INSTITUTE OF THE ORATORY OF ST. PHILIP NERI. - It formed its first nucleus at the church of S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini in Rome, when, around St. Philip, there gathered some priests attracted by his zeal and from the novelty of his priestly apostolate, to collaborate with him in the work of the Oratory (v.). The first rules were dictated by the Saint in 1565 and concerned only divine worship, the preaching at the Oratory, the exhortation not to desire honors, and the reading and discussion of moral cases in the refectory. On July 15, 1575, when Gregory XIII gave the community the church of S. Maria in Vallicella, the canonical erection of the Congregation was proceeded with. A first draft of constitutions was made in 1583, but until 1612 the fathers governed themselves by customs, which only then were definitively codified and approved by Paul V.
The Oratorians, or Priests of the Oratory, are simple priests, without vows, living a common life, united only by the bond of fraternal charity, but voluntarily coordinated and subordinate to a provost and his collaborators, freely elected by those entitled within the community. The sanctification of the individual members is achieved through the free practice of the evangelical counsels and the common life, lived in the spirit of family and fraternal charity. Oratorian asceticism is based on prayer, simple and profound piety, always along the lines indicated by the liturgy, humility and contempt for human glory, self-denial. The aim is to promote by every means the good of souls according to the norms of the Constitutions, the spirit of the I. and that ample freedom granted by the community to individual initiative. The apostolate of the Priests of the Oratory is eminently priestly: administration of the Sacraments (with particular predilection for Confession), preaching (in the familiar style used by the founder), sacred worship (to bring the people closer to the liturgy), youth apostolate (in all the forms of the time, both cultural and recreational).
In the mind of St. Philip there was no idea of founding a new religious family, as he repeatedly declared, but only of providing for his Oratory in Rome. Nevertheless the Philippine idea found application and favor in every country, and thus there arose, while the Saint was still alive, other houses of the Oratory, which by analogy to the position of the members in the community were autonomous, though linked by the bond of fraternal charity. Just as the Oratorian is a priest of his own diocese, so the community finds its natural setting in the diocese where it arises, even though it is of pontifical right, thus giving rise to an institution sui generis, which indeed demonstrates the wholly peculiar character of this priestly fellowship, a connecting link between the form of life of the secular clergy and that of the regulars.
According to the new norms appended to the Constitutions in 1942 and called General Statutes, there has been arrived at, by common desire, discussed since 1895, a kind of federation of all the Congregations, which nevertheless remain autonomous. Such a federation represents the juridical elaboration of a moral union, which the times have shown to be very useful. Thus the premise has been laid for a closer collaboration and spiritual, cultural and material assistance, always preserving the respective autonomy. The organ of this union is the decennial Philippine Congress, which appoints a commission, on which the procurator general depends. Such organs have no jurisdictional powers, but only the task of maintaining connections, protecting and representing the interests of the individual communities before the Holy See.
The Congregation of the Oratory, already spread in France by the end of the 16th century, gave rise, because of the particular circumstances and needs of that nation, to the derived family of the Oratory of Jesus and Mary (v.), whose founder was Pierre de Bérulle (v.). While remaining entirely similar to the original stock, the French Oratory had its own particular and exceedingly fruitful life.
The Philippine houses, linked to Rome, spread throughout every Catholic country, reaching their greatest flourishing in the 17th and 18th centuries; then general or local revolutions broke many energies, which, lacking the help of a strengthening union, succumbed. Today the houses of the I. are: 15 in Italy, 9 in Spain, 5 in Germany,
5 in Mexico, 2 in Poland, 2 in England, 2 in Colombia, 1 in Bolivia and 1 in the United States. The members of the various communities number about 400. The I. also has a center of studies and formation, called the Pius XII International Philippine College, at the mother house of the Vallicella in Rome.
Bibliography7 works
Carlo Gasbarri