In this article you will find 9 key facts about the life of Saint Philip Neri, patron saint of educators and comedians, founder of the Oratory in Rome, and remembered for having received the gift of healing, prophecy and being able to read thoughts.
A mystical experience caused his conversion
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Felipe Neri received his first religious teachings from the Dominican friars of the Monastery of San Marcos in Florence in Italy. At 16 he was sent to San Germano to help his father’s cousin’s business. He did that job so well that his relative decided to make him heir to his fortune.
Philip had a mystical experience in a chapel that belonged to the Benedictines of Monte Cassino and discovered his vocation to the priesthood. He soon decided to move away from opulence and material goods to head to Rome in 1533 and serve God.
He is known as the “Apostle of Rome”
After abandoning his studies in philosophy and theology – around 1540 – he decided to do an apostolate and teach catechism to the poor. At that time the College of Cardinals was governed by the Medici and therefore many cardinals behaved like secular princes. Rome was in a state of religious ignorance, the priests abandoned the parishioners and the churches, and the customs of the time were not the best.
For 40 years Philip was the best catechist in Rome and managed to transform the city. His active apostolate began with visiting hospitals, then he also began to frequent shops, warehouses, banks and public places, exhorting people to serve God.
He is the patron saint of comedians
Felipe definitely received the gift of joy and kindness from God. Because he was so friendly in the way he treated people, he easily made friends with workers, employees, vendors and street children.
One of his most frequently asked questions was: “And when are we going to start getting better?” If they showed her good will, she used to explain the simplest ways to become more pious and begin to do God’s will.
He also had several Cardinals and princes as friends who esteemed him for his great sense of humor and humility.
He dedicated himself to prayer and works of mercy
In addition to the apostolate, Felipe Neri used to spend the night in the portico of a church or in the catacombs of San Sebastian, near the Via Appia, to enter into deep prayer.
He also practiced the corporal works of mercy.
In 1548, together with his confessor and 15 lay people, he founded the Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity, which met to perform spiritual exercises and help pilgrims in need. With this he founded the famous hospital of Santa Trinita dei Pellegrini, in which 145 thousand pilgrims were treated and cared for in the jubilee year of 1575.
He could read the thoughts of his penitents and levitate
On May 23, 1551, at the age of 36, he was ordained a priest. Shortly thereafter he went to live in the church of San Jerónimo de la Caridad (Italy), where he dedicated himself mainly to Confession. He used to confess from dawn until noon, sometimes until the afternoon hours, to attend to a crowd of penitents of all ages and social conditions.
Not only did he confess very well, but he had the gift of reading the thoughts of his penitents and guided them with compassion on the path to holiness.
He also celebrated with great devotion the daily Mass that many priests had abandoned. He frequently experienced ecstasy during the Eucharist and was seen levitating on some occasions. To avoid attracting attention he tried to celebrate the last Mass of the day, in which there were fewer people.
He cured the sick and predicted the future
Philip had the gift of healing and restored many sick people to health. On several occasions he also predicted the future and lived in close contact with the supernatural. Those who saw him in ecstasy testified that his face shone with a heavenly light.
Knowledge in San Ignacio de Loyola
In 1544 Philip became a friend of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, whom he wanted to follow as a missionary in Asia, but in the end he gave up because he wanted to continue his work in Rome. It was thus that he constituted the nucleus of what later became the Brotherhood of the Little Oratory.
In 1575 this brotherhood would be called the Congregation of the Oratory of San Felipe Neri, being approved with the bull “God is abundant in mercy” by Pope Gregory XIII.
The Virgin Mary appeared to him and he was healed
His health was always fragile. On one occasion, the Holy Virgin appeared to him and cured him of a gallbladder ailment. The event happened like this: the saint had almost lost consciousness, when he suddenly sat up, opened his arms and exclaimed: “My beautiful Lady! My holy Lady!” The doctor who assisted him took him by the arm, but Saint Philip told him: “Let me hug my Mother who has come to visit me.”
Later, he realized that there were several witnesses and hid his face between the sheets, like a child, because he did not like to be taken for a saint.
He died on the Solemnity of Body of Christ
On May 25, 1595, the day of Body of Christhis doctor saw him so extraordinarily happy that he said to him: “Father, I had never found you so happy,” and he replied: “I was happy when they told me: let’s go to the house of the Lord.”
At midnight he had a fit and, raising his hand to bless his priests who surrounded him, he expired sweetly. He was 80 years old.
He was declared a saint in 1622 and in Rome he was considered their best catechist and spiritual director.
Diego López Marina
I was born in 1991. I have a degree in Communication Sciences. Since 2015 I have worked as a digital journalist. I started my career at the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio. In 2016, I started as an editor at ACI Prensa and I have worked as a web editor since 2018. Starting in 2024, I write the newsletter for social media. I specialize in Catholic news focused on the defense of life and family, international politics, technology, popular culture and the Vatican.