May 26: Saint Philip Neri
“Brothers, be cheerful, laugh, joke as much as you want, but do not sin!”
He was known and loved by the populace of Rome for his cheerful and peaceful character, able to involve the entire city in his spiritual journey, beseeching charity towards the weakest and most neglected of society. He is Philip Neri, born in Florence on July 21, 1515, to Francesco and Lucrezia da Mosciano Neri. His father was a notary when he lost his wife in 1520. He remarried Alessandra di Michele Lensi, who took care of little Philip, who attended public school and was educated by the Dominicans of the convent of San Marco.
At the age of 18, his father sent him to his uncle, Bartolomeo Romolo, near Montecassino, to study commerce as a trade. Philip, however, was not very interested in that world. He preferred taking refuge on a mountain called “Montagna Spaccata” to pray, while overlooking the sea, as his religious vocation matured. He stayed with his uncle for two years then abandoned all comforts and headed for Rome. As he looked for lodging in the Eternal City with no money, he found work as a tutor to the children of the Florentine gentleman Galeotto Caccia. Despite the starvation wage, Philip was able to study philosophy at La Sapienza University and theology at Saint Augustine college. He favored praying in little-frequented churches or at the catacombs of Saint Sebastian. According to tradition, on the night of Pentecost in 1544, while he was praying, invoking the Holy Spirit, a globe of fire dilated his heart. This mystical experience left an indelible mark on him: two broken ribs, without feeling pain, on his left side. After this event, Philip would never be the same. He stopped working for the Caccia family and began to lead a hermit's life on the streets of Rome. In the meantime, he performed charitable works at the hospital of San Giacomo, where he became friends with Ignatius of Loyola and his early companions.
In Rome Philip Neri established the special pilgrim itinerary of visiting the Seven Churches: he started from Saint Peter, continued on to Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Saint Sebastian, Saint John Lateran, Holy Cross in Jerusalem, Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls ending at Saint Mary Major.
He begged for alms publicly and slept under porticoes, arousing derision and mockery from street kids. However, through jokes and games, he began to preach to them saying "Brothers, be happy, laugh, joke as much as you want, but do not sin!"
At this time he met two priests: Fr. Persiano Rosa, who would become his confessor and thanks to whom Philip would later be ordained a priest on May 23, 1551, and Fr. Buonsignore Cacciaguerra, whose revolutionary idea of inviting his faithful to take communion daily, was fully embraced by Philip's spirituality.
The church of San Girolamo [Saint Jerome], where they lived, became home. People who wanted to live their faith consistently gathered in his room. He recommended frequent reception of the Sacraments, regular community prayer and catechesis. Thus, the Oratory was born.
The room became too small to accommodate the growing number of people who came to listen to him, so he moved to the church's barn. Convinced that prayer should lead to charitable action, he founded the Confraternity of the Holy Trinity of Pilgrims which, in the Jubilee of 1550, offered hospitality to the faithful who came to Rome.
He then decided to be a missionary in the Far East, but was unable to depart due to the constant requests he received from the needy and people who wanted to live the Gospel coherently. In 1559, his father died and he met Cardinal Charles Borromeo, with whom he formed a deep friendship.
His fame of sanctity began to spread, so much so that the merchants originally from Florence living in Rome wanted to appoint him rector of the Florentine church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini. He therefore sent some of his disciples as chaplains to the Florentine church. Little by little, those around him began to live in a community as secular priests of the Oratory. Philip had a spiritual rule of having no rules other than following the Holy Spirit. The new community was founded on obedience to the spiritual Father, in brotherly love, according to the first Christian communities.
Pope Gregory XIII granted him the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella in perpetuity and approved the new order of the Congregation of Secular Priests and Clerics, called the Oratory. In January 1578, Philip's disciples gathered to reside at Vallicella, and he joined them in 1583, at the behest of the Pope.
The last years of his life were marked by physical problems, illnesses, healings and relapses. During that period, he acted as a mediator between the papacy and the King of France. Thanks to this action, Pope Clement VIII wanted to elevate him to Cardinal but Philip declined saying: "I prefer Heaven". At the church of Vallicella, where he lived, he became a point of reference for all of Rome, from Popes and Cardinals, to the poor and destitute. He died peacefully at dawn, on May 26, 1595.