Saint of the Day – 28 April – Saint Pamphilus (Died c700) Bishop of Sulmona-Valva, Italy, a man of great chairty, especially to the poor and needy, a zealous shepherd to his sheep and a faithful missionary of the Gospel of Christ, also a prodiguous Miracle-worker. Patronage – the Cities of Scerni, Spoltore and Sulmona , Italy, the Diocese of Sulmona-Valva, Italy,. Also known as – Panfilo, … of Solmona-Valva, … of Sulmona.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Pelino, in Abruzzo, St Pamphilus, Bishop of Valva, illustrious for his charity towards the poor and the gift of miracles. His body was buried at Solmona.”
Born in the 7th Century in Abruzzo near the village of Pacile, located 988 metres above sea level on the Mitra hill. Pamphilus was the son of a pagan who rejected and despised him when he converted to Christ.
In 682Pamphilus was elected as the Bishop of Sulmona-Valva. He is described as a very generous and kind soul and committed to the spread of the Gospel particularly among the Lombards
He died in Corfinio a City within his See near the Basilica of San Pelino da Brindisi Co-Cathedral of the of See of Sulmona-Valva.
He was immediately venerated by the faithful and buried outside the walls in a field on which the Cathedral of San Panfilo was later built. His Relics rest in a Sarcophagus in the Crypt of the new 18th Century Cathedral.
He is the Patron Saint of the City of Ocre, Scerni , Spoltore and Sulmona , where there are Churches dedicated to him.
One of Pamphilus many miracles is recorded as follows: his father ordered him to climb onto a cart and descend from Pacile down the steep descent to the valley below. At that point the mountain descent was impossible to navigage in a car. Instead, the wheels of the cart were sunk into the rock, so that Pamphilus could slowly descend into the valley. The tracks of the oxen and the grooves produced by the wheels can be seen on the mountaside still today!
AnaStpaul 