Cardinal's Column 5/23/04

In the joy of the Lord ...

During the Easter season, the hymns sing of our joy in Christ’s conquering sin and death. Even in the midst of great sorrow, followers of Christ live in the joy that faith in the resurrection brings. Every few generations, however, a disciple of the Lord becomes particularly noted for joyfulness. Such was St. Philip Neri, who lived from 1515 to 1595. His feast day in the liturgical calendar is May 26. As a very young man in Florence, Italy, Philip gave his share of his father’s money to his sister, because she had many children to care for, and he took to the road for Rome. Those who knew him, even before his adult conversion to Christ, described him as a happy type, good humored and cordial. He was very outgoing and approachable, well known for his wit.

When he came to Rome, Philip began to live as a hermit, but on the streets, giving himself to contemplation; and his natural happiness slowly matured into supernatural joy. He loved solitude and walks outside of the city, spending time in prayer in the catacombs. For years, he combined the life of a hermit with his service to street people, beggars, prostitutes, the poor and the dying. He thought he might have a vocation to be a missionary to India, but his spiritual director told him that “Rome was to be his India.” He gathered together a dozen or so other lay people for prayer, for reflection on Sacred Scripture, for service to the needy on the noisy and crowded streets of Rome.

At the age of 36, Philip was ordained a priest. A man of supernatural discernment, he was an expert confessor and spiritual director. Popes, princes, professional people and street people all came to confess to Philip Neri. He continued to gather people for prayer, for shared reflection and for the celebration of the Eucharist before they went out to serve the poor of Rome. The place where people gathered for prayer was called the Oratory.

Twenty-one years after the gatherings in the Oratory began, Philip gathered priests and brothers into a community to serve the Oratory. They are called Oratorians, members of the Congregation of the Oratory. Since the gatherings were marked by joy, good music was part of the prayer. These compositions were called oratorios, and the most famous composers of the day vied to create them. When the crowds which gathered to pray moved outdoors, good food and games were part of the occasion. Children would put on plays. Pilgrimages together to the major churches of Rome marked the life of the Oratory and the Oratorians. It was a life built on friendship in Christ.

Part of the heritage of St. Philip Neri is continued today in the life of the fraternity he founded, the Congregation of the Oratory. There are over 70 Oratories around the Catholic world, each a community marked by the joy and love which are the spirit of St. Philip Neri. Ten years ago, Cardinal Bernardin established here an Oratorian Community in formation, and this year its five members, who had all lived separately, finally established a home for the Community in Immaculate Conception parish in Highland Park. Two of the Oratorians are priests of the Archdiocese, a third is a deacon and two laymen are novices. Its moderator is Father Phillip F. Cioffi. Its members are engaged in a variety of pastoral services and ministries in parishes and at the Pastoral Center; but they are principally given to living the life of the Oratory, a community of friends praying together daily, celebrating the Eucharist and sharing prayer with others. The goal of the Oratory is not so much to use the practices of common life to sanctify its own members but to dedicate its members to sanctifying others, a work which should at the same time ensure their own sanctification.

If the Chicago Oratory continues to develop, it will in time become formally associated, by approval of the Holy See, with the worldwide Confederation of the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. In the meantime, on this 10th anniversary of its foundation, the Chicago Oratory is, I believe, another sign of the action of the Holy Spirit in the Archdiocese. The Second Vatican Council, 400 years after St. Philip Neri gave his life to the sanctification of the laity, proclaimed that the call to holiness is universal. One can imagine St. Philip saying in heaven, “I told you so.” What he discovered in his own spiritual journey is that mortification of self is part of growing in love for the Lord. What he tells all of us is to discover the joy of life in the risen Christ, whom he desired above everything else to make known, loved and adored. What we can expect from the fledgling Chicago Oratory is a joyful witness to the love of Christ in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Chicago.

As I leave Chicago to go to Rome for a week (May 22-30) in order to submit my report on the state of the Archdiocese to the Holy Father and the members of the Roman Curia, I ask you to keep me and the auxiliary bishops with me in your prayers. Keep in your prayers as well this small community with its roots in Rome and its heart in Christ, the Oratorians of Chicago. May the Lord bless them on this tenth anniversary with the joy that marked the life of their spiritual father, St. Philip Neri.