What is "philomena"

Saint Philomena was a young lady whose remains were discovered on May 24th/25th 1802 in the Catacombs of Priscilla. Three tiles enclosing the tomb bore an inscription (Pax Tecum Filumena) (i.e."Peace be to you, Philomena") that was taken to indicate that her name (in the Latin of the inscription) was Filumena, the English form of which is Philomena. Philomena is the patron saint of infants, babies, and youth.

The remains were removed to Mugnano del Cardinale in 1805 and became the focus of widespread devotion, with several miracles credited to the saint's intercession, including the healing of Venerable Pauline Jaricot in 1835, which received wide publicity. Saint John Vianney attributed to her intercession the extraordinary cures that others attributed to himself.

In 1833 a Neapolitan nun reported that in a vision Saint Philomena had revealed that she was a Greek princess martyred at 13 years of age by Diocletian, who was Roman Emperor from 284 to 305.

From 1837 to 1961 celebration of her liturgical feast was approved for some places, but was never included in the General Roman Calendar for universal use. The 1920 typical edition of the Roman Missal included a mention of her, under 11 August, in the section headed Missae pro aliquibus locis (Masses for some places), with an indication that the Mass to be used in those places was one from the common of a Virgin Martyr, without any collect proper to the saint.

Philomena (c. 291-c. 304) was a young woman believed by some to have been a Christian martyr

Others named Philomena include:

• Philomena Begley (born 1950), Irish country music singer
• Philomena Garvey (1926-2009), Irish golfer
• Philomena Gianfrancisco (1923-1992), outfielder in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
• Philomena McDonagh, an English actress and writer
• Philomena Mensah (born 1975), Canadian sprinter
• Petrus de Dacia (mathematician), 13th century Danish mathematician also called Philomena
• Philomena, a 2013 film, and its title character

Philomena is a 2013 drama film directed by Stephen Frears, based on the book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by journalist Martin Sixsmith. Starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, it tells the true story of Philomena Lee's 50-year search for her forcibly adopted son and Sixsmith's efforts to help her find him. The film was co-produced in the United States and the United Kingdom. It gained critical acclaim and received several international film awards. Coogan and Jeff Pope won Best Screenplay at the 70th Venice International Film Festival. It was also awarded the People's Choice Award Runner-Up prize at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

The film was nominated in four categories at the 86th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay for Coogan and Pope, Best Actress for Dench, and Best Original Score for Desplat. It was also nominated for four BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.