ORATORY OF JESUS AND OF THE IMMACULATE MARY. – A society of priests living in community without vows, founded in Paris in 1611 by Pierre de Bérulle (q.v.). The inspiration came from the Roman institution of St Philip Neri, and encouragement from St Francis de Sales. On 10 May 1613 Paul V approved it with an apostolic brief.
The aim of the new institution was to raise the standard of clerical life through a deeper understanding of duties, a more profound spirituality, and a more satisfying culture. To achieve this end de Bérulle and his disciples left nothing undone, and the success they achieved was very considerable. At the founder’s death the Oratory numbered no fewer than 45 houses, overcoming every kind of difficulty. De Bérulle was the spiritual director of St Vincent de Paul, and his successor, Charles de Condren, of Jean-Jacques Olier: in this way he prepared the masters of the French school of spirituality. Fr Bourgoing (1641–62) opened the first seminaries in Paris, Rouen, and Toulouse; he established the Society with the Constitutions, which were approved by Innocent X in 1654, spread de Bérulle’s teaching, and published his works. Illustrious men of learning made the Oratory famous: 5 of its members belonged to the Académie française, 6 to that of Inscriptions, and 7 to that of Sciences. Despite this glorious past, the Revolution of 1792 overwhelmed the Oratory too, and its members were dispersed. It was reconstituted in 1832 by Frs Pététot, Gratry, and Valarger, and a decree of the Holy See in 1864 approved this reconstitution and declared that it was nothing other than the continuation of de Bérulle’s work. The Constitutions were approved in 1892. The Oratory carries on its formative work chiefly in minor seminaries and colleges. Cardinal Perraud, superior from 1884 to 1901, revived the glorious tradition of the past. Hard pressed by the laws of 1901, the Oratory won back universal admiration through the activity of illustrious writers, among whom was Cardinal Baudrillard (q.v.).
ORATORY OF JESUS AND OF THE IMMACULATE MARY – Portrait of Pierre de Bérulle, painting by Philippe de Champaigne – Paris, Seminary of St Sulpice.
ORATORY OF THE ETERNAL SILENCE (E. S.). – A confraternity founded in Milan in 1524 by the countess Ludovica Torelli of Guastalla, with the collaboration of the Barnabite founders Gioacchino Antonio Morigia, Bartolomeo Ferrari, and St Anthony Mary Zaccaria, and the support of several notable figures: Gian Giacomo Landini, suffragan of the archbishop of Milan; Gastone and Odet de Foix, known as Lautrec; Massimiliano and Francesco II Sforza, dukes of Milan; King Francis I of France; and especially the three founders of the Barnabites, Gioacchino Antonio Morigia, Bartolomeo Ferrari, and St Anthony Mary Zaccaria, and Ludovica Torelli, countess of Guastalla. Little is known of the internal life of the Association or the activity of its members. That they engaged in the care of the sick is confirmed by the example of Monsignor Landini, Ferrari, and Morigia, who devoted themselves during the plague of 1524. According to the Jesuit Rosignoli, biographer of the countess, the purpose of the Oratory of the Eternal Silence was «to defend the Catholic faith in those perilous times, to hinder the spread of scandalous vices, to promote frequent reception of the Holy Sacraments, to protect in safety young women at risk, to succour the poor, and to aid the sick» (op. cit. in bibliography, p. 30).
The institution, however, did not have a long life. The plague of 1524, the death of Panigarola (16 January 1525), the defeat of Francis I (24 February 1525), and the departure of Bellotti, who took refuge in Crema, thinned the ranks and diminished the activity of the Oratory, which had hitherto been under French protection. When political passions had somewhat abated, Bellotti was able to return to Milan; but in October 1528 he died. He was succeeded in the direction of the Oratory of the Eternal Silence by Monsignor Landini, later bishop of Laodicea, who, dying in 1533, is not known to have had a successor. But perhaps in fact the confraternity had already ceased to exist or had been transformed. It is certain that after the approval (18 February 1533) of the Clerics Regular of St Paul (Barnabites) no further mention is made of the Milanese Oratory; this makes probable the thesis of Fr Mazenta that the Confraternity, especially through the work of Zaccaria and his companions, was transformed into the religious families of the Clerics Regular of St Paul and the Angelicals and the Association of the Married. These have such close ties among themselves that they presuppose a common origin.