You've heard your call—now find your home
Perhaps you already know you want to be a priest, but wonder where the right place for you is. Somewhere between secular and religious priestly life. A place where you can be a man of prayer, but not an enclosed monk. A place where you can speak the ancient truths of the Catholic tradition, but in language a contemporary culture can understand. Where intellectual life is valued, but not an ivory tower. Where men of apostolic zeal can find affirmation and encouragement in a community of like-minded colleagues.
If these ideals appeal to you, please read further:
When Jesus inaugurated his public ministry he approached men engaged in their normal, day to day labor with an invitation: from the midst of their work, their families and communities the Lord invited them to "come and see" and to "follow me." Numerous resources are available to men considering the priestly vocation of service to others in the footsteps of Christ.
As a community of men aspiring to become a member of the Federation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, St. Philip Neri House welcomes men who are aware of tug in the direction of a life of service, prayer and community.
Ours is presently a small community (one priest and two brothers), who strive for a balanced life of mature discipleship and friendship.
We place a great emphasis on the compatibility of members to live together in a convivial, open and prayerful life. Because our efforts for the Church is new, men interested in exploring a vocation at St. Philip Neri House need to understand that we are looking for innovative self-starters; men who are joyfully faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church, and who are invigorated by confronting the challenge of building a new community from the bottom up. One sign of an authentic vocation to our community will be that both the present members and the candidate will sense that he was 'as if born to the house' (quasi natus), to use St. Philip's phrase.
The ideal of our life is to form a community that is prayerful while not being monastic, supportive without being suffocating, pious, but with a sense of humor, flexibility and goodwill. We seek to have the best of both a secular priesthood and a religious life.
If the concept of building a new religious community is exciting to you, and if the possibility of utilizing your ideas, talents and insights to help form others in the Catholic faith is something you can be enthusiastic about, please give us a call, or send an email, to arrange for visit.
In order to get to know such men and allow them to get to know us, we ask you to fill out our brief questionnaire to help us get to know you a bit.
You may email us with any other specific questions you might have.
Finally, the short book on the life of St. Philip Neri by the renowned spiritual director Fr. Louis Boyer (which you can download here), will help you to understand the unique nature of the Oratorian tradition.