Our Community
Established in 1998 at the personal invitation of the Most Rev. James Murray of Kalamazoo, Saint Philip Neri House is a place of prayer and formation in the tradition of the joyful saint. We strive to live the ideals of St. Philip and his early disciples. To this end, we engage in regular prayer and meals and seek to be more a family than an institution.
Our residence is located in the downtown area of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
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 priests and brothers 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, 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, priest-candidates and brothers. All of us 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 following morning prayer or at St. Mary’s Parish. 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!
Is St. Philip Neri House a Religious Order?
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 priests and brothers (as opposed to religious order priests/brothers… Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans…) living in the world, without vows. The Community of St. Philip Neri House resembles the internal structure of Sulpicians, Vincentians, Pallotines, and Paulits which are congregations of priests/brothers or Societies of Apostolic Life in that we do not take public vows, but live freely what the Church expects of priests and brothers.
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. Every Community adopts/adapts customs as gracious helps which assist us in living in harmony with one another, and ensures that we are carrying on the spirit of St. Philip and all the Oratorians who have come before us. 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 and brothers doing apostolic work, however we also know we need the fraternity of common life. We support one another through recreation, prayer, and conversation. We also share the common vision of St. Philip; his zeal for ministry, his joy, his tremendous sense of humor, and his desire for community.
Established in 1998 at the personal invitation of the Most Rev. James Murray of Kalamazoo, Saint Philip Neri House is a place of prayer and formation in the tradition of the joyful saint. We strive to live the ideals of St. Philip and his early disciples. To this end, we engage in regular prayer and meals and seek to be more a family than an institution.
Our residence is located in the downtown area of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
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 priests and brothers 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, 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, priest-candidates and brothers. All of us 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 following morning prayer or at St. Mary’s Parish. 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!
Is St. Philip Neri House a Religious Order?
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 priests and brothers (as opposed to religious order priests/brothers… Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans…) living in the world, without vows. The Community of St. Philip Neri House resembles the internal structure of Sulpicians, Vincentians, Pallotines, and Paulits which are congregations of priests/brothers or Societies of Apostolic Life in that we do not take public vows, but live freely what the Church expects of priests and brothers.
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. Every Community adopts/adapts customs as gracious helps which assist us in living in harmony with one another, and ensures that we are carrying on the spirit of St. Philip and all the Oratorians who have come before us. 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 and brothers doing apostolic work, however we also know we need the fraternity of common life. We support one another through recreation, prayer, and conversation. We also share the common vision of St. Philip; his zeal for ministry, his joy, his tremendous sense of humor, and his desire for community.