The blood relic of an early Church martyr St. Philomena liquified at a Benedictine monastery in the southern city of Iligan after a holy mass to welcome the relics of St. Padre Pio.
In a video on social media, Fr. Romeo Desuyo, a priest from the Archdiocese of Cebu, can be seen holding a reliquary containing the blood of the saint who died in the 4th century, showing the liquefaction to mass goers, said a Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines News post.
“I saw the blood relic before the Mass and it was really dry,” Fr. Desuyo said. “When I held up the reliquary, we saw the blood already liquefying,” he added.
The blood liquefaction was witnessed by many churchgoers, who were left in tears at the phenomenon.
The blood relic of St. Philomena was brought all the way from the Benedictine Monastery of Sant’Anna in Bastia Umbra, a town in the Italian region of Umbria, to Iligan in 2013 to promote devotion to the saint.
Fr. Roberto Balsamo, the chief exorcist of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro and head of the Saint Pio of Pietrelcina Prayer Partners of Cagayan de Oro, also confirmed the blood liquefaction, the CBCP said. He was at the monastery a few days before the arrival of Padre Pio’s relics and saw the blood “really very dry,” said Fr. Balsamo.
“I was also curious so when I went there on Feb. 8, I checked the relic and saw a line of blood flowing inside the container,” he said.
Fr. Desuyo is the custodian of the relics of Padre Pio, who was known to have great devotion to St. Philomena. The relics under Fr. Desuyo’s care include Padre Pio’s hair, blood, and flesh that were placed inside a glass case with the life-sized and silicon-made replica of the popular Capuchin saint’s mortal remains.
The replica image is also wearing a brown habit worn by Padre Pio.
From Iligan, the relics of Padre Pio were brought to four more churches in the Cagayan de Oro archdiocese, including the cathedral, which attracted thousands of devotees and pilgrims, on Feb. 8 to 9.
Fr. Desuyo expressed hope that the people’s devotion to Padre Pio will further lead them to the Eucharist. “Padre Pio loves the Eucharist. We hope that our devotion will bring more life to our faith and lead people to the Holy Eucharist and closer to God,” he said.