Ivan Bwowe

Jesus made the following 12 promises to St. Margaret Mary in favor of those who consecrate to the Sacred Heart, in a spirit of reparation, the First Friday of each month. 1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life. 2. I will establish peace in their homes. 3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions. 4. I will be their secure refuge during life and, above all, in death. 5. I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings. 6. Sinners will find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy. 7. Lukewarm souls shall become fervent. 8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection. 9. I will bless every place in which an image of My Heart is exposed and honored. 10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts. 11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart. 12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in My disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.

St. Philomena is a young virgin martyr whose remains were found in 1802 in the Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome. The tomb tiles read “Pax tecum, Filumena” (“Peace be with you, Philomena”) and held the bones of a girl about 13, plus a vial of dried blood marking her as a martyr. Her name means “Daughter of Light.” Traditional accounts say she was the daughter of a Greek ruler who became Christian. At about 13 she vowed her virginity to Christ. When she refused the Emperor Diocletian, she suffered scourging, being cast into a river with an anchor, and arrows before beheading. She is shown with an anchor, arrows, a palm, and a lily of purity. After her relics reached Mugnano, Italy, in 1805, countless healings and favors were reported through her intercession. Venerable Pauline Jaricot and St. John Vianney (who called her his “dear little saint”) were among those helped. In 1837 Pope Gregory XVI approved public veneration because of the miracles. Known as “the Wonder-Worker,” she is invoked for desperate, forgotten, and impossible causes, as well as for infants, youth, purity, and the sick. St. John Vianney said her purity and martyrdom made her so pleasing to God that He would refuse her nothing. [Her traditional feast is August 11. Private devotion]