What is St. Philip Neri House?

Established in 1998 at the personal invitation of the Most Reverend James Murray, Bishop of Kalamazoo, Saint Philip Neri House is a place of prayer and formation in the tradition of the joyful saint. Not yet recognized as an official member of the Oratorian Confederation, we strive to live the ideals of Saint Philip and his early disciples in anticipation of one day becoming a house of the Oratory. To this end, we engage in regular prayer and meals and seek to be more a family than an institution.

Located in the downtown area of Kalamazoo, Michigan, St. Philip Neri House has taken over a seven bedroom former sorority/fraternity house, which include a prayerful chapel.

At this stage of our development, and in concert with the Diocese of Kalamazoo, our members are formed in a common life of prayer and service.

The ideal of Philip, was to "live the vows without taking them" and to form a community of secular priests who share a common apostolate; thus our members are bound together in fraternal charity.

A Day in the Life

The typical day at St. Philip Neri House (SPNH) is rather, well...a-typical!  There are however some constants that do not change for the most part.  St. Philip was a man of prayer, pastoral work, and joy, and these things can be found daily and in abundance at SPNH!  We are not monks, though we have some characteristics of monks.  We are committed to the house for life or have "stability".  St. Philip called his room his nido or nest.  This correlates to St. Benedict's "Rule" that a monk must love his cell and his monastery for that is where he can find Christ.  However, as a congregation of priests, we are primarily ministerial in nature.  As monks are committed to times of prayer so are we, praying twice daily.  The difference is that we are a community of priests and priest-candidates, and St. Philip's love for the apostolate means that we cannot pray at most more than twice a day in common.  We of course, all make visits to chapel to pray throughout the day independent of the community exercises, but we are not bound by "choir" or prayer in common.  For us, prayer is usually at 7:30am and 6:00pm for a half hour each time.  Every oratory is different, but our community begins prayer with Lauds (Morning Prayer)  or Vespers (Evening Prayer) which is part of the Church's Liturgy of the Hours.  Afterward, we pray for our friends and benefactors and then have mental prayer for the remainder of the half-hour (about twenty minutes).  Our evening prayer closes with a hymn to Our Lady.  Mass is offered weekday mornings in our chapel immediately after morning prayer.  It is a simple, prayerful, reflective liturgy. 

The rest of the day is our own. We all have many tasks and duties which must be done.  There is parish work, campus ministry, spiritual direction, days of recollection, and maintaining the community house (cooking, gardening, errands and other tasks).  This means lunch is an informal meal many times eaten on the go!  Vespers and dinner provide wonderful community time with the Lord and one another.  Normally, we eat dinner in our refectory and enjoy each others' company and catch up on the day's events.  We enjoy this time together, and it is important for us, since we are only bound by fraternity or a mutual desire to be with one another.  This is quite different from a religious order whose members take vows which bind the religious to the founders' rule and the common life.  We remain in community daily because we want to! 

Because we understand life can get hectic, and community life is more than simply living together, and even praying together, we structure times we call HOME NIGHTS.  Home Nights are evenings, once a week,  where the community gathers for a holy hour with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.  This is followed by a meal we prepare ourselves as we talk and enjoy each others’ company.  After a leisurely meal which usually includes wine, we will sit and talk or watch a DVD series which may last several weeks. 

Is St. Philip Neri House a religious order?

Fr. Ronald Knox, a theologian and English convert to Catholicism in the twentieth century said that the Oratorians are the Church's best kept secret.  Unfortunately, this means that most Catholics and non-Catholics do not understand who Oratorians are, or who we are as an aspiring Oratory. 

Benedictines, the Dominicans, Franciscans and Jesuits are "religious orders" which mean they follow a specific rule for life written often by their founder.  They also live by vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and many add a fourth vow too.  Many of these orders ordain their men as priests to serve their community and those laity who come to them for spiritual guidance.  However, their primary identity is first and foremost a “monk” or “friar”.  As such, their identity is bound up very much in their rule of life which guides and sustains them.

St. Philip Neri never intended nor wanted to establish a religious order, and anyone who came to him asking for religious life or that he establish his congregation of priests in a more formal way, he sent to the Jesuits or Dominicans.  We are technically “secular priests” (as opposed to religious order priests… Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans…) which is a term that means we are priests living in the world, without vows.  Sulpicians, Vincentians, Pallotines, and Paulits are other such congregations of priests or Societies of Apostolic Life.

Governance

Every family has their little customs, and they are usually apparent at Christmas or Easter or birthdays or graduations.  Customs show  continuity with the past, and provides a structure for living together.  Oratorians need some customs as gracious helps which assist us in living in harmony with one another, and ensure that we are carrying on the spirit of St. Philip and all the Oratorians who have come before.  Though few, there are some customs which come from Rome and all Oratorians throughout the world must follow them. Some we have developed for ourselves.  But the bottom line is, we are a family, and we need our time together for prayer, recreation, and meals and we need some gentle guides to keep us all on the same page, as it were.  So we are not an order, but that does not mean we do not have order in our life together.  

We live in the world as priests doing apostolic work, however we also know we need the fraternity of our brothers, and enjoy each others’ company.  We support one another through recreation, prayer, and conversation.  We also share the common vision of St. Philip; his zeal for priestly work, his joy, his tremendous sense of humor, and his desire for community.  The way we live our life at St. Philip Neri House is governed by our own Particular Statutes.  These can be changed by a vote of the community and Deo volente upon canonical erection, must be approved by Rome.  These statutes complement the General Statutes of the Congregation of the Oratory which are general guidelines that all Oratorians throughout the world must follow.  These too can be changed or modified as needed usually once every 6 years at what is called a “congresso” or gathering of delegates of all pontifically erected oratories throughout the world, usually held in Rome.  The Constitutions is a document which establishes our norms and relationship with the Holy See (The Vatican).  The Oratory is a confederation which means that there is no central authority like the Jesuits or the Dominicans.  Each house, technically speaking, is established by the pope himself and the Holy See and has direct appeal to the Holy See in serious matters.

For organizational purposes however, the Confederation elects one of its own to represent the interests of the Confederation to the Holy See through a department of the Vatican known as the Congregation for Religious and Institutes of Apostolic Life.  This Procurator General now resides in Rome at the Chiesa Nuova, which was home to the first followers of St. Philip Neri.

The Habit

As a sign of our identity, and because we are a secular congregation of priests, all members of the community wear a habit.  Our habit is a simple black cassock, buttoned down the front with a traditional roman collar.  It is bound by a cincture or sash.  The habit is given at formal reception into the community which comes after a few months of living with the community to see if the candidate is the right fit.  When not in habit, it is expected that the priest or brother wear black pants or suit, and roman collar.  Of course for recreation or on one’s day off we wear clothing which is not to be considered too flashy. 

For us the habit is not simply a “church gown” but serves a double purpose.  It is an unmistakable visible witness and sign of our commitment to the ministry of the Church.  It is not subject to the whims of passing styles and trends, and is and has been a sign of continuity with the past.  Its other purpose, as Fr. Robert points out, is to show that as a member of the community, one does not belong or represent oneself anymore, he represents the community.  No matter where he goes or what he does, the father or brother does so as a member of this community and the habit is a visible sign to him and to others of this fact.  St. Philip’s exhortation to his followers is to “love to be unknown” and so through dress and manner of life he loses himself so that hopefully Christ may become more visible.