Lectio et Oratio

Episode 140 -- Life of St Philip XII.140 -- Being Gentle and Light In Breaking Difficult News

We read about St Philip talking to a woman who was pregnant. She wanted St Philip to baptize the child when it was born. But St Philip knew the child was dead. He had the spirit of prophecy. St Philip had an ability to break very difficult news to people.

Episode 139 -- Life of St Philip XI.139 -- Truly Caring for Others

We read about St Philip's great interest in helping a man in danger of falling into a sexual sin. St Philip truly cared about people. He even ran the risk of revealing his spiritual gifts in order to help this person. No one knew what was happening. The man never told anyone. St Philip's knowledge of the situation could only come from God.

Episode 138 -- Life of St Philip XI.138 -- Holy Spirit and the Virtues

Episode 137 -- Life of St Philip XI.137 -- Leadership is Essential to Communities

Did the Fathers of the Oratory ever want another superior than St Philip?

No. We will hear how they basically forced him to accept being the Provost, the Superior, the Father of the Oratory for life. Normally this position lasts three years. St Philip yielded to their wishes, despite his own desires for seclusion and solitude.

Episode 136 -- Life of St Philip XI.136 -- Human Unity and Confessional Intregrity

We read about St Philip's ability to read a person's soul who had been hiding a very serious sin in confession for a long time. St Philip was not his confessor. The young man had other confessors. But St Philip could tell that something was wrong. Thankfully the young man listened to St Philip and made a confession of his whole life. The truth will set us free!

Last episode we read about how a linen cloth with St Philip's blood healed people even when he was alive. This reminds us of St Peter, the first Apostle of Rome, healing people through his handkerchief in Acts 5. St Philip also was able to know what was troubling a man despite his never having told anyone. When St Philip revealed the issue, the man was amazed and relieved. Finally Philip was able to give a very sick man hope and healing. Take courage, he told him! Each of us needs support. Each of us needs others who can understand us and encourage us. Advent is a time for praying for the virtue of hope!

Episode 135 -- Life of St Philip XI.135 -- Philip like Peter and Miraculous Cloths

Did second class relics of St Philip ever work miracles during St Philip's life time?

Yes. We will read about a person who was healed by touching a piece of linen with St Philip's blood on it to the infected part. Why would God work such a miracle? He wanted to convince people that St Philip was a man of God. He wanted to convince people that the Church still possessed holiness.

Last episode we read about how the Oratory spread to other cities in Italy and even to France and Sicily. But the Oratory was very unlike all the other Congregations that had been founded for priests. There was no centralization. Each house, except for a few and for a short time, was independent. They were founded on the Roman model. They were founded with the spirit of St Philip. But each is its own family. A man joins one house, one Oratory, and stays there his whole life. Thus, we try to imitate St Philip who lived in Rome for sixty years.

Episode 134 -- Life of St Philip XI.134 -- Smaller Can be Beautiful

Did the Oratory spread in only one way?

No. There were several different ways that Oratorians set up new houses in Italy and other parts of the world. But what is interesting is that each house (with a few exceptions) were independent of each other. Each house, each community of Oratorians, is meant to be a small family.

Last episode we read about St Philip and the establishment of the Oratorians in Naples. The way Gallonio discusses this somewhat difficult period of Oratorian history suggests that he is of quite a sanguine temperament. It is possible to see in other Oratorians examples of the other three classic temperaments: Bl Juvenal Ancina (phlegmatic), Baronius (melancholic), and Tarugi (choleric). Temperaments are not bad or good in themselves. They are the basic way we emotionally react to things. All the temperaments have potential down sides and potential upsides. Every temperament has saints! May the Lord help us to become the saints we are meant to be.

 

Episode 133 -- Life of St Philip XI.133 -- Four Temperaments with Strengths and Weaknesses

Did the Oratory spread to other cities?

Yes, and we will read about how it spread to Naples. God used the sickness of one of the Fathers to open up a new door for St Philip. Through this new opportunity, many new vocations joined.

Last episode we read about St Philip's offer to hear the confession of a dying twelve year old boy. St Philip not only healed his body of the deadly disease, he was also the sacramental instrument in removing the spiritual disease of sin. We talked last night about the importance of confession. We cannot be afraid of doing good. Yes, we may fall. Yes, we may make mistakes. But the Lord is there to raise us up in confession.

Episode 132 -- Life of St Philip XI.132 -- Looking Forward Despite Dangers

What is more important: healing the soul or the body?

The soul. We will read about St Philip healing a young man in body and soul. Like Our Lord, St Philip's bodily healings were a sign of a more important healing, the healing of our souls from sin.

Episode 131 -- Life of St Philip XI.131 -- Cardinals, Holiness, and Real Influence

We read about St Philip's great favour with Popes and Cardinals. He was considered by those in charge of the Church to be a man of God. All people, even those who shepherd the Church, need spiritual fathers and confessors.

Episode 130 -- Life of St Philip XI.130 -- Grace of Laughing at Oneself

We read about a young fourteen year old boy who was dying of a terrible fever. For 17 days he had nothing to eat. People were amazed that he was still alive. St Philip was summoned. As he realized that God had heard their prayer, he even joked with his mother. The boy gradually got better. The Lord does not always change situations all at once. He sometimes does his works slowly.

Episode 129 -- Life of St Philip XI.129 -- Devil Seeks To Confuse Us

Did the devil ever directly try to assault St Philip?

Yes. We will read about how the devil seems to have appeared to St Philip as though St Philip were actually possessed by the devil. The devil tried to simulate what he sometimes does with possessed people. But St Philip passed through these intense trials too.

Episode 128 -- Life of St Philip XI.128 -- Healing touch not Lustful Touch

We read about St Philip's remarkable freedom of soul in dealing with the most difficult situations of chastity and human embarrassment. St Philip was gifted with remarkable chastity. He was given the true heart of a spiritual father.

Last episode we read about another rather humorous episode in St Philip's life. A woman woke up feeling as though she were being slapped in the face by St Philip. He was telling her what a disgrace it was that she was not letting go of a family feud. By this strange grace, the woman was helped to let go of her anger.

Episode 127 -- Life of St Philip X.127 -- Helping Overcome Feuds

Did those who were miraculously healed always become saints immediately?

No. We will read about Constanza de'Crescenzi's inability to forgive someone. She was one of the ladies that we read about earlier. In 1574, after losing a baby, she was very sick (ch 106. St Philip visited her and told her to be of good cheer. She got better. Six years later, in 1580, she was eight months pregnant and dying of a high fever (ch 120). Once again, St Philip came and healed her. In this episode's reading, Constanza has a different kind of fever, the fever of anger. She will not let a feud die. She keeps nourishing it. In the middle of this sinful attitude, she woke up one night with someone slapping her face. What a disgrace, she seemed to hear St Philip say, keeping up this resentment. St Philip was far away at the time. This strange experience slapped some sense into Constanza!

Last episode we heard about St Philip's big move to the "Vallicella." The Vallicella is the sort name for the church given by Pope Gregory XIII to the Oratorians. The church was called Santa Maria in Vallicella, St Mary in the Little Valley. The church the Oratorians built on the sight, the new Santa Maria got its own nickname, the Chiesa Nuova, the new Church. St Philip finally moved there in November 1583. Why did it take St Philip so long to move? St Philip seems to have been very docile to the Holy Spirit. It seems that he never had a clear command of the Holy Spirit to move. Having been accused in the past of setting himself up as a leader of a sect, he was hesitant to insert himself into the new community life that was going so well without him being there. Even when he moved to the Vallicella, he kept a very humble profile.

Episode 126 -- Life of St Philip X.126 -- Living Within the Body of Christ

What made St Philip move to the the Chiesa Nuova?

The Pope. After living at the same church in Rome, San Girolamo (St Jerome's), since his ordination to the priesthood in 1551, St Philip was commanded by the Pope to move to the house and church where his Oratorians had been living since 1575. We will read about St Philip's humble submission to the Pope and his way of life amidst his sons.

Last episode we read about St Philip's prayers for the dead Paolo Massimo. We read about the 14 year old boy came back to life for about half an hour. According to some accounts, the boy wanted to go to confession. His conversation with St Philip focused on heaven and the glory of heaven. The boy was filled with a desire to be with God, the Best and the Greatest. May we too be filled with faith and hope in the greatness of the Lord.

Episode 125 -- Life of St Philip X.125 -- Raising Paolo From the Dead

Did St Philip ever raise someone from the dead?

Yes and no. St Philip would probably say that he never raised anyone from the dead. God raised Paolo Massimo from the dead. But St Philip was the instrument by which this remarkable event took place on 16 March 1583. The Massimo Family still lives in a part of their ancient house. The room where the miracle took place is still in use as a chapel. On March 16, Masses are said all day on the three altars built in Paolo's old room.

Last episode we read about a difference of opinion between St Philip and the other Oratorians regarding the purchasing of a house. The Fathers needed more space. There was a convent next door that they could possibly buy. Convinced that they had no choice, they tried to proceed with the purchase. St Philip, however, thought the idea was based on too much human prudence. There were some other possibilities still about how they would acquire the property. In the end, St Philip was right. Someone else bought the property for the Fathers.

Episode 124 -- Life of St Philip X.124 -- Supernatural Prudence

We read about some of the most generous benefactors to the new church and house of the Oratorians. In particular there was interest in building not only the high altar where Mass was celebrated, but also the front of the Church and the back of the church, the apse, where the sanctuary is and the Mass is especially offered. The church itself is holy and is a symbol of the Church of God gathered in that place. The church building and its entrance should remind us of the fact that we are crossing over into a new time and space at Mass. We share in the worship of heaven at Mass. We enter a new time of the liturgy, the time of heaven. While still in this world, we are taken back to the Cross, the empty tomb, and the Ascension. We also are given a share in the life of the saints in heaven as they worship the Lamb of God.

Episode 123 -- Life of St Philip X.123 -- Facades, Apses, and Working Together

Where did St Philip get the money for this magnificent church and house?

From generous people, especially two brothers. People saw the work that St Philip and his spiritual sons were doing and they wanted to help. Some helped to build the church. Some helped to build the house for the Oratorians. Some helped pay for chapels in the church. Others helped pay for the high altar. St Philip did not have just one major benefactor. Many people gave as they could.

Last episode, we read about two men who were both dying. One was older and St Philip helped him die a holy death. The other was younger and was being attended by his own father who was a physician. This man was saved and lived for twelve more years. Our health and our being healed is often tied up with a much greater plan of the Lord. He knows what is best for our salvation and the salvation of others.

Episode 122 -- Life of St Philip X.122 -- Mystery of Certain People Being Healed

Why did St Philip heal some people and not others?

It is a mystery! St Philip used to say that he knew nothing of miracles. In other words, God alone works the miracles. Philip was his instrument. But St Philip himself did not know why God used him for healing and not others. Nevertheless, St Philip seems to indicate that it is tied up with God"s providence. He knows what is truly best for our salvation, our eternal salvation.

Last episode, we read about a young Oratorian who left the Congregation after returning home to visit his family. The young man was not honest with himself or St Philip. He used his need for a change of air as an excuse. He basically forced St Philip to give him permission. Let us not imitate this young man. Let us humbly and straightforwardly seek to be obedient to our spiritual fathers. Let us put before them our desires and wishes. But let us always be willing to surrender our will to the wisdom of God made known to us through his representatives.

Episode 121 -- Life of St Philip X.121 -- Primacy of Bond With Christ

Did St Philip ever foresee that someone would leave the Congregation?

Yes! We read about a young man who went back home to visit his family without St Philip's true blessing. St Philip knew that his vocation to the Oratory was not very firm. He was afraid of the influence his family would have over him. The young man went anyway and did not return. Our Lord warned us that the kingdom of God does not consist in flesh and blood. Sometimes He asks us to make hard decisions.