The Pope’s visit was a great consolation to the invalid. He had come not merely to visit and console, but also to thank her for all the good work she had done for the Church. He praised her great courage and ardent faith in coming to Rome. And, as she had so ardently desired, she received a blessing from the Holy Father.

Seeing how exhausted she was, he asked her to pray for him when she got to Heaven.

"Yes, Holy Father," she replied, "I promise to do so. But if on my return from Mugnano, I come back well and go on foot to the Vatican, will Your Holiness deign to proceed without delay with the final inquiry into the cause of St. Philomena?"

"Yes, yes, my daughter," replied the Pope, "for that indeed would be a miracle of the first class."

Turning to the Superioress, the Holy Father said in Italian: "How ill our daughter is! She seems to me as if she had come forth from the grave. We shall never see her again. She will never return."

Pauline understood what he said. She only smiled, confident in St. Philomena’s intercession.

When leaving, the Pope blessed her anew. He said to Cardinal Lambruscini, who accompanied him: "I recommend my dear daughter to you. Grant her all the indulgences and privileges it is possible to bestow."

It was now August, and the heat was terrible. The little party started for Mugnano. They had to travel by night and rest by day. They arrived at the Sanctuary on the eve of Saint Philomena’s feast.

For the occasion of St. Philomena’s feast day, the Sanctuary of her shrine was crowded with Neapolitans and people from all the surrounding districts. It didn’t take long for word about Pauline to travel. The news filled the Italians with enthusiasm!

Here was a lady who had done a great deal of work for the Catholic Faith, and had earned the deep affection of the Pope himself. She had come all the way from her home in France, enduring all kinds of danger and difficulty. Why had this good woman made such a journey? To be saved from a deathly illness through the intercession of their very own dear St. Philomena!

It seemed the Italians were even more eager for her cure than Pauline herself. They crowded around the glass case housing the relics of the Virgin Martyr.

"Dear St. Philomena," they cried, "you must cure this dear lady who has come such a distance to ask your aid. She has done enough for God and for the Madonna for you to cure her."

And then, knocking at the reliquary, they called out, "Do you hear us, Philomena! If you do not grant our prayer at once, we will invoke you no more. It will be all over between us. So much the worse for you, great Saint!"

The uproar grew so intense that Pauline could scarcely endure it.