This association, the worldwide family of Saint Philomena, has been granted authority to form devotional groups and centers by Pope Pius X, on May 21, 1912, who extended to the whole Church the Archconfraternity of Saint Philomena. This association is proclaimed Universal Archconfraternity In the Apostolic Brief ‘Pias fidelium societates’ where he concludes with the statement: “The current statements are and remain always fixed, valid and effective”. We accomplish this by following the directives.
The center representative must have the permission and approval from the Director of the Universal Archconfraternity of Saint Philomena before they form a devotional Center. If there is already a devotional center formed, they must, also, have permission and approval before they are incorporated into the Archconfraternity.
Upon acceptance, the centre representative will be required to complete enrolment forms. Submitting personal details for internal admin purposes and give consent for any information they would like to be made public on external sources such as the archconfraternity website. Our collection, processing, storage, and (if required) transmission or sharing of the information provided complies with requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation for EU & Non-EU citizens.
The center will be given the following: a center number, supply of membership cards for devotees to be enrolled, welcome pack, list of privileges for you as a center representative and your centers public contact details will be listed on the Archconfraternity web site.
You should seek a priest, who is in good standing within the Roman Catholic Church, to spiritually guide the devotion and to carry out any liturgical actions on behalf of the Archconfraternity. He should reside within your local area or the area in which the devotion will take place.
You should seek the blessing of your local Bishop. Priests who are proposed as Spiritual Directors should first seek permission of their Bishop. If the spiritual director is a Bishop themselves, then this would not be necessary. Unless they are a bishop emeritus, or an auxiliary, as these may require the approval of the ordinary of the diocese.
The same would apply for spiritual directors (or representatives) who may be members of religious orders, as they may be required by the constitutions and directives of their own orders to seek permission from their superior which may or may not be required in addition of seeking permission of their bishop.
Generally, the proper process would be to follow the rules and norms within the Roman Catholic church.
The feasts celebrating Saint Philomena should be recognized at least annually or 3 times each year, on or near: January 10th, May 25th, August 10, 11. Regular devotions can also take place monthly or weekly. They can be in the form of Holy Mass with prayers to Saint Philomena or Saint Philomena novena prayer group.
When you have established the devotion in a Church you are asked to have a Statue or Picture of St Philomena erected there.
During an event in honor of St. Philomena: for example, the celebration of Holy Mass, you are encouraged to: recite prayers to St. Philomena, and display a statue or image of St. Philomena. If a center has a first-class relic, this should also be given pride of place and venerated where possible.
Any liturgical acts MUST be performed by a priest or deacon when present. Laity should not carry out anything liturgical beyond their state and what the church specifies for laity – all prayers and devotions should follow this. For example: Devotees should not bless with the relic in the manner like a priest would do. But rather ask for a blessing instead.
At each event in honour of St Philomena, all in attendance should be given the opportunity to join the Universal Archconfraternity using this format:
- You will have membership cards to give each new member, on these you will write the name of the person, your centre number and country /state and you will allocate a membership number to each new devotee.
- They should give you their name, address, telephone number and email address which you should keep a record of and contact them regularly with upcoming events and news.
- This list of members should be sent to the Archconfraternity Operational Headquarters under GDPR in this format: Name, city/state, Center name and number. This list will be taken monthly to the Shrine of the Body of Saint Philomena in Italy to be stored there.
- You will receive membership cards to enroll each member; masses and prayers will be offered for all members on the second Friday by the worldwide Spiritual Directors and throughout the centers.
Once your center is established and you wish to make an addition such as a social media groups/pages, web page, novena circles, youth groups, internet talk groups, the Archconfraternity Director should be informed beforehand. The official logo should be used. When the center has a web site include a link to the Archconfraternity web site.
Keep the Director of the Archconfraternity informed and regularly updated on your centers activities.
The Archconfraternity will organize various activities such as conferences, pilgrimages, etc. and you are asked to promote them within your center.
Only the person named here is the representative of the center is responsible for the center, no other person or priest associated with the center will be responsible.
If the center creates disharmony within the devotion to Saint Philomena their authorization for running the center may be revoked. Please see attached guidance for dismissal of a center.