There, they became the focus of widespread devotion; several miracles were credited to Philomena's intercession, including the healing of Pauline Jaricot in 1835, which received wide publicity.

[6] On December 21, 1833, the Holy Office declared that there was nothing contrary to the Catholic faith in the revelations that Maria Luisa di Gesù, a Dominican tertiary from Naples, claimed to have received from Philomena herself.

[9] The belief that such vials were signs of the grave of a martyr was rejected by the investigations of Giovanni Battista De Rossi (1822–1894),[8] but more recently, this original view has found advocates, such as theologian Mark Miravalle.

In 1805, Canon Francesco De Lucia of Mugnano del Cardinale requested relics for his oratory and, on 8 June, obtained the remains discovered in May 1802 (then reduced to dust and fragments).

[7] A miracle accepted as proved in the same year was the multiplication of the bone dust of the saint which provided for hundreds of reliquaries without the original amount experiencing any decrease in quantity.

"[20] Although correlation does not prove causation, the Holy See's instruction to remove the name of Philomena even from local calendars followed the raising of questions by certain scholars, whose interest had been drawn to the phenomenon more especially in connection with the revelations of Sister Maria Luisa di Gesù.

[7] The questions were raised in particular by Orazio Marucchi, whose study in the late 19th Century won the support of Johann Peter Kirsch, an archaeologist and ecclesiastical historian who is the author of the 1911 article on Philomena in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

[7] Thus, on his theory, not only the name but also the leaf, the two anchors and the palm that decorated the three tiles, and which had been believed to indicate that Filumena was a martyr, had no relation to the person whose remains were found.

[8] The alleged disarrangement of the tiles would be explained by a fourth-century practice of re-using materials already engraved, with the aim of indicating that it was not the same person who was now buried in the place.

[24] Historian Michael S. Carter (who supports Miravalle's position) has written about devotion to Saint Philomena within the broader context of veneration of "catacomb martyrs" and their relics in the history of the United States.

Pilgrims from all over the world arrive continually at Philomena's shrine in the Diocese of Nola, Italy, displaying an intense degree of popular devotion.

[7] The website of "The National Shrine of Saint Philomena, Miami, Florida" (associated with the SSPX) sees "the action taken in 1960 as the work of the devil in order to deprive the people of God of a most powerful Intercessor, particularly in the areas of purity and faith at a time when these virtues were so much being challenged as they continue to be up until now!