St. Philomena's Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of St. Joseph and St. Philomena, also known as St. Joseph's Cathedral, is a

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and the cathedral of the Diocese of Mysore,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Neo Gothic in style, it was constructed in 1936 during the reign of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV. Its architecture was inspired by the

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (, , officially , English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archd ...

in Germany. A history of St. Philomena's church is provided by The cathedral is one of the tallest churches in Asia.

Patron saint

St. Philomena is a

Latin Catholic The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches in full communion w ...

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. She was a young Greek princess martyred in the 4th century. The remains of a teenage girl no older than 14 were discovered on 24 May 1802 in the

Catacombs Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

of Saint Priscilla at the

Via Salaria The Via Salaria was an ancient Roman road in Italy. It eventually ran from Rome (from Porta Salaria of the Aurelian Walls) to ''Castrum Truentinum'' ( Porto d'Ascoli) on the Adriatic coast, a distance of 242 km. The road also passed throu ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Accompanying these remains were a set of tiles bearing a fragmented inscription containing the words ''LUMENA PAXTE CUM FI'', words of no known meaning in that order. The letters were rearranged to read ''PAX TECUM FILUMENA'', which in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

translates to ''Peace with you, Filumena.''A biography of St. Philomena is provided by In addition, some symbols of her martyrdom and a vessel, containing dry blood, were also found in the tomb. From these discoveries, it was concluded that a

Christian name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often given by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...

d Filumena (Philomena) was buried in the tomb and the vessel containing blood was thought to be her

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

, an evidence of a martyr's death.

History

Mural Philomenas Church Mysore Palace Dec23 A7C 08266

A church at the same location was built in the year 1843 during the reign of Maharaja

Krishnaraja Wodeyar III Krishnaraja Wodeyar III (14 July 1794 – 27 March 1868) was an Indian king who was the twenty-second Maharaja of Mysore. He ruled the kingdom for nearly seventy years, from 30 June 1799 to 27 March 1868, for a good portion of the latter period ...

and the Commission Rule. An inscription which was there at the time of laying the foundation of the present church in 1933 states: "In the name of that only God – the universal Lord who creates, protects, and reigns over the universe of Light, the mundane world and the assemblage of all created lives – this church is built 1843 years after the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Enlightenment of the World, as man". In 1926, T. Thumboo Chetty, private secretary to Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, obtained a relic of the saint from Peter Pisani, the

apostolic delegate An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

of the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

. This relic was handed over to Father Cochet, who approached the maharaja in assisting him construct a church in honour of St. Philomena.A brief description of St. Philomena's church is provided by The Maharaja laid the foundation stone of the church on 28 October 1933. In his speech on the day of the inauguration, he said: "The new church will be strongly and securely built upon a double foundation — Divine compassion and the eager gratitude of men." The construction of the church was completed under Bishop Rene Feuga's supervision. The relic of Saint Philomena is preserved in a

catacomb Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

below the main

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

. This church is a good example of a blend of local culture. Some of the female statues are in

saree A sari (also called sharee, saree or sadi)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is a drape (cloth) and a women's garment in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of an un-stit ...

s, a traditional Indian attire.

Architecture

The church was designed by a Frenchman named Daly. It was designed to be built in the Neo Gothic style with inspiration drawn from the

. The

floor plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

of the cathedral resembles a cross. The long part of the cross is congregation hall called the ''

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

''. The two arms of the cross are the ''

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

s''. The part containing the altar and the choir is the '' crossing''. The cathedral has a crypt that houses a statue of St. Philomena. The twin spires of the church are in height and they resemble the spires of the

and also the spires of the St. Patrick's Church in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The main hall (''nave'') can seat up to 800 people and contains

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows depicting scenes from the birth of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

, the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...

, the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

, the

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

and the

Ascension of Christ The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate ) is the Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus ascended to Heaven. Christian doctrine, as reflected in the major Christian creeds and confessional statements, holds that Jesus ascended afte ...

. It is considered to be Asia's second largest church.

Gallery

File:St Philomena Cathedral 1.jpg, Side view of the cathedral File:St.PHILOMENA'S STATUE AT CATHEDRAL- 2.jpg, St. Philomena's Statue File:St. JOSEPH'S STATUE AT CATHEDRAL.jpg, St. Joseph's Statue File:St Philomenas Church Foundation Stone and information for visitors.jpg, Visitor's information sign

Notes

External links

St. Philomena’s Cathedral , Church Timings and history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Philomena's Church, Mysore Tourist attractions in Mysore Mysore North Roman Catholic churches in Karnataka Gothic Revival church buildings in India Roman Catholic churches completed in 1936 Roman Catholic cathedrals in Karnataka Churches in Mysore 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in India

Patron saint

History

Architecture

Gallery

See also

Notes

External links