Saint Philip Neri
Saint Patron of My Priestly Ordination
The holiness of Philip Neri is a lesson of pastoral passion, healing humor, self-distance and love for the people whom we serve.
The Most Cheerful Saint in the World
The Life of St. Philip Neri (1515–1595) is a contradiction of the sad, serious, official hagiography. Already in life he was considered a saint, which he was not delighted with. In spite of him, he sometimes pretended to be someone… less holy. For example, he dressed up in strange clothes or shaved only one side of his face, and wandered around town anyway. He loved anecdotes. "God is full of joy, therefore the devil runs away from true joy," he used to say. Sometimes he would give someone a poke and whisper, "It's not for you, but for the Evil One I want to drive out of you." He combined great joy and love for people with mystical piety. One of his favorite prayers was, "Lord, don't trust Philip." Popes and the common people loved him. Born in Florence, he spent 60 years in Rome, becoming the most famous chaplain of the Eternal City.
He came to Rome to study philosophy and theology. The Catacombs of St. Sebastian was the favorite place of his expeditions. It was there that he had an ecstatic experience that his biographers compared to the enlargement of the heart by the Holy Spirit. Philip saw that great crowds of pilgrims needed spiritual and material help. To remedy this poverty, he founded the Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity for the Care of Pilgrims. At the urging of his confessor, he was ordained a priest. He was then 36 years old.
He was a priest at the church of St. Jerome in the center of Rome. People looking for a living faith began to gather around him: priests, monks, townspeople, merchants, artists, and children. Philip prayed with them, talked and preached catechesis combined with singing songs. Initially, all this happened in his room, then in a special chapel, which he called the oratory. Meetings at the oratory attracted crowds of up to several thousand. Philip organized a group of regular lay and clergy collaborators. This fellowship gave rise to an Oratorian congregation
Philip introduced the Church to the city's peripheries, he combined religiousness with everyday life in accordance with the principle of "dancing and rosary". He received both the cardinal and the beggar equally. He did not condemn, but rather saw in sin the misfortune of the sinner. It was a completely new style of ministry. He showed the cheerful face of the Church, full of joy, prayer, and living community. Among Philip's friends were St. Charles Borromeo, St. Francis de Sales, St. Ignatius of Loyola. He advised popes and was the spiritual director of many dignitaries.
Every good work has its obstacles. St. Philip was accused of fostering news that was dangerous to the faith. Pope Paul IV forbade him to operate for a while. Fortunately, it didn't last long. Another pope, Gregory XIV, tried to make him a cardinal, but Philip defended himself from this honor. The life of the Roman Socrates (as he was called) is still an up-to-date textbook for courageous, living pastoral work that goes out to people, not just waiting for them. It is also a remedy against the bloated celebration of oneself, to which we, clerics, unfortunately, are inclined.
At the end of his life, he moved to the Church of Santa Maria Chiesa Nuova, where the new place of the oratory was located. There, on May 26, 1595, he also died surrounded by a group of faithful disciples. History ranked him as the greatest Catholic reformer of the 16th century. He kept his sense of humor and distance until his death, and people who were lucky enough to meet him, on the one hand, were grieved at the departure of their beloved Apostle, on the other, they understood the spirit of his teachings, understood that he had departed to a better reality that his heart longed for all his life on earth. The Apostle of Rome was beatified in 1615 and canonized in 1622 together with the four Spanish saints - Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Isidore the Farm Labourer and Teresa of Avila.
What was the essential reason for the uniqueness of Saint Philip Neri? This whole mystery can be expressed in the words of Saint Paul in the first letter to the Corinthians: " Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible" (1 Cor 9:19). Everything will become clear when we pay special attention to the first sentence of the Apostle to the Nations - " I am free in regard to all " ("not dependent on anyone" - in the new translation), which means freedom from earthly dependencies, gave the true basis of holiness, spiritual poverty and happiness having God by grace already here on earth. This was the attitude of the Saint every day, winning hearts with his irresistible charm, but at the same time remaining adamant in proclaiming the authenticity of divine revelation and never ceasing to convert lost souls to the one true Church of Christ, beyond which there is no salvation.
Liturgical celebration in honor of St. Philip falls on May 26 and has the rank of obligatory memorial. Mass prayers give us the opportunity to make requests through the intercession of St. Patron, as well as bring closer the features of his rich personality. In the Collect we ask that "the Holy Spirit kindles in us the fire of love that penetrated the heart of Saint Philip". The prayer over the gifts asks that, following the example of Saint Philip, we joyfully work for God's glory and the salvation of our neighbors. However, in prayer after Communion, we ask that we, like St. Philip always wanted the Bread that gives us eternal life.
At the end of our meditation on the person of St. Philip, through his intercession, let us ask for the gift of our joyful and humble service to God and people.
May 26, 1979, the Feast of Philip Neri, is a day of my priestly ordination. I was ordained with eight of my colleagues. Please pray for me and for my colleagues. Philip Neri is a Saint Patron of our ordination. Six year earlier, this same date Monsignor Paul Montoya was also ordained a priest. We share our ordination date.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george
St. Faustina’s Prayer for Priests
“O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of the whole Church:
Grant it love and the light of Your Spirit,
and give power to the words of priests
so that hardened hearts might be brought to repentance
and return to You, O Lord.
Lord, give us holy priests;
You yourself maintain them in holiness.
O Divine and Great High Priest,
may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere
and protect them from the devil’s traps and snares
which are continually being set for the souls of priests.
May the power of Your mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring to naught
all that might tarnish the sanctity of priests,
for You can do all things.” (Diary 1052)