St. Philip Neri

Feast Day: May 26

By Emily Woodham

Staff Writer

In the first few decades of the 16th century, Rome was far from glorious. Wars in Italy, fueled by the upheaval of the Protestant Reformation, culmi­nated in the Sack of Rome in 1527. For 10 months, the Imperial Army of the King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (r. 1519-1558) pillaged, tortured, raped and killed the Romans with merciless vio­lence. More than half of Rome’s population died at the hands of the Imperial Army, which was a strange combination of Spanish Catholics and German Lutheran mercenaries. A plague also scourged the city during the siege, which only increased the despair and loss of faith among the people.

When the Imperial Army finally left in February of 1528, Rome was devastated. The people had barely begun to re­cover when the Tiber River flooded in 1530, bringing more disease and death to Rome. The laity and clergy were in a constant state of mourning when St. Philip Neri arrived in 1533, filled with hope in God’s love.

Philip Neri was born into a middle-class family in Florence on July 21, 1515. He was known to have a cheerful dispo­sition, even while studying hard at a Dominican school. He enjoyed praying and attending Mass, but claimed not to have experienced true conversion until he was 18. At that time, he decided to forgo the privileges of a wealthy life (as the sole heir to a distant cousin) and embrace a life of poverty and humility in Rome.

For two years, Philip worked as a tutor in Rome. Then, for three years, he studied Philosophy and Theology with the Order of St. Au­gustine. Not satisfied with that, he decided to live as a hermit, with Rome as his desert. He became a kind of mild-mannered street preacher who engaged people in conversations, listened to their problems and then encouraged them in the Faith.

In 1544, on the eve of Pentecost, while praying at the catacombs, he was suddenly seized with an overwhelming sense of God’s enormous love. He then had a vision of a ball of flame that entered his mouth and traveled to his chest and created a fist-sized lump, which did not hurt. When the ecstasy stopped, the lump remained, and it stayed for the rest of his life. From then on, Philip would have violent tremors when he meditated, prayed or was seized with God’s love. He found that the only way he could continue his duties was through humor.

Through his work in the streets, he became friends with St. Francis Xavier and later St. Ignatius Loyola. His closest friend was a Capuchin, St. Felix of Cantalice. With the guidance of a spiritual director, Philip established a group for laity in 1548, known as the Confraternity of the Holy Trinity.

In 1551, Philip finally consented to be ordained a priest. Throughout his priesthood, he heard confessions for hours, well into the night. He was con­vinced that Confession was good not only for its absolution but also for the grace it conferred, enabling penitents to make good choices.

Father Philip, with St. Ignatius Loyola, encouraged the “40 Hours Devo­tion” in Rome. This practice of Eucharistic Adoration for 40 hours began in Milan with the Capuchins in 1527 as a prayerful response to the Sack of Rome. Churches in the city exposed the Blessed Sacrament as pilgrims trav­eled from church to church for prayer, hymns, and to listen to preaching.

At the age of 60, Father Philip received approval from the pope to form his Congregation of the Oratory (place of prayer). The Congregation of the Ora­tory consisted of secular (diocesan) priests who promised obedience but made no other vows. Members of the Oratory used humor just as Father Philip did to continue in humility and to disarm those who were wary of holiness. The musician and composer Palestrina was one of the lay members of the Oratory. Through Father Philip’s encouragement, Palestrina developed the musical genre of the oratorio, setting scripture passages or saints’ lives to music for performance in a concert style.

Father Philip insisted that people were best brought to conversion through love and gentleness rather than argument and stern words. He trusted that the Holy Spirit would lead people away from sinful behavior as they experi­enced the goodness and love of God. However, Philip was not a pushover; he confronted Pope Pius V, St. Charles Borromeo, and others on various matters without apology.

Philip died on the Feast of Corpus Christi on May 26, 1595. When perform­ing an autopsy, doctors found the lump in his chest was due to an enlarged heart and two broken ribs.

Rome was utterly transformed by the time Father Philip died. Churches and Religious Orders were thriving; art, music and academia were flourishing. Because of his work to bring each person to an encounter with Christ, he was called the “Apostle of Rome.” He was canonized less than three decades after his death.

St. Philip Neri is the patron saint of Rome, U.S. Special Forces and joy. The U.S. Special Forces Association said they chose St. Philip Neri as their patron because he embodies the traits of the ideal Special Forces soldier: selflessness, superb teaching, and inspirational leadership.