Saint Philip Neri
Jul 26th, 2006 by Br. Joshua
Voice of Prophecy
As a priest working in the church of San Girolamo della Carità  , he began to receive a group of young men in his room during afternoons, mainly to draw them away from other more dangerous occupations. There he would speak with them on the treasures of Scripture and the Church’s teaching, especially in history and morality, not as an academic with something to gain by adding followers, but as an image of the Lord who was earnestly in pursuit of their souls. This informal discourse on the Word of God developed into something more ritualized, with readings from the lives of the saints and music eventually added, and discourses and responses being offered variously among the participants, sometimes by laymen, sometimes by clerics, an unusual practice for the day. These exercises began to become known - and notorious - throughout the city as “oratory.” All sorts came to attend, but eyebrows were raised when secretaries and musicians of papal and cardinals’ courts were showing up frequently. For these and other reasons, a shadow of fear and suspicion lay over the Saint and his intentions; yet the work of God in the renewal of the city’s spirit, as in the case of the prophets, would not be halted by the quibbles and quarrels of men.
