The Life and Miracles of Saint Philomena: Virgin and Martyr Unknown Author

Publisher Marketing: THE name of the glorious virgin and martyr, Saint Philomena, is not as well known to the youth of our country as it should be. From the beginning of the present century, this saint has been singularly honored in Italy as the patroness of youth, and the fruits of' this devotion have been truly miraculous. The present reprint. is from an authorized Dublin edition; we had hoped to have the holy privilege of translating the life of this youthful saint, but we found others had anticipated us in the pious undertaking . The extraordinary devotion of one of the most celebrated personages of modern timesthe Cure d' Ars-to this saint, lends a new and holy charm to her name, while its amazing fruits show how powerful she is with God. His biographer tells us that the cure's devotion to this holy virgin and martyr, whom he was accustomed to call his "dear little Saint," was almost chivalrous. There was the most touching sympathy between them. "She granted every thing to his prayers; he refused nothing to her love. He set down to her account all the graces and wonders which contributed to the celebrity of the pilgrimage of Ars. It was all her work; he had nothing whatever to do with it." Speaking of this devotion of the cure, Henry Edward Cardinal Manning, Archbishop of Westminster, says: " Mysterious and wonderful is the sympathy which thrills through the communion of saints, unbroken by distance, undimmed by time, unchilled by death! 'The youthful saint' went forth from her mother's arms to die for Christ; the lictor's ax cropped the budding lily, and pious hands gathered up and laid it in the tomb; and so fifteen centuries went by, and none on earth thought upon the virgin martyr who was following the Lamb whithersoever He went, till the tune came when the Lord would have her glory to appear; and then He chose a champion for her in the lonely, toilworn priest, to whom He had given a heart as child like, and a love as heroic as her own; and He gave her to be the helpmate of his labors, and bade her stand by him to shelter his humility behind the brightness of her glory, lest he should be affrighted at the knowledge of his own power with God." We trust this little volume will serve to enkindle a tender devotion to the saint in many a young heart. At the early age of thirteen years, this true heroine trampled all the vanities of the world under her feet, and chose to endure multiplied torments rather than renounce her vow to her crucified Saviour. What a model of constancy and of every virtue does she present to us! Let the youthful heart go to her when tried, and with unbounded confidence implore her intercession! Contributor Bio:  Author, Unknown Joseph Barber Lightfoot (13 April 1828 - 21 December 1889), known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English theologian and Bishop of Durham. Lightfoot was born in Liverpool, where his father was an accountant. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, under James Prince Lee. His contemporaries included Brooke Foss Westcott and Edward White Benson. In 1847 Lightfoot went to Trinity College, Cambridge, and read for his degree along with Westcott. He graduated senior classic and 30th wrangler, and was elected a fellow of his college. From 1854 to 1859 he edited the Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology. In 1857 he became tutor and his fame as a scholar grew. He was made Hulsean professor in 1861, and shortly afterwards chaplain to the Prince Consort and honorary chaplain in ordinary to Queen Victoria. In 1866 he was Whitehall preacher, and in 1871 he became canon of St Paul's Cathedral. The Times wrote after his death that It was always patent that what he was chiefly concerned with was the substance and the life of Christian truth, and that his whole energies were employed in this inquiry because his whole heart was engaged in the truths and facts which were at stake. In 1875 Lightfoot became Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity in succession to William Selwyn. In 1879 he was consecrated bishop of Durham in succession to Charles Baring. He soon surrounded himself with a band of scholarly young men. Lightfoot was never married. He died at Bournemouth and was succeeded in the episcopate by Westcott, his schoolfellow and lifelong friend. He served as President of the first day of the 1880 Co-operative Congress. Lightfoot wrote commentaries on the Epistle to the Galatians (1865), Epistle to Philippians (1868) and Epistle to the Colossians. In 1874, the anonymous publication of Supernatural Religion, a work speculated by some to be authored by Walter Richard Cassels, attracted attention. In a series of papers in the Contemporary Review, between December 1874 and May 1877, Lightfoot undertook the defense of the New Testament canon. The articles were published in collected form in 1889. About the same time he was engaged in contributions to William Smith's Dictionary of Christian Biography and Dictionary of the Bible, and he also joined the committee for revising the translation of the New Testament. The corpus of Lightfoot's writings include essays on biblical and historical, commentaries on Pauline epistles, and studies on the Apostolic Fathers.