_01.jpg)
Giovan Battista Tiepolo, Apparizione della Madonna col Bambino a San Filippo Neri, 1739-1740, Camerino, S. Filippo Neri
Saint Philippe Neri
Fondateur de l'Oratoire (+ 1595)
Florentin de naissance, il passa les trois-quart de sa
vie à Rome et y devint si populaire et d'une sainteté si universellement
reconnue qu'il deviendra, après saint Pierre,
un second patron de la Ville Éternelle. Il présente cette étonnante combinaison
d'une piété nourrie des Pères du Désert, avec un ministère actif, spécialement
auprès de la jeunesse. Chez lui, la bonne humeur, voire l'hilarité, s'allie
à l'évangélisme le plus limpide. S'étant laissé élever à la prêtrise, il y
gagna les plus fervents de ses jeunes convertis. La communauté qu'ils formèrent
autour de lui, tire son nom: 'l'Oratoire', des soirées de très pieuses mais
très libres et très joyeuses méditations dont il était l'animateur. Ce saint
étonnant qui allie à la culture la plus raffinée une sainteté évangélique et
une bonne humeur qui ne se refuse pas à la mystification, enchantera ses
compatriotes contemporains puis ravit en France, au siècle suivant, ceux qui
fonderont à leur tour l'Oratoire de France: le futur cardinal de Bérulle et le
Père de Condren. Et si même un sceptique aussi inguérissable que Goethe a pu se
sentir un dévot de saint Philippe sans en arriver à partager la foi, il est
tout aussi typique qu'un grand universitaire d'Oxford, J.H. Newman, converti
lui pour de bon, n'ait pas cru pouvoir se mettre à une autre école que celle de
saint Philippe Néri. Pour son action auprès des jeunes et sa gaieté contagieuse
il fut, avec saint
François de Sales, l'un des saints préférés de saint
Jean Bosco.
- Vidéo sur la webTV de la CEF
- Cinquième centenaire de saint Philippe Neri 26 mai 2015.
- 'le plus mystique, le plus réformateur mais aussi le plus espiègle des saints: Philippe Néri. En témoigne l'anecdote sur son enseignement!' Jour du Seigneur.
Mémoire de saint Philippe Néri, prêtre. Originaire de Florence, il vint à Rome
où il devint curé de Saint-Jean des Florentins. Pour sauver du mal la jeunesse,
il fonda l'Oratoire, où les leçons spirituelles succédaient aux chants et aux
œuvres de charité et il s'illustra par son amour du prochain, sa simplicité
évangélique et son cœur plein de joie, dans un zèle extrême et un fervent
service de Dieu. Il mourut à Rome en 1595.
Martyrologe romain
«Que la joie dans le Seigneur augmente toujours. Que
la joie selon le monde diminue toujours jusqu'à ce qu'elle disparaisse. Je ne
dis pas cela parce que, vivant en ce monde, nous ne devrions jamais nous
réjouir. Mais afin que, même vivant en ce monde, nous soyons joyeux dans le
Seigneur.» (saint Philippe Néri)
Guido Reni (1575–1642), San Filippo Neri in adorazione della Madonna, 1614, 180 x 110, Santa Maria in Vallicella, Rome
Guido Reni, Visione di San Filippo Neri (1614 - 1615), olio su
tela; Roma, Chiesa di Santa Maria in
Vallicella, camere del Santo
SAINT PHILIPPE de NÉRI
Fondateur de l'Oratoire
(1515-1595)
Philippe naquit à
Florence le 22 juillet 1515. Dès son enfance, on l'appelait le bon petit
Philippe, tant il était bon, doux et aimable. Vers l'âge de dix-huit ans, il
renonça à la fortune d'un de ses oncles pour aller à Rome étudier les sciences
ecclésiastiques. Rien de plus édifiant que sa vie d'étudiant: pauvreté,
mortification, prière, travail, silence, vie cachée, habitaient sa modeste
cellule.
Après plusieurs années
d'étude opiniâtre dans les universités, il travailla seul, quelques années
encore, dans le silence et la solitude, et quand, devenu prêtre par obéissance,
il commença à se livrer au ministère des âmes, son esprit facile et profond
avait acquis une science fort remarquable. Son angélique pureté eut à subir les
plus rudes assauts; mais il sortit toujours vainqueur de tous les pièges, et
reçut comme récompense la grâce de ne jamais ressentir, le reste de sa vie,
aucun mouvement, même involontaire, de la concupiscence charnelle.
Un jour, Philippe fut
tellement embrasé de l'amour de Dieu, que deux de ses côtes se rompirent pour
donner plus de liberté à ses élans séraphiques. Souvent ses entretiens avec
Notre-Seigneur étaient si suaves, qu'il n'y pouvait tenir et se mourait de
joie, ce qui lui faisait pousser ce cri: "Assez, Seigneur, assez!"
Philippe visitait les
hôpitaux, soignait les malades, assistait et instruisait les pauvres, passait
de longues nuits dans la prière, aux catacombes, sur les tombeaux des martyrs.
Partout et à toute occasion, il cherchait à gagner des âmes à Dieu. Il aimait
surtout les jeunes gens; il les attendait à la sortie des écoles, se mêlait à
leurs rangs et conversait avec eux; il les abordait sur les places publiques, les
cherchait jusque dans les ateliers et les magasins, en confessait une
multitude, en retirait un grand nombre du vice. "Amusez-vous bien, leur
disait-il souvent; mais n'offensez pas le bon Dieu!" Aussi Philippe
exerçait-il sur l'enfance et la jeunesse un ascendant irrésistible, et nul
mieux que lui ne mérite d'être regardé comme le Patron des Oeuvres de jeunesse.
Le Saint fonda la Société des Prêtres de l'Oratoire.
Philippe jouait pour
ainsi dire avec les miracles, et les résurrections de morts ne coûtaient rien à
cet homme extraordinaire. Il se regardait, malgré tout, comme le plus grand des
pécheurs, et disait souvent à Dieu: "Seigneur, défiez-Vous de moi, car
j'ai peur de Vous trahir!" Philippe mourut à l'âge de quatre-vingt ans, le
26 mai 1595.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie
des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950.
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_philippe_de_neri.html
Saint Philippe Néri
Saint Philippe Néri est
né à Florence, le 21 juillet 1515. La famille Néri qui avait vécu dans une
certaine opulence se trouvait alors dans la gêne. Le père, François, était
notaire, mais n'avait plus que quelques clients et la mère, Lucrèce, mourut
après avoir donné le jour à son quatrième enfant.
Le père se maria en
seconde noces avec Alexandra Lenzi qui sut établir un rapport affectueux avec
ses beaux-enfants, et particulièrement avec Philippe. Celui-ci était doté d'un
caractère vif, mais aimable et surtout pieux et joyeux. Il fut d'abord éduqué
par son père qui lui donna le goût des livres. Toute sa vie saint Philippe Néri
fut accompagné de livres et laissa en héritage à sa congrégation une
bibliothèque extrêmement volumineuse.
Il poursuivit son éducation
chez les Dominicains du couvent Saint-Marc de Florence (ce couvent qui possède
les admirables fresques de Fra Angelico). A dix-huit ans, il entra dans le
négoce d'un parent, mais ses aspirations étaient autres. Il se rendit à Rome en
1534, où le Florentin Caccia lui offrit l'hospitalité en tant que précepteur de
ses fils. en même temps, il suivait des leçons de philosophie et de théologie
chez les Augustins de la ville et à la Sapienza. Il avait cependant une
attirance pour la vie contemplative, les catacombes des premiers martyrs et les
églises solitaires. C'est ainsi qu'une nuit de la Pentecôte 1544, il reçut des
grâces spéciales et que son coeur fut animé jusqu'à la fin de ses jours d' un
esprit de charité et de don de soi.
Il dédia alors ses journées
à des visites à l'hôpital des incurables et s'intégra à des confraternités
comme celle de l'église de la Sainte-Trinité des Pèlerins, dont il fut grâce à
son confesseur, le principal animateur. Le Père Rosa qui vivait à Saint-Jérôme
de la Charité fut un guide attentif des progrès spirituels du futur saint.
Philippe se sentait pourtant indigne du sacerdoce, néanmoins à trente-six ans,
le 23 mai 1551, après avoir reçu les Ordres mineurs, Philippe Néri, devint
prêtre en l'église de Saint-Thomas in Parione, de Mgr Lunel. Il poursuivit
alors l'apostolat intense qu'il avait commencé dans les rues de Rome. Il
habitait à la maison de Saint-Jérôme, siège de la confraternité de la Charité
qui accueillait un certain nombre de prêtres séculiers. Son ministère principal
fut celui de la confession. Il recevait ses premiers pénitents pour des
dialogues et des entretiens spirituels et mit au point petit-à-petit les
fondements de ce qui allait devenir l'Oratoire. Saint Philippe Néri obtint
bientôt de ses confrères un local pour recevoir ses nouvelles âmes zélées,
parmi eux César Baronio et François-Marie Tarugi, futurs cardinaux.
La Congrégation de
l'Oratoire fut au début une communauté de prêtres qui avaient en partage le
goût de l'apostolat, selon des méthodes modernes pour l'époque. Philippe Néri
reçut à cette époque la charge de recteur de l'église de Saint-Jean des
Florentins qui devint le premier centre de rayonnement des Oratoriens. Ensuite
le Pape Grégoire XIII donna à ce groupe de prêtres l'église de Sainte-Marie in
Vallicella, située à côté, et par la bulle '' Copiosus in misericordia Deus ''
reconnut en 1575 la '' Congregatio presbyterorum saecularium de Oratorio
nuncupanda ''.
C'est en cette église et
l'habitation de laquelle il se trouvait que le futur saint passa les dernières
douze années de sa vie. Il recevait toute sorte de personnes, sans exclusion de
milieu, afin de les conduire sur leur chemin spirituel. Elle étaient
accueillies avec douceur et prévenance vers la simplicité évangélique, surtout
les âmes qui avaient connu auparavant des parcours difficiles.
Il mourut à quatre-vingts
ans, le 26 mai 1595 : il avait vécu trente-six ans en tant que laïc, et
quarante-quatre ans en tant que prêtre. Florentin d'origine, ce dont il était
fier, et Romain d'adoption, il vécut en union particulière avec le Seigneur, et
fut toujours animé d'un caractère particulièrement original et joyeux. Certains
le jugeaient comme excentrique, mais son apostolat était fécond. Les Oratoriens
plus tard furent à la tête de nombreuses maisons d'éducation. Ils existent
encore aujourd'hui, malgré la crise des années 1960-1970.
Le peuple de Rome lui
attribua le titre d'Apôtre de Rome, ce qui était réservé à saint Pierre et à
saint Paul, tant il reconnaissait alors les bienfaits de saint Philippe Néri.
Puisse la Cité éternelle s'en souvenir encore, aujourd'hui !...
Il fut particulièrement mentionné, lors de l'Année Sainte 2000, par le précédent pape Jean-Paul II .
SOURCE : http://ut-pupillam-oculi.over-blog.com/article-31883786.html
Carlo Maratta (1625–1713), Apparition de la Vierge Marie à Saint Philippe de Neri, circa 1675, 343 x 197, Galleria Palatina
Lettre de Jean Paul II à
propos de Philippe Néri
A l’occasion du quatrième
centenaire de la mort de saint Philippe Néri, Jean-Paul II a adressé la lettre
suivante au Père Michael Napier, délégué du Saint-Siège pour l’Oratoire:
“Révérend Père,
A l’occasion du quatrième
centenaire du “dies natalis” (littéralement “jour de la naissance”, expression
traditionnelle pour désigner la mort de quelqu’un, qui est jour de sa naissance
à la vie dans l’au-delà) de saint Philippe Néri, Florentin d’origine et Romain
d’adoption, je suis heureux de m’adresser à vous et à tous les membres de
l’Oratoire, pour rappeler l’exemple de sainteté du Fondateur et fortifier chez
chacun d’entre vous l’activité de votre foi, le labeur de votre charité et la
constance de votre espérance (cf. 1 Th 1,3).
1. L’aimable figure du
“Saint de la joie” conserve toujours intacte cette irrésistible fascination
qu’il a exercée sur tous ceux qui l’ont approché pour apprendre à connaître et
faire l’expérience dans leur vie des sources authentiques de la joie
chrétienne.
Quand on relit la
biographie de saint Philippe, on reste en effet surpris et fasciné par la
manière joyeuse et détendue avec laquelle il savait éduquer, se plaçant au côté
de chacun avec un partage et une patience fraternels.
Comme on le sait, le
Saint avait coutume de rassembler son enseignement dans de brèves et
savoureuses maximes: “Soyez bons, si vous le pouvez”; “scrupules et tristesse,
pas de ça dans ma maison”; “soyez humbles et soyez bas”; “l’homme qui ne prie
pas est un animal sans parole”; et, portant sa main à son front: “la sainteté
consiste en un espace de trois doigts”. Derrière la vivacité de ces “dits” et
de tant d’autres, il est possible de percevoir la connaissance aiguë et
réaliste qu’il avait acquise de la nature humaine et de la dynamique de la
grâce. Par ces enseignements rapides et concis, il traduisait l’expérience de
sa longue vie et la sagesse d’un coeur habité par l’Esprit Saint. Désormais,
ces aphorismes sont devenus, pour la spiritualité chrétienne, une sorte de
patrimoine de sagesse.
2. Saint Philippe se
présente dans le cadre de la Renaissance romaine comme “le prophète de la
joie”, qui a su marcher à la suite de Jésus tout en s’insérant activement dans
la société de son temps, par bien des aspects singulièrement proche de celle
d’aujourd’hui.
L’humanisme, tout centré
sur l’homme et ses singulières capacités intellectuelles et pratiques,
proposait, contre une certaine obscurité médiévale mal comprise, la
redécouverte d’une joyeuse fraîcheur naturaliste, immédiate et sans
inhibitions. L’homme, présenté presque comme un dieu païen, était ainsi placé
dans une position de protagoniste absolu. On avait fait, en outre, une sorte de
révision de la loi morale dans le but de rechercher et d’assurer le bonheur.
Ouvert aux requêtes de la
société de son temps, saint Philippe n’a pas refusé cette aspiration à la joie,
mais il s’est efforcé de lui proposer sa vraie source, qu’il avait découverte
dans le message évangélique. C’est la parole du Christ qui dessine
l’authentique visage de l’homme, révélant ses traits qui en font un fils aimé
du Père, accueilli comme un frère dans le Verbe incarné et sanctifié par
l’Esprit Saint.
Ce sont les lois de
l’Évangile et les commandements du Christ qui conduisent à la joie et au
bonheur: telle est la vérité proclamée par saint Philippe Néri aux jeunes qu’il
rencontrait dans son travail apostolique quotidien. Son annonce était dictée
par une expérience intime de Dieu, effectuée surtout dans l’oraison. La prière
nocturne aux catacombes de Saint-Sébastien, où il se retirait souvent à
l’écart, n’était pas seulement une recherche de la solitude mais bien la
volonté de s’entretenir avec les témoins de la foi, de les interroger, tout
comme les savants de la Renaissance conversaient avec les Classiques de
l’antiquité; et de la connaissance venait l’imitation, puis l’émulation.
En saint Philippe, à qui,
la veille de la Pentecôte 1544, l’Esprit Saint donna “un coeur de feu”, il est
possible d’entrevoir l’allégorie de grandes et divines transformations qu’opère
la prière. Un fécond et sûr programme de formation à la joie - enseigne notre
Saint - se nourrit, s’appuie sur une palette harmonieuse de choix: la prière
assidue, l’Eucharistie fréquente, la redécouverte et la valorisation du
sacrement de la Réconciliation, le contact familier et quotidien avec la Parole
de Dieu, l’exercice fécond de la charité fraternelle et du service. Puis la
dévotion à la Sainte Vierge, modèle et vraie cause de notre joie. A cet égard,
comment oublier son avertissement sage et efficace: “Mes petits enfants, soyez
des dévots de Marie: je sais ce que je dis! Soyez des dévots de Marie!”
3. Qualifié justement de
“saint de la joie”, saint Philippe doit être également reconnu comme “l’apôtre
de Rome” et même comme le “réformateur de la Ville éternelle”. Il devint
presque par une évolution naturelle et la maturité des choix accomplis sous
l’illumination de la grâce. Il fut vraiment la lumière et le sel de Rome, selon
la parole de l’Évangile (cf. Mt. 5,13-16). Il sut être “lumière” en cette
civilisation certes splendide, mais souvent éclairée seulement par les lumières
obliques et rasantes du paganisme. Dans ce contexte social, Philippe demeura
respectueux de l’Autorité, entièrement dévoué au dépôt de la Vérité, intrépide
dans l’annonce du message chrétien. Il fut ainsi une source de lumière pour
tous.
Il ne choisit pas la vie
solitaire mais, accomplissant son ministère parmi les gens du peuple, il se
proposa d’être aussi “sel” pour tous ceux qui le rencontraient. Comme Jésus, il
sut se glisser dans la misère humaine stagnante, aussi bien que dans les palais
de la noblesse ou dans les ruelles de la Rome de la Renaissance. Il était tour
à tour Cyrénéen et conscience critique, conseiller éclairé et maître souriant.
C’est bien pour cela que
ce ne fut pas tant lui qui adopta Rome que Rome qui l’adopta! Il vécut 60 ans
dans cette Ville qui ne cessait de se peupler de saints. S’il rencontrait dans
les rues l’humanité souffrante pour la réconforter et la soutenir par la
charité d’une parole sage et très humaine, il préférait rassembler la jeunesse
à l’Oratoire, sa véritable invention. Il en fit un lieu de rencontre joyeuse,
une école de formation, un centre de rayonnement de l’art.
Ce fut à l’Oratoire que
saint Philippe, tout en cultivant la religiosité dans ses expressions
habituelles et nouvelles, s’efforça de réformer et d’élever l’art, le ramenant
au service de Dieu et de l’Eglise. Convaincu comme il l’était que le beau mène
au bien, il fit rentrer dans son dessein éducatif tout ce qui avait une marque
artistique. Et il devint lui-même le mécène des diverses expressions
artistiques, promouvant des initiatives capables de porter au vrai et au bon.
Incisive et exemplaire
fut la contribution que saint Philippe sut donner à la musique sacrée, la
poussant à s’élever de divertissement frivole à une oeuvre recréatrice de
l’esprit. Ce fut grâce à l’élan qu’il donna que des musiciens et des
compositeurs commencèrent une réforme qui atteindra avec Pierluigi de
Palestrina son plus haut sommet.
4. Saint Philippe, homme aimable et généreux, saint chaste et humble, apôtre actif et contemplatif, demeure le constant modèle des membres de la Congrégation de l’Oratoire! Il transmet à tous les Oratoriens un programme et un style de vie qui conservent, aujourd’hui encore, une singulière actualité. Ce que l’on appelle le “quadrilatère” - humilité, charité, prière et joie - reste toujours une base très solide sur laquelle on peut appuyer l’édifice intérieur de sa propre vie spirituelle.”
SOURCE : http://www.art-sacre.net/rome/f_189_6.html#1368
Sebastiano
Conca (1680 - 1764), The Madonna Appearing to St. Philip Neri, 1740, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Benoît XVI donne saint
Philippe Neri comme modèle aux jeunes
ROME, Mercredi 26 mai
2010 (ZENIT.org) - Le pape Benoît XVI a donné aux jeunes l'exemple de saint
Philippe Neri (1515- 1595), dont c'est aujourd'hui la fête liturgique. Un saint
de la bonne humeur, de la jeunesse, de l'amour de l'Eucharistie et de l'Esprit
Saint.
Le pape a souligné que
saint Philippe Neri s'est distingué par « son allégresse et son dévouement
spécial pour la jeunesse qu'il a éduquée et évangélisée grâce à une initiative
pastorale inspirée : l'Oratoire ».
Saint Philippe Neri,
grand thaumaturge, fondateur de la Société des Prêtres de l'Oratoire, co-patron
de la ville de Rome, est aussi considéré comme le saint patron des Oeuvres de
jeunesse.
« Chers jeunes, a ajouté
le pape, regardez ce saint pour apprendre à vivre avec une simplicité
évangélique ».
« Chers malades, que
saint Philippe Neri vous aide à faire de votre souffrance une offrande au Père
céleste, en union avec Jésus crucifié ».
« Et vous, chers jeunes
mariés, soutenus par l'intercesison de saint Philippe, inspirez-vous toujours
de l'Evangile pour construire une famille vraiment chrétienne ».
En polonais, le pape a
également évoqué ce grand saint italien en soulignant que « en imiant le
Christ, il ne s'attendait pas à ce qu'on le serve ». Il était « ouvert aux
besoins des fidèles, surtout des jeunes, des malades et des pauvres, et il a
été au service de tous avec une simplicité évangélique ».
« Dans notre prière,
demandons à Dieu le don de tels pasteurs », a conclu le pape.
Le saint, originaire de
Florence, contemporain d'Ignace de Loyola, a réussi à se faire adopter par les
Romains qui l'avaient surnommé « Pippo buono », Philippe « le Bon ». Il repose
en la « Chiesa nuova » de Rome où l'on peut aussi visiter sa chambre.
Il est aujourd'hui encore
très aimé en Italie où l'on donne son nom propre comme prénom aux enfants,
comme le prénom de Vianney, dans les pays francophones, en l'honneur du saint
curé d'Ars.
Certains de ses «
fioretti » sont très connus. Pour lutter contre le phénomène de ses extases
d'amour en public, il y avait la petite chatte qui s'était prise d'affection
pour lui et qu'il caressait en cas de besoin pendant la célébration de la
messe, ou bien le recueil d'histoires drôles dont la victime était un prêtre de
Naples, le doyen Arlotto, placé sur l'autel à côté du missel. Un jour, il
aurait tiré la barbe du garde qui escortait la procession du saint sacrement :
ses cris ont réussi à faire revenir le saint les pieds sur terre.
Mais pourquoi ces extases
? La grande grâce reçue par S. Philippe Neri, c'était de sentir son cœur envahi
par le feu de l'amour de Dieu, à la Pentecôte, en 1544, dans les Catacombes de
Saint- Sébastien. Son cœur se gonfla d'amour au point en effet de décoller deux
côtes : « Assez, Seigneur, assez ! » l'a-t-on entendu dire lorsqu'il se sentait
envahi de l'Esprit Saint. Il disait : « Veillez à la pureté du cœur : l'Esprit
Saint habite les âmes simples et candides. C'est lui le maître de la prière qui
nous fait demeurer en vraie paix et joie constante, avant-goût du ciel ».
Anita S. Bourdin
(26 mai 2010) ©
Innovative Media Inc.
SOURCE : http://www.zenit.org/fr/articles/benoit-xvi-donne-saint-philippe-neri-comme-modele-aux-jeunes
Francesco Conti (1682–1760),
Saint Philippe de Néri en gloire devant un ange musicien
St Philippe Neri,
confesseur
Mort à Rome le 26 mai
1595. Canonisé par Grégoire XV en 1622 et inscrit au calendrier romain en 1625
par Urbain VIII comme semi-double ad libitum. Alexandre VII en fit un
semi-double de précepte en 1657 et Clément XI l’éleva au rite double en 1669.
Alexandre VIII le dota
d’une messe propre en 1690.
Leçons des Matines avant
1960
Quatrième leçon. Philippe
de Néri, né à Florence de parents pieux et honorables, donna dès son jeune âge
de clairs indices de sa future sainteté. Encore adolescent, il renonça à une
succession importante qui lui venait d’un oncle, et vint se retirer à Rome, où
s’étant instruit dans la philosophie et les saintes lettres, il se donna tout à
Jésus-Christ. Son abstinence était telle qu’il passait souvent trois jours sans
prendre aucun aliment. Adonné aux veilles, assidu à l’oraison, Philippe
visitait fréquemment les sept basiliques de la Ville, et prit l’habitude de
passer la nuit au cimetière de Calixte dans la contemplation des choses
célestes Devenu prêtre par obéissance, il s’employa tout entier procurer le
salut des âmes persévérant jusqu’à son dernier jour à entendre les confessions
il engendra à Jésus-Christ un nombre presque incalculable d’enfants ; mû par le
vif désir de leur assurer l’aliment quotidien de la parole de Dieu, la
fréquentation des sacrements, l’assiduité à la prière, et d’autres exercices de
piété, il institua la congrégation de l’Oratoire.
Cinquième leçon. Blessé
de l’amour de Dieu, Philippe semblait en une continuelle langueur, et son cœur
brûlait d’un feu si ardent que, sa poitrine étant devenue trop étroite pour le
contenir, le Seigneur l’élargit en brisant et soulevant miraculeusement deux de
ses côtes. Lorsqu’il célébrait le saint Sacrifice ou priait avec grande
ferveur, Philippe fut aperçu élevé de terre et environné d’une lumière
éclatante. Ceux qui se trouvaient dans la misère ou le besoin furent de sa part
l’objet d’une charité très étendue ; il mérita que, sous les traits d’un
pauvre, un Ange vint lui demander l’aumône, et tandis qu’il portait une nuit du
pain à des indigents, ce fut encore un Ange qui vint le tirer sain et sauf
d’une fosse où il était tombé. Voué à l’humilité, il eut toujours de l’aversion
pour les honneurs ; et des dignités ecclésiastiques, même très élevées, lui
ayant été offertes à différentes reprises, il les refusa invariablement.
Sixième leçon. Philippe fut célèbre par le don de prophétie et brilla merveilleusement par celui de pénétration des cœurs. Il conserva toujours une inviolable virginité, et parvint à distinguer par leur bonne ou mauvaise odeur, ceux qui étaient chastes et ceux qui ne l’étaient pas Parfois il apparut à des personnes absentes et leur vint en aide dans le danger. A sa parole, beaucoup de malades et de mourants revinrent à la santé, un mort même fut rappelé à la vie. Les esprits célestes et la Vierge mère de Dieu elle-même l’honorèrent souvent de leurs apparitions, et plusieurs âmes lui furent montrées montant au ciel, environnées de splendeur. Enfin, l’an du salut mil cinq cent quatre-vingt-quinze, le huitième jour des calendes de juin, en la fête du Saint-Sacrement, Philippe, ayant célébré la Messe avec les plus grands transports de joie spirituelle, et s’étant acquitté des autres fonctions de son ministère, s’endormit dans le Seigneur, après minuit, à l’heure qu’il avait prédite. Ses miracles éclatants ont porté Grégoire XV à le mettre au nombre des Saints.
Charles
de La Haye d'après un dessin de Ciro Ferri, Filippo Neri in aanbidding voor
Maria en Kind, éditeur : Giovanni Giacomo de'Rossi, dédicacé à Bernardino Rocci,
Rome, circa 1651
La joie est, ainsi que
nous l’avons dit, le caractère principal du Temps pascal : joie surnaturelle,
motivée à la fois par le triomphe si éclatant de notre Emmanuel et par le
sentiment de notre heureuse délivrance des liens de la mort. Or, ce sentiment
de l’allégresse intérieure a régné d’une manière caractéristique dans le grand
serviteur de Dieu que nous honorons aujourd’hui ; et c’est bien d’un tel homme,
dont le cœur fut toujours dans la jubilation et dans l’enthousiasme des choses
divines, que l’on peut dire, avec la sainte Écriture, « que le cœur du juste
est comme un festin continuel [1] ». Un de ses derniers disciples, l’illustre
Père Faber, fidèle aux doctrines de son maître, enseigne, dans son beau livre
du Progrès spirituel, que la bonne humeur est l’un des principaux moyens
d’avancement dans la perfection chrétienne. Nous accueillerons donc avec autant
d’allégresse que de respect la figure radieuse et bienveillante de Philippe
Néri, l’Apôtre de Rome et l’un des plus beaux fruits de la fécondité de l’Église
au XVIe siècle.
L’amour de Dieu, un amour
ardent, et qui se communiquait comme invinciblement à tous ceux qui
l’approchaient, fut le trait particulier de sa vie. Tous les saints ont aimé
Dieu ; car l’amour de Dieu est le premier et le plus grand commandement-, mais
la vie de Philippe réalise ce divin précepte avec une plénitude, pour ainsi
dire, incomparable. Son existence ne fut qu’un transport d’amour envers le
souverain Seigneur de toutes choses ; et sans un miracle de la puissance et de
la bonté de Dieu, cet amour si ardent au cœur de Philippe eût consumé sa vie
avant le temps. Il était arrivé à la vingt-neuvième année de son âge, lorsqu’un
jour, dans l’Octave de la Pentecôte, le feu de la divine charité embrasa son
cœur avec une telle impétuosité que deux côtes de sa poitrine éclatèrent,
laissant au cœur l’espace nécessaire pour céder désormais sans péril aux
transports qui l’agitaient. Cette fracture ne se répara jamais ; la trace en
était sensible par une proéminence visible à tout le monde ; et grâce à ce
soulagement miraculeux, Philippe put vivre cinquante années encore, en proie à
toutes les ardeurs d’un amour qui tenait plus du ciel que de la terre.
Ce séraphin dans un corps
d’homme fut comme une réponse vivante aux insultes dont la prétendue Réforme
poursuivait l’Église catholique. Luther et Calvin avaient appelé cette sainte
Église l’infidèle et la prostituée de Babylone ; et voici que cette même Église
avait à montrer de tels enfants à ses amis et à ses ennemis : une Thérèse en
Espagne, un Philippe Néri dans Rome. Mais le protestantisme s’inquiétait
beaucoup de l’affranchissement du joug, et peu de l’amour. Au nom de la liberté
des croyances, il opprima les faibles partout où il domina, il s’implanta par
la force là même où il était repoussé ; mais il ne revendiquait pas pour Dieu
le droit qu’il a d’être aimé. Aussi vit-on disparaître des pays qu’il envahit
ce dévouement qui produit le sacrifice à Dieu et au prochain. Un long
intervalle de temps s’est écoulé depuis la prétendue Réforme, avant que
celle-ci ait songé qu’il existe encore des infidèles sur la surface du globe ;
et si plus tard elle s’est fastueusement imposé l’œuvre des missions, on sait
assez quels apôtres elle choisit pour organes de ses étranges sociétés
bibliques. C’est donc après trois siècles qu’elle s’aperçoit que l’Église
catholique n’a pas cessé de produire des corporations vouées aux œuvres de
charité. Émue d’une telle découverte, elle essaie en quelques lieux ses
diaconesses et ses infirmières. Quoi qu’il en soit du succès d’un effort si tardif,
on peut croire raisonnablement qu’il ne prendra jamais de vastes proportions ;
et il est permis de penser que cet esprit de dévouement qui sommeilla trois
siècles durant au cœur du protestantisme, n’est pas précisément l’essence de
son caractère, quand on l’a vu, dans les contrées qu’il envahit, tarir jusqu’à
la source de l’esprit de sacrifice, en arrêtant avec violence la pratique des
conseils évangéliques qui n’ont leur raison d’être que dans l’amour de Dieu.
Gloire donc à Philippe
Néri, l’un des plus dignes représentants de la divine charité au XVIe siècle !
Par son impulsion, Rome et bientôt la chrétienté reprirent une vie nouvelle
dans la fréquentation des sacrements, dans les aspirations d’une piété plus
fervente. Sa parole, sa vue même électrisaient le peuple chrétien dans la cité
sainte ; aujourd’hui encore la trace de ses pas n’est point effacée. Chaque
année, le vingt-six mai, Rome célèbre avec transport la mémoire de son
pacifique réformateur. Philippe partage avec les saints Apôtres les honneurs de
Patron dans la ville de saint Pierre. Les travaux sont suspendus, et la
population en habits de fête se presse dans les églises pour honorer le jour où
Philippe naquit au ciel, après avoir sanctifié la terre. Le Pontife romain en
personne se rend en pompe à l’église de Sainte-Marie in Vallicella, et vient
acquitter la dette du Siège Apostolique envers l’homme qui releva si haut la
dignité et la sainteté de la Mère commune.
Philippe eut le don des
miracles, et tandis qu’il ne cherchait que l’oubli et le mépris, il vit
s’attacher à lui tout un peuple qui demandait et obtenait par ses prières la
guérison des maux de la vie présente, en même temps que la réconciliation des
âmes avec Dieu. La mort elle-même obéit à son commandement, témoin ce jeune prince
Paul Massimo que Philippe rappela à la vie, lorsque l’on s’apprêtait déjà à lui
rendre les soins funéraires. Au moment où cet adolescent rendait le dernier
soupir, le serviteur de Dieu dont il avait réclamé l’assistance pour le dernier
passage, célébrait le saint Sacrifice. A son entrée dans le palais, Philippe
rencontre partout l’image du deuil : un père éploré, des sœurs en larmes, une
famille consternée ; tels sont les objets qui frappent ses regards. Le jeune
homme venait de succomber après une maladie de soixante-cinq jours, qu’il avait
supportée avec la plus rare patience. Philippe se jette à genoux, et après une
ardente prière, il impose sa main sur la tête du défunt et l’appelle à haute
voix par son nom. Paul, réveillé du sommeil de la mort par cette parole
puissante, ouvre les yeux, et répond avec tendresse : « Mon Père ! » Puis il
ajoute : « Je voudrais seulement me confesser. » Les assistants s’éloignent un
moment, et Philippe reste seul avec cette conquête qu’il vient de faire sur la
mort. Bientôt les parents sont rappelés, et Paul, en leur présence,
s’entretient avec Philippe d’une mère et d’une sœur qu’il aimait tendrement, et
que le trépas lui a ravies. Durant cette conversation, le visage du jeune
homme, naguère défiguré par la fièvre, a repris ses couleurs et sa grâce
d’autrefois. Jamais Paul n’avait semblé plus plein de vie. Le saint lui demande
alors s’il mourrait volontiers de nouveau. — « Oh ! oui, très volontiers,
répond le jeune homme ; car je verrai en paradis ma mère et ma sœur. » — « Pars
donc, répond Philippe ; pars pour le bonheur, et prie le Seigneur pour moi. » A
ces mots, le jeune homme expire de nouveau, et entre dans les joies de
l’éternité, laissant l’assistance saisie de regret et d’admiration.
Tel était cet homme
favorisé presque constamment des visites du Seigneur dans les ravissements et
les extases, doué de l’esprit de prophétie, pénétrant d’un regard les
consciences, répandant un parfum de vertu qui attirait les âmes par un charme
irrésistible. La jeunesse romaine de toute condition se pressait autour de lui.
Aux uns il faisait éviter les écueils ; aux autres il tendait la main dans le
naufrage. Les pauvres, les malades, étaient à toute heure l’objet de sa
sollicitude. Il se multipliait dans Rome, employant toutes les formes du zèle,
et ayant laissé après lui une impulsion pour les bonnes œuvres qui ne s’est pas
ralentie.
Philippe avait senti que
la conservation des mœurs chrétiennes dépendait principalement d’une heureuse
dispensation de la parole de Dieu, et nul ne se montra plus empressé à procurer
aux fidèles des apôtres capables de les attirer par une prédication solide et
attrayante. Il fonda sous le nom d’Oratoire une institution qui dure encore, et
dont le but est de ranimer et de maintenir la piété dans les populations. Cette
institution, qu’il ne faut pas confondre avec l’Oratoire de France, a pour but
d’utiliser le zèle et les talents des prêtres que la vocation divine n’appelle
pas à la vie du cloître, et qui, en associant leurs efforts, arrivent cependant
à produire d’abondants fruits de sanctification.
En fondant l’Oratoire
sans lier les membres de cette association par les vœux de la religion,
Philippe s’accommodait au genre de vocation que ceux-ci avaient reçu du ciel,
et leur assurait du moins les avantages d’une règle commune, avec le secours de
l’exemple si puissant pour soutenir l’âme dans le service de Dieu et dans la
pratique des œuvres du zèle. Mais le saint apôtre était trop attaché à la foi
de l’Église pour ne pas estimer la vie religieuse comme l’état de la
perfection. Durant toute sa longue carrière, il ne cessa de diriger vers le
cloître les âmes qui lui semblèrent appelées à la profession des vœux. Par lui
les divers ordres religieux se recrutèrent d’un nombre immense de sujets qu’il
avait discernes et éprouvés : en sorte que saint Ignace de Loyola, ami intime
de Philippe et son admirateur, le comparaît agréablement à la cloche qui
convoque les fidèles à l’Église, bien qu’elle n’y entre pas elle-même.
La crise terrible qui
agita la chrétienté au XVIe siècle, et enleva à l’Église catholique un si grand
nombre de ses provinces, affecta douloureusement Philippe durant toute sa
longue vie. Il souffrait cruellement de voir tant de peuples aller s’engloutir
les uns après les autres dans le gouffre de l’hérésie. Les efforts tentés par
le zèle pour reconquérir les âmes séduites par la prétendue Réforme faisaient
battre son cœur, en même temps qu’il suivait d’un œil attentif les manœuvres à
l’aide desquelles le protestantisme travaillait à maintenir son influence. Les
Centuries de Magdebourg. vaste compilation historique destinée à donner le
change aux lecteurs, en leur persuadant, à l’aide de passages falsifiés, de
faits dénaturés et souvent même inventés, que l’Église Romaine avait abandonné
l’antique croyance et substitué la superstition aux pratiques primitives ; cet
ouvrage sembla à Philippe d’une si dangereuse portée, qu’un travail supérieur
en érudition, puisé aux véritables sources, pouvait seul assurer le triomphe de
l’Église catholique. Il avait deviné le génie de César Baronius, l’un de ses
compagnons à l’Oratoire. Prenant en main la cause de la foi, il commanda à ce
savant homme d’entrer tout aussitôt dans la lice, et de poursuivre l’ennemi de
la vraie foi en s’établissant sur le terrain de l’histoire. Les Annales
ecclésiastiques furent le fruit de cette grande pensée de Philippe ; et
Baronius lui-même en rend le plus touchant témoignage en tète de son huitième
livre. Trois siècles se sont écoulés sur ce grand œuvre. Avec les moyens de la
science dont nous disposons aujourd’hui, il est aise d’en signaler les
imperfections ; mais jamais l’histoire de l’Église n’a été racontée avec une
dignité, une éloquence et une impartialité supérieures à celles qui règnent
dans ce noble et savant récit dont le parcours est de douze siècles. L’hérésie
sentit le coup ; l’érudition malsaine et infidèle des Centuriateurs s’éclipsa
en présence de cette narration loyale des faits, et l’on peut affirmer que le
flot montant du protestantisme s’arrêta devant les Annales de Baronius, dans
lesquelles l’Église apparaissait enfin telle qu’elle a été toujours, « la
colonne et l’appui de la vérité [2]. » La sainteté de Philippe et le génie de
Baronius avaient décidé la victoire ; de nombreux retours à la foi romaine
vinrent consoler les catholiques si tristement décimés ; et si de nos jours
d’innombrables abjurations annoncent la ruine prochaine du protestantisme, il
est juste de l’attribuer en grande partie au succès de la méthode historique
inaugurée dans les Annales.
Vous avez aimé le
Seigneur Jésus, ô Philippe, et votre vie tout entière n’a été qu’un acte
continu d’amour ; mais vous n’avez pas voulu jouir seul du souverain bien. Tous
vos efforts ont tendu à le faire connaître de tous les hommes, afin que tous
l’aimassent avec vous et parvinssent à leur fin suprême. Durant quarante
années, vous fûtes l’apôtre infatigable de la ville sainte, et nul ne pouvait
se soustraire à l’action du feu divin qui brûlait en vous. Nous qui sommes la
postérité de ceux qui entendirent votre parole et admirèrent les dons célestes
qui étaient en vous, nous osons vous prier de jeter aussi les regards sur nous.
Enseignez-nous à aimer notre Jésus ressuscité. Il ne nous suffit pas de
l’adorer et de nous réjouir de son triomphe ; il nous faut l’aimer : car la
suite de ses mystères depuis son incarnation jusqu’à sa résurrection, n’a
d’autre but que de nous révéler, dans une lumière toujours croissante, ses
divines amabilités. C’est en l’aimant toujours plus que nous parviendrons à
nous élever jusqu’au mystère de sa résurrection, qui achève de nous révéler
toutes les richesses de son cœur. Plus il s’élève dans la vie nouvelle qu’il a
prise en sortant du tombeau, plus il apparaît rempli d’amour pour nous, plus il
sollicite notre cœur de s’attacher à lui. Priez, ô Philippe, et demandez que «
notre cœur et notre chair tressaillent pour le Dieu vivant [3]. » Après le
mystère delà Pâque, introduisez-nous dans celui de l’Ascension ; disposez nos
âmes à recevoir le divin Esprit de la Pentecôte ; et lorsque l’auguste mystère
de l’Eucharistie brillera à nos regards de tous ses feux dans la solennité qui
approche, vous, ô Philippe, qui l’ayant fêté une dernière fois ici-bas, êtes
monté à la fin de la journée au séjour éternel où Jésus se montre sans voiles,
préparez nos âmes à recevoir et à goûter « ce pain vivant qui donne la vie au
monde [4] ».
La sainteté qui éclata en
vous, ô Philippe, eut pour caractère l’élan de votre âme vers Dieu, et tous
ceux qui vous approchaient participaient bientôt à cette disposition, qui seule
peut répondre à l’appel du divin Rédempteur. Vous saviez vous emparer des âmes,
et les conduire à la perfection par la voie de la confiance et la générosité du
cœur. Dans ce grand œuvre votre méthode fut de n’en pas avoir, imitant les
Apôtres et les anciens Pères, et vous confiant dans la vertu propre de la
parole de Dieu. Par vous la fréquentation fervente des sacrements reparut comme
le plus sûr indice de la vie chrétienne. Priez pour le peuple fidèle, et venez
au secours de tant d’âmes qui s’agitent et s’épuisent dans des voies que la
main de l’homme a tracées, et qui trop souvent retardent ou empêchent l’union
intime du créateur et de la créature.
Vous avez aimé ardemment
l’Église, ô Philippe ; et cet amour de l’Église est le signe indispensable de
la sainteté. Votre contemplation si élevée ne vous distrayait pas du sort
douloureux de cette sainte Épouse du Christ, si éprouvée dans le siècle qui
vous vit naître et mourir. Les efforts de l’hérésie triomphante en tant de pays
stimulaient le zèle dans votre cœur : obtenez-nous de l’Esprit-Saint cette vive
sympathie pour la vérité catholique qui nous rendra sensibles à ses défaites et
à ses victoires. Il ne nous suffit pas de sauver nos âmes ; nous devons désirer
avec ardeur et aider de tous nos moyens l’avancement du règne de Dieu sur la
terre, l’extirpation de l’hérésie et l’exaltation de notre mère la sainte
Église : c’est à cette condition que nous sommes enfants de Dieu Inspirez-nous
par vos exemples, ô Philippe, cette ardeur avec laquelle nous devons nous
associer en tout aux intérêts sacrés de la Mère commune. Priez aussi pour cette
Église militante qui vous a compté dans ses rangs comme un de ses meilleurs
soldats. Servez vaillamment la cause de cette Rome qui se fait honneur de vous
être redevable de tant de services. Vous l’avez sanctifiée durant votre vie
mortelle ; sanctifiez-la encore et défendez-la du haut du ciel.
[1] Prov. XV, 15.
[2] I Tim III, 15.
[3] Psalm. LXXXIII, 2.
[4] Johan. VI, 33.
_-_Sacristy_-_Saint_Philip_Neri.jpg)
Basilique Santa Maria
Gloriosa dei Frari, Sacristie - Portrait de Saint Philip Neri par Giuseppe
Nogari. Huile sur toile.
Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari,
Sacristy - Portrait of Saint Philip Neri by Giuseppe
Nogari. oil on canvas.
Basilica di Santa Maria
Gloriosa dei Frari, Sacrestia - Ritratto di San
Filippo Neri
di Giuseppe Nogari. Oilo sul tela.
Bhx Cardinal
Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
Ce saint prêtre (+ 1591)
qui, pendant près d’un demi siècle, exerça à Rome le ministère apostolique, et,
dans un milieu léger et corrompu, devint l’oracle des Pontifes, des cardinaux
et des personnages les plus insignes de son temps, a si bien mérité du Siège
apostolique que, jusqu’à ces dernières années, sa fête était assimilée aux
dimanches dans la Ville éternelle, et le Pontife lui-même, en cortège de gala,
allait célébrer les divins mystères sur le tombeau du Saint à Sainte-Marie in
Vallicella.
Il est presque impossible
de parler brièvement des mérites de saint Philippe et de la part importante
qu’il eut dans la réforme ecclésiastique du XVIe siècle. Ami de saint Charles
et du cardinal Frédéric Borromée, confesseur de saint Camille et de saint
Ignace, père spirituel de Baronius, confesseur de Clément VIII, on peut dire
que son influence salutaire s’étendit à tous les divers aspects de la réforme,
en sorte que même si l’on pouvait faire abstraction de sa sainteté, l’activité
de saint Philippe lui aurait indubitablement mérité une place d’honneur dans
l’histoire du XVIe siècle.
Par la fondation de la
Congrégation des Prêtres de l’Oratoire, Philippe, en un champ sans doute
beaucoup plus restreint et avec des vues quelque peu diverses, se proposa 3e
même but que saint Ignace : celui de ramener à la religion la société
chrétienne, moyennant la fréquentation des Sacrements et l’enseignement du
catéchisme.
Tandis qu’en Allemagne
les protestants accusaient l’Église catholique d’avoir soustrait la Bible au
peuple, saint Philippe ordonnait que, dans son église de Saint-Jérôme, on
commentât l’épître de saint Paul aux Romains ; il répondit aux centuries de
Magdebourg en imposant à Baronius d’exposer à cinq ou six reprises dans ses
conférences du soir l’histoire de l’Église, puis de publier ces études qui
remplissent douze gros in-folio.
L’hérésie luthérienne,
avec ses erreurs sur la grâce et le libre arbitre, avait tari les sources mêmes
de la joie ; saint Philippe, par ses soirées musicales et poétiques qui prirent
alors leur nom d’oratorios du lieu où le saint les faisait exécuter ; par ses
récréations sur le Janicule, où à l’ombre d’un chêne, il se faisait enfant avec
les enfants, sagement ; par ses pèlerinages aux tombeaux des martyrs et aux
sept principales églises de la Ville éternelle, restitua à la vie catholique sa
vraie tonalité, celle qu’exigeait aussi saint Paul quand il écrivait à ses
fidèles : Gaudete in Domino semper ; iterum dico : gaudete.
Très pénitent et dur pour
lui-même, Philippe était doux avec les autres et, au besoin, même facétieux,
anticipant dans la pratique ce que, quelque temps plus tard, devait enseigner
saint François de Sales, à savoir qu’un saint triste est un triste saint. A
l’occasion, saint Philippe savait même ressusciter les morts, écouter leur
confession, causer avec eux, et, à leur demande, les rendre, d’un signe de
croix, à l’éternité. Et pour que la nouveauté de tels prodiges ne lui conciliât
pas l’admiration du peuple, il aimait à se comporter de manière à se rendre
méprisable et à se faire passer pour insensé ; c’est ainsi que, le jour de la
fête de saint Pierre aux Liens, il se mit à danser devant la basilique de ce
nom.
A l’offre de la pourpre
cardinalice qui lui avait été faite tant de fois par les papes, Philippe opposa
toujours un refus sans réplique ; et il sut si heureusement inspirer ce même
esprit d’humilité à ses disciples, spécialement à Tarugi et à Baronius que,
quand ce dernier fut créé cardinal, on dut le dépouiller de force de ses vieux
vêtements d’oratorien, dans la sacristie même de la Vallicella, pour le revêtir
malgré lui de la soutane rouge et du rochet, selon les ordres du Pontife.
L’office de saint
Philippe Neri fut introduit dans le Bréviaire romain par Urbain VIII. La messe
a certaines parties propres, mais cette exception fut fort à propos introduite
pour celui qui avait tant et si bien mérité de la sainte liturgie et qui, dans
l’incendie du divin amour qui liquéfiait son cœur, avait coutume d’employer
trois heures à célébrer les divins Mystères.
L’introït est le même que
le samedi après la Pentecôte ; il contient une allusion évidente au prodige
survenu dans le cimetière ad Catacumbas, alors que Philippe, priant durant la
nuit dans ces cryptes des martyrs, le Saint-Esprit descendit sur lui. Dès lors,
le cœur embrasé du Saint commença à battre si fortement pour Dieu que plusieurs
de ses côtes se soulevèrent et s’arquèrent.
Voici la collecte, très
sobre, et d’un goût classique : « O Dieu qui avez élevé à la gloire de vos saints
le bienheureux Philippe ; aujourd’hui que nous célébrons sa fête, accordez-nous
d’imiter aussi l’exemple de ses vertus. »
La première lecture est
commune à la fête de saint Thomas d’Aquin, le 7 mars, et fait allusion à cette
sagesse surnaturelle qui auréolait la tête blanche de saint Philippe quand,
assidu au saint tribunal de la pénitence, il dirigeait les consciences et
formait à la vraie sainteté la foule de ses pénitents.
Le répons-graduel, commun
à la IVe férie des grands scrutins de Carême, est tiré du psaume 33 et
développe encore mieux l’idéal de l’école d’ascèse, que dirigeait le Saint : «
Allons, mes enfants, écoutez-moi, car je vous apprendrai à craindre le
Seigneur. » — Dans le verset suivant, le texte hébreu diffère un peu de celui
de la Vulgate. — « Fixez les yeux sur lui et vous serez tranquilles, et votre
visage ne rougira pas. »
Le verset alléluiatique
revient sur le miracle du cimetière ad Catacumbas. « Alléluia (Thren., 1, 13).
D’en haut il fit tomber le feu sur mes os, et il m’instruisit. » — Le sens
littéral de ce texte est bien différent toutefois, puisqu’il s’agit des
Babyloniens qui avaient incendié les divers quartiers de Jérusalem.
Au temps pascal, le
premier verset alléluiatique est celui que nous venons d’emprunter aux
Lamentations de Jérémie ; quant au second, il est tiré du psaume 38 : « Mon
cœur brûle dans mon sein, et dans mon âme un feu s’est allumé. »
Ces derniers mots s’appliquent
au Saint-Esprit qui nous communique la vie divine de Jésus. C’est à bon droit
qu’on le compare à un feu, car lui aussi purifie, consume, réchauffe et
éclaire. Il n’est pas de voie plus sûre et plus courte pour arriver à la
sainteté, que de nous livrer à cet incendie d’amour. Dieu lui-même nous répète
plusieurs fois dans la sainte Écriture : Dominus Deus tuus ignis consumens est.
La lecture évangélique
est celle des simples Confesseurs . L’antienne de l’offertoire revient sur le
phénomène de la dilatation et de la courbure des côtes de saint Philippe,
conséquence des violents battements de son cœur. ps. 118 : « Je marchai dans la
voie de vos préceptes, après que vous avez agrandi mon cœur. »
Par cette dilatation du
cœur dont parle le Psalmiste, il faut entendre ceci : ce que l’on trouve
difficile, au début, dans la vie spirituelle, on le fait ensuite sans peine, et
même avec une inexprimable joie, grâce à la bonne habitude contractée, et à la
divine charité répandue dans l’âme par le Saint-Esprit. En effet, il est dans
la nature de l’amour de travailler, de se sacrifier, sans jamais se lasser.
La prière avant
l’anaphore s’inspire de la belle secrète du vendredi durant l’octave de la
Pentecôte : « Regardez favorablement, Seigneur, ce sacrifice ; et comme
l’Esprit Saint pénétra dans le cœur du bienheureux Philippe, qu’il brûle
pareillement le nôtre. »
Voici le verset pour la
Communion (Ps. 83) : « Mon cœur et ma chair exulteront dans le Dieu vivant. » —
Le rédacteur de la messe ne peut pas perdre de vue le prodige du cœur dilaté de
saint Philippe ; il en est généralement ainsi pour tous les rédacteurs de
messes modernes qui, impressionnés par quelque fait caractéristique de la vie
d’un Saint, adaptent à ce fait, avec l’aide d’une concordance scripturale,
toute leur composition liturgique. A la vérité, il y a tant à dire au sujet de
saint Philippe que la messe aurait pu être beaucoup plus variée.
La prière eucharistique
représente une simple adaptation d’une collecte plus ancienne : « Maintenant que
nous sommes nourris. Seigneur, des célestes délices ; accordez-nous, par les
mérites et à l’imitation du bienheureux Philippe, un immense désir de cet
aliment de vie. »
Une sentence de saint
Philippe est mémorable entre toutes : mettant deux doigts sur le front de ses
disciples, il disait que la sainteté est toute comprise en ce petit espace, car
tout consiste à mortifier la raisonnante.
Carlo Maratta (1625–1713), San Filippo Neri orante davanti a maria, Cingoli, Macerata, Marche
Carlo
Maratta (1625–1713), San
Filippo Neri orante davanti a maria, Cingoli, Macerata, Marche
Dom Pius Parsch, le Guide
dans l’année liturgique
« Tu as dilaté mon cœur.
»
Saint Philippe. – Jour de
mort : 26 mai 1595 (le jour de la Fête-Dieu). Tombeau : dans l’église des
Trinitaires, à Rome. Image : On le représente en Oratorien, avec un bâton et un
chapelet. Vie : Le saint, aimable et toujours joyeux (1515-1595), l’un des apôtres
de Rome, est une des plus belles figures de saint du XVIe siècle. L’amour de
Dieu, un amour brûlant qui se communiquait, à leur insu, à ceux qui
l’approchaient, forme le trait caractéristique de sa vie. Dans sa
vingt-neuvième année, (dans l’octave de la Pentecôte), le feu de l’amour divin
enflamma tellement son cœur qu’il fit sauter deux de ses côtes. Cette déchirure
ne se guérit jamais et, ainsi, le saint put vivre pendant cinquante ans dans
l’ardeur d’un amour qui appartenait déjà plus au ciel qu’à la terre. La tâche
de sa vie fut de procurer, pendant un apostolat de cinquante ans à Rome, un
renouvellement de la vie religieuse. Il réussit heureusement dans cette tâche.
Il eut le mérite de restaurer la pratique de la communion fréquente, qui était tombée
en désuétude à Rome et dans toute la chrétienté. C’est ce qui lui mérita de
devenir un des saints protecteurs de Rome et l’un des saints les plus
populaires. Saint Philippe aimait beaucoup la jeunesse, qui se pressait autour
de lui. Ce fut un confesseur très recherché. Il voulut continuer l’efficacité
de sa vie sainte en fondant la Congrégation de l’Oratoire. Le but de cette
société de prêtres réunis sans vœux est de développer la piété dans le peuple.
Pratique : Jeune homme,
il visitait souvent les sept basiliques romaines et il passait volontiers des
nuits entières dans le voisinage des catacombes, par conséquent à proximité des
martyrs, occupé à méditer les choses saintes, Il puisa dans la liturgie
l’esprit apostolique. La liturgie doit nous rendre aptes, nous aussi, à
l’action catholique.
La messe. (Caritas Dei).
— La messe est formée en grande partie, de textes propres qui font d’ordinaire
allusion au grand cœur du saint. L’Introït parle du grand événement qui se
passa aux catacombes. Une nuit que le saint priait aux catacombes, le
Saint-Esprit descendit sur lui et enflamma son cœur de l’amour divin. La leçon
célèbre la sagesse surnaturelle de Philippe. Le Graduel chante l’élargissement
de son cœur, et le verset de l’Alléluia son amour des enfants. Le saint marcha
vraiment dans la vie comme un serviteur vigilant, la lampe ardente de l’amour
divin à la main et les reins ceints de la ceinture de la pénitence (Évang.) Les
trois morceaux suivants (Off., Sec., Comm.) nous parlent du cœur brûlant d’amour
de saint Philippe.
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/26-05-St-Philippe-Neri-confesseur#nh3
_MET_DP-944-001.jpg)
Carlo
Dolci (1616–1686), Saint Philip
Neri, 1645, 43.8 x 36.2, Metropolitan Museum of Art
SAINT PHILIPPE DE NÉRI.
Dès l’âge de cinq ans, il
avait un surnom : on l’appelait Philippe le Bon. Sa bonté fut peut-être, en
effet, le caractère distinctif de sa vie. Il n’eut pas à se convertir. Toute sa
vie fut une ascension, mais sans secousse et sans crise. Sa conversion fut
seulement d’acquérir tous les jours une perfection plus haute. Son père le
confia à son oncle, lequel était un marchand fort riche, qui destinait au petit
Philippe la succession de ses affaires et l’héritage de sa fortune. Philippe
refusa et partit pour Rome, où il alla étudier la théologie.
Au collège, il se
distingua par une pureté qui demeura victorieuse des tentations qu’on lui
suscita, par une assiduité qui rendit ses progrès singuliers et éclatants, par
une austérité qui étonna et édifia.
La visite des hôpitaux
était une habitude à peu près perdue. Philippe la remit en honneur et en
vigueur. Il résista, par charité, même à l’attrait de la solitude, et se mêla à
la société des hommes, toutes les fois que leur intérêt exigea de lui ce
sacrifice.
Plus il avança en âge,
plus il grandit en charité. Il entretenait plusieurs familles. Il
secourait plusieurs maisons religieuses. II dotait les jeunes files pauvres. La
bonté semblait le suivre comme un ange gardien. Il eut un second surnom : Père
des âmes et des corps. C’est ainsi qu’on l’appelait dans la ville de Rome.
Il avait trente-six ans,
et n’avait pas encore reçu les ordres. Son humilité résistait au sacerdoce, et
il fallut un commandement formel pour le décider à l’acceptation de la
prêtrise. Une vie nouvelle s’ouvrit alors pour lui, plus haute et plus
embrasée. Quand il offrait le saint sacrifice, il sortait de lui-même. A
l’élévation de l’hostie, son âme était ravie, ses bras demeuraient levés, et il
lui fallait un grand effort de volonté pour les rabaisser suivant l’usage et
les nécessités de la terre. Philippe de Néri, pendant la messe, était obligé
d’obéir exprès et par un effort de courage aux lois de la pesanteur, qui
voulaient le dispenser d’elles. Il faisait tout ce qui dépendait de lui pour
n’être pas élevé en l’air.
Au milieu de ces flammes
intérieures, il demeurait l’homme de tous, se faisant tout à tous.
Sa chambre était ouverte
à tous ceux qui avaient besoin de secours et de conseils.
Il assembla des disciples
ou plutôt des disciples s'assemblèrent autour de lui. Il faut citer entre
autres Henri Pétra, Jean Manzole, François-Marie Taurure, Jean-Baptiste Modi,
Antoine Fucius..
Cependant, comme il
arrive à tous les fondateurs, sa route tarda beaucoup à s’ouvrir devant lui, je
veux dire sa route définitive ; on pourrait croire que les hommes appelés de
Dieu pour une certaine oeuvre sont conduits par la main vers cette oeuvre-là,
et que la route la plus courte leur est immédiatement désignée par la volonté
divine. Il n’en est pas ainsi. Ils hésitent, ils tâtonnent ; quelquefois ils
font un moment fausse route ; quelquefois ils se découragent ; quelquefois la
nuit se fait autour de leurs résolutions et de leurs désirs. L’étoile qui
guidait les Mages s’éclipsait de temps en temps. Saint Philippe eut le désir
d’aller aux Indes. Tenté par le martyre, il enviait la place de ceux qui
partent et ne reviennent plus. Mais c’était là une tentation à laquelle il
fallait résister.. Ce ne fut pas trop d’une voix du Ciel pour le décider à la
résistance. Cette voix se fit entendre. Une âme bienheureuse lui apparut et lui
dit :
« Philippe, la volonté de
Dieu est que tu vives dans cette ville, comme si tu étais dans un désert. »
Philippe obéit, et la
ville de Rome devint pour lui le désert.
Dans ce désert plein de
pécheurs, les multitudes l’entouraient sans troubler sa solitude. Il parlait,
il enseignait, il exhortait, il suppliait et surtout il priait. Voici un fait
qui contient bien des enseignements :
Parmi les pécheurs qui
résistaient à toutes ses paroles et à tous ses efforts, se trouvaient trois
juifs ; l’un d’eux se nommait Alexandre ; le second Augustin; le troisième,
Clément.
Philippe avait tout
essayé, et tout essayé en vain. Tout se brisait contre eux, et rien ne les
brisait. Enfin l’apôtre (ce nom lui convient, car on l'appela l’apôtre de Rome)
enfin l’apôtre abandonna la parole et remit tout à Dieu. Il dit la messe pour
les trois rebelles. La messe étant finie, il vit venir á lui Alexandre,
Augustin et Clément, qui demandaient le baptême.
Leurs objections étaient
vaincues.
Philippe était né á
Florence. Ses confrères de la nation florentine lui offrirent la conduite de
leur église de Saint-Jean. Il accepta et donna à ses disciples des conseils qui
devinrent des règles. Ce fut de cette manière, insensiblement, par des
conférences spirituelles, qu’il jeta, sans s’en douter lui-même, les premiers
fondements de la congrégation de l’Oratoire.
Autour de lui se
groupèrent Jean-François Bourdin, qui fut depuis archevêque d’Avignon ;
Alexandre Fidelle et le cardinal Baronius, auquel il rendit deux fois
miraculeusement la santé, et qui écrivit sur le conseil de son maître les
célèbres Annales ecclésiastiques. Baronius attribue à saint Philippe
non-seulement le projet de son ouvrage, mais les dons nécessaires pour
l’exécuter, sa réalisation et son succès.
La congrégation de
l’Oratoire se trouva fondée en l’an 1575. Elle fut confirmée par le pape
Grégoire XIII, qui donna encore à saint Philippe l’église de Saint-Grégoire.
Saint Philippe avait
enfin accompli son oeuvre d’une façon presque ignorée de lui-même. L’Oratoire
se trouva fondé ; mais il refusait d’en être le chef.
Comme il avait fallu un
ordre de Dieu pour l’obliger à rester à Rome, il fallut un ordre absolu du Pape
pour l’obliger à être supérieur de l’Oratoire. Encore il donna sa démission,
deux ans avant sa mort, afin de vivre sous l’obéissance ; avant de cesser de
vivre, il nomma Baronius supérieur général, et vécut deux ans sous l’obéissance
de son disciple.
Grégoire XIII et Clément
VIII lui offrirent en vain l’épiscopat et le cardinalat.
Clément VIII avait la
goutte aux mains. Il fit venir Philippe dans sa chambre et lui ordonna de
toucher ses mains. Au contact des mains de Philippe, celles de Clément furent
guéries. A dater de ce jour, quand le Pape rencontrait l’apôtre, il lui baisait
publiquement les mains.
Saint Philippe ne
résistait pas toujours à la force qui soulève de terre. Il fut quelquefois
élevé en l’air, et la lumière l’environnait. Lui-même vit quelquefois saint
Charles Borromée et saint Ignace de Loyola tout éclatants de lumière. Saint
Charles Borromée se prosternait devant lui quand il le rencontrait, et le
suppliait de lui donner ses mains à baiser.
Saint Ignace de Loyola se
tenait quelquefois près de lui dans le silence de l’admiration; et les deux illustres
fondateurs se regardaient sans se parler,
Quelquefois Philippe
commençait à prononcer les paroles de saint Paul : Cupio dissolvi, et esse
cum Christo. « Je désire être dissous et vivre avec le Christ. »
Mais il s’arrêtait après
la première parole : il ne disait qu’un seul mot : Cupio, je désire. En disant
la messe, ses mouvements étaient si violents qu’il ébranlait le pas de l’autel.
Le don des larmes lui fut fait, ainsi que le don des miracles. II pleura tant
qu'on s’étonnait de lui voir conserver l’usage des yeux. Il semblait que ses
yeux, consacrés aux larmes, n'étaient plus destinés à autre chose. Plus il
montait, plus il descendait à ses propres yeux. Plus il gravissait la montagne,
plus le sentiment de l’abîme était profond en lui.
« Seigneur, disait-il,
gardez-vous de moi. Si vous ne me préservez par votre grâce, je vous trahirai
aujourd’hui, et je commettrai à moi seul tous les péchés du monde entier. »
Ces choses, qui semblent
exagérées aux hommes obscurs, apparaissent aux hommes éclairés dans la lumière
où elles résident. Plus l’homme approche de la perfection, plus il sent les
capacités de crimes et les aptitudes á la corruption qui résident au fond de
lui.
La bulle de canonisation
raconte plusieurs miracles de saint Philippe. Son attouchement, l’imposition de
ses mains sacrées guérissaient les malades. Quelquefois il ordonnait aux
maladies de se retirer.
Baronius avait l’estomac
si malade qu’il ne pouvait plus ni manger, ni prier, ni travailler. Il était
incapable de tout. Philippe lui ordonne de manger un pain et un citron. II
obéit et est guéri. Dans une autre maladie, Baronius, abandonné des médecins s’endormit
et vit en songe Philippe qui priait pour lui.
Peu de temps après, il
était guéri.
Les mouchoirs de Philippe
étaient pleins de vertus. Un linge teint de son sang guérit un ulcére horrible.
Paul Fabricius était mort
sans prêtre. Philippe arriva. Paul ressuscita à son arrivée, se confessa à lui
comme il l’avait désiré, choisit la mort pour ne plus retomber dans le péché,
et mourut en effet.
Philippe connut d’avance
l’heure de sa mort. Ce devait étre et ce fut en effet le 25 mai 1595. Il offrit
ce jour-là le saint sacrifice avec une ferveur extraordinaire. Sa liberté
d’esprit était complète. Il se confessa. Il donna la communion.
Survint un vomissement de
sang qu’om ne put arrêter. Il se mit au lit. Baronius lui demanda sa
bénédiction pour ses disciples. Il leva les yeux au ciel, puis les rabaíssa sur
eux. II avaií quatre-vingts ans.
Les miracles, qui avaient
commencé pendant sa vie, continuèrent aprés sa mort.
Après sept ans, son corps
fut trouvé tout entier, sans nulle corruption. Ses entrailles, parfaitement
saines, exhalaient une odeur exquise.
Grégoire XV l’a canonisé.
Ernest HELLO. Physionomie
de saints. 1875
SOURCE : https://archive.org/stream/PhysionomiesDeSaintsParErnestHello/physionomies%20de%20saints_djvu.txt
Unidentified
painter, San Filippo Neri, 90 x 66, Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo
SAINT PHILIPPE NERI
1515-1595 fondateur de l’Oratoire – canonisé 11 12 mars 1622 – fête 26 mai
Tiré du livre «Il grande libro dei santi» ed. San Paolo
LES PREMIÈRES ANNÉES DU JEUNE PHILIPPE
Né le 21 juillet 1515 dans un quartier populeux d’outre-Arno à Florence, il fut
baptisé comme tous les florentins dans le baptistère de St. Jean avec le nom de
Philippe Romulus. On sait très peu de son enfance: son père François exerçait
la profession de notaire; sa mère, Lucrèce de Mosciano, mourut très tôt et le
soin du petit Philippe restait confié à sa belle-mère. Suivant le témoignage de
sa sœur Élisabeth, on sait que, bien que son caractère altruiste et joyeux, il
était surnommé «Pippo le bon» (surnom qui lui restait pour toute la vie), il ne
montrait jamais une vocation ou une dévotion particulière. La seule donnée
certaine c’est la fréquence du couvent de St. Marc, («Ce que j’ai eu de bon –
il aurait dit plus tard – je l’ai eu par les pères de St. Marc) où il put
respirer la spiritualité de Savonarole, encore bien vive particulièrement
pendant les années de la crise politique de la république et du siège de
Florence (1527-1530).
Philippe se transfère a Rome
À l’âge de 18 ans, en tout cas, quitta Florence, où il ne devait plus
retourner, pour être en apprentissage de commerce chez son cousin à St. Germain
en Campanie, suivant une diffuse habitude. Mais le commerce ne devait pas être
sa vocation, parce qu’en 1534-1535 on le retrouve déjà à Rome, où il serait
resté pour plus de 60 années, jusqu’à sa mort, dans les décennies des
changements plus radicaux, dès les premières tensions réformatrices au triomphe
de la Contre-réforme, dès la Renaissance jusqu’à son terme dans l’émergent
monde du Baroque. Pendant les premières années il vit comme précepteur chez un
homme d’affaires florentin, Galeotto del Caccia. Son temps semblait se diviser
parmi les devoirs de précepteur, la fréquence à quelque cours de théologie et
de philosophie auprès de l’Université de la Sagesse et l’étude général des
augustiniens, et un continu pèlerinage spirituel solitaire à travers l’ancienne
Rome (des catacombes et des basiliques) et à travers la nouvelle Rome des
jeunes de route, des artisans et des commerçants, des hommes d’affaires des
Bancs: l’expérience mystique au fur et à mesure dominante et aiguë dans le
rapport avec des autres spirituels qui animaient la ville pendant les dernières
années du pontificat de Paul III (comme Bonsignore Cacciaguerra) se joignit au
désir de réforme, suite à l’Église primitive comme modèle de l’expérience
chrétienne individuelle et collective. En 1548 il collabora avec Persan Rosa,
son confesseur, à la fondation de la confrérie de la Sainte Trinité consacrée
en particulier aux pauvres pèlerins: l’activité menée pendant la Sainte Année
1550 c’est donc centrale dans sa vie, pour la fusion entre l’anxiété de
perfection individuelle et la recherche d’une propre spécifique mission pour la
réforme de l’Église.
Philippe prêtre
Après avoir reçu en peu de mois les ordres mineurs et majeurs, il fut sacré
prêtre le 23 mai 1551 (à la veille de la fête de la Sainte Trinité et à
l’anniversaire du bûcher de Savonarole). Comme prêtre il entra parmi les
chapelains de l’église de St. Girolamo de la Charité, sans aucuns émoluments de
la part de la confrérie qui la géra pour maintenir sa liberté «offerens se
volle servire suo arbitrio»: les chapelains de St. Girolamo constituèrent une
communauté mais, en exerçant les fonctions de confesseurs et directeurs de
conscience, ils devinrent, avec le groupe des jésuites auprès de l’église du
Jésus et des dominicains auprès de la Minerve, un centre de spiritualité pour
amples classes populaires et même après, avec le développement de la réforme de
Trente, pour les hommes de Curie, prélats, appartements à la haute finance et
au patriciat. De toute façon, les pénitents autour de Philippe entre le 1553 et
le 1555 commençaient à prendre une physionomie de groupe par des réunions qui
apportèrent peu à peu à la constitution de l’Oratoire.
Des lectures et oraisons communes parmi peu de gens dans la petite chambre de
Philippe, on passa à des réunion toujours plus nombreuses dans un grenier
surmontant l’église; en 1564 la petite communauté constituée autour de Philippe
accepta, sous demande des marchands et des hommes politiques florentins, la
responsabilité de la paroisse de St. Jean des Florentins: ici s’installèrent,
tandis que Philippe restait à St. Girolamo, les premiers fils spirituel devenus
prêtres, César Baronio, Alexandre Fedeli, Jean-François Bordini (auxquels des
autres se joindrons très tôt), comme une communauté sans aucun lien de vœux. Au
succès toujours plus grand des réunions de l’Oratoire, des promenades pieuses
collectives quotidiennes dans les rues et les églises de Rome, des plus
solennelles visites aux sept églises (pèlerinages de la durée d’un jour entier
avec des messes, des sermons, des chants et aussi avec un petit déjeuner en
plein air), auxquelles surtout pendant les journées du Carnaval arrivaient à
participer en quelques années plus d’un millier de monde, correspondu une
considérable méfiance, particulièrement aiguë pendant les pontificats de Paul
IV et Pie V ; il y eut des enquêtes de la part du vicariat romain et de
l’Inquisition, en étant chose «insolite» cette méthode de raisonnement
spirituels, avec la participation des laïcs, cette dévotion ne niait ni la
liturgie officielle ni les sacrements, mais cherchait de nouveaux espaces pour
la perfection cléricale et laïque au delà des canaux coutumiers. De toute façon,
ces enquêtes se terminèrent dans le néant et l’influence de Philippe et de son
groupe devenait toujours plus forte même dans le milieu curial posthume auquel
de Trente: aux réunions et aux initiatives participaient les prélats et les
cardinaux très liés à la réforme religieuse, beaucoup d’eux étaient aussi des
disciples spirituels de Philippe.
La communauté des oratoriens
Grégoire XIII avec la Bulle Copiosus en miséricorde du 15 juillet 1575 reconnut
la nouvelle communauté, en lui confiant comme congrégation de prêtres et clercs
la petite paroisse de Sainte Marie de la Petite Vallée. La vieille petite
église fut abattue et pendant deux années fut édifiée la grande nef de la
majestueuse église actuelle (mais les travaux d’achèvement et de construction de
dépendants édifices d’habitation et de l’Oratoire seraient durés longtemps)
avec un effort même financier qui témoigne l’adhésion que Philippe et son
groupe avaient trouvée dans la haute société romaine. En 1577 les prêtres de
l’Oratoire se transférèrent à la Petite Vallée, sauf Philippe qui n’avait
jamais abandonné ses petites pièces dans St. Girolamo et que seulement en 1583
accepta, à cause des pressions du pape et des problèmes de se santé, de se
déplacer auprès de sa communauté de laquelle il restait chef charismatique en
plus de prévôt perpétuel: mais sa chambre pendant les dernières années de sa
vie semblait être le barycentre d’une vie qui allait bien au-delà du groupe de
ses collaborateurs; il était point de référence et conseiller des prélats, cardinaux
et même des pontifes, et c’est connue l’influence exercée par Philippe sur
Clément VIII pour l’absolution de Henri IV de Navarre. En 1593, ensuite à une
douloureuse et longue maladie (il avait déjà 78 ans), il démissionna du rôle de
prévôt de la congrégation (premier successeur fut César Baronio) et il mourut
le 26 mai 1595, assisté par le cardinal Frédéric Borromée.
Les miracles et la canonisation
Le culte qui se répandit immédiatement après sa mort, avec l’extension de la
dévotion et l’attribution d’innombrables miracles, semble la directe
continuation de la vénération de laquelle il se rejouait largement même en vie
avec la réputation des vertus et des capacités de thaumaturges qui avaient déjà
entouré sa personne. Le procès canonique commencé tout de suite, se conclut en
1615 ave la béatification; la canonisation fut en 1622.
Le manque presque total d’écrits ne permet pas l’élucidation d’une doctrine
spirituelle: la caractéristique particulière de Philippe semble, cependant, la
coïncidence absolue entre la vie concrète de la personne et l’expérience
spirituelle, avec la réduction au ralenti de chaque élaboration théorique. Le
stéréotype traditionnel de Philippe Neri est ce d’un homme serein, joyeux, qui
savait composer l’amour de Dieu, du prochain, des animaux, de la nature, dans
une innocence maintenue dans sa fraîcheur jusqu’à sa dernière vieillesse. Ainsi
nous ont transmis aussi son image les deux amis et dévoués cardinaux Augustin
Valier et Gabriel Paleotti dans deux livres, respectivement De lætitia
christiana et De bono senectutis, qui élisent Philippe comme prototype de
l’humanisme chrétien dans lequel autorité et liberté d’esprit, pitié et
participation aux joies et aux douleurs quotidiens de la vie, sont fondus d’une
façon harmonique.
De ce point de vue il y a beaucoup de vrai, même s’il est nécessaire ne pas
tomber dans la déformation d’une image naïvement enfantine de Philippe. Sa
simplicité et son propre caractère farceur et facétieux servaient très souvent,
même si pas certainement comme masque, pour couvrir les tensions d’un ascétisme
sans demi-mesures, d’un engagement total au service de Dieu et du prochain,
tensions qui caractérisaient les pénitences et le continu engagement dans les
œuvres de charité de sa vie quotidienne et celle de ses disciples. En cherchant
de situer dans un contexte historique et de définir le noyau de son message
dans une époque de bouleversants changement de la Rome papale et de la
chrétienté, je crois qu’on peut dire que si dans un premier temps l’impulsion mystique
qui le domina (et qui le caractérisa même physiquement avec continues et
fréquentes palpitations cardiaques) fut commun à beaucoup des groupes
spirituels qui se greffèrent dans la Rome du XVIe siècle (ainsi les lectures
premières de Philippe et de son groupe, des mystiques médiévaux aux vies des
pères du désert, à l’Imitation de Christ, à Savonarole), le message spécifique
devint celui d’une sainteté anti-héroïque, d’une perfection de la vie
spirituelle qu’on peut rejoindre en toute condition de vie, de l’artisanat au
curial, du père d’une famille au prélat, sans se séparer du monde mais au
contraire, par l’exercice des vertus élémentaires de charité, simplicité,
patience, à travers l’acceptation joyeuse des souffrances et même de la mort
comme accomplissement et perfection de la nature humaine.
D’ici le connu et continu rappel à la nécessité de la joie, du soin de la
santé, de l’équilibre psychique; la méfiance pas seulement pour toutes visions
et extases, mais aussi de tous élans exagéré et immodéré d’ascèse et pénitence
destiné à ne pas durer dans le temps: «et si guastano et non sono più boni né
per sé né per gli altri». Rien de la pratique liturgique et sacramental de
Trente venait exclu: messe et dévotion eucharistique, confession et communion fréquente
(toujours avec discrétion des temps, cas pour cas, de la quotidienneté aux
périodicité différentes), prière vocale, culte des saints. Mais il faut dire
que ces pratiques étaient vécues dans une façon complètement originale par
Philippe et par son groupe, principalement avec l’exercice de l’Oratoire
quotidien (rien de plus antithétique au contemporain développement des
exercices ignaciens qui jettent leurs bases dans la séparation du monde). Mais
pas seulement: l’eucharistie pas comme sacrifice mais comme sommet de la prière
quotidienne et nourriture; la confession semblait n’avoir rien à faire avec le
tribunal de la Contre-réforme, pour devenir au contraire une tendre occasion de
dialogues spirituels et lieu principal où manifester la discretio spirituum
dans un rapport interpersonnel qui était en train de s’ouvrir à la modernité;
l’implication continue de la ville avec le dépassement des églises et des
sanctuaires (promenades dans les places et les ateliers, visites collectives et
individuelles aux hôpitaux et aux autres lieux pieux, pèlerinages aux sept
églises et parcours dévots) était aussi chose singulière destinée à décliner
dans la Rome baroque, mais proposée pleine d’originalité; dans le clergé même
la création d’un tertium genus de prêtre de Trente, assez anormale: ni prêtre
avec soin des âmes, ni religieux lié des vœux et de l’obéissance, divisé du
monde mais librement partagé de la vie de l’homme commun. Au fond la conviction
précise que la réforme de l’Église et de Rome ne pouvaient pas naître de la
constitution d’un clergé séculier régulier comme classe séparée, mais d’un
renouvellement global du peuple chrétien dans ses structures historiques
concrètes, dans sa modernité: d’ici l’intérêt pas secondaire de Philippe pour
les mécanismes de la vie économique – comme témoignent quelques miracles à lui
attribués – de la vie courtisane o de celle productive (sa passion pour les
horloges ne peut pas être considérée une des ses folies ou étrangeté).
L’Oratoire
L’Oratoire représente, comme on a déjà signé, la projection fondamentale de la
spiritualité de Philippe et sa particulière créature à l’intérieur de variés
courants spirituels du XVIe siècle italien. Ce n’était pas une formule fixe,
mais un instrument flexible, un procédé plus qu’une ordonnance rigide, qui se
distinguait même dans la méthode des exercices ignaciens. Né des réunions de
l’après-midi dans la petite chambre de Philippe à St. Girolamo, en 1552, comme
ensemble de lectures et conversations spirituelles parmi un restreint groupe
d’amis, il s’étendit en se déplaçant tout d’abord dans un grenier-dépôt
au-dessus de la même église de St. Girolamo, après dans un local contigu
l’église de St. Jean au bord du Tibre et enfin à la Petite Vallée, en attirant
un monde bariolé, composé par des membres de la société de cour mais aussi par
beaucoup de gens du peuple et artisans dans leurs heures de l’après-midi libres
dans les jours ouvrables. La formule était très libre et flexible dans
l’adaptation aux variés niveaux de culture: pendant les deux heures passées de
sa durée tout le monde pouvait entrer et sortir en suivant ses possibilités et
ses intérêts; les sermons étaient prononcés dans une forme simple et
dialogique, pas d’une chaire mais d’une chaise, avec une totale répudiation de la
rhétorique traditionnelle et autoritaire du sermon. D’habitude on commençait
avec la lecture de livres dévots et de vies des saints, après il y avait les
sermons (quatre dans la période de majeure splendeur) avec la distribution par
roulement quotidien alterné (un plus cultivé et élaboré ; pour beaucoup
d’années César Baronio exposa sujets de l’histoire ecclésiastique, en
conduisant avec cette œuvre de divulgation la composition de ses Annales);
après des musiques et des chants avec la participation d’amis musicien comme
Jean Animuccia et François Soto Langa qui publièrent leurs laudes composées
pour l’Oratoire pendant la vie de Philippe, en passant de la simple monodie à
l’exécution polyphonique plus enrichie: on ne se traitait pas encore de
l’«Oratoire » comme genre musicale, qui se serait développé seulement plus tard
en 1600 par la génération suivante, mais qui a eu sûrement ici ses racines
spirituelles et artistiques. Une brève intervention de père Philippe ou d’un de
ses substituts et les prières finales concluaient le rencontre. Le soir un
groupe plus restreint commença à se réunir pour des autres prières et
méditations (quelques jours de la semaine même avec l’exercice de la
«disciplina») et de ce Oratoire «piccolo» naquit la communauté qui prit forme
dans la vie commune à St. Jean des Florentins avec quelques règles élémentaires
pour la vie quotidienne, mais sans construire un ordre religieux. Philippe ne
voulut jamais constituer un nouveau ordre religieux, soit pour sa inclinaison
naturelle à la liberté («pour ne pas être désobéis, il avait l’habitude de
dire, il ne faut pas commander»), soit pour le précis choix de ne pas
constituer, par vœux et autres liens juridiques, un corps séparé du peuple
chrétien.
Malgré la bulle de reconnaissance de la congrégation par Grégoire XIII en 1575
prévît la rédaction des règles ou constitutions, Philippe renvoya d’année en
année le problème. Seulement en 1582-1583 fut élaborée une première épreuve, en
1588 fut étendu un second texte et en 1595-1596 un troisième avec un nombre
minimum de règles de vie en commun, fondées sur le consentement, sur la
fonction du «prévôt», sur la subsistance d’une large sphère de liberté
personnelle (y compris le droit de propriété). Cette fermeté de Philippe
apporta déjà dans les années Soixante-dix à une première friction avec Charles
Borromée qui voulait utiliser les oratoriens en les insérant dans les
structures diocésaines milanaises (après le refus de Philippe, qui retira en
1576 les quatre prêtres qu’il avait envoyés peu avant à Milan, après Charles
aurait fondé les oblat de St. Ambroise) et à contrastes, en les années
Quatre-vingts, aussi à l’intérieur même de la communauté oratorienne près des
pères romains, étroitement liés à l’idéal de liberté complète (soit à
l’intérieur d’individuelles communautés soit dans les rapports parmi les
différentes communautés oratoriennes qui étaient en train de se développer dans
différentes villes) et les pères de l’Oratoire de Naples, qui soutenaient la
nécessité d’une organisation de type presque monacal. Dans le délicat passage
suivi à la mort de Philippe fut confirmé le refuse des vœux, et ce principe fut
accueilli même dans les constitutions de la congrégation, approuvées finalement
par Paul V avec bref Christifidelium du 24 février 1612, avec un difficile
équilibre entre la nécessité de type institutionnel et l’idéal oratorien de la
liberté qui a constitué la singularité des communautés oratoriens dans le droit
canonique jusqu’à nos jours.
SOURCE : http://users.libero.it/luigi.scrosoppi/santi/filippofra.htm
San Filippo Neri et Saint Charles Borromeo. Engraving by D. Cagnoni after D.M. Fratta.
Vous voulez retrouver la
joie de vivre ? Priez saint Philippe Neri
Philip
Kosloski | 03 mai 2018
Le saint patron de la
joie, Philippe Neri, est un puissant intercesseur pour tous ceux qui n’ont plus
de joie en eux.
Dans notre vie
personnelle, de nombreuses circonstances peuvent être sources de découragement
ou de colère. Or, Dieu appelle à bannir cette tristesse. Le chrétien sait et ne
saurait oublier que « Dieu se souvient de lui, qu’Il l’aime, l’accompagne,
l’attend », a récemment rappelé le Pape au cours d’une messe à
Sainte-Marthe. Et c’est ce qui doit faire sa « joie », même « au
milieu des souffrances et des croix » qui jalonnent sa vie. Cette joie qui
vient de l’Évangile, cette joie de « se savoir sauvé et régénéré »,
et que « Jésus nous attend », c’est « la carte d’identité du
chrétien ».
Lire aussi :
En
Images. À l’intérieur de la Chiesa Nuova construite par saint Philippe Néri
En somme, il n’y a pas de
chrétien sans joie. Pour s’aider soi-même et aider son prochain à ne pas perdre
son « identité » de chrétien, voici une petite prière à adresser à
saint Philippe Néri (1515-1595), l’un des saints les plus authentiques que l’on
puisse imaginer, tant la joie, la bonne humeur, qu’il dégageait était
manifeste, même dans les situations les plus difficiles :
« Saint Philippe Neri,
saint patron de la joie, vous qui avez cru aux Écritures et en la promesse du
Seigneur d’être toujours présent, nous confions nos soucis et nos souffrances à
votre compassion. Nous venons à vous avec un cœur qui se gonfle d’un immense
amour pour Dieu et toute sa création. Ecoutez-nous et gardez-nous en sécurité
par votre douce intercession. Que la joie du Saint-Esprit qui a rempli votre
cœur transforme nos vies et nous apporte la paix. Amen »
SOURCE : https://fr.aleteia.org/2018/05/03/vous-voulez-retrouver-la-joie-de-vivre-priez-saint-philippe-neri/
.jpg)
Plaque
de Calle de San Felipe Neri (rue, (district du Centre) de Madrid (Espagne).
Sign
of Calle de San Felipe Neri (street, Centro district) in Madrid (Spain).
Placa
de la Calle de San Felipe Neri (distrito de Centro) de Madrid (España).
L’étonnante pénitence
demandée par Philippe Néri en confession
Rachel
Molinatti | 12 novembre 2018
Les bruits de couloir et
les on-dit sont source de division et il est parfois difficile de les arrêter.
Saint Philippe Néri nous en donne une illustration très concrète.
La médisance, cet acte
pas très glorieux qui nous fait colporter des choses peu reluisantes et fausses
sur les autres, vous situez ? Racontars, potins, cancans, calomnie, bavardages…
Si on lui donne de petits noms attrayants, elle n’est guère bénéfique et nous
colle malheureusement parfois à la peau.
Lire aussi :
Le
vice dont il est le plus difficile de se défaire
Un épisode de la vie
de saint
Philippe Néri, fondateur de l’ordre de la congrégation de l’Oratoire, connu
par ailleurs pour son humour saillant, l’illustre parfaitement. À une commère
venue se confesser et avouer piteusement ses forfaits, il aurait donné cette
pénitence : « Rentrez chez vous, prenez une poule et plumez-là.
Ensuite, allez dans votre quartier, semez les plumes sur votre chemin, puis
revenez me voir ». Le jour suivant, la pipelette repentie revient. Le bon
saint lui demande alors d’aller ramasser toutes les plumes dans la rue.
« Mais c’est impossible », se désole-t-elle. Ce à quoi il répond du
tac au tac : « Vous voyez bien qu’il est plus facile de colporter des
ragots que d’en réparer les conséquences ». De quoi clouer le bec de la
cancanière qui s’est probablement trouvée aussi abrutie qu’une poule qui aurait
trouvé un couteau.
La médisance « détruit la
vie »
Le pape François, qui n’a
pas l’habitude de marcher sur des œufs, fustige lui aussi la médisance : «
Celui qui médit, salit, détruit la réputation, détruit la vie et bien souvent
sans raison, contre la vérité », rappelait-il
en 2016. Allons, ne soyons pas des poules mouillées, il est toujours temps
de prendre de bonnes résolutions. Roule ma poule ?
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (1683–1754),
Madonna and Christ Child Appearing to Saint Philip Neri,
circa 1725, 112.4 x 63.5, National Gallery of Art, Washington,
D.C.
Also
known as
Amabile Santo
Apostle of Rome
Philip Romolo Neri
Profile
Though he was related
to Italian nobility,
Philip came from a poor family.
His father,
Francisco Neri, worked as a notary.
Philip’s brother died in childhood,
but his two sisters, Caterina and Elisabetta survived. Known as a pius youth,
Philip was taught humanities
by the Dominicans.
The family moved to San
Germano in 1533 to
help some relatives with their business, and while there Philip would escape to
a local Dominican chapel in
the mountains. Having received a vision that he had an apostolate in Rome,
Philip cut himself off from his family, and went there.
He was befriended by
Galeotto Caccia who took Philip in and paid him to tutor his
two sons. Wrote poetry in
Latin and Italian. He studied philosophy and theology,
and when he tired of learning,
he sold all his books and
gave the money to the poor.
Philip began to visit and
care for the sick,
and impoverished pilgrims,
and founded a society of like-minded folk to do the same. He became a friend
of Saint Ignatius
of Loyola. A layman,
he lived in the city as a hermit.
During Easter season
of 1544,
while praying in
the catacomb of San Sebastiano,
he received a vision of
a globe of fire that
entered his chest, and he experienced an ecstasy that
physically enlarged his heart.
With Persiano Rose, he
founded the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity. He began to preach,
with many converts.
In 1550 he
considered retiring to the life of a solitary hermit,
but received further visions that
told him his mission was in Rome.
Later he considered missionary work
in India,
but further visions convinced
him to stay in Rome.
He entered the priesthood in 1551. Father Philip
heard confessions by
the hour, could tell penitents their sins before they confessed, and had the
gift of conferring visions. He began working with youth, finding safe places
for them to play, becoming involved in their lives.
Pope Gregory
XIV tried to make him a cardinal, but
Philip declined. His popularity was such that he was accused of forming his own
sect, but was cleared of this baseless charge. In 1575 he
founded the Congregation of
the Oratory (Oratorians,
a group of priests dedicated
to preaching and teaching,
but which suffered from accusations of heresy because
of the involvement of laymen as preachers.
In later years he was beset by several illnesses, each of which was in turn
cured through prayer.
Born
22 July 1515 at Florence, Italy
27 May 1595 at
the church of San Maria in Vallicella, Italy of
natural causes
12 March 1622 by Pope Gregory XV
against
rheumatism; rheumatism sufferers
United
States Army Special Forces
in Italy
Manfredonia-Vieste-San
Giovanni Rotondo, archdiocese of
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by Father Lawrence
George Lovasik, S.V.D.
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Catholic
Encyclopedia: Oratory of Saint Philip
Neri
Catholic
Encyclopedia: Saint Philip
Neri
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Maxims
and Sayings, by Saint Philip
Neri
Saint
Philip Neri, by Father Raleigh
Addington
Saints
and Saintly Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie
Cormier, O.P.
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
Stories
of the Saints for Children, by Mary Seymour
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Oxford Dictionary of Saints, by David Hugh Farmer
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
Catholic
Exchange: 12 Sayings
Catholic
Exchange: The Humorous Side of Humility
images
video
e-books
Life of
Saint Philip Neri, by Cardinal Alfonso Capecelatro
Life
of Saint Philip Neri, by Father Pietro Giacomo Bacci
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi
Wikipedia: Santi patroni della città di Venezia
Readings
Cheerfulness strengthens
the heart and makes us persevere in a good life. Therefore the servant of God ought
always to be in good spirits. – Saint Philip
Neri
MLA
Citation
“Saint Philip
Neri“. CatholicSaints.Info. 17 May 2024. Web. 26 May 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-philip-neri/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-philip-neri/
Attributed to Francisco Nunes Varela, São Filipe Neri, XVIIe, 66.5 x 76.5
St. Philip Romolo Neri
THE APOSTLE OF ROME.
Born at Florence, Italy,
22 July, 1515; died 27 May, 1595. Philip's family originally
came from Castelfranco but had lived for many generations in Florence,
where not a few of its members had practised the learned professions, and
therefore took rank with the Tuscan nobility.
Among these was Philip's own father, FrancescoNeri,
who eked out an insufficient private fortune with what he earned as
a notary. A circumstance which had no small influence on
the life of the saint was Francesco's friendship
with the Dominicans;
for it was from thefriars of
S. Marco, amid the memories of Savonarola,
that Philip received many of his early religiousimpressions.
Besides a younger brother, who died in early childhood, Philip had
two younger sisters, Caterina and Elisabetta. It was with them that "the good Pippo",
as he soon began to be called, committed his onlyknown fault. He gave a
slight push to Caterina, because she kept interrupting him and Elisabetta,
while they were reciting psalms together, a practice of which, as a
boy, he was remarkably fond. One incident of his childhood is dear to his early
biographers as the first visible intervention of Providence on
his behalf, and perhaps dearer still to his modern disciples, because
it reveals the human characteristics of a boy amid
the supernatural graces of
a saint. When about eight years old he was left alone in
a courtyard to amuse himself; seeing a donkey laden with fruit, he
jumped on its back; the beast bolted, and both tumbled into a deep
cellar. His parents hastened
to the spot and extricated the child, not dead, as they feared, but
entirely uninjured.
From the first it was
evident that Philip's career would run on no conventional lines; when
shown his family pedigree
he tore it up, and the burning of his father's house
left him unconcerned. Having studied the humanities under the best scholars of
a scholarly generation, at the age of sixteen he was sent to help hisfather's cousin
in business at S. Germano, near Monte
Cassino. He applied himself with diligence, and hiskinsman soon
determined to make him his heir. But he would often withdraw for prayer to
a little mountain chapel belonging
to the Benedictines of Monte
Cassino, built above the harbour of Gaeta in
a cleft of rock which tradition says was among those rent at the hour
of Our
Lord's death. It was here that his vocationbecame definite: he was
called to be the Apostle of Rome.
In 1533 he arrived in Rome without
any money. He had not informed his father of
the step he was taking, and he had deliberately cut himself off from
hiskinsman's patronage. He was, however, at once befriended by
Galeotto Caccia, a Florentine resident, who gave him a room in
his house and an allowance of flour, in return for which he undertook the education of
his two sons. For seventeen years Philip lived as a layman in Rome,
probably without thinking of becoming apriest.
It was perhaps while tutor to the boys, that he wrote most of the poetry which
he composed both inLatin and in Italian. Before his death he burned
all his writings, and only a few of his sonnets have come down to us. He spent
some three years, beginning about 1535, in the study of philosophy at
the Sapienza, and of theology in
the school of
the Augustinians. When he considered that he had learnt enough, he sold
his books, and gave the price to the poor. Though he never again made
study his regular occupation, whenever he was called upon to cast aside
his habitual reticence, he would surprise the most learned with the
depth and clearness of his theological knowledge.
He now devoted himself
entirely to the sanctification of his own soul and
the good of his neighbour. His activeapostolate began with
solitary and unobtrusive visits to the hospitals.
Next he induced others to accompany him. Then he began to frequent the shops,
warehouses, banks, and public places of Rome,
melting the hearts of those whom he chanced to meet, and exhorting them to
serve God.
In 1544, or later, he became the friend of St.
Ignatius. Many of his disciples tried and found their vocations
in the infant Society
of Jesus; but themajority remained in the world, and formed the
nucleus of what afterwards became the Brotherhood of the
Little Oratory. Though he "appeared not fasting to men",
his private life was that of a hermit.
His single daily meal was of bread and water, to which a few herbs were
sometimes added, the furniture of his room consisted of a bed, to which he
usually preferred the floor, a table, a few chairs, and a rope to hang his
clothes on; and he disciplined himself frequently with small chains.
Tried by fierce temptations, diabolical as
well as human, he passed through them all unscathed, and the purity of
his soul manifested
itself in certain striking physical traits. He prayed at
first mostly in the church of S. Eustachio, hard by Caccia's
house. Next he took to visiting the Seven Churches. But it was in
the catacomb of
S. Sebastiano — confounded by early biographers with that of
S. Callisto — that he kept the longest vigils and received
the most abundant consolations. In this catacomb,
a few days before Pentecost in 1544, the well-known miracle of
his heart took place. Baccidescribes it thus: "While he was with the
greatest earnestness asking of the Holy Ghost His gifts, there
appeared to him a globe of fire, which entered into his mouth and lodged in his
breast; and thereupon he was suddenly surprised with such a fire of love,
that, unable to bear it, he threw himself on the ground, and, like one trying
to cool himself, bared his breast to temper in some measure the flame which he
felt. When he had remained so for some time, and was a little recovered,
he rose up full of unwonted joy,
and immediately all his body began to shake with a violent tremour;
and putting his hand to his bosom, he felt by the side of his heart, a swelling
about as big as a man's fist, but neither then nor afterwards was it
attended with the slightest pain or wound." The cause of this
swelling was discovered by the doctors who
examined his body after death. The saint's heart had been dilated
under the sudden impulse of love,
and in order that it might have sufficient room to move, two ribs had been
broken, and curved in the form of an arch. From the time of the miracle till
his death, his heart would palpitate violently whenever
he performed any spiritual action.
During his last years as
a layman, Philip's apostolate spread
rapidly. In 1548, together with his confessor,Persiano Rosa, he founded
the Confraternity of the Most
Holy Trinity for looking after pilgrims and
convalescents. Its members met for Communion, prayer,
and other spiritual exercises in the church of S.
Salvatore, and the saint himself
introduced exposition of the Blessed
Sacrament once a month (see FORTY
HOURS' DEVOTION). At these devotions Philip preached, though
still a layman,
and we learn that on one occasion alone he converted no less than
thirty dissolute youths. In 1550 a doubt occurred
to him as to whether he should not discontinue his active work and retire
into absolute solitude. His perplexity was set at rest by
a vision of St.
John the Baptist, and by another vision of two souls in glory,
one of whom was eating a roll of bread, signifying God's will that
he should live in Rome for
the good of souls as
though he were in a desert, abstaining as
far as possible from the use of meat.
In 1551, however, he
received a true vocation from God.
At the bidding of his confessor — nothing short of this would overcome
his humility —
he entered the priesthood,
and went to live at S. Girolamo, where a staffof chaplains was
supported by the Confraternity of Charity. Each priest had
two rooms assigned to him, in which he lived, slept, and ate, under no rule
save that of living in charity with his brethren. Among Philip'snew
companions, besides Persiano Rosa, was Buonsignore Cacciaguerra (see
"A Precursor of St. Philip" by LadyAnnabel Kerr, London), a
remarkable penitent, who was at that time carrying on a vigorous propaganda in
favour of frequent Communion. Philip, who as a layman had
been quietly encouraging the frequent reception of the sacraments,
expended the whole of his priestly energy
in promoting the same cause; but unlike hisprecursor, he recommended the
young especially to confess more often than they communicated.
The church of S. Girolamo was much frequented even before the coming
of Philip, and his confessional there soon became the centre of
a mighty apostolate. He stayed in church, hearing confessions or
ready to hear them, from daybreak till nearly midday, and not content with
this, he usually confessed some forty persons in
his room before dawn. Thus he laboured untiringly throughout his long priesthood.
As a physician of souls he
received marvellous gifts from God.
He would sometimes tell a penitent his most secret sins without
his confessingthem; and once he converted a young nobleman by
showing him a vision of hell.
Shortly before noon he would leave his confessional to say Mass.
His devotion to the Blessed
Sacrament, like the miracle of
his heart, is one of those manifestations of sanctity which
are peculiarly his own. So great was the fervour of his charity, that,
instead of recollecting himself before Mass, he had to use
deliberate means of distraction in order to attend to the
external rite. During the last five years of his life he had permission to
celebrate privately in a little chapel close
to his room. At the "Agnus Dei" the server went out, locked the
doors, and hung up a notice: "Silence, the Father is saying Mass".
When he returned in two hours or more, the saint was
so absorbed in God that
he seemed to be at the point of death.
Philip devoted his
afternoons to men and boys, inviting them to informal meetings in his
room, taking them to visit churches, interesting himself in their
amusements, hallowing with his sweet influence every department of their lives.
At one time he had a longing desire to follow the example of St.
Francis Xavier, and go to India.
With this end in view, he hastened the ordination of
some of his companions. But in 1557 he sought the counsel of a Cistercian at
Tre Fontane; and as on a former occasion he had been told to make Rome his desert,
so now the monk communicated
to him a revelation he had had from St.
John the Evangelist, that Rome was
to be his India. Philip at
once abandoned the idea of
going abroad, and in the following year the informal meetings in his room
developed into regular spiritual exercises in an oratory, which
he built over thechurch. At these exercises laymen preached
and the excellence of the discourses, the high quality of the music,
and the charm of Philip's personality attracted
not only the humble and
lowly, but men of the highest rank and distinction in Church
and State. Of these, in 1590, Cardinal Nicolo Sfondrato, became Pope
Gregory XIV, and the extreme reluctance of the saint alone
prevented the pontiff from forcing him to accept the cardinalate.
In 1559, Philip began to organize regular visits to the
Seven Churches, in company with crowds ofmen, priests and religious,
and laymen of
every rank and condition. These visits were the occasion of a short but
sharp persecution on
the part of a certain malicious faction, who denounced him
as "a setter-up of new sects".
The cardinal vicar himself summoned him, and without listening
to his defence, rebuked him in the harshest terms. For a fortnight the saint was suspended from
hearing confessions;
but at the end of that time he made his defence, and cleared himself before
the ecclesiastical
authorities. In 1562, the Florentines inRome begged
him to accept the office of rector of
their church, S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini, but he was reluctant to leave S.
Girolamo. At length the matter was brought before Pius
IV, and a compromise was arrived at (1564). While remaining himself at S.
Girolamo, Philip became rector of
S. Giovanni, and sent five priests,
one of whom was Baronius,
to represent him there. They lived in community under Philip as their
superior, taking their meals together, and regularly attending the exercises at
S. Girolamo. In 1574, however, the exercises began to be held in
an oratory at S. Giovanni. Meanwhile the community was increasing in
size, and in 1575 it was formally recognised by Gregory
XIII as the Congregation
of the Oratory, and given the church of S. Mariain
Vallicella. The fathers came to live there in 1577, in which year they opened
the Chiesa Nuova, built on the site of the old S. Maria, and transferred
the exercises to a new oratory. Philip himself remained at S.
Girolamo till 1583, and it was only in obedience to Gregory
XIII that he then left his old home and came to live at the
Vallicella.
The last years of his
life were marked by alternate sickness and recovery. In 1593, he showed
the truegreatness
of one who knows the limits of his own endurance, and resigned the
office of superior which had been conferred on him for life. In 1594, when he
was in an agony of pain, the Blessed
Virgin appeared to him, and cured him. At the end of March, 1595, he
had a severe attack of fever, which lasted throughout April; but in answer to
his special prayer God gave
him strength to say Mass on
1 May in honour of
SS. Philip and James. On the following 12 May he was seized with
a violent haemorrhage, and Cardinal
Baronius, who had succeeded him as superior, gave him Extreme Unction.
After that he seemed to revive a little and his friend Cardinal
Frederick Borromeo brought him the Viaticum,
which he received with loud protestations of his own unworthiness. On the next
day he was perfectly well, and till the actual day of his death went about his
usualduties,
even reciting the Divine
Office, from which he was dispensed. But on 15 May he predicted that
he had only ten more days to live. On 25 May, the feast of Corpus
Christi, he went to say Mass in
his little chapel,
two hours earlier than usual. "At the beginning of his Mass",
writes Bacci, "he remained for some time looking fixedly at
the hill of S. Onofrio, which was visible from the chapel,
just as if he saw some great vision. On coming to the Gloria
in Excelsis he began to sing, which was an unusual thing for him, and
sang the whole of it with the greatest joy and devotion,
and all the rest of the Mass he said with extraordinary exultation,
and as if singing." He was in perfect health for the rest of
that day, and made his usual night prayer;
but when in bed, he predicted the hour of the night at which he would die.
About an hour after midnight Father Antonio Gallonio, who slept under him,
heard him walking up and down, and went to his room. He found
him lying on the bed, suffering from another haemorrhage.
"Antonio, I am going", he said; Gallonio thereupon fetched
themedical men and the fathers of the congregation. Cardinal
Baronius made the commendation of his soul,
and asked him to give the fathers his final blessing.
The saint raised his hand slightly, and looked up to heaven.
Then inclining his head towards the fathers, he breathed his
last. Philip was beatified by Paul
V in 1615, and canonized by Gregory
XV in 1622.
It is perhaps by the
method of contrast that the distinctive characteristics of St.
Philip and his work are brought home to us most forcibly (see Newman,
"Sermons on Various Occasions", n. xii; "Historical
Sketches", III, end of ch. vii). We hail him as the patient reformer,
who leaves outward things alone and works from within, depending rather on the
hidden might of sacrament and prayer than
on drastic policies of external improvement; the director of souls who
attaches more value to mortification of
the reason than to bodily austerities, protests that men may
become saints in
the world no less than in the cloister,
dwells on the importance of serving God in
a cheerful spirit, and gives a quaintly humorous turn to the maxims
of ascetical
theology; the silent watcher of the times, who takes no
active part in ecclesiastical controversies
and is yet a motive force in their development, now encouraging the use
of ecclesiastical
history as a bulwark againstProtestantism,
now insisting on the absolution of
a monarch, whom other counsellors would fain exclude from the sacraments (see BARONIUS),
now praying that God may
avert a threatened condemnation (see SAVONAROLA)
and receiving a miraculous assurance
that his prayer is
heard (see Letter of Ercolani referred to by Capecelatro);
the founder of a Congregation, which relies more on personal influence
than on disciplinary organization, and prefers the spontaneous practice of
counsels of perfection to their enforcement by means of vows;
above all, the saint of God,
who is so irresistibly attractive, so eminently lovable in himself, as to win
the title of the "Amabile santo".
Sources
GALLONIO, companion of
the saint was the first to produce a Life of St. Philip, published in Latin
(1600) and in Italian (1601), written with great precision, and following a
strictly chronological order. Several medical treatises were written on the
saint's palpitation and fractured ribs, e. g. ANGELO DA BAGNAREA's Medica
disputatio de palpitatione cordis, fractura costarum, aliisque affectionibus B.
Philippi Nerii. . .qua ostenditur praedictas affectiones fuisse supra naturam,
dedicated to Card. Frederick Borromeo (Rome, 1613). BACCI wrote an Italian
Life and dedicated it to Gregory XV (1622). His work is the outcome of a minute
examination of the processes of canonization, and contains important matter not
found in GALLONIO. BROCCHI's Life of St. Philip, contained in his Vite de'
santi e beati Fiorentini (Florence, 1742), includes the saint's pedigree,
and gives the Florentine tradition of his early years; for certain
chronological discrepancies between GALLONIO, BACCI, and BROCCHI, see notes on
the chronology in ANTROBUS' ed. of BACCI. Other Lives are by RICCI (Rome,
1670), whose work was an enlargement of BACCI, and includes his own Lives
of the Companions of St. Philip; MARCIANO (1693); SONZONIO (1727); BERNABEI (d.
1662), whose work is published for the first time by the BOLLANDISTS (Acta SS.,
May, VII); RAMIREZ, who adapts the language of Scripture to St. Philip in a
Latin work called the Via lactea, dedicated to Innocent XI (Valencia, 1682);
and BAYLE (1859). GEOTHE at the end of his Italien. Reise (Italian Journey)
gives a sketch of the saint, entitled Filippo Neri, der humoristische
Heilige. The most important modern Life is that of CAPECELATRO (1879), treating
fully of the saint's relations with the persons and events of his time. There
is an English Life by HOPE (London, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago). An abridged
English translation of BACCI appeared in penal times (Paris, 1656), a fact
which shows our Catholic forefathers' continued remembrance of the saint, who
used to greet the English College students with the words, "Salvete,
flores martyrum." FABER's Modern Saints (1847) includes
translations of an enlarged ed. of BACCI, and of RICCI's Lives of the
Companions. Of the former there is a new and revised edition by ANTROBUS
(London, 1902). CAPECELATRO's work has been translated by POPE (London, 1882).
English renderings of two of St. Philip's sonnets by RYDER are published at the
end of the recent editions of BACCI and CAPECELATRO, together with translations
of St. Philip's letters. These were originally published in
BISCONI's Raccolta di lettere di santi e beati Fiorentini (Florence,
1737); but since that time twelve other letters have come to light.
Ritchie, Charles
Sebastian. "St. Philip Romolo Neri." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1911. 26 May
2017 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12018b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Herman F. Holbrook. For the
Reverend David Martin, Priest, of the London Oratory.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12018b.htm
Giuseppe
Nasini, Apparizione della Madonna col Bambino a San Filippo Neri e Santa
Giuliana Falconieri, Basilica di San Clemente in Santa Maria dei Servi
Saint Philip Neri
(1515-1595) is known as the Apostle of Rome. With his distinctly joyous and
personal manner, he was one of the influential figures of the Catholic
Reformation. His special contribution was the creation of the Congregation of
the Oratory.
Philip Neri was born in
Florence on July 21, 1515, the son of a lawyer. As a boy, Philip befriended the
Dominicans at the convent of S. Marco. In 1532 or 1533 he went to San Germano
(Cassino) to learn business under the tutelage of an uncle, but, repelled by
commercial affairs and feeling a pronounced desire for a life of close union
with God, he left San Germano after a few months and went to Rome. There he
studied philosophy and theology at Sapienza University and Sant’Agostino. He
made friends easily and met regularly with some of them at the church of S.
Girolamo della Carità for discussion, prayer, and the reception of Holy
Communion. S. Girolamo became his home for 32 years. On May 23, 1551, after 18
years in Rome, Philip was ordained a priest. His room, the center for the
intimate and prayerful meetings, became known about 1554 as the “Oratory.”
Philip, who dreaded
formalism and loved spontaneity, gave his little groups a definite character.
Scripture readings, short commentaries, brief prayers, and hymns were the usual
program. Giovanni Palestrina wrote much of the musical setting for the
scriptural texts, the motets, and the laudi spirituali, which gave rise to the
term “oratorio.” This kind of apostolate suffered under the stern pontificates
of Paul IV and Pius V. But Philip numbered among his friends some of the great
saints of the age: Charles Borromeo, Francis de Sales, Felix of Cantalice,
Camillus de Lellis, and Ignatius of Loyola. As more priests became his
followers, Philip, who did not wish a tightly organized group united by
religious vows, created a congregation of secular priests living in community.
In 1575 Pope Gregory XIII approved the Congregation of the Oratory.
Philip’s famous walks
especially won him the title Apostle of Rome. Surrounded by a laughing and
joking group, he penetrated all corners of the city, radiating gaiety by his
simple friendship and playful wit. Beneath his external life were the deep
foundations of an intense spirit of prayer and love for the priestly offices of
hearing confessions and offering the Mass. For hours at a time, he received an
abundance of unusual supernatural gifts when he was wrapped in ecstasy. In 1575
S. Maria in. Vallicella became the Oratorians’ church. Philip moved there in
1583, and there he died on May 26, 1595.
SOURCE : https://ucatholic.com/saints/philip-neri/
Giacomo Farelli (1629–1706), Glorificazione
di San Filippo Neri, Pen and brown ink, black chalk, on cream laid paper, Cooper Hewitt,
Smithsonian Design Museum
Saint Philip Neri
26 MAY 2012. Today the
Church celebrates the feast day of Saint Philip Romolo Neri, an Italian priest
and founder of the Congregation of the Oratory.
Philip was born to noble parents on 22 July 1515 in Florence. As a child,
Philip received a careful and tremendous education from the Dominican friars at
San Marco in Florence. In his later years he gave much credit to the Dominican
friars for his achievements. At the age of 18, Philip's parents sent him to
live with his uncle, who was a wealthy merchant in San Germano. His parents
hoped that Philip would gain his uncle's confidence, and one day inherit his
prosperous business.
History tells us that Philip did, indeed, win his uncle's confidence, but as a
young man his cares turned their attention from the world to the heavens. Saint
Philip relocated to Rome in A.D. 1533.
After arriving in Rome, Philip took work as a tutor in the house of a wealthy
Florentine aristocrat. After two years, Philip began to pursue his own studies
under the guidance of the Augustinians and, following his studies, he began to
work among the sick and poor of the city, which later gained for him the title
"Apostle of Rome." He ministered to all in need, and in A.D. 1538
began home mission work.
In A.D. 1548, Saint Philip with his confessor (Fr. Persiano Rossa) founded the
confraternity of the Santissima Trinita de' Pellegrini e de' Convalescenti, who
took as its object ministering to the needs of the thousands of poor pilgrims
that annually flocked to Rome. On 23 May 1551, Saint Philip was ordained a
priest. After his ordination he considered going to India to work as a
missionary, but he was persuaded by others to remain in Rome and continue the
mission work he had begun there.
Now Father Philip Neri settled down at the Hospital of San Girolamo della
Carita, with some companions, and there began the formation of the Congregation
of the Oratory. Initially, the group decided to hold a series of meetings in
the Hospital oratory for prayer, hymns, readings from Scripture and the Church
Fathers, and a lecture. These meetings, however, soon proved to be popular and
built a means of attracting many new missionaries to work with the poor and
needy in Rome. History also tells us that these meetings drew many to the
sacrament of confession, a pursuit to which Father Philip Neri devoted much
time, and achieved many conversions to the faith.
In A.D. 1564 the Florentines asked that Father Philip Neri oversee their newly
built church in Rome, San Giovanni dei Fiorentini. Although at first reluctant,
Father Philip took on this new task, with the consent of Pope Pius IV, while
still remaining in charge of San Griolamo, where the exercises of the oratory
were maintained. In A.D. 1574, the Florentines built a large mission hall for
Saint Philip's society next to San Giovanni and the headquarters of the society
moved there.
As the work and reach of the society's missions grew, it soon became clear that
a church of its own was needed. So, the society relocated to the church of
Santa Maria in Vallicella, located in the middle of Rome, where a new larger
church was built to accommodate the mission needs of the society. Immediately
after taking possession of the new church, Saint Philip organized, under the
permission of a papal bull dated 15 July 1575, a community of secular priests,
called the Congregation of the Oratory. The new church was consecrated in A.D.
1577, but Saint Philip did not leave San Girolamo until A.D. 1583 and, then,
only at the urging of the pope that as superior of the community he should
reside with his congregation.
Saint Philip was the first elected superior of the congregation for a term of
three years, but in A.D. 1587 he was nominated to serve as superior for life.
Having no personal ambitions, however, Saint Philip decided that all
congregations founded on his model outside of Rome should be autonomous and
self-governing. This governance was later confirmed by Gregory XV in A.D. 1622.
Saint Philip died on 25 May 1595, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi that year,
after spending the day hearing confessions and receiving visitors. About
midnight it became clear that the Lord's call was approaching, and he was asked
to give a blessing to his spiritual sons before dying. Although unable to
speak, Saint Philip blessed those there with the sign of the cross and died.
Saint Philip Neri was beatified by Pope Paul V in A.D. 1615 and canonized by
Pope Gregory XV in A.D. 1622.
History records that Saint Philip Neri possessed a playful humor and a shrewd
wit. He considered a cheerful temper to be more Christian than a melancholy
one, a spirit that he is said to have carried with him throughout his life.
Another excellent biography of Saint Philip Neri can be found here.
SOURCE : https://acta-sanctorum.blogspot.com/2012/05/saint-philip-neri.html
Saint Philip Neri
Apr 29, 2015 /
Written by: America
Needs Fatima
FEAST MAY 26
Philip Neri, known
as “The Apostle of Rome,” was Florentine by birth, one of four
children born to a notary.
At eighteen, sent to work
with a well-to-do uncle, Phillip had a mystical experience which he called his
“conversion”. All taste for earthly things left him and he subsequently made
his way to Rome.
There he found lodgings
at the house of one Galeotto Caccia and taught his children in return for his
keep.
For the next two years,
Philip led the life of a virtual recluse, giving up whole days and nights to
prayer and contemplation. When he did emerge from his garret, he immersed
himself in the study of philosophy and theology, determined to live for God
alone.
Philip started an
apostolate, first at street corners talking to all who would listen, and then
with young Florentines working in Rome.
In 1548 with the help of
his confessor, Fr. Persiano Rossa, Philip founded a confraternity of poor
laymen, popularized the devotion of the forty hours, and undertook the care of
pilgrims in need. Greatly blessed, this work developed into the celebrated
hospital of Santa Trinitá dei Pellegrini.
Philip Neri was ordained
on May 23, 1551 and became known for the gift of reading the thoughts of his
penitents. As the number of conversions increased, he began to give regular
conferences.
With five initial
disciples, among them the future historian and cardinal, Cesare Baronius, he
went on to found the Congregation of the Oratory, which was approved in 1575 by
Pope Gregory XIII who gave them the ancient church of Santa Maria in
Vallicella. Philip rebuilt the church on a larger scale and it became known as
the “Chiesa Nuova,” or the "New Church."
On May 25, 1595, Philip,
who was known for his good humor and infectious joy, was in an especially radiant
mood. His doctor told him he hadn’t looked so well in years. Only the saint
knew his hour had come. He heard confessions all day, and saw visitors as usual
but, upon retiring, he remarked to those around him, “Last of all, we must
die.”
At midnight he was seized
by a severe hemorrhage. His disciples gathered around him, and as Baronius
besought him for a parting word, unable to speak, the ardent apostle raised his
hand and imparted a last blessing to his congregation before entering his reward.
He was eighty years old.
St. Philip’s body is interred in the Chiesa Nuova, which his sons in the
Congregation of the Oratory serve to this day.
SOURCE : https://americaneedsfatima.org/articles/saint-philip-neri
.jpg)
Luca Giordano, San Carlo Borromeo bacia le mani a San Filippo Neri, olio su tela 210x155, Quadreria dei Girolamini di Napoli
Saint Philip Neri
St Philip Neri was born
into a prominent family in Florence in 1515, although the financial fortunes of
his family had declined by the time of his birth. He was educated by the
Dominican friars in Florence, where he learned to venerate the memory of the
fiery Florentine friar, Savonarola. As a young man he was sent to work for his
uncle in San Germano, near Monte Cassino, who planned to hand over his business
to Philip. It was here, while living in the shadow of the Benedictine abbey at
Monte Cassino, that Philip gained a profound love for the sacred liturgy and an
appreciation for the wisdom of the desert fathers. Philip had little interest
in taking over his uncle’s business and within a year had gone to live in Rome.
When Philip came to Rome
he lived with a Florentine family who gave him lodgings and food in return for
teaching their two sons. His real joy, however, lay in spending nights in the
catacombs in prayer. He had a great affinity with the early Christians, and in
his Litany of St Philip, Newman calls him Vir Prisci Temporis or Man of
Primitive Times. In his early years in Rome, Philip pursued philosophical and
theological studies with the Augustinians in the city, but was content to
remain as layman. Contemporaries noted his great eloquence in theological
matters, but Philip didn’t see his studies as an end in themselves and happily
sold his text books to give financial help to other students.
In 1544 Philip had a
mystical experience, while praying in the catacombs of San Sebastiano, in which
he felt the Holy Spirit enter him in a special way, and from that time onwards
he had a great feeling of warmth in his heart. Philip hid this experience for
most of his life, and only in his last years did he confide in his trusted
friend Pietro Consolini about the experience.
Philip had a magnetic
personality, and when he wasn’t teaching the two boys, he used to walk the
streets of Rome, engaging young men in pious conversation. At that time in
Renaissance Rome, there seem to have been many young men with little to do
after lunch. Philip hoped that he could draw these men out of their idleness
and towards the pursuit of holiness. One of his favourite phrases was ‘when
shall we begin to do good?’. During his fifteen years as a layman Philip
attracted a strong following. His first companions were mainly Florentines and
craftsmen, but he later attracted the attention of courtiers, artists and
musicians. He used to bring these young men together for prayer, sermons and
music. When the numbers were small the meetings were informal, but as numbers
grew it became more structured. These gatherings were the beginning of what
would become known as the Oratory.
Philip wasn’t content
only to discuss holiness, but was keen that he and his companions would live
it. He was especially conscious of the needs of the sick, and he and his
companions visited them in hospital. At this time, conditions in hospitals were
grim and patients relied on volunteers to nurse them. While this was a valuable
work of mercy, it also served as a source of mortification for himself and his
followers. Philip was more concerned to mortify the reason of his followers
than their bodies, which sometimes resulted in mortifications which appeared
bizarre to onlookers. For example, he insisted on one of his followers, Tarugi,
carrying Capriccio, a dog who had originally belonged to a cardinal but who
became attached to Philip.
In 1550 Philip founded
the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity to look after pilgrims in the
Jubilee Year. That same year, after living for fifteen years in Rome as a
layman, he reluctantly agreed to be ordained a priest so that he might be of more
service to his companions. He had already completed his studies, and so it was
possible for him to be ordained soon afterwards. He went to lodge in a house
for priests attached to the Church of San Girolamo. Philip had always preached
the value of frequent confession and communion, and as soon as he was ordained
to the priesthood, he himself became a valued confessor. He directed many young
men into religious life, but encouraged some of his penitents to remain at
court, where he hoped they would have a positive influence on those around
them. As a priest he spent his mornings hearing confessions and said the last
Mass of the morning around noon.
Owing to the originality
of Philip’s apostolic methods, it is not altogether surprising that he fell
under the suspicion of the authorities. His processions through the city and
the rumours that he allowed lay people to preach at his meetings were sources
of particular concern, though any sincere investigators were forced to conclude
that his orthodoxy was beyond reproach and that his good works were edifying
and admirable.
Towards the end of his
life he became a trusted advisor of Popes and Cardinals, among others. After a
while, Philip had some of his followers ordained priests. These included
Tarugi, who was forced to carry the Cardinal’s dog, and Caesar Baronius, who
became famous as a writer of ecclesiastical history. In 1575 St Philip was
given the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella. It was soon pulled down, and a
new church, still known as the ‘chiesa nuova’, was built on the same site. The
relics of St Philip now lie in that church, beneath his altar, which is still
the home of the Roman Oratory.
On the 11th of May 1615
Philip was beatified by Pope Paul V.
On the 12th of March 1622
Philip was canonized by Pope Gregory XV, along with Teresa of Avila, Ignatius
of Loyola, Francis Xavier and Isidore the Farmer. His feast is kept on the 26th
of May.
SOURCE : https://www.birminghamoratory.org.uk/saint-philip-neri/
.jpg)
Luca Giordano, San Carlo Borromeo e San Filippo Neri in preghiera, olio su tela 210x155, Quadreria dei Girolamini di Napoli
Catholic Heroes
. . . St. Philip Neri
May 5, 2015
By CAROLE BRESLIN
Throughout the history of the Church when great persecutions and heresies have been promoted, there were also great saints who underwent persecution in their attempts to protect the Deposit of Faith. Such was the case in the early 16th century, when the Catholic Church was suffering her greatest crisis to date with the Protestant Revolt.
During this time, the Church engaged in the Catholic Counterreformation. This counterreformation was aided by a humble man, St. Philip Neri, born of poor parents in the year 1515 in Florence, Italy, on July 22, the Feast of St. Mary Magdalen.
When he was a child, many noticed his patience, charity, and cheerfulness. The only incident of being less than virtuous occurred when his sister kept interrupting him. He pushed her in his frustration, an act which he deeply regretted afterward. He was a lively child, just as any boy would be. At the age of eight he escaped injury, miraculously, some assert, when he exuberantly leapt on a donkey which then fell down some steps, landing on top of Philip. He never forgot to thank God for his deliverance.
At the age of 18, he left Florence to work for an uncle in Naples, who presumably would make him his heir since he had no children of his own. However, shortly after arriving, Philip left the worldly pursuits for Rome as his prayer life became his dominant drive. He began studying with the Augustinians, taking courses in philosophy and theology, which prepared him for his later work in defending the faith, giving spiritual exercises, and converting wealthy and wayward souls.
As a layman he began working in the hospitals, sweeping the floors, comforting the sick, and doing other housekeeping jobs to improve the atmosphere of the wards. His pilgrimages of prayer through Rome resulted in a number of young men joining him. One of his followers, St. Camillus de Lellis, would later start an order of hospitallers.
However great this work was, Philip’s spiritual director urged him to become a priest. Once ordained, St. Philip became famous for his ability to read souls and convert sinners to lead more holy lives. His method of spiritual direction varied according to the person. Some he would scold, others he would ignore, still others he would quietly question, leading them to make the decisions most pleasing to God. He believed that spiritual direction takes place between the Holy Spirit and the penitent, with the priest only there to guide.
Part of the attraction for his penitents was that he was so charming and cheerful, though very direct and firm in following the will of God. Even though he was a victim of calumny, and false accusations, he remained peaceful and trusted in the Lord. Despite being urged to defend himself, he waited for our Lord to take care of the situation. Repeatedly, he was found to be innocent and allowed to continue his work.
During these difficulties, he never allowed any of his associates to say anything unkind about his accusers. Instead he asked that they pray for them, resulting in some of the accusers becoming his ardent followers.
At one time his great desire was to go to the East Indies as a missionary, but through a vision our Lord let it be known that “Rome is to be your Indies” (St. Philip Neri, TAN Publishers, p. xii). He would soon become close friends with St. Charles Borromeo, who played a prominent role in the Council of Trent, which would be the vehicle for writing the Roman Catechism.
This council was greatly needed to reform the Church and clarify the doctrines of the Church.
However, a reform of a deeper nature was also needed, which St. Philip Neri worked tirelessly to achieve. At the time Rome was corrupt, tepid, and lax in the practice of the faith. Indeed, he was “principally responsible for the spreading of a new spirit in Rome” (ibid., p. 6).
How was he able to accomplish so much? First of all, he had great love. By a special grace he possessed a heart that beat so strongly with the love of God that it shook the furniture and the entire room. This great love was received when during prayer a ball of fire entered him, setting his heart on fire. His heart swelled to such a size that it broke two of his ribs.
It would seem that he received such a great grace because he consistently led a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience — the three evangelical counsels. His all-night vigils of prayer, his fasting, his generosity in sharing what little he had with others, his uncommon obedience to his superiors, despite its going against his personal desires, must have been very pleasing to the Lord.
Secondly, he frequented the sacraments. Daily Mass, uncommon at the time, was a must for St. Philip. When he prayed he was so deeply recollected that he frequently had to be shaken to get his attention. He also went to Confession at every opportunity. In addition, he spent many hours in the confessional daily.
St. Philip died in Rome in 1595; his feast day is celebrated on May 26.
Whether religious or laity, we can also do great work for the Lord. We can increase our prayer life by praying the rosary and by spending time in mental prayer. Increasing our Mass attendance by going during the week does wonders for our ability to serve not only God, but our fellowman as well. Finally, we can make sacrifices as St. Philip did by fasting regularly, beginning with one day a month or one day a week.
Dear Jesus, help us to realize that sainthood is not limited to a select few, but something you wish all of us to achieve by following your way. Help us by your grace to become holier through prayer and sacrifice, for knowing your will brings us peace of mind and doing your will brings us peace of heart. We ask this through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen.
(Carole Breslin
home-schooled her four daughters and served as treasurer of the Michigan
Catholic Home Educators for eight years. For over ten years, she was national
coordinator for the Marian Catechists, founded by Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
SOURCE : https://thewandererpress.com/saints/catholic-heroes-st-philip-neri/
Giuseppe Sammartino. Busto di San Filippo Neri, scultura in terracotta, vers1780, Quadreria dei Girolamini, Napoli
Philip Neri, Founder (RM)
Born in Florence, Italy, July 22, 1515; died in Rome, May 26, 1595; canonized
in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV.
"A joyful heart is
more easily made perfect than one that is cast down."
--Saint Philip Neri.
Saint Philip, son of
Francis Neri, a notary, is one of the most lovable of the saints. Some people
find great inspiration in the more popular saints, like Francis of Assisi, but
I love this prankster who shows me that to be holy does not necessarily mean to
be dour. Of all the saints, Philip Neri was one of the happiest and most
original. Everyone loved him and consulted him. Nature had endowed him with a
rich and cheerful temperament and he always saw the best side of things. He loved
music and poetry and was a skilled amateur psychologist.
His mother died when he
was young, but his father, a Florentine notary, remarried and the stepmother
was good to the children. Even during his happy childhood he possessed a free
and enquiring mind and a pure and eager spirit. There was nothing good in this
world that lay outside his interest, and his life was spent in pursuit of truth
and virtue.
Indeed, the world to him
with all it offered of interest and wonder was a foretaste of eternal happiness,
and he could never be too grateful to God for His goodness. His cup, he said,
was full and running over, and goodness and mercy followed him all his days.
"Enough, Lord, enough," he cried, out of sheer exuberance of his
spirit. "Hold back, I implore, the floods of Your grace." And again,
"I am but a mortal, I cannot bear so much joy!"
Philip was educated by
and came under the influence of the Dominicans at San Marco, where Savonarola
had been a friar within living memory. At 18, he was sent to San Germano, to a
relative who it was hoped would pass on his prosperous business to Philip.
There he worked as an assistant to a merchant at the foot of Monte Cassino.
Soon after his arrival, however, he had a mystical experience that caused his
conversion, and from then on he was indifferent to material things.
In 1533, he went to Rome,
departing without money. He sought shelter there with Galeotto Caccia, a
customs official, whose sons he tutored. He lived like a monk in the attic room
for two years, praying for whole days and nights. He then began taking
philosophy and theology at the Sapienza and at Sant'Agostino, and he studied
for three years, while unobtrusively rendering service to his neighbors.
He then abruptly
abandoned his studies, sold most of his books, and began to preach on the
streets and in the markets to Romans, whose religious fervor had grown
lukewarm; the city was corrupt and the Church reflected the current malaise of
secular society. During his street-corner preaching, he engaged in conversations
with all ranks of people and influenced many to work with the sick in hospitals
and to visit the Seven Churches.
He spent much time in
prayer, especially at night in the catacomb of Saint Sebastian on the Appian
Way. In 1544, he experienced a vision there in which a globe of fire entered
his mouth and dilated his heart; permanent physical effects of this experience
were said to be found after his death.
With his confessor,
Father Persiano Rossa, he founded in 1548, the Confraternity of the Most Holy
Trinity with 14 poor laymen who met for spiritual exercises in the Church of
San Salvatore in Campo. The group popularized the devotion of the Forty Hours
in Rome and looked after needy pilgrims. This work eventually evolved into the
hospital of Santa Trinita dei Pellegrini, which in the jubilee year of 1575
cared for 145,000 pilgrims.
Philip was ordained in
1551 at the insistence of one of his friends. He went to live with Father Rossa
at San Girolamo della Carita, where he worked primarily as a confessor to even
the highest dignitaries of the Church. He was a witty and shrewd man, and aided
by a gift for reading consciences, he converted many. He apparently delighted
in practical jokes but was always very gentle.
On one occasion, when a
woman confessed to him her love of gossip and spreading slander and scandal and
asked him how she could cure herself of the habit, he replied: "Go to the
nearest market-place, buy a chicken just killed, and pluck its feathers all the
way as you come back to me." Greatly astonished, she did what he asked,
and returned to him with the plucked chicken. "Now go back," he said,
"and bring me all the feathers you have scattered." "But I
cannot," she replied, "that is impossible. I cast the feathers
carelessly and the wind carried them away. How can I recover them?" He
answered: "You cannot. And that is exactly like your words of scandal.
They have been carried about in every direction. You cannot recall them. Go and
slander no more."
The saint considered
going on a foreign mission, but a Benedictine of Saint Paul's convinced him
that his apostolate was in Rome. He is said to have experienced ecstasies so
often while saying Mass that his servers sometimes left the church for a couple
of hours and returned to continue serving after he had recovered.
A room was built over the
nave of San Girolamo for the people who attended his informal spiritual
conferences. Here also he organized enterprises for the relief of the sick and
needy. He and his priest followers grew to be called Oratorians, because they
rang a little bell to summon attendees to the gatherings. The music called
"oratorio" was named for the Oratorians, because they used music in
their services based on biblical or other religious themes, sung by solo voices
and a chorus.
During Saint Philip's
lifetime, he and his Oratory became a center of religious life in the city, and
he became the most popular figure in Rome. He would later be called "the
Second Apostle of Rome." In 1564, Philip became rector of San Giovanni
Church at the direction of which had been given to him by his fellow
Florentines in Rome. There he installed five of his young, ordained disciples,
including Cesare Baronius, the historian. They were to share a common table and
common worship.
Philip drew up a simple
rule of life, but he forbade them to bind themselves by vows or to give up
their property. The congregation grew and in 1575 received approval from Pope
Gregory XIII. The pope gave them the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella.
Philip wished to rebuild the ancient church. Contributions flowed in for this
work--including donations from Charles Borromeo and the pope. In 1577, the
Congregation of the Oratory was transferred to the new church, the Chiesa
Nuova.
Philip remained in San
Girolamo, having grown attached to his rooms, and did not move to the new
location until 1583 or 1584, when he did so according to the wish of the pope.
By this time he was known as "the Apostle of Rome" and was venerated
by popes, cardinals, rulers, and ordinary people. Although he made himself
available to his followers, he continued to live and eat alone. He was
consulted by the rich and poor, powerful and helpless for his spiritual wisdom.
He was credited with performing miracles and had the gift of prophecy.
But Saint Philip did not
escape criticism and opposition: Some were shocked by the unconventionality of
his speech and actions and of his missionary methods. He sought to restore
healthy and vigorous life among the Roman Christians quietly, working from
within. He was not clerically-minded--the path of perfection was for lay people
as well as for clergy and religious. He preached more about love and spiritual
integrity than about physical austerity.
The virtues that shone in
him were impressed upon others: love of God and man, humility and sense of
proportion, gentleness and gaiety--'laughter' is a word of frequent occurrence
where Saint Philip Neri is concerned. Like Saint Thomas More, he is notably
marked by that cheerfulness that is supposed to distinguish every saint, but
which is more apparent in some than in others.
In 1593, he averted a
conflict between France and the Holy See by influencing the decision to absolve
the former Protestant Henry IV of Navarre. That same year he resigned as
superior because of ill health. He died of hemorrhage, his last act being to
raise his hand to bless his followers. He was buried in the Chiesa Nuova
(Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Gill, Poncelle, Trevor, White).
In art, Saint Philip is
an Oratorian priest with a rosary. Sometimes the Virgin Mary appears to him
(Roeder). He is often in red carrying a lily or with lilies around him (White).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0526.shtml
Orazio
Fidani, Visione di San Filippo Neri, 1636, da Cappella di Palazzo
comunale, Prato
St. Philip Neri,
Confessor
From his life, written in
1601, by F. Antony Galloni, one of the most intimate and learned of his disciples,
five years after his death; and again by James Baccius, printed at Rome in
1645. See his new life collected from several other authentic memoirs, printed
at Venice in 1727. Sen also certain corrections of this saint’s history,
published at Florence in 1761 by Dominic Maria Manni, member of the academy of
Apatists, and Papebroke, t. 6, Maij, p. 461.
A.D. 1595
PERFECT charity, which
distinguishes all the saints, rendered this great servant of God a bright star
in the church in these later ages. He was born at Florence in 1515, and was son
of Francis Neri, a lawyer, and Lucretia Soldi, both descended of wealthy Tuscan
families. From five years of age he was never known in the least tittle
wilfully to transgress the will of his parents. Once, indeed, a sister
disturbing him on purpose whilst he was reciting the psalter with another
sister, he gently pushed her away; for which action his father chid him; and
this he bewailed with many tears as a great fault. He was very patient in
sickness, and so mild that he seemed not to know what anger was. When he was
only eleven years old he visited the churches very much, and prayed and heard
the word of God with singular devotion. Such was his piety, his reverence, and
respect to superiors, and his humility, sweetness and affability to all, that
he was exceedingly beloved, and was commonly called good Philip. Having
finished his grammar studies when he was eighteen years of age, he was sent by
his father to an uncle, (who lived near Mount Cassino, and was very rich by traffic,)
not to learn his business, but to be his heir. But Philip feeling in his soul
ardent desires perfectly to follow Jesus Christ, and fearing the dangers of
dissipation and of entangling his soul in the world, soon left his uncle, and
went to Rome in 1533. There being taken into the house of Galleotto Caccia, a
Florentine nobleman, in quality of preceptor to his children, he led so
edifying a life, that the reputation of his sanctity was spread very wide, and
reached Florence. Ordinarily he ate only once a day, and he could hardly be
brought to add to bread and water, a few olives and a small quantity of herbs.
He spent much time retired in a little chamber, passing sometimes whole nights
in prayer; in which exercise he was favoured with abundant spiritual delights.
His pupils made an admirable progress, under his care, both in virtue and
learning; and in the mean time he studied philosophy and divinity in such a
manner as to distinguish himself in the schools. Everybody sought his
acquaintance, but in this particular he was very cautious and reserved for fear
of falling into bad company, or at least of losing any part of his precious
time. It is the observation of a modern philosopher, that one quarter of an
hour a day given to superfluous and unprofitable conversation, amounts to a
very considerable part of the longest life, in which the necessities of age and
nature make always large abatements, and reduce action to a short span, in
which we are to lay in provisions for eternity. This reflection made the saint
extremely solicitous to husband well all his moments. Philip gave to his
neighbour only that time which duty, mutual edification, and charity required.
He was moreover sensible
that even saints complain that they return from company less fit for prayer,
and seldom without some wounds in their soul; and that the idle conversation of
the world always blows upon our hearts that contagious air of vanity, pride,
and love of pleasure which it breathes; and which is always so much the more
dangerous, as its poison is the more secret. Notwithstanding his precautions,
the devil found means to play upon him his wicked agents. Certain lewd young
men made an assault upon his chastity by impudent discourse; but he spoke to
them with so much piety and strength that he softened their hardened hearts
into compunction, and converted them to God. Against temptations he armed
himself by prayer, fasting, and humility; yet he sometimes felt assaults or
buffets of the flesh till fifty years of age; but for the thirty last years of
his life was as free from all rebellion of that domestic enemy as if he had
been without a body, as he declared to Cardinal Baronius; pouring forth at the
same time a torrent of tears for his sloth and ingratitude in making no return
to God, as he said, for the grace by which he had always preserved his
virginity spotless in mind and body. He practised a universal mortification of
his senses, often even in the smallest things; saying, that frequent
self-denial in little things is necessary for us, that we may conquer in
greater conflicts. To such a degree did he carry his love of holy poverty, that
when he came first to Rome he would accept of nothing from his fond father but
two or three shirts; and he kept nothing in his little room but a poor bed, a
few books, and a little linen, which hung upon a cord against the wall. To all
kinds of pastime he was an utter stranger, contriving to find necessary
relaxation and exercise in works of charity and devotion, as in going from one
church to another, and visiting hospitals. Even during the course of his
studies he gave a great deal of his time to prayer, and every day visited all,
or at least some of the seven churches appointed to be visited by pilgrims,
which were several miles asunder, and some of them without the city. 1 He
often spent the whole night in prayer before the door of some private church,
and especially over the relics of the martyrs in the cemetery of Calixtus;
often, when overpowered by sleep, he took a little rest on the ground in a
porch of one of the seven churches. Whilst he was yet a young student in
philosophy, he never called to mind the sufferings of Christ, or reflected on
the sins and ingratitude of men, or cast his eyes upon a crucifix without
melting into tears. After he completed the course of his theology, he took some
time for the study of the holy scriptures, and of the fathers, the two sources
and eyes of that science. The canons and laws of the church, containing the
precepts and admonitions of her pastors and councils, are a necessary and
excellent rule for the direction of manners among Christians; and a skill in
some parts of the canon law is very requisite in a pastor of souls. St. Philip
therefore made the study of the canon law a part of his care; and became in a
short time an oracle in all sacred studies, to whom many learned professors
resorted for advice in their difficulties. The saint always recommended and
promoted exceedingly these studies among his disciples; and to encourage them,
he afterwards commanded his pious and learned scholar Cæsar Baronius, 2 who
had entered the oratory of St. Philip at eighteen years of age, to compile his
annals of the Church; in the beginning of which work he was to him a great
assistance, and a daily spur, as Baronius acknowledges, 3 who
calls him the first author and original contriver of his annals.
St. Philip was one of the
best scholars of the age; but being desirous to approach nearer and nearer to
Jesus Christ, whose sweet attractions he continually felt in his soul, at
twenty-three years of age he sold even his books for the relief of the poor.
Often in prayer he was so overwhelmed with spiritual joy and sweetness as not
to be able to stand. Sometimes he was heard as he lay prostrate on the ground
to cry out: “Enough, O Lord, enough; withhold a little at present, I beseech
you, the torrent of your sweetness.” And another time: “Depart from me, O Lord;
depart from me. I am yet a mortal man, and am not able to bear such an
abundance of celestial joy. Behold I die my dear Lord, unless you succour me.”
He used often to say: “O God, seeing you are so infinitely amiable, why have
you given us but one heart to love you, and this so little and so narrow?” It
is believed that if God had not, on such occasions, abated or withdrawn his
consolations, he must have died through excess of joy, as he himself averred.
Humility made him most industrious to conceal his knowledge or science, and
much more the extraordinary gifts of grace; for he in all things sought his own
contempt. Had not his heart been perfectly empty of itself, the divine love
could never have found room in it to overflow in such abundance. So impetuous
and so sensible was this love in his breast that it frequently discovered
itself in a wonderful manner in his countenance and in the violent palpitations
of his heart; for, as St. Francis of Sales shows in his book of the love of
God, and as experience convinces, violent affections of the mind produce
strange effects on the body. 4 Galloni
testifies that the divine love so much dilated the breast of our saint in an
extraordinary rapture, that the gristle which joined the fourth and fifth ribs
on the left side was broken; which accident allowed the heart and the larger
vessels more play; in which condition he lived fifty years. In the midst of a
great city, he led for some years almost the life of a hermit. For a long time
he ate only bread with a few olives, herbs, or an apple, drank only water, and
lay on the bare floor. His earnest desire of loving God more perfectly, by
being united to him in glory, made him languish continually after that blessed
hour when his soul should be freed from the prison of his body, and taking her
flight to its origin and centre, should drown itself in the ocean of all good.
He was wont to say, that to one who truly loveth God nothing can happen more
grievous than delays of his enjoyment, and than life itself. But then the will
of God, and the love of penance and suffering made this delay itself a subject
of comfort, in which he also rejoiced with St. Paul, 5 inasmuch
as by living on earth he was able still to labour in bringing souls to God.
His insatiable zeal for
the salvation of others drew him often to the Exchange and other public places
in the city, to seek opportunities of gaining some soul to God, or at least of
preventing some sin; in which he did wonders, and whilst yet a layman quite
changed the face of several public places. He often visited the hospitals,
there to comfort, exhort, and serve the sick. He lamented to see the custom of
waiting on poor sick persons disused in the world; a practice extremely
conducive to inspire sentiments of humility and charity. He, therefore, desired
very much to revive it, and with that view commenced the confraternity of the
Blessed Trinity in Rome, with the assistance of his confessarius, who was a
very holy priest named Persiano Rosa. He laid the first foundation of this
pious establishment with fourteen companions, in 1548, in the church of our
Saviour Del-Campo. He settled the most admirable economy and good order for receiving,
serving, and instructing the sick and pilgrims. In this place St. Philip made
pious discourses, and held conferences several times every day, and often till
late at night, by which he reclaimed great numbers from vice, and conducted
many to an eminent perfection. In the year of the jubilee, 1550, he translated
this confraternity to the church of the Holy Trinity, and erected a new
hospital under the name of the Blessed Trinity, which to this day subsists in
the most flourishing condition, and is one of the best regulated hospitals in
the world. Several cardinals and princes come thither out of devotion in the
evenings, to wash the feet, and to serve with their own hands the pilgrims, and
especially the sick. Sometimes six hundred waiters on an evening are assembled
together to perform this act of humility. The ladies wait on the female
patients in another hospital. St. Philip, not content with the care of
hospitals, laid himself out in relieving the distressed in all parts of the
city. It happened that as he was carrying an alms in a stormy night for
secrecy, he fell into a deep ditch; but was preserved by God from receiving any
hurt.
Humility made the saint
sometimes think of devoting himself to the service of God in a laical state.
But being desirous to employ his labours in the best manner he could in the
care of souls, he deliberated with himself what state to choose for this end. On
this occasion he was not only persuaded, but most urgently pressed and
compelled by his confessor Rosa, to enter into holy orders. After a long
preparation, he was ordained priest in June 1551, being thirty-six years old
almost complete. From which time he chose his dwelling in a small community, at
the church of St. Jerom, where Rosa and certain other very virtuous priests
lived. Every one ate by himself, and fasted according to his strength and
devotion. Here Philip mitigated the austerities of his former life, and allowed
himself a slender breakfast in the morning; and for his supper a couple of
eggs, or a mess of broth, or a few herbs or beans; he seldom ate any flesh, and
rarely fish. But when he ate abroad, which was very seldom, he took what was set
before him, to avoid singularity; but never touched more than one thing; and
seemed to eat without any relish for his food. He lived in a little unfurnished
room, attending only to his devotions and to the winning of souls to God. In
saying his first mass he was so overpowered with spiritual consolations, that
on account of the shaking of his hands and whole body, he was scarcely able to
pour the wine and water into the chalice; and this continued during the rest of
the sacrifice, especially at the elevation and communion, and he was often
obliged to lean on the altar, being otherwise in danger of falling down. He
said mass every day, unless hindered by some grievous sickness; and then he
always received the holy communion. He often fell into raptures at the altar,
particularly after communicating, also after mass. On this account, he was
sometimes two hours in saying mass; for which reason, towards the end of his
life, he performed that function privately in a domestic chapel. The delight he
found in receiving the holy sacrament is inexpressible. The very remembrance of
that divine banquet, when he took an empty chalice into his hand, made him melt
in tender sentiments of love. Galloni mentions several extraordinary raptures
with which the saint was favoured in prayer, and testifies that his body was
sometimes seen raised from the ground during his devotions some yards high, 6 at
which time his countenance appeared shining with a bright light. 7
St. Philip was not less
eminent in zeal for the divine honour and in charity for men, than in the gifts
of contemplation. Soon after he had received the priesthood, he was ordered by
his superiors and confessarius to hear confessions, for which function he was
by a long preparation excellently qualified. And so great was his desire of
gaining souls to God, that he was never weary of this employment; though
beginning early in the morning, he often spent in it almost the whole day. Even
after mass, when called to this duty, he contented himself with a short
thanksgiving, and went immediately to attend this office of charity, preferring
the comfort of others to his own most favourite time of devotion. Nor is it
credible how many souls he drew out of the mire of sin, and moved to embrace a
life of singular perfection. Charity taught him innumerable devices to win the
most hardened. The sight of a Jew, who happened one day to speak to him,
pierced him with so deep a sentiment of compassion for his soul that for three
whole weeks he never ceased weeping and praying for him till he saw him
baptized. By displaying the terrors of death and the divine judgments, he
softened the most obdurate sinners if they once listened to him. Those who
shunned him for fear of the remedy of their spiritual diseases, he often gained
by addressing himself to God in their behalf in fervent prayers. One he
converted by desiring him to say seven times every day the Salve Regina, kissing
the ground in the end, and adding these words: To-morrow I may be among
the dead. Those who were engaged in criminal habits, he cured by enjoining
them every evening, with some prayer, a short reflection on death, or a short
representation to themselves of a soul in hell, and an imaginary entertainment
or dialogue with her on her state, on eternity, the emptiness and extravagance
of sin, and the like; or such a representation of a person dying, or of a
carcass laid in the grave. He had an excellent talent for exciting penitents to
compunction, and in inspiring them with a sovereign abhorrence of all sin; also
with assisting them to discover the occasions and sources of sin, and to cut
them off. In this consists very much the fruit of repentance; the occasions and
approaches of the evil must be retrenched; the cancer must be entirely
extirpated with every string of its root; the least fibre left behind will push
forth again, and with more vigour than before. Here the penitent must not spare
himself, whatever it costs him; though he part with an eye or a foot. It is by
the neglect of this precaution that so many conversions are false and
counterfeit; and that relapses are so frequent. Our skilful director was
careful to lay the axe to the root; and not content to draw souls out of Sodom,
he obliged them to quit the neighbourhood, and fly to the mountains, to the
greatest distance from the danger. With this precaution, the other remedies
which he applied all produced their desired effect. The saint, by the lights
which the purity of his affections and his spirit of prayer were the means of
obtaining, and by his learning and singular experience in the paths of virtue,
conducted fervent souls in the maxims of heroic perfection. He sometimes
miraculously penetrated the secrets of the hearts of others; and in particular
knew hidden sins of impurity by the stench which such sinners exhaled, as
several testified after his death. To one he said, that “he perceived such a
horrid stench to come from the person infected with this filthy vice, that he
never found anything so noisome.” To some who had criminally concealed such
sins in confession, he said: “To me you cast forth an ill savour; you are
fallen into such a sin of impurity; cast out the poison by confession.” His
thirst for the salvation of souls made him earnestly desire to go to the
Indies; but he was dissuaded by those whom he consulted, who told him that Rome
was his Indies; a large field for all his zeal and labour, which would furnish
him with an ample harvest.
The saint received all
who resorted to him in his chamber, and was wont to instruct them by daily
conferences, with incredible unction and fruit. Evil eyes could not bear so
great a light; and certain envious and malicious persons derided his devotion
at mass, and his other actions, and by the most contumelious discourses, and
outrageous slanders insulted his person, and blackened his reputation; all
which he bore with meekness and silence, never once opening his mouth in his
own defence, or complaining of any one, but rejoicing to see himself meet with
scorn and contempt. Often when he was reviled he exulted with joy. One of these
slanderers was so moved by seeing the cheerfulness of the saint’s countenance,
and his invincible patience, whilst another cursed and reproached him in the
most bitter terms, that he was converted upon the spot, undertook the defence
of the servant of God, and entered upon a penitential and edifying course of
life. The author of all these injuries and affronts, moved also at the saint’s
patience and mildness, of his own accord came to him, and upon his knees begged
his pardon, which St. Philip willingly granted him; and most kindly embracing
him, received him into the number of his children. The man of God said, that if
we ask of God patience and humility, we ought to rejoice and thank him when he
sendeth us occasions of exercising those virtues, which are not to be obtained
but by crosses and frequent acts of them. Another time, when he had opened his
oratory, certain persons accused him of pride and ambition, and that he loved
and affected to be followed by the people. Upon which complaints the vicar of
Rome gave him a sharp reprimand, forbade him to hear confessions for fifteen
days, and to preach without a new license: he moreover threatened him with
imprisonment, if he did not leave his new ways of proceeding. The saint
modestly answered, that he was most ready to obey his superiors in whatever
they should command him. He excused the authors of his troubles in the best
manner he was able, and with cheerfulness said to his friends, that God had
permitted him to be so treated that he might become humble. By his patience and
modesty this storm blew over, and after an inquiry into his conduct, leave was
given him to live after his wonted manner, and to draw sinners to God by such
means as his prudence should suggest. After which, his chamber began to be
frequented by many of the prime nobility, to the singular profit of their
souls. His charity for all seemed to have no bounds; but when he did but look
on notorious wicked men, he could hardly contain the abundance of tears which
compassion moved him to shed.
Desiring by all means in
his power to help his neighbour, he by his conferences laid the foundation of
the Congregation of Oratorians in 1551. Several priests and young ecclesiastics
associating themselves with him, began to assist him in his conferences, and in
reading prayers and meditations to the people in the church of the Holy
Trinity. They were called Oratorians, because at certain hours every morning
and afternoon, by ringing a bell, they called the people to the church to
prayers and meditations. In 1564, when the saint had formed his congregation
into a regular community, he preferred several of his young ecclesiastics to
holy orders; one of whom was the famous Cæsar Baronius, whom for his eminent
sanctity Benedict XIV. by a decree dated on the 12th of January, 1745, honoured
with the title of Venerable Servant of God. At the same time he formed his
disciples into a community, using one common purse and table, and he gave them
rules and statutes. He forbade any of them to bind themselves to this state by
vow or oath, that all might live together joined only by the bands of fervour
and holy charity; labouring with all their strength to establish the kingdom of
Christ in themselves by the most perfect sanctification of their own souls, and
to propagate the same in the souls of others, by preaching, instructing the
ignorant, and teaching the Christian doctrine. The general he appointed to be
triennial; but was himself, much against his will, chosen general for life,
though he afterwards found means to obtain a release from that burden, by
alleging his age and infirmities. This happened in 1595, when Baronius was
chosen his successor, though that great man left nothing unattempted to remove
the burden from his shoulders. 8
St. Philip, who dated the
foundation of his oratory in 1564, obtained of Pope Gregory XIII. the
approbation of his congregation in 1575. Its constitutions were afterwards
confirmed by Paul V. in 1612. The same Gregory XIII. bestowed on the saint the
church of our Lady of Vallicella, which was newly built in a finished taste by
exquisite architects, whence it is called the New Church. St. Philip took
possession of it in 1583; but his congregation still continues to serve also the
hospital of pilgrims of the Holy Trinity. The saint lived to see many houses of
his Oratory erected at Florence, Naples, San Severino, Anxur, Lucca, Firmo,
Panormo, Fano, Padua, Vicenza, Ferrara, Thonon, &c. 9 He
established among his followers the rule of obedience, and a total abnegation
of their own will, saying: “This is the shortest and most assured way to attain
to perfection.” He was so great a lover of poverty, that he earnestly desired
always to live destitute of worldly goods, and in a suffering state of
indigence. He strictly ordained that none of his congregation should have to do
with the purse of their penitents, saying: “It is impossible to gain both their
souls and their goods.” This holy man lived equally reverenced and beloved by
the Popes Pius IV. and V., Gregory XIII. and XIV., and Clement VIII., and by
other great men, particularly by St. Charles Borromeo. Among other miracles,
when he himself lay sick of a fever and his life seemed despaired of, he was
suddenly restored to health by a vision of the Blessed Virgin, in which he fell
into a wonderful rapture, and cried out, “O most holy Mother of God, what have
I done that you should vouchsafe to come to me?” Coming to himself, he said
unawares to four physicians that were present: “Did not you see the Blessed
Mother of God, who by her visit hath driven away my distemper?” But immediately
perceiving that he had discovered his vision, he besought them not to disclose
it to any one. This was attested upon oath by Galloni and four physicians who
were present. Under the sharpest pains in his sickness, no complaint, groan, or
stir, ever was observed in him; only he was sometimes heard softly to repeat
these words: Adauge dolorem, sed adauge patientiam, increase my
pains, but increase withal my patience. On several occasions he exactly
foretold things to come. Baronius and others testified that they had heard
several predictions from his mouth which the events always confirmed.
St. Philip was of a
sickly constitution, and was usually visited every year by one or two sharp
fevers, which sometimes held him a long time; yet he lived to a good old age.
In 1595 he lay all the month of April sick of a very violent fever; and in the
beginning of May was taken with a vomiting of blood, discharging a very large
quantity. Cæsar Baronius gave him extreme unction; and when the hæmorrhage had
ceased, Cardinal Frederick Borromeo brought him the viaticum. When the saint
saw the cardinal entering his chamber with the holy sacrament, to the amazement
of all who were present, he cried out with a loud voice and abundance of tears:
“Behold my Love, my Love! He comes, the only delight of my soul. Give me my
Love quickly.” He repeated with the cardinal in the most tender sentiments of
devotion and love those words, Domine non sum dignus, adding, “I was
never worthy to be fed with thy body; nor have I ever done any good at all.”
After receiving the viaticum, he said: “I have received my physician into my
lodging.” He had procured many masses to be said for him, and in two or three
days seemed perfectly recovered, said mass every day, heard confessions as
usual, and enjoyed a good state of health. He foretold to several persons, and
frequently, his approaching death, and the very day of it, as they declared
upon oath. 10 On
the three last days of his life, he was overwhelmed with more than ordinary
spiritual love, especially on the day that he died, on which he counted every
hour, waiting for the end of the day, which he foresaw to be the moment in
which his soul would ingulf itself into the ocean of immortal bliss. Being
taken with another fit of vomiting blood whilst Baronius was reading the
recommendation of the soul, he with great tranquillity expired just after
midnight, between the 25th and 26th of May, 1595, being near fourscore and two
years old. His body was opened, and the place where his ribs were burst, and
the skin projected to the bigness of a man’s fist, was seen by many. His heart
and bowels were buried among his brethren, but his body was enshrined, and
found uncorrupted seven years after. One Austin Magistrius, who for many years
had been troubled with loathsome running ulcers in his neck, which physicians
had judged incurable, hearing of the death of the saint, went to the church
where his body was exposed; and after praying long before his hearse, applied
his blessed hands to his sore neck and found himself immediately cured, which
miracle five eye-witnesses attested upon oath. Other like miracles, several
testified by the oaths of the parties, are related by Galloni the disciple of
the saint, and an assistant of Baronius in compiling his annals; also by
Baccius and others. Seven years after the saint’s death, in 1602, Nerus de
Nigris, a Florentine gentleman, built a sumptuous chapel beautified with costly
ornaments in the Church of the Oratory, and the holy man’s body, which was
found entire, was removed into it. Many miracles were wrought at his tomb, and
by his intercession. 11 He
was canonized by Gregory XV. in 1622.
St. Philip, inflamed with
the love of God and a desire of praising him worthily, after offering him all
the affections of his soul, and the homages of all his creatures, seeing in
their poverty and inability nothing equal to his infinite greatness, comforted
himself in finding in the mass a means of glorifying him by a victim worthy of
himself. This he offered to him with inexpressible joy, devotion, and humility,
to praise and honour his holy name, to be a sacrifice of perfect thanksgiving
for his infinite benefits, of expiation for sin, and of impetration to obtain
all graces. Hence in this sacrifice he satiated the ardent desires of his zeal,
and found such an excess of overflowing love and sweetness in the closest union
of his soul with his divine Redeemer.
Note 1. These seven
churches are the Vatican and Lateran Basilics, St. Mary Major, and that of the
Holy Cross of Jerusalem, situated on the different sides of the city: St.
Laurence’s extra muros, two miles out of the city on the Tiburtin road, St. Paul’s
on the Ostian road, five miles from the old Forum, now called Campo Vaccino,
and St. Sebastian’s on the Appian road. These churches are all enriched with
relics of the most celebrated martyrs, &c. [back]
Note 2. Baronius was
afterwards created cardinal in 1596, by Clement VIII. and died in 1607.
Notwithstanding some mistakes in history unavoidable in first essays of that
nature, all must applaud his undertaking, and admire both the work, and the
great erudition, and immense application and labour of this parent of the
annals of Church history. [back]
Note 3. Annal. t. 8,
præf. [back]
Note 4. These
effects the natural economy of the human body explains, though the cause be
obscure, depending on the unknown laws of the union of the soul and body. As
anger, and much more hatred and grief, contract the human vessels, make the
motion of the fluids languid and sluggish, and create obstructions in the
glands which are the seeds of various distempers; so joyful hope, (the most
healthful temper of mind,) joy, and divine love, which is always regular,
dilate the heart and vessels, accelerate the motion of the fluids, increase the
spirits, and exceedingly promote a good habit of body, which envy, jealousy,
inordinate fear, and the like affections very much disturb. See Cheyne,
Boerhaave, Heister. [back]
Note 6. Galloni,
vit. c. 20. [back]
Note 7. We find the
same authentically attested of many other servants of God. St. Ignatius of
Loyola was sometimes seen raised in prayer two feet above the ground, his body
at the same time shining with light. The like elevations are related in the
lives of St. Dominick, St. Dunstan, St. Philip Beniti, St. Cajetan, St. Albert
of Sicily, B. Bernard Ptolomæi, institutor of the Congregation of our Lady of
Mount Olivet, Aug. xxi., B. Robert of Palentin, Aug. xviii. &c. in the
Bollandists of St. Francis of Assisium in his life by Chalippe and others. Many
of the authors of these lives, persons of undoubted veracity, testify that they
were themselves eye-witnesses of this fact; others were so careful and diligent
writers, that their authority cannot be questioned. Thus Trivet tells us, that
St. Richard, then chancellor to St. Edmund, archbishop of Canterbury, one day
opening softly the chapel door, saw his archbishop raised high in the air, with
his knees bent, and his arms stretched out; but falling gently to the ground,
and seeing his chancellor, he complained to him that he had hindered him of
great spiritual delights and comfort. Trivet, Annal. p. 73, ad ann. 1240. Dom.
Calmet, an author still living, and a severe and learned critic, assures us
that he knows a religious man, who, in devout prayer, is sometimes
involuntarily raised in the air, and remains hanging in it without any support.
Also that he is personally acquainted with a devout nun to whom the same had
often happened. Calmet, Diss. sur les Apparitions, chap. 21. See the life of
St. Teresa, written by herself, how notwithstanding her resistance, her body
sometimes was raised from the ground. Whether these persons and others to whom
the like may have happened were raised by the invisible ministry of angels, or
by any supernatural operation immediately derived from God, is uncertain, and
probably what they themselves could not determine, any more than St. Paul could
perceive whether he was carried up into heaven in his body or out of his body.
It is objected
to these miracles, that Eunapius, a Platonic philosopher who in 380 wrote the
lives of Porphyrius and Jamblichus, relates that the latter was often raised
ten cubits into the air, and was seen surrounded with a bright light. But this
historian in credulity and malice against the Christians surpassed Porphyrius
and Jamblichus themselves; and his testimony in relating such idle dreams can
have no weight with any serious reader. By the pretended rapture of Jamblichus,
it was his aim to forge a prodigy which might seem to rival the Transfiguration
of Christ, and probably the favours granted to several saints, like this
related of St. Philip. We must observe that those heathen Platonic
philosophers, who in the first age of the gospel laid claim to Theurgy or a
magic power, never attempted to perform any miracle in a public authentic
manner: their historians were remote in time, produce no sufficient vouchers in
confirmation of the prodigies they relate, and overset themselves by the
ridiculous absurdity of their histories, and their inconsistencies both with
themselves and with the most certain monuments of those ages. It was only with
a view to discredit the incontestible miracles, which proved our holy religion
to be the work of God, that they had recourse to imposture, and to the
illusions of magic. For this Porphyrius of Tyre, in 270, laid down pretended
rules of divination; and his scholar Jamblichus above mentioned, in Syria,
under Constantine the Great, published a book Of Mysteries, which is only a heap
of enthusiasm and abominable folly concerning the miraculous effects of the
Theurgy, and the purification of the soul, till by a transformation it is
united to the celestial powers. Both these impostors seriously relate of
Pythagoras, that he was saluted by rivers, and that he could remember all the
several bodies his soul had animated, and how he had been a tree, a girl, a
fish, and that very Euphorbus the Trojan, who was slain by Menelaus; with many
other tales still more ridiculous, unknown to Diogenas, Laërtius, or any former
writer, above eight hundred years from the death of Pythagoras. Philostratus,
under the Emperor Severus, in 206, another of the same class, wrote the life of
Apollonius Tyanæus, above one hundred years after his death, containing an
account of his pretended prodigies.
But the view
of all these writers was only to oppose such forgeries to the true and evident
miracles of Christ and his followers, the reality of which they were not able
to contest. And such are the inconsistency and absurdity of their vague idle
stories, that to rank them with the fables of Ovid’s Metamorphoses would be
doing them too much honour. How unjust is it to put the most authentic
Christian miracles upon a level with such ridiculous forgeries! These their pretensions
far from weakening, serve to corroborate the evidence for the Christian
miracles, inasmuch as by them it appears to what wretched shifts the most
ingenious, the most implacable, and the most learned adversaries of our
religion were driven. Certainly the reality and evidence of our miracles left
no room for cavil, seeing philosophers of the greatest penetration, abilities,
and power could find no other expedient to gratify their inveterate malice
against us, than by pretending to rival our miracles by the grossest forgeries.
It is, however, no way unreasonable to allow that Apollonius Tyanæus and some
others might, by the divine permission, effect certain wonderful things, as
Tillemont and Fleury seem not unwilling to grant; though the authority of the
vouchers is by no means cogent. The empire of the devil, though much restrained
from the time of the death of Christ to the coming of Antichrist, which is
implied by his being said to be bound, (Rev. xx.
2, 3,) is not so far abridged that he is not suffered by special
permissions of God, to use his natural power to tempt men to sin; and also
sometimes, though very rarely, to endeavour to seduce them by lying signs, in
which he would fain mimic the finger of God. But on these occasions he always
bears the visible marks of his imposture, by which his works may be
distinguished from those of God. Among these, a secret spirit of pride is
always a certain proof of his artifice. Hence those who lay down rules for the
discernment of spirits, unanimously teach, that in visions, rapts, or
extraordinary favours, everything is to be ascribed to the illusion of the
devil or the force of imagination, if the person coveted or was fond of such
extraordinary favours, which is always a grievous presumption and dangerous
snare: likewise, if under them he seemed puffed up, if he divulged them, or
willingly spoke of them, except for private advice or necessity. For the Holy
Ghost, especially in such favours, always inspires by his gifts, and requires
the most profound humility, love of the closest secrecy, and perfect obedience
to the advice of spiritual superiors, even against a person’s own judgment.
Such favours, if doubtful as to their origin, must always be disregarded.
Persons must also be convinced that sanctity no way consists in them; must set
no high value on them, and labour only to advance by every means in sincere
humility, meekness, and charity; rejoicing not in them, but in the divine grace
and mercy. (Luke x.
20.) This St. Philip perfectly understood, and was endowed with a singular
gift of discerning spirits. He sharply reproved those who seemed to be
delighted with visions, and was wont to exhort such persons to contemn them as
dangerous snares, affirming, “That nothing is more pernicious than such mad
mockeries of the devils, who easily transform themselves into angels of light.”
He inculcated, “That persons ought to be only solicitous to correct their
manners, and subdue their passions.” [back]
Note 8. See the life
of Card. Baronius published with the letters, and censure of Molina, by
Raymundus Albericius, in 2 vols. 4to. at Rome, in 1759. [back]
Note 9. The
Oratorians in Italy are called Philippini, and are not religious men, but
secular priests living in communities. This congregation flourishes in that
country with learned and eminent men, from whose zealous labours in teaching
youth, and in all the functions of the ministry, the public reap much
advantage.
The French
Oratory is an institute formed upon the plan of the Italian Oratory, but
differing in several material points. The founder was the learned and pious
Cardinal Peter de Berulle. That great man was descended of a noble family of
Champagne. His father, Claude, was a counsellor or judge in the parliament of
Paris, and his mother, Louisa Seguier was, by her exemplary piety, an
additional ornament to the long line of great statesmen and prelates, which in
her family had for many ages served their country. After the decease of her
virtuous consort she became a Carmelite nun, in which austere Order she died in
the arms of her pious son, in the seventy-eighth year of her age. Peter, when
only eighteen years old, wrote an excellent book on Self-Denial. He at first
turned his thoughts towards a religious life; but being desirous to serve his
neighbour, at last entered among the secular clergy, and after a retreat of
forty days spent in assiduous prayer and great austerities, in a convent of
Capuchins, received holy orders in 1599. In saying his first mass he fell into
raptures in the presence of many persons. From his infancy he was a fervent
lover of humility, mortification, retirement, and prayer; and his whole life
was a perfect model of these virtues. Though he was a most learned divine, yet
out of humility he would never take the degree of doctor. He refused the
bishopricks of Laon and Nantes, and the abbacy of St. Stephen of Caen; also the
honour of being preceptor to the dauphin of France, though he was very much
pressed to take upon him that charge. The king once finding all his endeavours
in vain to oblige him to accept of a bishopric, said with warmth, he would take
care that he should be compelled to consent, by one who was greater than
himself, meaning the pope. Berulle resolutely answered, that if he were pressed
any more upon that head, he would leave his majesty’s dominions. He converted
the Count of Laval, and many other Calvinists, and employed himself with great
zeal in the direction of souls. He settled in France the Teresian or Carmelite
nuns, whom he brought from Spain in 1603, and was himself many years the
confessarius of those chaste spouses of Christ in their nunnery, which, for his
sake, the queen mother, Mary Medicis, built for their use in Paris.
This servant
of God formed certain priests in the perfect spirit of their holy state, and by
the strong persuasions of St. Francis of Sales, venerable Cæsar de Bus, and F.
Coton, and by the repeated commands of his bishop, Cardinal de Retz founded the
French Oratory in 1611. He worked with his own hands in building their first
chapel, and carried himself hods of mortar; for he sought every opportunity of
humiliation. The French Oratorians are a congregation of priests who live in
voluntary poverty, obedience, and the laborious functions of their state,
according to the spirit of Jesus Christ. They are not religious men, but can of
their own accord leave the Congregation; which was confirmed by Paul V. in
1613. The holy founder, notwithstanding his reluctancy, was often employed in
public affairs. When the marriage of the Princess Henrietta Maria, daughter of
Henry IV. of France, with Charles I. king of England, was concluded, the French
king sent the Abbé Berulle to Rome to procure a dispensation on account of the
difference of religion, on which occasion the then Pope Urban VIII., after
conversing often with the holy man, said: “Mr. Berulle is not a man but an
angel.” And he gave orders to his nuncios in France to follow in all things his
advice, and to do nothing without it. He sent a cardinal’s hat to meet him upon
his return into France, with an express command to accept it. Berulle received
the hat at Paris in 1627. King Louis XIII. sent him into England to conduct thither
his sister Henrietta Maria; and he there gained the esteem and veneration of
the whole court, though his stay was very short. We are assured, says Perrault,
that what chiefly determined Louis XIII. and his council to undertake the siege
of Rochelle, was a revelation which this cardinal had, that it would be
successful. Berulle wrote many excellent works of piety, which were published
in one volume, folio, by his learned and holy successor in the Oratory, F.
Bourguoin, who has prefixed to them his life. In his writings we admire his
wonderful zeal and piety, his love of perfect self-denial and profound
humility; and the most tender devotion to our divine Redeemer, and his sacred
passion; also to the Blessed Virgin and St. Mary Magdalen. Notwithstanding his
dignity of cardinal, and his great authority in the church and state, he never
departed from his first plan of life, or from the simplicity, modesty, poverty,
and temperance of a true disciple of Jesus Christ. He said mass every day with
the most tender and edifying devotion, and died of an apoplexy at the altar,
just before the consecration, whilst he was offering to God the sacrifice of
his heart, together with the immaculate victim he was going to
consecrate. Whence the epigram:—
Cæpta sub extremis nequeo
dum sacra sacerdos
Perficere; at saltem
victima perficiam.
See his life by Perrault,
Hommes Illustr. by Bourguoin, and by Habert de Cerisy. Cardinal Berulle died in
1629, fifty-five years old. He is buried in the stately church of the
Oratorians in the street of St. Honoré in Paris; and in the rich and beautiful
church of his dear Carmelite nuns, in the chapel of St. Mary Magdalen, in which
he was accustomed to pass many hours in prayer and heavenly contemplation, is
placed a fine marble statue admirably finished, representing him on his knees
at prayer before the altar. Over against this statue is the justly admired
picture of St. Mary Magdalen, the masterpiece of Le Brun, exhibiting the true
portraiture of the famous Duchesse de la Vallière, who made her religious
profession in this austere house in 1675, and after a most penitential and holy
life, died in 1710. Her spirit is expressed in her book, entitled, Reflections
on the Divine Mercy. In this chapel the cardinal kindled in his meditations the
glowing sentiments of devotion to St. Mary Magdalen, and of divine love,
humility, and compunction, which he expresses in his writings on her
illustrious virtues.
Nothing is of
greater importance in the church than that clergymen be formed in the perfect
spirit of their holy state. And it must be acknowledged that it is not easy to
imagine anything better adapted to this purpose than the original institute of
the French Oratory. The example indeed of this spirit is of all means the most
powerful to communicate it to others. This help none so perfectly possessed as
those pastors who had the happiness of conversing with, and being formed by the
apostles, or the most eminently holy apostolic men among their disciples, the
Ignatiuses, the Polycarps, the Simeons, &c. Yet the first Oratorians had an
admirable example of this spirit before their eyes in their holy founder; and
in all the constitutions and exercises of their institute the greatest external
helps, especially in those of prayer and holy meditation, which are the soul of
an interior life. These Cardinal Berulle was chiefly solicitous to direct, so
as to instil the most perfect spirit of Christ, or of his humility, meekness,
patience, entire disengagement from the world or view to its interests, (which
is called the spirit of poverty,) ardent zeal, and love both of God and our
neighbour. This holy spirit was eminently inherited by F. Condren, the second,
and by F. Bourguoin, third general of the French Oratory. The former, out of
that profound humility for which he was most remarkable in all his actions,
never would print anything during his life, and refused with invincible
resolution the dignity of cardinal, and the archbishoprics of Rheims and Lyons.
Something, indeed, of his writings has been published since his death, which
happened in 1641. From his edifying life, written by F. Amelot, it appears how
eminently he was replenished with the spirit of God and the science of the
saints; with how tender a piety he was endowed, and with how extraordinary a
talent in directing souls in the paths of Christian perfection. F. Bourguoin,
who died in 1662, and left five volumes of very pious meditations on the life
of Christ, &c., was not inferior to his predecessor in reputation for
sanctity. The most tender devotion to our blessed Redeemer, and assiduous
meditation on the mysteries of his Incarnation, were the characteristic virtues
of these holy men and their colleagues. Among these, John Baptist Gault being
consecrated bishop of Marseilles, in a short time reformed that whole diocess,
finished the hospital begun by M. de Gondy for the galley-slaves, spent much of
his time in comforting and instructing them, and by his astonishing meekness
and patience overcoming the obstinacy of the most hardened and most insolent,
whom he would attend in their voyage or expedition at sea. He died on the 23d
of May, 1643, in the odour of sanctity, and his tomb is visited in a chapel of
the cathedral by great crowds of devout Christians, and the chapel filled with
votive tokens for favours received of God. His life is written by several
hands. F. Le Jeune, surnamed the Blind Father, because he lost his sight whilst
he was preaching at Rouen, in the thirty-fifth year of his age, though he
continued his missions and preaching to his death, in 1672, the eightieth year
of his age, was not less illustrious by the sanctity of his life, than by the
wonderful success of his sermons. See the Discourse on his life by M. Ruben, in
8vo.; also Lamy, 7me Entretien sur les Sciences, p. 224.
The happy
influence of the zeal, holy example, and perfect spirit of these pious
clergymen was not confined to their own congregation. M. Olier, who founded the
seminary of S. Sulpice, at Paris, in 1642, entirely reformed that vast parish
and many other parts of France, and by his missionaries planted the faith at
Montreal in America, was formed to perfect virtue, and directed in his pious
establishments by F. Condren. His life, written by F. Giry, presents us in a
short portraiture the most accomplished model both of an ecclesiastical spirit,
and of an interior life in all its states, whether of spiritual dryness and
desolation, of contemplation, or of all the various functions of the ministry.
His letters and other short tracts breathe the most cordial sentiments of
charity and true piety.
F. Eudes, brother
to Mezeray the French historian, was a perfect imitator of Cardinal Berulle,
and F. Condren, and upon their spirit formed both his own in all maxims of true
piety, and that of the Congregation of reformed secular clergy which he
instituted at Caën in 1643, and which still subsists under the name of Eudistes
in Normandy, Paris, Senlis, &c. They obey their superior without any vow,
and are employed in the direction of several episcopal seminaries. The tender
devotions and spirit of piety of Cardinal Berulle, are pathetically expressed
in F. Eudes’s excellent book, entitled Le Royaume de Jesus Christ.
F. Bernard,
surnamed the Poor Priest, son to a counsellor of the parliament of Burgundy
(afterwards Lieutenant-general of Chalon upon the Saöne) was much assisted
after his conversion to God by the pious counsels of F. Condren. He was one of
the most eminent contemplatives of his age; and the grand prior of Clugni gave
public evidence that he saw this servant of God once, in the chapel of the
Jesuits’ college at Paris, raised above two feet from the ground for a
considerable time together. So great was his love of abjection and the cross,
that he thus addressed himself to our Redeemer: “The first of thy priests asked
as a great favour that he might stay with you upon Mount Thabor, and I who am
the last of thy ministers entreat thee to suffer me to remain at the foot of
thy cross, suffering and dying if you please, provided I suffer and die by
you.” So perfect was his spirit and love of poverty that Cardinal Richelieu
could not prevail upon him to accept of any benefice for himself or any other,
or to ask of him any other favour than that some loose boards in the bottom of
the cart on which he attended criminals to execution might be mended, that they
might pray without distractions from the fear of falling in the way. The fruit
of his inflamed extemporary sermons several times in the week was
inexpressible. He died in 1641, was buried in the chapel of the hospital De la
Charité, and the court and clergy of France have often solicited his
beatification. See his life by M. Gauffre, F. Giry, and F. Lempereur, Jesuit.
To omit many other
instances, that of sister Mary of the Incarnation has too close a connection
with the history of Cardinal Berulle to be passed over.
A virtuous
lady of Paris was a great assistant to the cardinal in his pious foundations,
especially that of the Carmelite nuns. Her name was Barbara Aurillot, by
marriage Acharie. Having lived in the world remarkable for her great charities,
devotions, and mortifications, being a widow, she was professed a lay-sister in
the poor house of the Carmelite nuns in Amiens; for she declined the great
nunnery in Paris, in founding which she had been greatly instrumental. It is
not to be expressed with what reluctance the nuns consented to receive a person
of her quality, their mistress and foundress in France, as a servant; and Dr.
Du Val, joint superior with Berulle, and the nuns opposed the design; but
Berulle, discerning in her request a sincere spirit of humility, would not have
her lose the merit of that virtue, and prevailed that her request should be granted.
She with joy undertook to serve in the kitchen, and as second sister in keeping
the house clean. She was called, in religion, Mary of the Incarnation, and is
regarded as foundress, under Cardinal Berulle of the French Teresian nuns.
After her solemn vows, she was removed to Pontoise, and there died in 1618,
fifty-two years old. See her edifying life by F. Hervé the Oratorian. [back]
Note 10. See Galloni
and Baccius, l. 4, c. 2. [back]
Note 11. See an
account of several testified upon oath by competent vouchers in Baccius, l.
5. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume V: May. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/261.html
Scuola
toscana, Busto di San Filippo Neri, XVIII secolo, Museo Rospigliosi, Pistoia
Saint Philip Neri
The liturgical memorial
of Saint Philip Neri fell on Sunday but it was transferred to this
day in Oratorian communities. One cannot pass on prayerfully remembering this
Apostle to Rome. Neri is one of the most esteemed saints of the 16th
century coupled with people like Loyola. Fr George Rutler, priest of the
Archdiocese of New York offers a meditation on Saint Philip, drawing some
very important points about person and ministry of the Saint.
The feast of St. Philip
Neri (1515 – 1595) falls this Monday, on the same day that the civil calendar
memorializes those who gave their lives in the service of our country. Philip
was a soldier, too, albeit a soldier of Christ, wearing “the helmet of
salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians
6:17). He lived in a decadent time when many who called themselves Christians
chose to be pacifists in the spiritual combat against the world, the flesh and
the Devil.
In the battle for souls,
Philip’s most effective weapons were gentleness and mercy, though he was also a
master of “tough love” when it was necessary to correct those inclined to be
spiritual deserters. Although he was reared in Florence, Philip’s pastoral
triumphs gained him the title “Apostle of Rome.” It was said of the Emperor
Augustus that he found Rome brick and left it marble, and in a moral sense the
same might be said of Philip. The Sacred City was not so sacred in the minds of
many, and his chief weapon for reforming it was penance.
After eighteen years in
Rome, Philip was ordained at the age of thirty-five. He polished rough souls
every day in the confessional, where he might be found at all hours of the day
and night for forty-five years. In the words of Blessed John Henry Newman, who
joined the saint’s Oratory three centuries later, “He was the teacher and
director of artisans, mechanics, cashiers in banks, merchants, workers in gold,
artists, men of science. He was consulted by monks, canons, lawyers,
physicians, courtiers; ladies of the highest rank, convicts going to execution,
engaged in their turn his solicitude and prayers.” We have an audible relic of
him in the oratorio, the musical form he invented as a means of catechesis. His
magnetic appeal to the most stubborn and cynical types of people seems hardly
less miraculous than the way he sometimes levitated during Mass, requiring that
he offer the Holy Sacrifice privately because, as the Pope prudently if
understatedly said, the spectacle might distract the faithful.
Refusing high clerical
rank, and disdaining any sort of human honor, Philip’s power intimidated the
Prince of Lies as much as any earthly prince. There is a lesson in this for our
own urban culture, and certainly for us providentially located in “Hell’s
Kitchen.” The temptation is for the Church to give up on spiritual combat and
retreat to the suburbs. This is a false strategy since no terrain, concrete or
bucolic, offers a complete escape from the Church’s field of combat. While
consolidation of strength is a necessary strategy, there is no substitute for
victory. If General MacArthur maintained that principle with earthly effect, so
much more do the saints struggle, knowing that Christ has already won the
victory, but also aware that to flee the field is to lose him forever
Posted onMay
26, 2014AuthorPaul
ZalonskiCategoriesOratorian
saints and blessedsTagsOratorian
saints and blesseds, St Philip
Neri
SOURCE : https://communio.stblogs.org/index.php/2014/05/saint-philip-neri-4/
_Apoth%C3%A9ose_de_saint_Philippe_de_N%C3%A9ri_-_Giovanni_Domenico_Ferretti_-_Mus%C3%A9e_des_Beaux-Arts_de_Narbonne.jpg)
Giovanni Domenico Ferretti (1692–1768),
Gloire de saint Philippe de Néri, circa 1733, 71 x 49, Musée d'art et d'histoire de
Narbonne
Saint Philip Neri and the
Priesthood
The Church honored Saint
Philip Neri on May 25th. His memory in history leads me to ask more about his
place in the Church and the work of bringing others to the Lord. Father Fred
Miller, a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, earned a doctorate in
sacred theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
He is presently teaching systematic theology at Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in
Emmitsburg, MD. Here is something to consider…
Since his canonization in
1622, Saint Philip Neri has been considered a model of priestly life and
holiness among the clergy of Italy. One might say that Saint Philip has there
the popularity enjoyed by Saint John Vianney among diocesan priests in the
United States. For a variety of reasons, Saint Philip has had little notoriety
among priests in North America. However, there seems to be a change. Many
priests and seminarians are reading biographies of the “Apostle of Rome” and
envisioning his approach to the priesthood for themselves. The foundation of
new Oratories of Saint Philip throughout the USA also indicates interest in the
saint.
This essay does not
intend to be either a detailed biography of the saint or a treatise on priestly
holiness as exemplified in the life of Saint Philip Neri. This composition
emerged as random reflections on the saint for a seminarian, now a priest, who
had discovered Saint Philip during his seminary years. I present it in this
venue in the hope that more priests will find in Saint Philip Neri a congenial
confrere in the priesthood and a model of priestly life and holiness.
Might it not be said that
an attraction to a particular saint has its origin above in the Holy Spirit and
the intercession of God’s holy ones? In his encyclical letter Deus Caritas
Est,Pope Benedict XVI pointed out that the saints continue to do in heaven what
they had done on earth: “The lives of the saints are not limited to their earthly
biographies but also include their being and working in God after death. In the
saints one thing becomes clear: those who draw near to God do not withdraw from
men, but rather become truly close to them.”1 One may conjecture that
Saint Philip Neri, who was spiritual father to so many priest-sons while on
earth, continues to exercise the ministry of priestly formation from his place
in heaven. My sole intention is to point priests in the direction of an
exemplary parish priest, the knowledge of whom will hopefully benefit them as
well as the people they serve.
Renaissance and
Reformation
Saint Philip Neri (1515 –
1595), a native of Florence, lived all of his life as a parish priest in Rome,
the major center of the rebirth (Renaissance) of pagan culture in sixteenth-century
Europe. He was also a contemporary of the Protestant Reformers. Renaissance and
Reformation form the context of the exercise of Philip Neri’s priestly
ministry.
John Henry Newman has
noted that Saint Philip did not wage a frontal attack on the Renaissance, as
did another native of Florence, Girolamo Savanarola. This charismatic Dominican
friar saw little if anything good in the restoration of pagan culture and
prophetically envisioned the so-called Enlightenment that would inevitably follow
in its wake. In his desperation, the firebrand advocated destroying books,
works of art, musical instruments, etc. as a necessary purgation of the Church.
Linking the decadence of the clergy to the Renaissance, Savanarola ranted
against the materialism and secularism of the Church’s leaders, denouncing
bishops and even the pope.
On the other hand, Philip
Neri, who, in fact, always venerated Savanarola as a saint, chose a different
approach. While rejecting the immoral and decadent elements of his century,
Philip, first as a layman and then as a priest, seized upon the good elements
of the Renaissance and utilized them for the glorification of God. Historians
have recognized Philip’s love of music, art, letters and history as well as his
use of these arts in his catechetical ministry and, most especially, in his
approach to the liturgy.
Palestrina, his spiritual
directee, composed many of his polyphonic masterpieces for Saint Philip and the
oratory meetings. Philip built one of the most beautiful Renaissance churches
in Rome. He promoted the study of literature, patristics, the history of
liturgy and ecclesiastical history, as well as catechesis for children.
The Chiesa Nuova, his church, became a center of liturgical
excellence in both the execution of the sacred rites and the use of sacred
music.
Philip recognized the
secular humanism of the Renaissance for exactly what it was: Christian charity
separated from its life-giving ecclesial roots. An authentic Christian
humanism, the humanism of the Gospel, was the foundation of Philip’s ministry
of personal relationships. He understood that God effected conversions through
the priest’s personal influence as friend, teacher, confessor, father and
spiritual guide. One might speculate that Saint Philip would have been very
much at home with the Christian personalism of Pope John Paul II and his
theology of the body.
Philip was aware that the
grace of conversion — communicated by God primarily through preaching the
Gospel, the teaching of Catholic doctrine and the practice of frequent
confession — has it first effects within the human heart, and then manifests
itself in personal transformations that are often startling. In the recognition
of how powerful the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is in the process of conversion,
Saint Philip spent much of his free time as a layman promoting the Forty Hours
Devotion in Rome. His zeal for this devotion continued after his priestly
ordination.
As a priest, Philip never
called attention to a corrupt hierarchy. There was no need to do that. Sad to
say, it was all too obvious. Rather, Philip lived the priesthood so joyfully
and simply that he attracted worldly clerics by his priestly way of life. His
tools were simple: frequent confession, daily mental prayer, and spiritual direction.
Although the Protestant
Reformation did not directly influence the Church in Italy, Philip was aware
that something dark and harmful was happening in the Lord’s vineyard. Philip
lived his priesthood in a Church torn apart by heresy, schism and even cruel
martyrdom. He had a particular love and concern for the seminarians of the
Venerable English College in Rome. He was aware that the majority of these
students, once ordained priests, would return to England and ultimately shed
their blood as martyrs for Christ and his Church. To this day, the seminarians
of the English College sing first vespers on the Solemnity of Saint Philip Neri
at theChiesa Nuova in honor of the Roman priest who blessed their
forebears on their way to martyrdom.
Historians have opined
that Saint Philip played a large role in protecting Rome from the intrusion of
the errors of Protestantism. He did this in at least three ways.
First, he organized a
prayer group known as the Oratory for young people. The youth would gather in
his presbytery each week, or several times a week, to read and discuss Sacred
Scripture, to pray spontaneously, to sing hymns and to present ferverinos (short
and fervent presentations on a theme assigned by Saint Philip) on Christian
doctrine, the virtues and the lives of the saints.
In effect, Philip, by
introducing the young to a form of lectio divina, taught them to pray
with the Scriptures. Their presentations on doctrine and the lives of the
saints helped the young to interpret the Scriptures within the sacred tradition
of the Church. At the same time, Father Philip was preparing his spiritual
children to explain the faith to their contemporaries and defend it whenever
necessary, especially if Reformation thought found its way into Italy. In
effect, Saint Philip’s prayer meetings formed contemplative apologists of the
faith.
The French Oratorian
Louis Bouyer offers this description of the Oratory meetings: “The program of
their meetings took some ten years to crystallize into the following form:
reading with commentary, the commentary taking the form of a conversation,
followed by an exhortation by some other speaker. This would be followed in
turn by a talk on Church history, with finally, another reading with a
commentary, this time from the life of some saint. All this was interspersed
with short prayers, hymns and music, and the service always finished with the
singing of a new motet or anthem. It was taken for granted that everyone could
come and go as they chose, as Philip himself did. He and the other speakers
used to sit quite informally on a slightly raised bench facing the gathering.”2
Interesting to note, the
centrality of Scripture in the Oratory meetings, the spontaneity of the prayer
and hymnody, the instructions and exhortations presented by laymen, as well as
the charismatic tone of the gatherings led some high-ranking ecclesiastics to
accuse Philip of introducing his spiritual directees to a Protestant form of
worship.
Second, Saint Philip
assigned his most gifted disciple, Caesar Baronius, then just twenty years old,
to research and present a talk each week on the history of the Church,
beginning with Pentecost and ending at the present moment in the Church’s life.
Baronius, a layman at the time, had no experience, and indeed little interest,
in Church history; nevertheless he accepted the task in obedience to his
spiritual father. Over the course of three years he completed his lectures, at
which point Saint Philip told him to start again at the beginning. Over nearly
thirty years, he had repeated the course of talks seven times, making many
revisions and additions along the way. Around 1584, Philip finally commissioned
Baronius to begin preparing a text demonstrating that the Church of the
sixteenth century was the same in all essential aspects as the Church born on
Pentecost. Baronius’ Annales Ecclesiastici in twelve volumes was
finally completed near the end of Baronius’ rather long life. This text, which
is still considered a classic of historical research, struck right at the heart
of Luther’s assertion that the Roman Church had long ago broken communion with
the pristine church of the apostles — the church that he imagined himself to be
refounding in the sixteenth century.
Third, so resplendent was
the character of Holy Orders in Philip Neri that people easily perceived the
Lord Jesus preaching, sanctifying and shepherding his flock through and in him.
The anemic brand of ministry proposed by Luther and Calvin paled in the glow of
Philip’s witness to the apostolic succession of bishops and priests.
Precisely through this
priesthood, the Church of every age has immediate contact with the authority
and power Christ gave to Peter, Paul, the other apostles and the presbyters
appointed by them to lead the burgeoning Christian communities after Pentecost.
By rejecting the priesthood and, in so doing, breaking the apostolic
succession, Luther did exactly what he accused the Roman Church of doing —
breaking the Church’s life-giving connection with Christ and the apostles.
Philip was a living, dramatic witness of the continuity.
Surely Saint Philip’s way
of living the priesthood was as important a component of the Counter
Reformation as was Ignatius Loyola’s establishment of an army of missionary
priests ready to serve wherever the pope would send them, Borromeo’s witness to
the teaching office of the bishop in the implementation of the Roman Catechism
in the life of the local church, and Francis de Sales’ testimony to the
sanctifying office of the bishop in his availability to direct the spiritual
lives of the priests and laypersons in his care. Philip, it would seem, was
raised up by God to exemplify how the apostolic ministry is to be exercised by
priests in a stable manner precisely where God’s people live — that is, in
parishes.
A secular priest: The
Apostle of Rome
To this day, Saint Philip
is known as the Apostle of Rome. It is said that whereas Saints Peter and Paul
first converted the Romans through the preaching of the Gospel and baptism,
Saint Philip reconverted them during the Renaissance through his ministry of
spiritual direction and confession.
For forty-five years of
his long life, Saint Philip served the Church as a secular priest in Rome.
Although he died as an Oratorian, Saint Philip never intended to found a new
congregation for priests. Rather, the Congregation of the Oratory sprang up
around him as a result of his personal influence, his witness to personal
prayer, his zeal to catechize the young and bring them to the sacraments, and
his ever-joyful spirit.
Other priests enjoyed
living, praying and doing apostolic work with him. They found it wholesome and
liberating to follow the pattern he had established in his life as a parish
priest of Rome. The fact that the Oratorians rightly claim Saint Philip as
their founder should not dissuade priests from seeing him as an exemplary model
for the diocesan clergy.
Newman’s conference The
Mission of Saint Philip Neri, Louis Bouyer’s lyrical essay The Roman
Socrates and Father Paul Turks’ biography of the saint, Fire of
Joy, each in its own way, help form a concept of the personality and
sanctity of this unusual priest. These texts illustrate the priest’s particular
path to holiness: pastoral charity as practiced by Saint Philip, a holy and
attractive exemplar of priestly life and holiness.
An emblematic mosaic of
the saint
Over the altar that
enshrines Saint Philip’s body in the Chiesa Nuova is a striking
mosaic by Guido Reni. The artist presents the saint in red Mass vestments that
simultaneously reveal the centrality of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Eucharist
in Saint Philip’s life. The red vestments also indicate that Philip Neri lived
the priesthood with the generosity and abandonment of the Christian martyrs. He
kneels before our Blessed Mother, and there are lilies symbolizing his chastity
and the fatherly love that was the fruit of his purity of heart.
The mosaic is a kind of
emblem of Philip’s priestly ministry: the Eucharistic sacrifice at the center
of everything he did, pastoral charity practiced with the zeal of the martyrs
and the strength that comes from the Spirit of God, the spiritual motherhood of
the Blessed Virgin that makes everything wholesome and fruitful. Philip’s
posture in relationship to our Blessed Mother bespeaks the entrustment of one’s
life and work to her that would later be described so powerfully by Saint
Louis-Marie de Montfort in his classic, True Devotion to Mary.
Saint Philip Neri is a
model of everything that is essential and real in the Catholic priesthood. He
teaches priests that it is possible to be very active in apostolic works and a
contemplative at the same time.
A priest filled with the
Holy Spirit
As a young layman in
Rome, Philip Neri spent his days visiting the sick in the hospitals, teaching
children catechism, serving men and women who had come to Rome on pilgrimage,
and, as already mentioned, promoting the Forty Hours Devotion in the churches
of the city. He spent his nights praying deep down in the catacombs of Saint
Sebastian.
In the course of one of
these prayer vigils Saint Philip experienced his personal Pentecost. He saw the
Holy Spirit coming towards him as fire — a fire that found its way into his
heart. This experience led Philip to discuss the possibility of a priestly
vocation with his spiritual director.
Saint Philip and the
evangelical counsels
As a priest, the presence
of the Holy Spirit was palpable in everything Father Philip said and did.
Stated simply, he became a kind of living Pentecost; a Pentecostal event always
ready to happen. This divine fire led Philip to embrace the priesthood in a
radical, evangelical way. He chose to live as a poor man, dependent on Divine
Providence for everything. Later, he would encourage his priest sons at
Christmas time to give the poor any money they may have accumulated in the course
of the year.
Saint Philip’s
biographers say that he practiced perfect chastity. He understood that true
spiritual fatherhood is in large measure the fruit of the abnegation involved
in chastity.
Hearing tales of the
Protestant Reformation in Germany, the Low Countries and in England, Philip was
absolutely convinced that, in spite of the corruption in the Church of his day,
the truth of Christ and his grace rested in the Catholic Church. He was
obedient to the Church in all matters, great and small. Perhaps it was his
appreciation of obedience that drew him into friendship with a neighbor who
lived down the street, Ignatius of Loyola.
Saint Philip lived the
Gospel counsels so completely that one sees in him the poverty of a Franciscan,
the mortification of the flesh of a Carthusian, the obedience of the first
Jesuits, the zeal of Saint Dominic and his white-robed friars to propagate the
faith through preaching and teaching, and the dedication to the liturgy and
contemplation of a Benedictine monk. Interestingly, Saint Philip felt very much
at home with these religious, admired their particular charisms, and lived
them, as he was able, as a diocesan priest.
Priestly mysticism in
action
Saint Philip always
carried the writings of the Desert Fathers in his cassock. Having been
spiritually formed by the Conferences of John Cassian, Philip lived a
simple, mortified life — a kind of monastic life — while living in the world
and making himself available to serve his people.
In his interior life,
contemplation and priestly work were wonderfully integrated. When he prayed —
and Father Philip prayed for hours every day — he held his spiritual children
in his heart. When he served them directly, he was consciously loving and
serving Jesus in them. Centuries later, a son of Saint Philip, John Henry
Newman, followed his spiritual father’s practice. As a very old man, he would
sit in chapel with a notebook containing names and prayer intentions. He would
spend hours holding one person after another up in prayer to the mercy of
Christ. Both men understood that humble intercession is the core of true
Christian prayer and an essential component in the life of a priest.
The Holy Spirit sometimes
manifested himself in extraordinary ways when Saint Philip heard confession and
gave spiritual direction. The penitent would hear the beating of the saint’s
heart and feel heat emanating from his body — physical revelations of the
presence of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the saint revealed a hidden or forgotten
sin to a careless and startled penitent. At other times, there would be a word
of prophecy, bringing warning or consolation. The ordinary manifestations of
the Holy Spirit in the lives of his penitents were the grace of confessing
one’s sins without fear or anxiety, the peace that filled the soul of the
reconciled sinner, freedom from the bondage of habitual sin, the sense of the
presence of the Heavenly Father, a renewed commitment to one’s duties, and a
greater power to love God and neighbor.
A Eucharistic mysticism
At the center of Saint
Philip’s spiritual life was the daily celebration of the Holy Eucharist. At the
beginning of his priesthood, Saint Philip lived with another priest who spent
himself promoting frequent, even daily reception of the Holy Eucharist, a
practice not common in those times. Saint Philip admired and supported this
apostolate, but took another approach. His focus was frequent confession for
the sake of the worthy and fruitful reception of the Holy Eucharist.
Philip was always
surrounded by joy and laughter. People, young and old, loved to be in his
company. There was always a lot of fun going on around Philip jokes, pranks,
teasing and buffoonery. Philip used this lure to attract souls to Christ. He
encouraged all to go to confession frequently. Since people loved to be with
him, they came in large numbers and often to receive the sacrament. Philip
attracted people through his personality — not to himself, but to Christ. In a
sense, Philip Neri is a perfect specimen of the genius of the priesthood. He
demonstrates that priests should want to be loved by their people. This love is
the bridge whereby the good priest leads his people not to himself, but rather,
through himself, to Christ.
It seems that Saint
Philip spent as much time as Saint John Vianney hearing confessions. Why? He
spent long hours in the confessional to reconcile sinners with God, to bring
them inner peace, to create a culture of Christian love. Above all, though,
Saint Philip Neri, like all the great priest-saints, was so devoted to
confession precisely because of his love for the Holy Eucharist. He wanted
everyone to love Christ as he deserves to be loved and to receive him worthily
and fruitfully.
For Saint Philip, hearing
confession was a kind of mystical prayer. Acting in persona Christi, Saint
Philip experienced the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit in him, cleansing
consciences and forming the penitents in the image of Christ. In this sense, he
has a kinship with Saint John Vianney, Saint Padre Pio, and Saint Leopold
Mandic. Saint Philip would likely tell priests that contemplative prayer is
always accessible to them in preaching and teaching Catholic doctrine, in
celebrating Mass, and in hearing confessions. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are
never closer or more active than in the outpouring of their love through
priestly mediation.
As an old man, Saint
Philip spent hours each day on the roof of the Chiesa Nuova contemplating
the mysteries of God as he looked out over the city of Rome and the mountains
that surround it. His confreres often, and not always in a good mood, climbed
the many flights of stairs leading to the roof to tell the father that one of
his many penitents was waiting for confession. Without hesitation or any
annoyance, Saint Philip would leave his prayer to hear the confession. He would
interrupt his prayer on the roof saying that he was leaving Jesus to go to
Jesus.
Saint Philip insisted
that the church building, the altar, the linens and the vestments be immaculate
and as beautiful as possible. He inspired the Renaissance musician, Palestrina,
to write polyphonic music for Mass. Saint Philip’s priestly spirituality was
riveted on the Holy Eucharist. Everything he did, from preaching, catechesis,
and his work with youth to confession and spiritual direction, had one end — to
lead people to union with Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
Saint Philip also loved
the public solemnization of the Liturgy of the Hours. Sunday Vespers was an
important moment in the life of Philip’s parishes. He grasped the intimate
relationship that exists between the Eucharist and the Hours and wanted to
bring the faithful into the mystery.
Saint Philip received
many mystical graces when he celebrated Mass, graces that he tried to hide from
the view of the people. When he started having these mystical experiences
during Mass, he had someone read jokes to him on the way from the sacristy into
the church. He hoped that this would distract him enough to be able to get
through Mass without an ecstasy. Late in his life, he was unable to preach and
celebrate Mass in public because of the physical effects of these mystical
graces.
Preaching, he would go
into ecstasy at the mention of the name of Jesus. He would spend two to three
hours in ecstatic thanksgiving after receiving Holy Communion. There are
records that he sometimes levitated during the celebration of the Holy
Eucharist in the parish church.
There is a strange
attitudinal phenomenon among some Catholics today that has persisted in the
Church for centuries. It is the unfortunate dichotomy that exists in some
people’s minds between liturgy and prayer. The Mass and the Liturgy of the
Hours are looked upon as public worship. Real prayer, it is presumed, begins
when one makes his or her Holy Hour or enters into a period of meditation or
imaginative contemplation.
This attitude would be, I
think, incomprehensible and abhorrent to Saint Philip Neri. For him, the prayer
of prayers was the Mass (and the Hours). He held as an article of faith that
the Eucharist is nothing less than the real presence of Christ and the
re-presentation of his life-giving sacrifice. He also understood that Christ is
truly present, but in different ways, in the other sacraments. The fact that
the risen Christ lives and acts in the sacraments that he instituted was the
foundation of the mystical life that Philip Neri experienced as a priest.
Philip sought to follow
Jesus’ command: Pray always! However, there would be no question in his mind
that all personal prayer flows directly from the Eucharist and the other
sacraments and leads back to the most mystic of all experiences, the
consecration of the bread and wine at Mass. Likewise, Saint Philip knew and
taught that charity in all its manifestations flows directly from the Eucharist
and leads the Christian back to a more perfect offering of the sacrifice.
In other words, for
Philip the Eucharist, in a sense, was perpetuated in time and manifested its
fruitfulness whenever he heard confessions or directed souls, visited and
anointed the sick, prepared young couples to receive the sacrament of
matrimony, taught children the catechism, helped the poor, or washed the feet
of pilgrims. Saint Philip teaches us that the spiritual life is one and that
the Eucharist is the integrating center of everything the priest does.
There are many other
things that might be highlighted from the life of Saint Philip: his sense of
humor, his ability to help people not take themselves too seriously, his many
charismatic gifts at the service of forming men and women in the Christian
life, his knack of forming humble and zealous priests, his understanding of the
place of Sacred Scripture in preaching and in personal prayer, his appreciation
of the history of the Church and the role of the cult of the saints in everyday
life, and his disdain for clericalism and clerical ambition. The biographies
tell the stories and illustrate the wisdom of this holy priest who lived in the
splendor of the Italian Renaissance as if he was a first generation Christian
in Jerusalem or pagan Rome.
The apostolate of
personal influence
Philip chose to exercise
his priesthood primarily by influencing people one by one. He made friends with
people, loved them, and drew them into the heart of Christ precisely through
love. Philip Neri is not remembered as a great preacher, a renowned theologian,
or a brilliant administrator. His genius lay in his ability to enter into
authentic and appropriate human relationships with men and women so as to unite
them to Christ in the church’s sacraments. His brilliance was in the realm of
personal influence though relationships. Only the Lord knows how many peoples’
lives he influenced in the confessional, in spiritual direction, and through
the counsel offered in so many different situations.
John Henry Newman has
admirably described Philip’s charismatic gift — the facility of drawing men and
women to Christ, particularly in the sacrament of penance: “He allured men to
the service of God so dexterously, and with such a holy, winning art, that
those who saw it cried out, astonished: ‘Father Philip draws souls as the
magnet draws iron.’ He so accommodated himself to the temper of each, as, in
the words of the Apostle, to become ‘all things to all men, that he might gain
all.’ And his love of them individually was so tender and ardent, that, even in
extreme old age, he was anxious to suffer for their sins; and for this end he
inflicted on himself severe disciplines, and he reckoned their misdeeds as his
own, and wept for them as such.”3
At a time in the life of
the Church in North America when, as a result of the terrible sexual crimes
that have scarred the face of the priesthood, priests fear or at least are
apprehensive about entering into appropriate priestly relationships, especially
with the young, Saint Philip Neri is a model par excellence of the
priest who loves all of his people for the sake of uniting them to Christ.
Saint Philip understood that his celibacy freed him to love Christ with an
undivided heart and to give himself chastely to all of God’s people.
A profound love for the
mother of God
One may not describe the
life and ministry of Saint Philip Neri without at least one word on his
profound and childlike love for the mother of God. Philip, it seems, was often
indecisive. When he was building the Chiesa Nuova he frequently
changed the plans. On several occasions he indicated that the main aisle was
not long enough. Through his regular vacillations, Philip drove the
construction workers to despair. One morning, Philip walked into the unfinished
church. Our Blessed Mother appeared to him holding up the central beam of the
ceiling. He sent the workers up the scaffolding to learn that Our Lady was
indeed the only reason the roof had not collapsed. Saint Philip teaches priests
that this is the kind of confidence the true priest should have in Mary’s
heavenly intercession.
John Henry Cardinal
Newman, a disciple of Saint Philip Neri through all the years of his
priesthood, describes Saint Philip’s way of priestly holiness and the kind of
priests who sought out his company and his spiritual direction. Perhaps Saint
Philip through his personal influence will today inspire many contemporary
priests to be priests after his heart:
I would beg for you this
privilege, that the public world might never know you for praise or for blame,
that you should do a good deal of hard work in your generation, and prosecute
many useful labors, and effect a number of religious purposes, and send many
souls to heaven, and take men by surprise, how much you were really doing, when
they happened to come near enough to see it; but that by the world you should
be overlooked, that you should not be known out of your place, that you should
work for God alone with a pure heart and single eye, without the distractions
of human applause, and should make him your sole hope, and his eternal heaven
your sole aim, and have your reward, not partly here, but fully and entirely
hereafter.4
End Notes
1. Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, 42.
2. Louis Bouyer of the Oratory, The Roman Socrates — A Portrait of Saint Philip. Trans. by Michael Day. Westminster, Maryland, the Newman Press, 1958.
3. John Henry Newman, The Mission of Saint Philip II, 7.
4. John Henry Newman, The Mission of Saint Philip Neri
SOURCE : https://communio.stblogs.org/index.php/2014/05/saint-philip-neri-and-the-priesthood/
Statue
of Philip Neri in Congregados Church, Braga, Portugal
MAY 26, 2016
St. Philip Neri: The
Humorous Side of Humility
We live in a world that
takes itself too seriously. I would hazard a guess that many people
reading this piece struggle with this taking of one’s self to seriously, just
as I do. It turns out, there is a saint to help us: St. Philip Neri. Today the
Church celebrates this humorous, charitable, obedient, and joyful saint. He was
born in 1515 in Florence, Italy. He spent many years studying and serving as a
layman before being ordained a priest. He had a profound mystical experience
that led him to serve in hospitals and he felt such great love of God that he
preached to the poor and the rich alike in his desire to bring the world to
Him.
St. Philip developed
quite a following. He founded a confraternity alongside his confessor, Persiano
Rossa, called the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity of Pilgrims and
Convalescents. The confraternity served the needs of poor pilgrims who came to
Rome throughout the year and during jubilee years. St. Philip was ordained in
1551 and he also founded the Congregation of the Oratory, which was a group of
secular priests.
St. Philip was known for
unpredictable behavior that surprised a great many people:
He seemed to sense the
different ways to bring people to God. One man came to the Oratory just to make
fun of it. Philip wouldn’t let the others throw him out or speak against him.
He told them to be patient and eventually the man became a Dominican. On the
other hand, when he met a condemned man who refused to listen to any pleas for
repentance, Philip didn’t try gentle words, but grabbed the man by the collar
and threw him to the ground. The move shocked the criminal into repentance and
he made a full confession.
St. Philip Neri,
Catholic.org
It is clear that St.
Philip could see the need for different approaches depending on the situation.
It demonstrated his ability of discernment and his willingness to do what was
necessary to bring others to God.
The virtue that enjoyed
pride-of-place for St. Philip Neri was humility. He knew that humility was the
only way for people to truly find and serve God. His approach to teaching
humility to others was unique and often was accompanied by a humorous side. It
is obvious that much of pride and anger stems from an overemphasis on self and
that can often include an over dependence on seriousness. The Christian life is
one of joy and being too serious points too often to sinful pride, which is
destructive.
Humility was the most
important virtue he tried to teach others and to learn himself. Some of his
lessons in humility seem cruel, but they were tinged with humor like practical
jokes and were related with gratitude by the people they helped. His lessons
always seem to be tailored directly to what the person needed. One member who
was later to become a cardinal was too serious and so Philip had him sing
the Misere at a wedding breakfast. When one priest gave a beautiful
sermon, Philip ordered him to give the same sermon six times in a row so people
would think he only had one sermon.
Ibid.
His approach to humility
is one that many of us can learn from in our own journey to holiness. How can
St. Philip’s approach to humility guide us?
Properly order our God
given gifts.
Each person on this earth
who is created in the image and likeness of God, possesses unique gifts that
are to be used to further the Kingdom of God. The danger for all of us is to
rely too heavily on our own worth or abilities rather than a dependence on and
gratitude to God for those gifts. For instance, St. Philip Neri knew that a
beautiful sermon and the gift of Homiletics could come with pride and an
over-dependence on one’s own insight or intellectual capacity. In order to save
this priest from these temptations and dangers, St. Philip taught him that his
gifts in writing and delivering sermons rested with God. It is amusing to think
of this priest giving the same Homily “six times in a row”, as the parishioners
looked on in confusion, or even perhaps, boredom. Whether we are able to write,
sing, build, paint, sculpt, deliver speeches, study, or do any other manner of
things, we must remember that God has given us those gifts in His service and
not our own. Pride in our own abilities often blinds us to the mission God has
given us and can impede our journey to sainthood.
We must laugh at
ourselves.
Every single one of us
has been embarrassed or committed some kind of error. How we react speaks
volumes about our progress on the path to holiness. Do we become enraged at
ourselves or others? Do we make excuses? In reality, all of us have these
reactions from time-to-time. As we progress in the spiritual life, however, we
begin to recognize our own limitations. We also accept that we will make
mistakes and so will everyone else. As we come to this realization, we stop
judging ourselves and others so harshly. We begin to laugh it off. We don’t get
angry, frustrated, or make excuses. We get to a point where we can laugh at
ourselves and encourage others to do the same. Being too serious in all matters
leads to various deadly sins. Pride and anger have led to murder and other
serious sins since the Fall. We don’t have to use a weapon to kill or injure
others; we only have to open our mouths to do grave and irrevocable harm to
those around us.
Be willing to accept
constructive criticism.
‘Everyone’s a critic’. We
all struggle to focus on our own faults. There is a reason Christ tells us to
focus on our own “plank” over our brother’s “speck”. When our eyes are always turned
in judgment towards others we cannot possibly move forward towards our
eschatological goal of Heaven. Every single one of us will be on the receiving
end of criticism. It may be justified and it may be unjust. In most cases the
justice of it cannot be fought, so we must learn to take it in, ponder it, and
either use it as a teaching tool, or discard it. As hard as it may be at the
time, much criticism is born of love. This is especially true in marriage.
Spouses who love one another want to fulfill their vocation of leading one
another to Heaven. At times that may include much needed constructive
criticism. We must not assume that others are automatically trying to hurt us.
Instead, we need to remember that someone who truly loves us desires our good and
we need to take into consideration what they are trying to tell us. It isn’t
easy, but it is a response that can be born out of habit, so that we may attain
humility.
Humility is a struggle
for all of us. St. Philip Neri’s unique and comical approach to the spiritual
life and the fostering of this virtue can help each one of us on our own
journey to the Most Holy Trinity. If we are taking ourselves too
seriously then we need to take a step back and examine ourselves. We must be
willing to accept our weaknesses, so that we can fall on Christ. That takes
humility. When we make a mistake we need to laugh and move on. We are on a
joyful path, not one of anger and frustration. We must learn to accept
constructive criticism born of love, so that we can be purified and made holy
through our vocations. May St. Philip Neri’s joyful, humorous, and charitable
example guide us to Our Lord. St. Philip Neri, ora pro nobis.
Tagged as: Best of Week, humor, philip-neri, saints, St Philip Neri
Constance T. Hull is a
wife, mother, homeschooler, and a graduate with an M.A. in Theology with an
emphasis in philosophy. Her desire is to live the wonder so passionately
preached in the works of G.K. Chesterton and to share that with her daughter
and others. While you can frequently find her head inside of a great work of
theology or philosophy, she considers her husband and daughter to be her
greatest teachers. She is passionate about beauty, working towards holiness,
the Sacraments, and all things Catholic. She is also published at The
Federalist, Public Discourse, and blogs frequently at Swimming the Depths.
SOURCE : https://catholicexchange.com/st-philip-neri-humorous-side-humility/
Giovanni Antonio Faldoni (1689–1770) After Tommaso
Conca (1734–1822), San
Filippo Neri, engraving
MAY 26, 2021
12 Sayings from St.
Philip Neri
St. Philip Neri,
affectionately known as “Pippo Buono,” was born in Florence, Italy on July 22,
1515. He lived a long, fruitful and holy life that ended May 25, 1595. May
26th is the feast day of this incredible and prolific saint. The chronology of his
life demonstrates God’s abundant gifts manifested in a soul fully
cooperating with grace. St. Philip Neri was the embodiment of that
extraordinary paradox fulfilling Christ’s twin commandments to love God and
neighbor. He was a contemplative in action. His greatest desire was to be alone
with God in prayer, but he was quick to attend to any soul in need of
confession, counsel or pastoral care. He would instantly leave his solemn
prayers to join a soul in need with the saying “we must leave Christ for
Christ.”
St. Philip was supremely
educated. He studied the humanities under some of the finest scholars in a
wonderfully scholarly age. He studied philosophy at the Sapienza and theology
in the school of the Augustinians. When he determined that he had learned
enough, he sold all his books and gave the proceeds to the poor. After that, he
devoted himself wholly to the sanctification and his soul and that of his
neighbor until the end of his life. For our edification, the wise and holy
saint left a list of daily Maxims numbering one for each day of the year. The
maxims come to us in a translation of
the Ricordi
e Detti di San Filippo Neri, published at Turin, translated for us by Fr.
F.W. Faber who was a contemporary and dear friend to John Henry Cardinal
Newman. Following is a single maxim extracted from each month to inspire the
desire to learn more and perhaps encourage the practice of daily meditation on
St. Philip Neri’s excellent sayings.
January– “Let no one wear
a mask, otherwise he will do ill; and if he has one let him burn it!”
Here the good saint echoes the lesson of Plato’s allegory of the cave. Let us
not be deceived by shadows or external pretenses, especially when it comes to
the masks we put on. St. Philip Neri lived this maxim. When he was shown his
family pedigree he ripped it up and when he heard that his father’s house had
burned he was wholly unconcerned. Let us rip off and burn our false pretenses,
unfounded opinions, and illusory constructs. Let us instead “put on Christ.”
February– “Beginners in
religion ought to exercise themselves principally in mediation on the last four
things.” Death, judgment, Heaven and hell ought to always be at the forefronts
of our minds and in our hearts if we are to end as God intends us to end. These
four last things are unpopular topics of meditation in this turgid age, much
less topics of conversation. We are bidden to recover a sense of urgency in
meditating upon these things for as St. Philip tells us, “he who does not in
his thoughts and fears go down to hell in his lifetime, runs a great risk of
going there when he dies.”
March– “The wisdom of the
scriptures is learned rather by prayer than by study.” How well did Saint
Philip know the limits of the intellect and our own powers of perception? He
had no need of books or of human study. St. Philip tells us that through prayer
and meditation on the Holy Scriptures, the One True Teacher by the gifts of the
Holy Spirit can instantaneously instruct an obedient soul to heights
unachievable by human striving over a lifetime. Let us trust in the instructive
power of the Holy Spirit, not our own natural gifts.”
April– “excessive sadness
seldom springs from any other source than pride.” This would confound the
modern psychologists, but a more truthful artifact of human psychology could
hardly be uttered in this age. So abundant was St. Philip Neri’s humility that
he was known for his cheerfulness his entire life. On one occasion, one of his
flock was appalled by how the good saint was being ill-treated by another
parishioner and to calm her indignation he told her “If I were humble, God
would not send this to me.” On the Feast of Corpus Christi, May 25, 1595, St.
Philip had known that his final hour had come. His physician remarked that he
was in spectacularly high spirits. He went to his eternal reward as cheerful as
ever. Humility is the wellspring of peace and joy.”
May– “Men are generally
the carpenters of their own crosses.” In order to inculcate the virtue of
patience in his own disciples, St. Philip would tell them to never lose heart.
More importantly, he instructed them never to flee from a cross, because if
they did, then most assuredly they would shortly be confronted by a greater
cross. The Saint would say “there is nothing on earth more beautiful than to
make real virtue of necessity, instead of doing what men mostly do –
manufacture crosses for themselves.” Let us learn from holy St. Philip to
embrace our crosses and thereby manufacture less of them for ourselves.”
June– “If you want to
come where I am going, that is, to glory, you must come this road, that is,
through thorns.” It seems counterintuitive to realize that the walk of holiness
is fraught with temptations, difficulty and the suffering of the cross. St.
Philip would tell his disciples that “on communion days the devil generally
makes greater and sharper assaults than on other days; and if young men do not
resist these, they come at last to outrage the Sacrament.” Our yes to Christ
and embarking on the road to glory is the arduous trek up the path of thorns.
Let us be ever vigilant and put on the “armor of God” to withstand the trials.”
July– “To obtain
perfectly the gift of humility, four things are required: to despise the world,
to despise no person, to despise one’s self, to despise being despised.” This
is a hard but essential saying. Without humility we are unable to cooperate
with the abundant graces of God. Thomas A Kempis reminds us to “forsake this
wretched world” and our souls shall find rest. The commandment to love our neighbor
is to recognize that all human souls are made in the image and likeness of God
and to despise that image is to condemn ourselves. What we are to despise in
ourselves is our falleness and our disordered proclivities. Finally, what we
ought to rightfully despise is violence against any image of God.”
August– “The true servant
of God recognizes no other country but Heaven.” To have things in their proper
order is to put God first and neighbor second. Msgr. Ronald Knox said “we are
here to colonize Heaven, not make things better on earth.” It is a beautiful
paradox that in colonizing Heaven, we are making things better on earth. If we
put the city of man in front of the City of God, we will lose both the City of
Man and the heavenly country. So let us follow the wise counsel of the good
Saint and recognize only the Heavenly Country.
September– “In giving
alms to the poor we must act as good ministers of the Providence of God.” The
poverty of this modern world is moral not material. The Apostle’s Catechism
called the Didache exhorts,
“let the alms perspire in your palm until you know to whom you give.” Too often
we imprudently give material succor with the result that we have enabled
unvirtuous habits. What is needed is for us to help to recover the image of
Christ on our neighbor’s heart in imitation of St. Peter in Acts of the
Apostles 3:6 when he said “Silver and gold I have none; but what I have, I give
thee.” Loving our neighbor is spiritual first and providing material aid,
though necessary, in these times requires holy discernment.
October– “Fathers and
mothers of families should bring up their children virtuously, looking at them
rather as God’s children than their own; and to count life and health, and all
they possess as loans which they hold of God.” The Catechism of the Catholic
Church rightfully proclaims in paragraph 1666: “The
Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of
the faith. For this reason the family home is rightly called “the domestic
church,” a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of
Christian charity.” Saint Philip Neri would exhort us to model our families as
domestic churches in imitation of the Holy Family to become the building blocks
of the heavenly civilization.
November– “The sanctity
of a man lies in the breadth of three fingers, (the forehead,) that is to say,
in mortifying the understanding, which would fain reason upon things.” The
great Saint warns us of the affliction of this age of reason; that of over
valuating the intellect. We ought not to understand the world, our place in it
and our final purpose by way of our minds, but by the law written upon our
hearts by the authority of the Creator. The gifts of understanding leading to
sanctity come by way of the heart and are imparted by the Holy Spirit, not the
mind empowered by our own lights.
December– “Certain
voluntary attachments of self-love must be cut through, and then we must dig
round the, and then remove the earth, till we get down deep enough to find the
place they are rooted and interlaced together.” Saint Philip Neri exhorts us to
root out our defects by constant prayer, meditation on Holy Scripture, alms
giving and frequent confession. Self-deceit is abundant in our fallen natures
and a cause to distrust ourselves and to obediently listen to our confessors
instead. Let us regain possession of the inner landscape by the practice of
detachment and obedience to Divine Law.
In leaving us a year’s worth of daily maxims, Saint Philip Neri encourages and invites all Christians to “a daily spiritual repast… to the end that every one might have each day, either a maxim to meditate upon, or a virtue to copy.” The intended method is to read one a day and to let that daily maxim regulate the particular actions of that day. Here at a glance we have looked at 12 sayings with the hope that this short list will provoke further desire to meditate on one of Saint Philip Neri’s daily sayings each day in the future. Surely the exercise will bear abundant spiritual fruit as this day we celebrate the cheerful Saint Philip Neri.
By Steven Jonathan Rummelsburg
Steven Jonathan
Rummelsburg is the executive director of the 7 Institutes at the Veritatis
Splendor HQ project. He is a senior fellow at The American
Principles Project and a senior fellow at The Cardinal Newman Society.
He is on the Teacher Advisory Council at Sophia Institute Press for teachers
where he has written Catholic curriculum for the past 8 years, he also serves
on the advisory council for Aquinas Learning. Steven is a writer and speaker on
education, culture, and the Faith.
SOURCE : https://catholicexchange.com/12-sayings-from-st-philip-neri/
Michelangelo Ricciolini (1654–1715),
Sv. Filip Neri z Materjo Božjo, circa 1715, Ljubljana Cathedral
San Filippo Neri Sacerdote
Firenze, 1515 - Roma, 26
maggio 1595
Figlio di un notaio
fiorentino di buona famiglia. Ricevette una buona istruzione e poi fece pratica
dell'attività di suo padre; ma aveva subito l'influenza dei domenicani di san
Marco, dove Savonarola era stato frate non molto tempo prima, e dei benedettini
di Montecassino, e all'età di diciott'anni abbandonò gli affari e andò a Roma.
Là visse come laico per diciassette anni e inizialmente si guadagnò da vivere
facendo il precettore, scrisse poesie e studiò filosofia e teologia. A quel
tempo la città era in uno stato di grande corruzione, e nel 1538 Filippo Neri
cominciò a lavorare fra i giovani della città e fondò una confraternita di
laici che si incontravano per adorare Dio e per dare aiuto ai pellegrini e ai
convalescenti, e che gradualmente diedero vita al grande ospizio della Trinità.
Filippo passava molto tempo in preghiera, specialmente di notte e nella
catacomba di san Sebastiano, dove nel 1544 sperimentò un'estasi di amore divino
che si crede abbia lasciato un effetto fisico permanente sul suo
cuore. Nel 1551 Filippo Neri fu ordinato prete e andò a vivere nel
convitto ecclesiastico di san Girolamo, dove presto si fece un nome come
confessore; gli fu attribuito il dono di saper leggere nei cuori. Ma la
sua occupazione principale era ancora il lavoro tra i giovani. San Filippo era
assistito da altri giovani chierici, e nel 1575 li aveva organizzati nella
Congregazione dell'Oratorio; per la sua società (i cui membri non emettono i
voti che vincolano gli ordini religiosi e le congregazioni), costruì una nuova
chiesa, la Chiesa Nuova, a santa Maria "in Vallicella". Diventò
famoso in tutta la città e la sua influenza sui romani del tempo, a qualunque
ceto appartenessero, fu incalcolabile.
Patronato: Giovani
Etimologia: Filippo = che
ama i cavalli, dal greco
Martirologio Romano:
Memoria di san Filippo Neri, sacerdote, che, adoperandosi per allontanare i
giovani dal male, fondò a Roma un oratorio, nel quale si eseguivano letture
spirituali, canti e opere di carità; rifulse per il suo amore verso il
prossimo, la semplicità evangelica, la letizia d’animo, lo zelo esemplare e il
fervore nel servire Dio.
Filippo Neri nasce a
Firenze il 21 luglio 1515, e riceve il battesimo nel "bel san
Giovanni" dei Fiorentini il giorno seguente, festa di S. Maria
Maddalena.
La famiglia dei Neri, che
aveva conosciuto in passato una certa importanza, risentiva allora delle mutate
condizioni politiche e viveva in modesto stato economico. Il padre, ser
Francesco, era notaio, ma l'esercizio della sua professione era ristretto ad una
piccola cerchia di clienti; la madre, Lucrezia da Mosciano, proveniva da una
modesta famiglia del contado, e moriva poco dopo aver dato alla luce il quarto
figlio.
La famiglia si trovò
affidata alle cure della nuova sposa di ser Francesco, Alessandra di Michele
Lenzi, che instaurò con tutti un affettuoso rapporto, soprattutto con Filippo,
il secondogenito, dotato di un bellissimo carattere, pio e gentile, vivace e
lieto, il "Pippo buono" che suscitava affetto ed ammirazione tra
tutti i conoscenti.
Dal padre, probabilmente,
Filippo ricevette la prima istruzione, che lasciò in lui soprattutto il gusto
dei libri e della lettura, una passione che lo accompagnò per tutta la vita,
testimoniata dall'inventario della sua biblioteca privata, lasciata in morte
alla Congregazione romana, e costituita di un notevole numero di volumi. La
formazione religiosa del ragazzo ebbe nel convento dei Domenicani di San Marco
un centro forte e fecondo. Si respirava, in quell'ambiente, il clima spirituale
del movimento savonaroliano, e per fra Girolamo Savonarola Filippo nutrì
devozione lungo tutto l'arco della vita, pur nella evidente distanza dai metodi
e dalle scelte del focoso predicatore apocalittico.
Intorno ai diciotto anni,
su consiglio del padre, desideroso di offrire a quel figlio delle possibilità
che egli non poteva garantire, Filippo si recò da un parente, avviato
commerciante e senza prole, a San Germano, l'attuale Cassino. Ma l'esperienza
della mercatura durò pochissimo tempo: erano altre le aspirazioni del cuore, e
non riuscirono a trattenerlo l'affetto della nuova famiglia e le prospettive di
un'agiata situazione economica.
Lo troviamo infatti a
Roma, a partire dal 1534. Vi si recò, probabilmente, senza un progetto preciso.
Roma, la città santa delle memorie cristiane, la terra benedetta dal sangue dei
martiri, ma anche allettatrice di tanti uomini desiderio di carriera e di
successo, attrasse il suo desiderio di intensa vita spirituale: Filippo vi
giunse come pellegrino, e con l'animo del pellegrino penitente, del
"monaco della città" per usare un'espressione oggi di moda, visse gli
anni della sua giovinezza, austero e lieto al tempo stesso, tutto dedito a
coltivare lo spirito.
La casa del fiorentino
Galeotto Caccia, capo della Dogana, gli offrì una modesta ospitalità - una
piccola camera ed un ridottissimo vitto - ricambiata da Filippo con l'incarico
di precettore dei figli del Caccia. Lo studio lo attira - frequenta le lezioni
di filosofia e di teologia dagli Agostiniani ed alla Sapienza - ma ben maggiore
è l'attrazione della vita contemplativa che impedisce talora a Filippo persino
di concentrarsi sugli argomenti delle lezioni.
La vita contemplativa che
egli attua è vissuta nella libertà del laico che poteva scegliere, fuori dai
recinti di un chiostro, i modi ed i luoghi della sua preghiera: Filippo
predilesse le chiese solitarie, i luoghi sacri delle catacombe, memoria dei
primi tempi della Chiesa apostolica, il sagrato delle chiese durante le notti
silenziose. Coltivò per tutta la vita questo spirito di contemplazione,
alimentato anche da fenomeni straordinari, come quello della Pentecoste del
1544, quando Filippo, nelle catacombe si san Sebastiano, durante una notte di
intensa preghiera, ricevette in forma sensibile il dono dello Spirito Santo che
gli dilatò il cuore infiammandolo di un fuoco che arderà nel petto del santo
fino al termine dei suoi giorni.
Questa intensissima vita
contemplativa si sposava nel giovane Filippo ad un altrettanto intensa, quanto
discreta nelle forme e libera nei metodi, attività di apostolato nei confronti
di coloro che egli incontrava nelle piazze e per le vie di Roma, nel servizio
della carità presso gli Ospedali degli incurabili, nella partecipazione alla
vita di alcune confraternite, tra le quali, in modo speciale, quella della
Trinità dei Pellegrini, di cui Filippo, se non il fondatore, fu sicuramente il
principale artefice insieme al suo confessore P. Persiano Rosa.
A questo degnissimo
sacerdote, che viveva a san Girolamo della Carità, e con il quale Filippo aveva
profonde sintonie di temperamento lieto e di impostazione spirituale, il
giovane, che ormai si avviava all'età adulta, aveva affidato la cura della sua
anima. Ed è sotto la direzione spirituale di P. Persiano che maturò lentamente
la chiamata alla vita sacerdotale. Filippo se ne sentiva indegno, ma sapeva il
valore dell'obbedienza fiduciosa ad un padre spirituale che gli dava tanti
esempi di santità. A trentasei anni, il 23 maggio del 1551, dopo aver ricevuto
gli ordini minori, il suddiaconato ed il diaconato, nella chiesa parrocchiale
di S. Tommaso in Parione, il vicegerente di Roma, Mons. Sebastiano Lunel, lo
ordinava sacerdote.
Messer Filippo Neri
continuò da sacerdote l'intensa vita apostolica che già lo aveva caratterizzato
da laico. Andò ad abitare nella Casa di san Girolamo, sede della Confraternita
della Carità, che ospitava a pigione un certo numero di sacerdoti secolari,
dotati di ottimo spirito evangelico, i quali attendevano alla annessa chiesa.
Qui il suo principale ministero divenne l'esercizio del confessionale, ed è
proprio con i suoi penitenti che Filippo iniziò, nella semplicità della
sua piccola camera, quegli incontri di meditazione, di dialogo spirituale, di
preghiera, che costituiscono l'anima ed il metodo dell'Oratorio. Ben presto quella
cameretta non bastò al numero crescente di amici spirituali, e Filippo ottenne
da "quelli della Carità" di poterli radunare in un locale, situato
sopra una nave della chiesa, prima destinato a conservare il grano che i
confratelli distribuivano ai poveri.
Tra i discepoli del
santo, alcuni - ricordiamo tra tutti Cesare Baronio e Francesco Maria Tarugi, i
futuri cardinali - maturarono la vocazione sacerdotale, innamorati del metodo e
dell'azione pastorale di P. Filippo. Nacque così, senza un progetto
preordinato, la "Congregazione dell'Oratorio": la comunità dei preti
che nell'Oratorio avevano non solo il centro della loro vita spirituale, ma
anche il più fecondo campo di apostolato. Insieme ad altri discepoli di
Filippo, nel frattempo divenuti sacerdoti, questi andarono ad abitare a San
Giovanni dei Fiorentini, di cui P. Filippo aveva dovuto accettare la Rettoria
per le pressioni dei suoi connazionali sostenuti dal Papa. E qui iniziò tra i
discepoli di Filippo quella semplice vita famigliare, retta da poche regole
essenziali, che fu la culla della futura Congregazione.
Nel 1575 Papa Gregorio
XIII affidò a Filippo ed ai suoi preti la piccola e fatiscente chiesa di S.
Maria in Vallicella, a due passi da S. Girolamo e da S. Giovanni dei
Fiorentini, erigendo al tempo stesso con la Bolla "Copiosus in
misericordia Deus" la "Congregatio presbyterorm saecularium de
Oratorio nuncupanda". Filippo, che continuò a vivere nell'amata cameretta
di San Girolamo fino al 1583, e che si trasferì, solo per obbedienza al Papa,
nella nuova residenza dei suoi preti, si diede con tutto l'impegno a
ricostruire in dimensioni grandiose ed in bellezza la piccola chiesa della
Vallicella.
Qui trascorse gli ultimi
dodici anni della sua vita, nell'esercizio del suo prediletto apostolato di
sempre: l'incontro paterno e dolcissimo, ma al tempo stesso forte ed
impegnativo, con ogni categoria di persone, nell'intento di condurre a Dio ogni
anima non attraverso difficili sentieri, ma nella semplicità evangelica, nella
fiduciosa certezza dell'infallibile amore divino, nella letizia dello spirito
che sgorga dall'unione con Dio. Si spense nelle prime ore del 26 maggio 1595,
all'età di ottant'anni, amato dai suoi e da tutta Roma di un amore carico di
stima e di affezione.
La sua vita è chiaramente
suddivisa in due periodi di pressoché identica durata: trentasei anni di vita
laicale, quarantaquattro di vita sacerdotale. Ma Filippo Neri, fiorentino di
nascita - e quanto amava ricordarlo! - e romano di adozione - tanto egli aveva
adottato Roma, quanto Roma aveva adottato lui! - fu sempre quel prodigio di
carità apostolica vissuta in una mirabile unione con Dio, che la Grazia divina
operò in un uomo originalissimo ed affascinante.
"Apostolo di
Roma" lo definirono immediatamente i Pontefici ed il popolo Romano,
attribuendogli il titolo riservato a Pietro e Paolo, titolo che Roma non diede
a nessun altro dei pur grandissimi santi che, contemporaneamente a Filippo,
aveva vissuto ed operato tra le mura della Città Eterna. Il cuore di Padre
Filippo, ardente del fuoco dello Spirito, cessava di battere in terra in quella
bella notte estiva, ma lasciava in eredità alla sua Congregazione ed alla
Chiesa intera il dono di una vita a cui la Chiesa non cessa di guardare con
gioioso stupore. Ne è forte testimonianza anche il Magistero del Santo Padre
Giovanni Paolo II che in varie occasioni ha lumeggiato la figura di san Filippo
Neri e lo ha citato, unico dei santi che compaiano esplicitamente con il loro
nome, nella Bolla di indizione del Grande Giubileo del 2000.
Autore: Mons.
Edoardo Aldo Cerrato CO
Fonte : www.oratoriosanfilippo.org
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/23150
Giovan
Francesco Barbieri detto Guercino, San Filippo Neri, 1656. Dalla cappella del
Collegio Belluzzi. Museo di Stato di San Marino. Foto
di Stefano Bolognini, 2008.
Giovan
Francesco Barbieri called "Guercino", Saint Philip Neri, 1656. On display at the National Museum of San Marino. Picture
by Stefano Bolognini, 2008.
Filippo Neri
(1515-1595)
BEATIFICAZIONE:
- 25 maggio 1615
- Papa Paolo V
CANONIZZAZIONE:
- 12 marzo 1622
- Papa Gregorio XV
- Basilica Vaticana
RICORRENZA:
- 26 maggio
L’apostolo di Roma libero e sorridente
Sacerdote, che,
adoperandosi per allontanare i giovani dal male, fondò a Roma un oratorio, nel
quale si eseguivano letture spirituali, canti e opere di carità; rifulse per il
suo amore verso il prossimo, la semplicità evangelica, la letizia d’animo, lo
zelo esemplare e il fervore nel servire Dio
“Figliuoli, siate umili,
state bassi: siate umili, state bassi”
Filippo Neri nasce a
Firenze il 21 luglio 1515, figlio di un agiato notaio. Inizialmente segue le
orme del padre ma all'età di diciott'anni abbandona gli affari e si reca a Roma
Quando arriva a Roma nel
1534, è come se una luce venisse accesa nel buio della miseria che annida tra
le glorie dell’Ara Pacis e i lustri travertini dei palazzi nobiliari. Il centro
dell’Urbe ha la faccia sporca delle periferie e lì Filippo andrà a prendere una
stanzetta, a San Girolamo a via Giulia.
Di giorno, viso simpatico
e cuore lieto che porta a chi incontra il calore di Dio, senza nemmeno essere
un prete, accompagnandolo se può con un pezzo di pane. O una carezza sulla
fronte, un conforto sussurrato, a chi si lamenta sui pagliericci dell’Ospedale
degli Incurabili. Di notte, un’anima di fuoco, Filippo, perso in un dialogo
talmente intimo con Dio che il suo letto può essere senza problemi il sagrato
di una chiesa o la pietra di una catacomba.
Questo – ricorda il Papa
nel suo messaggio per il 500.mo – lo rese “appassionato annunciatore della
Parola di Dio”. Questo è stato il segreto che fece di lui un “cesellatore di
anime”. La sua paternità spirituale, osserva Francesco, “traspare da tutto il
suo agire, caratterizzato dalla fiducia nelle persone, dal rifuggire dai toni
foschi ed accigliati, dallo spirito di festosità e di gioia, dalla convinzione
che la grazia non sopprime la natura ma la sana, la irrobustisce e la
perfeziona”. “Si accostava alla spicciolata ora a questo, ora a quello e tutti
divenivano presto suoi amici”, racconta il suo biografo e il Papa commenta:
“Amava la spontaneità, rifuggiva dall’artificio, sceglieva i mezzi più
divertenti per educare alle virtù cristiane, al tempo stesso proponeva una sana
disciplina che implica l’esercizio della volontà per accogliere Cristo nel
concreto della propria vita”.
Tutto questo affascina
chi, conoscendo Filippo, vuole fare come lui. L’“Oratorio” nasce così, tra i
tuguri fetidi profumati giorno per giorno da una carità fatta di carne e non
per un progetto disegnato sulla carta e calato dall’alto come un’elemosina data
a freddo.
“Grazie anche
all’apostolato di San Filippo – riconosce Papa Francesco – l’impegno per la
salvezza delle anime tornava ad essere una priorità nell’azione della Chiesa;
si comprese nuovamente che i Pastori dovevano stare con il popolo per guidarlo
e sostenerne la fede”. E pastore lo diventa lui stesso, Filippo, che nel 1551
approda al sacerdozio senza per questo cambiare vita e stile. Col tempo,
attorno a lui prende corpo la prima comunità, la cellula della futura
Congregazione che nel 1575 riceve il placet di Gregorio XIII.
“Figliuoli, siate umili,
state bassi: siate umili, state bassi”, ripete ai suoi padre Filippo, che
ricorda che per essere figli di Dio “non basta solamente onorare i superiori,
ma ancora si devono onorare gli eguali e gli inferiori, e cercare di essere il
primo ad onorare”. E colpisce, da un’anima tanto contemplativa come Maria ai
piedi di Gesù, il piglio di Marta che convive nel suo cuore quando afferma: “È
meglio obbedire al sagrestano e al portinaio quando chiamano, che starsene in
camera a fare orazione”.
Filippo Neri, il terzo
Apostolo di Roma, chiude gli occhi alle prime ore del 26 maggio 1595. Mai
spento è il dinamismo del suo amore e a Roma che si prepara al Giubileo della
misericordia sembra che ripeta: “Non è tempo di dormire, perché il Paradiso non
è fatto pei poltroni”.
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/filippo-neri.html
PAPA FRANCESCO
Filippo Neri e la gallina
Giovedì, 12 maggio 2016
(da: L'Osservatore Romano, ed.
quotidiana, Anno CLVI, n.108, 13/05/2016)
Un bel «morso alla
lingua» quando ci assale la tentazione di sparlare. Perché proprio «le
zizzaniere» — come chiamano in Argentina le persone che mettono in giro le
chiacchiere — sono una controtestimonianza cristiana, causando anche divisioni
nella Chiesa. Da questo modo di fare, purtroppo molto diffuso in ambito
ecclesiale, ha messo in guardia Francesco nella messa celebrata giovedì mattina,
12 maggio, nella cappella di Casa Santa Marta.
«Gesù prega: “Alzati gli
occhi al cielo, pregò”» racconta Giovanni nel passo evangelico (17, 20-26)
proposto dalla liturgia del giorno. E Francesco ha fatto subito notare che
«Gesù pregò per tutti, non pregò solo per i discepoli che erano a tavola con
lui, ma per tutti». Scrive infatti Giovanni, riportandone le parole: «Non prego
solo per questi, ma anche per quelli che crederanno in me, mediante la loro
parola». Questo vuole dire, ha affermato il Pontefice, che Cristo «prega per
noi: ha pregato per me, per te, per te, per te, per ognuno di noi». E non ha
smesso: «Gesù continua a farlo in cielo, come intercessore». È importante
comprendere «cosa chiede Gesù in questo momento al Padre: “perché tutti siano
una sola cosa; come tu, Padre, sei in me e io in te”, siano anche essi in noi».
Infatti egli «crede e prega per l’unità, l’unità dei credenti, delle comunità
cristiane». Ma pensa a «un’unità come è quella che ha Lui con il Padre e il
Padre con Lui: un’unità perfetta». E finisce così la preghiera, secondo il
Vangelo di Giovanni: «Perché il mondo creda che tu mi hai mandato». Ecco perché
«l’unità delle comunità cristiane» e «delle famiglie cristiane» è «la
testimonianza del fatto che il Padre abbia inviato Gesù».
Francesco si è detto
consapevole che «una delle cose più difficili è forse arrivare all’unità in una
comunità cristiana, una parrocchia, un vescovado, una istituzione cristiana,
una famiglia cristiana». Purtroppo, ha insistito, «la storia nostra, la storia
della Chiesa, ci fa vergognare tante volte: abbiamo fatto le guerre contro i
nostri fratelli cristiani, pensiamo a una, alla guerra dei Trent’anni». Gesù,
invece, «dice un’altra cosa: “Se i cristiani si fanno la guerra fra loro è
perché il Padre non ha inviato Gesù, non c’è testimonianza”». Da parte nostra,
ha detto il Pontefice, «dobbiamo chiedere tanto perdono al Signore per questa
storia; una storia tante volte di divisioni e non solo nel passato ma anche
oggi, anche oggi». E «il mondo vede che siamo divisi e dice: “si mettano
d’accordo loro, poi vediamo, ma come Gesù è risorto ed è vivo e i suoi
discepoli non si mettono d’accordo?”».
«Neppure nella Pasqua
siamo uniti!» ha rilanciato Francesco. Tanto che, «una volta, un cristiano
cattolico chiedeva a un cristiano d’Oriente, anch’egli cattolico: “Il mio
Cristo risuscita dopodomani e il tuo quando risuscita?”». E così finisce che
«il mondo non crede».
A questo punto il Papa si
è chiesto come entrino «le divisioni nella Chiesa?». E la risposta è stata un
invito a dimenticare per il momento «questa grande divisione fra le Chiese
cristiane» e ad andare, per esempio direttamente nelle «nostre parrocchie». Il
problema, ha fatto notare Francesco, è che «il diavolo è entrato nel mondo per
invidia, dice la Bibbia, è stata l’invidia del diavolo a far entrare il peccato
nel mondo». Così «c’è l’egoismo, perché io voglio essere di più dell’altro e
tante volte — io direi che è quasi abituale nelle nostre comunità, parrocchie,
istituzioni, vescovadi — ci troviamo con divisioni forti che incominciano
proprio dalle gelosie, dalle invidie e questo porta a sparlare uno dell’altro,
si sparla tanto». E riportando un modo di sentire diffuso nelle parrocchie,
«nella mia terra è molto comune», il Papa ha confidato: «Una volta ho sentito
dire una cosa in un quartiere: “Io non vado in Chiesa perché guarda questa, va
tutte le mattine a messa, fa la comunione e poi va di casa in casa sparlando:
per essere cristiano così preferisco non andare, come va questa chiacchierona».
E ha proseguito: «Nella mia terra queste persone si chiamano “zizzaniere”:
seminano zizzania, dividono e lì le divisioni incominciano con la lingua per
invidia, gelosia e anche chiusura». Quella «chiusura» che porta a sentenziare:
«No, la dottrina è questa e ta, ta, ta, ta».
Il Papa ha ricordato a
questo proposito che l’apostolo Giacomo, nel terzo capitolo della sua lettera,
dice: “Noi siamo capaci di mettere il morso in bocca al cavallo! Anche una nave
con un piccolo timone è capace di essere guidata e noi non possiamo dominare la
lingua?». Perché la lingua, scrive Giacomo, «è un piccolo membro ma si vanta di
fare grandi cose». Ed «è vero», ha confermato Francesco: la lingua «è capace di
distruggere una famiglia, una comunità, una società; di seminare odio e guerre,
invidie». E ha riproposto le parole della preghiera di Gesù: “Padre, prego per
quelli che crederanno in me, perché tutti siano una sola cosa, come io e te”».
Ma «quanta distanza» c’è tra la preghiera di Gesù e la vita di «una comunità
cristiana che è abituata a sparlare». Ed è «per questo che Gesù prega il Padre
per noi».
Da qui l’invito a
«chiedere al Signore la grazia che ci dia la forza che nelle nostre comunità
non ci siano queste cose». Ma, ha suggerito il Pontefice, «Gesù ci dice come
dobbiamo andare avanti quando non siamo d’accordo o qualcosa non ci piace
dell’altro: “Chiamalo, parla!”. E se il tuo interlocutore «non capisce o non
vuole, chiama un testimone e fai la figura del mediatore». Gesù «ci ha
insegnato» questo stile. Ma «è più comodo sparlare e distruggere la fama
dell’altro».
Per rendere ancora più
concreta e incalzante la sua meditazione, Francesco ha raccontato un episodio
della vita di san Filippo Neri. «Una donna è andata a confessarsi e si è
confessata di aver sparlato». Ma «il santo, che era allegro, buono, anche di
manica larga, le dice: “Signora, come penitenza, prima di darle l’assoluzione,
vada a casa sua, prenda una gallina, spiumi la gallina e poi vada per il
quartiere e semini il quartiere con le piume della gallina e poi torni”». Il
giorno dopo, ha proseguito Francesco nel suo racconto, «è tornata la signora:
“Ho fatto quello, padre, mi dà l’assoluzione?». Eloquente la risposta di san
Filippo Neri: «No, manca un’altra cosa, signora, vada per il quartiere e prenda
tutte le piume» perché «lo sparlare è così: sporcare l’altro». Difatti, ha
aggiunto il Papa, «quello che sparla, sporca, distrugge la fama, distrugge la
vita e tante volte senza motivo, contro la verità». Ecco che «Gesù ha pregato
per noi, per tutti noi che stiamo qui e per le nostre comunità, per le nostre
parrocchie, per le nostre diocesi “che siano uno”».
In conclusione, Francesco
ha esortato a pregare «il Signore che ci dia la grazia», perché «è tanta, tanta
la forza del diavolo, del peccato che ci spinge alle divisioni, sempre!».
Occorre infatti rivolgersi al Signore affinché «ci dia la grazia, ci dia il
dono che fa l’unità: lo Spirito Santo», ha proseguito il Papa auspicando «che
ci dia questo dono che fa l’armonia, perché Lui è l’armonia, la gloria nelle
nostre comunità». E che «ci dia la pace, ma con l’unità». Perciò «chiediamo la
grazia dell’unità per tutti i cristiani, la grande grazia e la piccola grazia
di ogni giorno per le nostre comunità, le nostre famiglie». E anche «la grazia
di mettere il morso alla lingua!».
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/filippo-neri.html
Voir aussi : http://www.dieu-parmi-nous.com/NIC/Saint.Philippe.Neri.pdf
http://oratoire-nancy.org/qui-sommes-nous-/notre-fondateur-saint-philippe-neri
