Lectio et Oratio

Episode 153 -- Life of St. Philip XIII.153 -- Union With Each Other in Life and Death

Did the seeming death of Giovanni Manzoli cause confusion?

Yes. We read about some of the events that occurred while Manzoli was "dying." We read about a whole chain of conversations and communications. People were telling other people that Manzoli had died. Rumours were spreading. But then against all those rumours, St Philip was saying the opposite! Now people were really confused. The whole scene reminds one of the Resurrection accounts in the Gospels!

Last episode we read about just how close Manzoli was to dying. All his doctors and family thought he was dying. People in the room even thought he had died, so quiet and unresponsive was Manzoli. The priest in the room took the word of his family. But, years before, St Philip had been told by God that Manzoli would outlive him. St Philip had told this to Manzoli himself. And so, when words reached St Philip about how imminent death was, St Philip went before the Lord to remind him of his promise. He spent the whole night in prayer. God did as He said, but through the prayers of St Philip. God wills to do certain things precisely through our prayers, our instrumentality.

Episode 152 -- Life of St. Philip XIII.152 -- Hope In Desperate Times

Yes. We hear about what St Philip did one night in June in the year 1591. A friend of his was very close to death. Everyone thought in fact he had died. But St Philip prayed all night. The Lord himself also prayed all night sometimes. The Lord who loves when we pray heard the prayers of St Philip.

Episode 151 -- Life of St. Philip XIII.151 -- Supernatural Love and Fortitude Are Necessary

Did St Philip face any opposition in his last years?

Yes. St Philip had a penitent who was very sick. He would visit her everyday and hear her confession and possibly bring her communion. This lady, Lavinia delta Rovere Orsini, was very wealthy. Her pugnacious nephew, Giulio Cesare Colonna, was convinced that St Philip only visited her to be made the heir of her fortune. Giulio was one of the great military families of Rome. And he threatened St Philip and told him to stop visiting. Even St Philip's friends begged him to stop lest he be hurt or even killed. But St Philip went on as he always did. He knew what he was doing was good for Lavinia. He knew he did not want one dime from her. He knew that if he got killed, it would be a blessing!

Episode 150 -- Life of St. Philip XIII.150 -- High Priest Prays for Us

We read about the beginning of those remarkable Masses that St Philip said in the last years of his life. From the beginning of his priesthood, St Philip had incredible devotion at Mass. The Holy Spirit filled him with spiritual awareness of the depths and power of the Mass. But in the final years of his life, the Holy Spirit seems to have led him even farther into the mystery of the Mass and the mystery of the Mystical Body, the Church. As the time for Holy Communion approached, St Philip would get lost in prayer for 2 hours. The servers eventually got permission to leave and come back later to finish the Mass! And so the Pope gave him permission to have a chapel built next to his bedroom, lest these Masses cause a stir or disruption in the church. Only in heaven will we know what passed in those times of prayer between St Philip and the Lord. Perhaps, like Our Lord himself, St Philip was made aware of all those who would be drawn to heaven through his priesthood. Perhaps he prayed for you and me!

Episode 149 -- Life of St. Philip XII.149 -- Listening From the Heart

Did St Philip help people not only with physical afflictions but also mental afflictions?

Yes. We will read about how St Philip helped a lady with great anxiety and depression. In a miraculous way, he healed her for the rest of her life. We will also read about how he helped a man with scruples. Scruples is a spiritual affliction that makes us see evil where there is no evil. Scruples makes us very worried about how everything we do is a sin. If St Philip helped people in his own day, he can continue to help people today!

Episode 148 -- Life of St. Philip XII.148 -- Fighting Anxiety about Good Projects

We read about a woman who had some great plans in mind for doing good. But she did not tell anyone. Possibly, she was ashamed of them. Possibly she was afraid of what people would think. She did not want to claim her own desires before others. One day, St Philip surprised her by telling her what she had in mind. How we need to open our hearts to a spiritual friend, both about our struggles and our holy desires.

Episode 147 -- Life of St. Philip XII.147 -- Human Touch and Human Trauma

We read about how St Philip could help people by the touch of his hand. He would bless people on the forehead. This great wisdom of the Church, this wisdom that touch and the senses and human contact matters, has recently been emphasized by those who give therapy to victims of trauma. We are a body and soul unity. Trauma and difficult sadnesses can be helped by the right use of our bodies.

Episode 146 -- Life of St. Philip XII.146 -- Being Truthful About Chastity

Did St Philip have any unusual saints as friends?

Yes. We will read about what Fr Robinson used to call "closed circuit television" conversations between St Philip and St Catherine de Ricci. We know that they never met in this life; but when she died, St Philip told people all about her. He knew what she looked like. St Philip reminds us of our connection across time and space in the communion of saints, the Church. God has united us to each other as parts of a body are united. Let us not try to live as an island, cut off from each other.

Last episode we read about the procession to the Chiesa Nuova with the relics of St Papias and St. Maurus. Lay people, priests, Cardinals, musicians, servers, artists and many others took part. The Church has great need of many different types of people. What draws us together is Christ and the search for holiness. The really great thing in this world is a saint. A saint takes God seriously and himself or herself not that seriously.

Episode 145 -- Life of St. Philip XII.145 -- Being Serious and Being Light

Did St Philip know many of the most powerful people in the Church?

Yes. We will read about the procession of the relics of Saints Papias and Maurus to the new Oratorian church. Gallonio tells us about all the high ranking prelates who were there. We see how much Rome and its leadership had changed since St Philip began his work.

Episode 144 -- Life of St. Philip XII.144 -- Willing Good for Others

We read about the decision of a Cardinal to give the Oratorians the bodies of early martyrs whose relics had recently been re-discovered. The Cardinal knew this would be welcomed by St Philip. Let us ask for the grace to want to do good to others.

Episode 143 -- Life of St. Philip XII.143 -- Lay Brothers are Welcome

We read about a lay brother who fell from a great height in the church of the Oratorians. He was hanging things for Christmas. Despite the skull fracture, the brother got better without any kind of surgery. The doctors all thought he would die. But they disagreed about how to treat the brother. Good people do not always agree on things. The Church needs many different kinds of people. The Oratory itself needs lay brothers and priests. In the end, this beloved son of St Philip persevered in his vocation to pray, to help with the daily preaching, and the reception of the sacraments.

Episode 142 -- Life of St. Philip XII.142 -- Getting Our Attention Before Death Approaches

Did St Philip ever do drastic things to get people's attention?

Yes. We will read about some very drastic, almost violent things St Philip did when he was saving a young girl's life. She was in a coma. God sometimes does drastic things to get our attention too!

Episode 141 -- Life of St. Philip XII.141 -- Praying for Patience in Advent

Did St Philip celebrate Advent?

Yes. Gallonio speaks of it as the "holy season of Advent." During this season, St Philip performed a mighty miracle. A miracle that combines both words and physical touch. St Philip even pressed a person's hand very strongly before the healing took place. May the Lord convince us that the Word has become flesh. Let us put our trust in Him.

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.