Dear Devotees of Saint Philomena and friends of her Sanctuary,

It is with great sadness we make this announcement.

Rector of the Sanctuary of Saint Philomena, Custodian of the Sacred Body of Saint Philomena, President and Spiritual Director of the Universal Archconfraternity of Saint Philomena

Passed away suddenly this morning at 10:30 in the Sanctuary of Saint Philomena in the presence of loved ones. He was suffering from bronchitis over the past week which had worsened in the past 24 hours. Today Our Lord called him home when his heart stopped.

Msgr. Braschi or as he was affectionately known, Don Giovanni, has always recounted that he wanted to take his last breath in the Sanctuary of Saint Philomena which had been his home for more than 37 years and he loved dearly.

He was the worldwide expert on everything related to Saint Philomena and was definitely the greatest devotee of Saint Philomena our time has known. He is now in the presence of Saint Philomena and is at peace.

He leaves behind his older sister Antoniette who he spent every lunch and evening meal with, he loved her dearly and cherished this time with her. He loved his nieces and nephews and spoke affectionately of them, he always prayed for them. His family life was dear to him and they all took turns at helping him with his work in the sanctuary throughout the years.

It wasn't an easy job he took on, restoring the Sanctuary and reviving the devotion to Saint Philomena. He loved history and he researched everything Saint Philomena and with this, facts and science ,he set about restoring the devotion to Saint Philomena. This devotion had not gone away, it was only suppressed- he would say. Listening to him and watching him work has been a great joy for many of us. There was always something new to learn about the Saint, the devotion, and the Sanctuary from him.

He was a kind and loving man who completely dedicated his life to Saint Philomena. But if you did something against Saint Philomena or the Sanctuary, he let you know! It's fair to say he was passionate about this. 

Msgr. Giovanni Braschi was born in Mugnano del Cardinale, Avellino, Italy on October 24, 1943. He grew up during the realm of the grandest feast celebrations of St. Philomena within Mugnano. This was a time when people flocked to the Sanctuary during the August feast. There was a solemn Mass and prayers within the church and great festivities outside, all one would expect on a very grand Italian occasion for this very important and special person. The Rector of the Sanctuary through the years of Msgr. Braschi's youth was Fr. Luigi Esposito - 1950-1962. Fr. Esposito was to educate and lead the way for the Sanctuarys present Rector.

Throughout Msgr. Braschi's training in the seminary he would go to the Sanctuary and pray at the Sacred Altar of St. Philomena to help him to get through the studies and pass his exams to become a priest. These exams were quite tough, and he promised St. Philomena that if she could help him through he would offer his priesthood to her. We know our little Saint will keep you to your word! After his training in the Seminary of Nola and in the Regional Seminary, Pope "Pius XI" of Salerno, he was ordained priest on June 19, 1971 by Msgr. Guerino Grimaldi, Bishop of Nola.

1971 - 1973 - Msgr. Braschi remained within the Seminary and assisted as prefect with the education of seminarians, not yet ordained.

1973 - 1975 , he was appointed assistant to Fr. Antonio Cirillo, Torre Annunziata, Naples and also assisted Msgr. Aniello Marano of Scafati, Salerno. Both churches were named St Francis of Paola.

1975 - 1983 - His Excellency Msgr. Guerino Grimaldi nominated Msgr. Braschi Parish Priest of the Church of Saint Maria of the Rosary in Cinquevie Selve di Nola where with great effort he constructed a new church.

September 25, 1983 - His Excellency Msgr. Giuseppe Costanzo, Bishop of Nola, nominated Fr. Giovanni Braschi Rector of the Sanctuary Saint Philomena in Mugnano. Like his predecessor Msgr. Luigi Esposito, Fr. Braschi always gave accurate detail to the St. Philomena question.

Msgr. Braschi, who was known to all in contact with the Sanctuary as Don Giovanni, now begins his life work. For this past 37 years he has worked tirelessly in restoring the Sanctuary and devotion to St. Philomena.

Don Giovanni was called by the Bishop's office and offered the position of the Rector of the Sanctuary. He was given a few days until an answer was required. During this time he is in the region of St. Pio's Shrine in San Giovanni Rotundo. At this time the saint was still known as Padre Pio. Don Giovanni knelt down in the church and prayed for guidance to Padre Pio about his appointment. He had known the devotion to St. Philomena was not as it once was and that it would entail a great deal of work, not only within the devotion but also with the church itself, which was in need of a huge restoration. He spent a considerable amount of time in the presence of God in Our Lady of Grace Church and with guidance from Padre Pio. At the end of this time he walked out of the church with his mission as the Rector of the Sanctuary of St. Philomena and zeal in his heart to promote devotion to St. Philomena. He also accepted the suffering he knew this work would bring.

On his first day in the Sanctuary as Rector he looked around in dismay at the condition of the church. There was not only the church building but an abandoned orphanage and convent attached. With the earthquakes of 1980-81, along with few pilgrimages or devotees visiting the Sanctuary, donations were not forthcoming. Previous Rectors had not been able to keep up with the cost of operating such an historical church. Therefore, no structural or decorative work had taken place for many, many years. He looked at the ceiling, the walls, the lights, the floor - what was he to do and how could he do it! He was led straight to the Sacred Altar of St. Philomena and on bended knee asked her "How?" He stood up in the trust that the path would be lit. He never once asked "why?"

Throughout the first three years Don Giovanni had only one prayer card to St. Philomena - the Supplicate of St. Philomena - the official prayer of the Sanctuary. There were no devotional items, no statues, no cords or chaplet beads. An annual blessing of the Oil of St. Philomena took place and the oil lamp always was lit in front of the Sacred Body St. Philomena.

Don Giovanni began reading and collecting as many books on St. Philomena as he could. He began a restoration program and collected donations where he could. He used all the personal money he had. Most of the pilgrimages who visited the Sanctuary during those years were Italian.

After the first year he began to form the new Universal Archconfraternity of St. Philomena. He had family and friends who could speak several languages who helped to translate letters that were sent to the Sanctuary. In this way he developed international contacts. This was to be the beginning of the office in the Sanctuary. In 1985 Don Giovanni wrote his first book about St. Philomena and had it translated into several languages. By 1986 he had appointed the first new Archconfraternity Center in Sydney, Australia. (On the 11th February 2021 he appointed Mary Ann Matulius the National Director of Australia as he continued to work on restructuring the Archconfraternity. He said she had been there from the start and has earned this position and he was happy for this.)

By this point he felt the need for help in the Sanctuary and requested this of his Bishop. Shortly after, Sister Bertilla R.I.P. was appointed to the Sanctuary. She helped Don Giovanni on every level she could manage. She woke before 6 a.m. and did not go to sleep again until her work for that day was done. She often worked about 17 hours each and every day. Don Giovanni always said she did the work of ten people. She took on a motherly role and made contact with the people of the town to help in the church. She worked making cords and scapulars and many other devotional items. She and Don Giovanni created a gift shop within the church and furnished it with devotional items. Don Giovanni worked for at least ten years to have a statue of St. Philomena created - a statue that would do her justice. It would take a phenomenal piece of work for a sculpture to measure up to what Don Giovanni had in his mind for his Saint.

Don Giovanni began to be invited abroad to talk about St. Philomena and thus creating new Archconfraternity Centers. He bought the first computer for his office in 1988 with MS-DOS. Communications began to come and go more frequently and were building up momentum. The devotion to St. Philomena was once again budding like a flower not yet in full bloom. By 1992 Don Giovanni began to create guest rooms in the Sanctuary and Sister Bertilla would ensure they were well turned out and clean. In this way families and small groups of people could stay close. 

In 1998 Don Giovanni had a website for the Sanctuary designed in Italian and English. 2003 began a new era for this website. A final custom design, which the Sanctuary now displays, photos and video files. By 2005 the website was receiving around one million visitor hits each month.

By the year 2000 Don Giovanni had created the Pilgrims Center. There are many rooms, including some around the dome on the third floor. On the fourth floor a room has access directly onto the Sanctuary's roof with spectacular views across the town and the green mountains surrounding it. An elevator was installed by Fr. James Swenson R.I.P. of Nevada, US, who was a great benefactor to the restoration program of the Sanctuary. The first official pilgrimage arrived in May of 2001. This Pilgrim Center is a work in progress with yet another eight rooms awaiting restoration. There is a full and professional kitchen, a dining hall, lounge areas on several levels and garden access.

In the year 2002, Don Giovanni initiated many scientific studies into all matters regarding St. Philomena. This work was completed by 2005 and is published in Don Giovanni's new book. These studies cleared up many questions about St. Philomena with a very positive outcome.

For the 2005 celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the Sacred Body of St. Philomena arriving in the Sanctuary: he restored fully the main church, created a confessional chapel, had the sacristy restored, organized major events, including a conference in Rome of all matters related to St. Philomena. A major feast celebration was held in August.

A new and larger devotional shop was created in the church and the museum has been restored and treated and redecorated.

January 22, 2011 Sister Bertilla finally took her place in Heaven after a long illness. Don Giovanni made sure all her care and needs were taken care of throughout this time. I am sure she would agree that Don Giovanni will be marked down in history as one of the great leaders of the devotion to St. Philomena. He has proved to be one of the most historical rectors of the Sanctuary and most definitely a pioneer in many avenues. Particularly in these days, he made no decision without first praying to Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Mother and St. Philomena. He has a statue of St. Pio in the church as his first guide to the work of the Sanctuary.

Don Giovanni finally finished his new book 2010 in Italian, "Saint Philomena, Testimony of the Light of Christ". It has taken him 26 years to research and write. It has now been translated into English, French and Spanish. The English edition was published August 2011. This is the most comprehensive book about St Philomena, each fact well researched and accurate. It is not only a pleasure to read but also an inspiring story of a wonderworking Saint. 2011, a poem, "Star of Heaven" by Giuseppe Boccia, influenced him to write yet another book, only available in Italian, with this title.

2012 was a year of communication: The new Archconfraternity website launched with the new logo. It is a comprehensive website with information on all avenues of the Archconfraternity, bringing together all of the St Philomena groups worldwide, affectionately known as the Family of Saint Philomena. The relocation and modernisation of the Archconfraternity office within the Sanctuary with new security, procedures and systems in place within this office. The translation of the new book in French and Spanish. New web site for the Sanctuary.

The following years have shown an increase in many more devotees and groups and pilgrimages visiting the Sanctuary and more Archconfraternity centers forming. The restoration of the dome of the Sanctuary now completed in January 2014 along with many other restoration programs within the sanctuary. Throughout this time Don Giovanni was desperately searching for help in the Sanctuary and in 2015 a visiting Bishop from the Philippines was instrumental in assisting and contact was made to Daughters of Mary, Mother of the Church Institute in the Philippines, arrangements were made and two nuns were to arrive and live in the Sanctuary the following year but many delays occurred and they did not arrive until the following year.

By this time the heavy work load began to take its toll on Don Giovanni's health and November 2016 he suffered a major heart attack which required surgery. A second more serious surgery was carried out on February 25th, 2017 the day of the arrival of the sisters of Daughters of Mary, Mother of the Church Institute who arrived in Rome. Perfectly timed to take care of the Sanctuary of Saint Philomena. Due to the timing of this Marie Burns Director of the Archconfraternity was entrusted with the job of taking care of the Sisters, helping them settle in and keep the Sanctuary running as normal. Sr Paz and Sr Marichu quickly settled into Italian life although it has been a massive change for them and they continue to take care of the sanctuary and the spiritual and practical needs of visiting pilgrims.

Don Giovanni slowly recovered from the heart surgery with the help of his family, friends and the sisters. However, a side effect of the heart problems had affected him as a diabetic and his feet became badly infected, he was advised the only solution was a bilateral amputation from above the knee to which he refused and palliative care had been advised by the doctor. He made a full recovery from this, to the astonishment of the medical profession, his feet became fully healed bar the right small toe which had disappeared as if it had never been there.

On Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018, two days before Don Giovanni's 75th birthday his doctor visited him with an envelope. The doctor said that he had never witnessed anything like Don Giovanni's healing, after 30 years as a diabetic doctor and consulting with his colleagues he concluded that there was no scientific explanation except to say that in his opinion it was a miracle. He has documented and signed his findings.

2020 - the pandemic arrived and places of worship worldwide were closed, Don Giovanni felt the answer was prayer. Daily in the Sanctuary Don Giovanni, Sr Paz, Sr Marichu and Gioacchino Acierno and a few others at various times prayed for the healing of the world from Covid-19, for peace and for the devotees of Saint Philomena with many special requests being sent in daily. Most of this has been documented on the Sanctuary of Saint Philomena facebook page. The Feast celebrations for Saint Philomena were different - no procession or large gatherings. Throughout this time the prayer life of Don Giovanni became everything.

To give every detail of Monsignor Braschi would require not just one book but a series of books. Everyone who knew him loved him and everyone who he spoke to about Saint Philomena left with a fire in their soul to promote devotion to her. He wanted us to be kind to each other and take care of the devotion to Saint Philomena, to keep the fire burning within us and he wanted to protect it by having the Archconfraternity of Saint Philomena run along side the Sanctuary. This was very important to him, so please let us continue this great work together as one family.

It will be impossible to replace him, he will be added to the great Saint Philomena devotees of all time and next to Don Francesco de Lucia he is responsible for bringing Saint Philomena back to us. It is a sad day at the Sanctuary and no words can describe the sorrow of his passing.

His funeral was on February, 27th at 12:00 noon and was published on the Santuario Santa Filomena/Sanctuary of Saint Philomena official page on Facebook.