known about him. There are several legends about him including the
well-known one in which he was crossing a river when a child asked to be
carried across. When Christopher put the child on his shoulders he found the
child was unbelievably heavy. The child, according to the legend, was Christ
carrying the weight of the whole world. This was what made Christopher patron
saint of travelers and is invoked against storms, plagues, etc.
Read more about St. Christopher
Saint or no saint, an age-old medal and a picture has
adorned the dash-boards of the cars that I owned and drove in my life.
It may be interesting to note that in November 1964, Pope
Paul VI visited India on the occasion of the International Eucharistic
Congress, held in Mumbai, then known as Bombay. I only wish that two Goans were
made saints, namely Fr. Agnel and Blessed Joseph Vaz, instead of bringing the
above-mentioned two down.
*An 'olontor', an elegantly adorned niche in the wall for a
crucifix and statues of a household's favourite saints! is a must in every home
in the olden days. The word is derived from the Konkani word, 'Ollont' - wall
and 'tor' - tower, reminiscent of a mini chapel tower.
A final and a interesting point to note is that one possible
reason that the statues in the picture above have survived from theft is
because they are made from plaster. My friends brought to my attention that
these two statues have plaster chipped on the head. I believe that chances are
a statue having plaster missing indicates that theft has been attempted; and
that the thief is primarily interested mainly in carved wooden, ivory or metal
statues of value. Hence he checks the statue to ascertain this by trying to
chip a piece off the antique statues. Both the statues in the pictures above
that have survived theft, are damaged by thieves in their ruthless
misadventure.
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