Yesterday was the 500th anniversary of the birth in Florence of St Philip Neri, the founder of the Oratorians.
To mark the occasion all the Masses at the Oxford Oratory were votives of St Philip, followed by veneration of a relic of him. At the 6pm Mass which I attended there was also Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament before the veneration of the reliquary.
Given St Philip's profound assimilation to the will of God, above all in the physical enlargement of his heart following the inflowing of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost 1544, this seemed to be, as both the homily from Fr Joseph and the prayers at Benediction from Fr Jerome indicated, a very appropriate way for us to draw closer to God and to the force which transformed and motivated St Philip.
Given St Philip's profound assimilation to the will of God, above all in the physical enlargement of his heart following the inflowing of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost 1544, this seemed to be, as both the homily from Fr Joseph and the prayers at Benediction from Fr Jerome indicated, a very appropriate way for us to draw closer to God and to the force which transformed and motivated St Philip.
The Vision of St Philip Neri
Giuseppe Passeri
Image: Wikimedia
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