Saint Philip Neri, Priest – Readings

Commentary on Philippians 4:4-9; John 17:20-26

The Gospel reading is part of Jesus’ prayer for unity among his followers. It comes from his long discourse during the Last Supper as given to us in John’s Gospel. In this particular part of the prayer, he is praying not for those disciples who are with him at the supper, but “for those who believe in me through their word”.

Jesus prays:

…that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

This is the way that people will come to recognise the true identity of Jesus.

To be a follower of Jesus is not simply to believe in him and lead a good life. It is not to see the Church as some kind of outside organisation distinct from me, but to which I go to get the ‘graces’ I need to be a good person, to keep the commandments and as a place where I can carry out my ‘religious obligations’ and in the end ‘save my soul’.

To be a follower of Jesus is essentially to be a follower with and through others. The Christian life is essentially communal. And Jesus is saying here that the most potent witness we can give of who he is, is that we who claim to follow him do so as part of a fellowship. It is said that in the early Church there was a saying: “See those Christians how they love one another!” That was one of the most striking characteristics to the pagan eye, namely, that people who came from different ethnic and social backgrounds could live together in such harmony. This was something strange to societies which strongly and defensively identified with their own group.

Jesus had said this earlier during the same discourse. In giving his disciples a “new” commandment, he had told them:

Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35)

This was to be the defining mark of the Christian—to be a ‘with-person’ or an ‘inter-person’. There is no room for individualism, going it alone to Jesus. This is a very relevant message for our individualistic, self-seeking, post-modern times.

Of course, the life of Philip Neri was very much along the line presented by Jesus. This is evident, first, from the concern he showed to the poor and needy, even to the prostitutes of Rome whom he tried to rescue from their slavery. It is seen in the congregation that he established, which is based so much on a brotherhood of equals, rather than on a structure of discipline and obedience. It is seen in the outgoing, warm character of Philip Neri.

It is not surprising, then, that the First Reading is from the Letter to the Philippians where the underlying theme is joy and happiness—traits particularly linked with Philip.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything…

These are the words of Paul to the Christians at Philippi. Worry should never be part of the Christian’s life. As Jesuit Fr Tony de Mello used to say:

“If you worry, you will die. If you do not worry, you will die. So why worry!”

On the contrary, focus on the good things that have come our way. Be full of gratitude. And then what will happen?

…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And Paul tells them (and us):

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things…and the God of peace will be with you.

This could be a word portrait of Philip Neri and what a lovely world it would be if everyone was like this!

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Saint Philip Neri, Priest

Philip Romolo Neri was born on 22 July, 1515 in Florence, the youngest child of Francesco, a lawyer, and his wife Lucrezia da Mosciano. Philip received his early education from the Dominican friars at the famous San Marco friary in Florence (of which Fra Angelico was once a member). When he was about sixteen, following a fire which destroyed much of his father’s property, Philip was sent to his father’s childless brother, a wealthy merchant, to assist him in his business and with the hope he might inherit his uncle’s fortune. However, the plan was thwarted by Philip’s call to the priesthood.

In 1523, Philip left San Germano and went to Rome, where he became a tutor. Here he was able to continue his studies while beginning the work among the sick and poor which gained him in later life the title of “Apostle of Rome”. In 1538, he began the home mission work for which he would become famous.

In 1551, he passed through all the minor orders, was ordained deacon and finally priest. He settled down, with some companions, at the hospital of San Girolamo della Carità and while there tentatively began, in 1556, the institute with which his name is more especially connected, that of the Oratory.

It was immediately after taking possession of new quarters in Rome that Neri formally organized, under permission of a papal bull dated July 15, 1575, a community of secular priests, called the Congregation of the Oratory. He was at first elected superior for a term of three years, but in 1587, was nominated superior for life. He wished that all congregations formed on his model outside Rome should be autonomous, governing themselves—a regulation afterwards formally confirmed by a brief of Gregory XV in 1622. Neri continued in the government of the Oratory until his death.

Philip had a playful sense of humour, combined with a shrewd wit. He used to say:

“A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one.”

This was undoubtedly the secret of his popularity and of his place in the folklore of the Roman poor.

Night was his special time of prayer. After dark he would go out in the streets, sometimes to churches, but most often into the catacombs of St Sebastiano to pray. During one of these times of prayer he felt a globe of light enter his mouth and sink into his heart. This experience gave him so much energy to serve God that he went out to work at the hospital of the incurables and started speaking to others about God, everyone from beggars to bankers. Many miracles were attributed to him, and it is said that when his body was dissected it was found that two of his ribs had been broken, an event attributed to the expansion of his heart while fervently praying in the catacombs about the year 1545.

Philip Neri was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1600, and canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622. Neri was not a reformer. His great merit was the instinctive tact which showed him that the older system of monasticism could never be the leaven of secular life, but that something more simple and everyday in character was needed for the times in which he lived.

The Oratory chiefly spread in Italy and in France, where in 1760 there were 58 houses all under the government of a superior-general. An English house, founded in 1847 at Birmingham, is celebrated as the place at which Cardinal Newman fixed his abode after his joining the Catholic Church. In 1849, a second congregation was founded on King William Street, Strand, London, with Fr Frederick William Faber as superior. In 1854, it was transferred to Brompton, where it is still based. Its church, the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, was consecrated April 16, 1884, and is the second largest Roman Catholic church in London.

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