PHILIP NERI, Saint. — Born in Florence on 21 July 1515 in the parish of S. Pier Gattolini to Francesco and Lucrezia da Mosciano.
Of gentle disposition, Philip from childhood revealed the lively instinct that would accompany him throughout his life. His goodness earned him the name “Philip the Good.” He spent his adolescent years in Oltrarno, in the district of S. Spirito and then on Costa S. Giorgio. Under the guidance of a certain Clemente and through frequent contact with the Dominicans of S. Marco, he formed his mind and his piety. From his association with the Preaching Fathers, he drew that admiration for Savonarola which he never disavowed.
At seventeen, for economic reasons, he had to leave his homeland and go in search of fortune with his cousin Romolo, who carried on trade in S. Germano (now Cassino). He stayed with him for nearly two years, but he felt no attraction for commerce, preferring instead frequent meetings with the monks of the abbey. In these conversations with them and in the recollection of prayer, his vocation to a life consecrated to the Lord matured. Thus he left business and his relative and went to Rome, arriving there at the end of 1534.
In the Eternal City, Philip found lodging with his fellow citizen Galeotto Caccia, head of the customs, and devoted himself to the education of his two sons while resuming his studies by attending the Sapienza under the Augustinians. Yet his activity could not be confined to this, for a call to the apostolate became ever more manifest within him. For example, he went to perform works of mercy by visiting the sick, especially at the hospital of S. Giacomo degli Incurabili. His gentle fervor then overflowed into familiar conversation with young men of his own age and even with mature men whom he met in the street, quickly becoming their companion in cheerful company with a veiled but almost unfailing aim of leading them to God.
In 1548, to assist the many pilgrims and convalescents wandering the streets of Rome, Philip founded near the church of S. Benedetto alla Regola the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity, known as that of pilgrims and convalescents. Continuing his intense work of charity, in 1551 he was persuaded by his spiritual director, Persiano Rosa, that it was God’s will for him to seek ordination to the priesthood, which he did on 23 May of that year at S. Tommaso in Parione. As a priest, he joined the community of secular priests residing and officiating at S. Girolamo della Carità, where he exercised his ministry especially as a spiritual director. It was precisely here, with great simplicity and not without obstacles, that he began that form of highly effective apostolate which would later take the name of Oratory (q.v.).
Quietly, modestly, in private rather than from the pulpit, Father Philip approached and knew something of everyone, penetrating the homes of the humble as well as the papal court, so that among his friends he counted both cardinals most sensitive to reform ideas and the artisans of the Banchi or Parione, the idlers and artists, nobles and common women, and even the popes who succeeded one another on the Chair of St. Peter. Frequent were the contacts between the Saint and noble souls who embraced or passed through Rome during his time and who dedicated themselves to the work of Catholic reform: among them were St. Charles Borromeo, St. John Leonardi, St. Camillus de Lellis, St. Felix of Cantalice, the Blessed Maria Annunciata, Cardinals Federico Borromeo, Cusano, Paleotti, Valier, Medici, and others; and the popes Pius IV, Pius V, Gregory XIII and XIV, and Clement VIII.
The representatives of the Florentine nation desired him in their church of S. Giovanni, and in 1565 he took charge of its oratory while remaining in his beloved residence at S. Girolamo; instead, he sent his first priest-disciples: Baronius, Tarugi, Bordini, and others. In 1575, Philip obtained the papal bull establishing the Congregation of the Priests of the Oratory together with the assignment of the seat in the church of S. Maria in Vallicella, in the rione of Parione (q.V. Institute of the Oratory of St. Philip N.).
Meanwhile, in 1577, the first part of the new church of the Vallicella was inaugurated—still today called the Chiesa Nuova—which the Saint had strenuously desired. Around 1588, at the repeated urging of his spiritual sons, he left S. Girolamo to move to the Vallicella, while the community, now rich in notable men, was in full flower and able to think of foundations outside Rome, sending members to Naples and S. Severino. In Milan, because of excessive interference in governance by Borromeo, the Oratorian foundation failed after long and laborious correspondence between the cardinal and Philip, which at times took on rather dramatic episodes. A determining factor was that Philip always conceived the Congregation as serving the Oratory and therefore could not permit that, at a particularly delicate moment in the Institute’s development, too many subjects be diverted.
Rome, by the end of the 16th century, had changed spiritually, and much of the work had been slowly and silently carried out by Philip, sustained by that firm Christian optimism which saw, even in this earthly life, the possibility of joy and peace. At 75, feeling his body but not his spirit weary, he retired to his little cell, continuing his apostolate in a more recollected manner, devoting his precious hours to spiritual direction, confession, and conversation with his closest disciples. At the end of his life, Philip displayed great diplomatic skill in persuading the Pope to accept the reconciliation of the former Huguenot Henry IV; in this matter, he had as a loyal collaborator Fr. Baronius, confessor of Clement VIII.
On 26 May 1595, Philip ended his earthly life. He was canonized by Gregory XV on 12 May 1622. His feast is celebrated on 26 May.
Works: Letters, poems, and memorable sayings, ed. E. Magri, Florence 1922.
Iconography. — Although St. Philip Neri, steeped in the spirit of humility, did not wish to be portrayed — according to tradition, the unfinished image in the church of the Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome would confirm this aversion — the work of a certain Vecchietto (Rome, Santa Maria in Vallicella) seems to have been executed from life; the best of the posthumous effigies, namely the painting by Guido Reni (1615, there, in the saint’s room; a copy in the chapel of St. Philip, a replica in the church of the Girolamini in Naples) and the magnificent statue by Algardi (Santa Maria in Vallicella, sacristy) may perhaps have drawn upon the death mask. While “Pippo buono,” a saint distinctly Roman, left no traces in the figurative art of other places, already the single church in Rome mentioned above abounds with works of art created in his honor: suffice it to cite the fresco by Pietro da Cortona with the saint’s vision during the construction of the church (ceiling of the central nave), the nine canvases by Pomarancio and the fresco by Tornioli, depicting miracles of Philip N. In Naples, Solimena painted the principal events of his life (1719, church of the Girolamini); the most extensive cycle of his historical representations, however, is constituted by the series of 45 prints, engraved by Cristiano Sas from drawings by Jacopo Stella and issued in connection with Bacci’s biography (Rome, edition of 1625).