Philip Neri was born in Florence in 1515. The good Florentine, raised by the Dominicans, was always a great admirer of Savonarola. From his youth he showed a kind and peaceful temperament, but also a lively, cheerful, and optimistic spirit—qualities he later used fruitfully in his apostolic life and which earned him, even early on, the affectionate nickname “Pippo buono” (Good Philip).
At seventeen he worked in the business of a cousin in Cassino, where he came into contact with the monks of Montecassino—a meeting that marked his spiritual life. Unsuited for commerce, he returned to Rome, where he became tutor to the two sons of his fellow Florentine Galeotto del Caccia and also studied at the Sapienza.
Through works of mercy and spiritual conversations, he began to live out the first signs of his apostolic vocation. Near San Benedetto alla Regola, he founded the confraternity of the Holy Trinity, dedicated to helping poor and abandoned pilgrims. His spiritual director, Persiano Rosa, encouraged him to seek ordination; he was ordained a priest at thirty-six. As a “free” priest, he ministered at the hospital of San Girolamo della Carità, where he lived. There began what would later become known as the Oratory.
Philip soon became very popular in Rome. The great figures of his time sought his friendship: Saints Ignatius of Loyola, Charles Borromeo, Camillus de Lellis, Francis de Sales, and the popes Pius IV, Saint Pius V, Gregory XIII, Gregory XIV, and Clement VIII. Yet not everyone admired him—Pope Paul IV, misled by rumors spread by the envious, at one point forbade him from hearing confessions and from organizing pilgrimages, a form of devotion Philip greatly valued for both entertaining and instructing the people.
The Florentine community in Rome entrusted him with the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, where the first Oratorian priests—among them Cesare Baronio, the future cardinal, and Francesco Maria Tarugi—began their ministry.
In 1575 Philip received the papal bull approving the Congregation of the Priests of the Oratory. Its center was Santa Maria in Vallicella, where he built a new church still known today as the Chiesa Nuova. From there, Oratories quickly spread beyond Rome. The members of the congregation—now present around the world—combined prayer with apostolic ministry.
From the age of seventy-five, Philip lived a more retired life, dedicating himself mainly to confession and spiritual direction, whether individually or through conferences and conversations. He died in Rome at the age of eighty, on this day in 1595, and was canonized in 1622. Shortly before his death, he burned all his personal writings.
Art and iconography confirm what we know of his character: a man joyful, kind, and full of humanity. Philip was also cultured and learned. Passionate about Church history, he guided Cesare Baronio in this field of research, and likewise encouraged the studies of the archaeologist Antonio Bosio, with whom he shared a love for the Roman catacombs.
