May 26—St. Philip Neri, Priest

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Who doesn’t love a joyful person? We tend to gravitate toward people who are filled with a sense of love and peace and joy even in times of serious difficulty. The same is true of today’s saint, St. Philip Neri. He was born in Florence in 1515, but moved to Rome, where, as a layman, he would talk to people on street corners in an effort to re-evangelize and promote morality amidst the corruption he found there. He became a priest in 1551 and gathered men around him, founding the Congregation of the Oratory in 1575, a society of apostolic life whereby the men lived together and ministered to others but without taking vows.

St. Philip Neri has been called the “prophet of Christian joy.” Even Pope St. John Paul II called him the “saint of joy.” He was generous and patient and taught by means of short and wise maxims: “Be good, if you can”; “Scruples and melancholy, stay away from my house”; Be simple and humble”; “He who does not pray is a speechless animal”; “A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one”.

St. Philip Neri lived in a time of spiritual turmoil and was trying to convert “the culture of his time, which in many respects is particularly close to that of today.” He lived in the world among the people of Rome, bringing them the Good News through promotion of perseverant “prayer, frequent Communion, rediscovery and use of the sacrament of Reconciliation, daily and familiar contact with the word of God, the fruitful exercise of fraternal charity and service; and then devotion to Our lady, the model and true cause of our joy” (John Paul II). St. Philip Neri, guide us so that we may be joyful through our difficulties and calamities!

*[[File:Guido Reni - St Filippo Neri in Ecstasy - WGA19295.jpg|thumb|Guido Reni - St Filippo Neri in Ecstasy - WGA19295]]