The Confederation of Oratories of Saint Philip Neri (Latin: Confoederatio Oratorii Sancti Philippi Nerii), abbreviated C.O. and commonly known as the Oratorians, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men (priests and religious brothers) who live together in a community bound together by no formal vows but only with the bond of charity.
Founded in Rome in 1575 by Philip Neri, today it has spread around the world, with over 70 Oratories and some 500 priests. The post-nominal initials commonly used to identify members of the society are "CO" (Congregatio Oratorii). The abbreviation "Cong. Orat." is also used.
Unlike a religious institute (the members of which take vows and are answerable to a central authority) or a monastery (the monks of which are likewise bound by vows in a community that may itself be autonomous and answerable directly to the pope), the Oratorians commit themselves to membership in a particular, independent, self-governing local community (an Oratory, usually named for the place in which it is located: e.g., Birmingham Oratory, Oxford Oratory, Brooklyn Oratory) without actually taking vows, an unusual and innovative arrangement created by Philip. Normally an oratory must have a minimum of four members, two being ordained, in order to be founded. If a group of men seeks to establish an oratory, they may apply to do so, going through the proper diocesan channels; during the process of formation a member (or members) of a well-established oratory resides in the community to facilitate every aspect of the proposed foundation.
History
The Congregation of the Oratory was founded by Philip Neri (1515–1595) in the city of Rome. The first Oratory received papal recognition in 1575. The new community was to be a congregation of secular priests living under obedience but bound by no vows.[2] Speaking of Neri, whom he called "the saint of joy", Pope John Paul II said, "As is well known, the saint used to put his teaching into short and wise maxims: 'Be good, if you can...' He did not choose the life of solitude; but, in exercising his ministry among the common people, he also wished to be "salt" for all those who met him. Like Jesus, he was equally able to enter into the human misery present in the noble palaces and in the alleys of Renaissance Rome."[3]
The core of Philip's spirituality focused on an unpretentious return to the lifestyle of the first Disciples of Christ. The object of the institute is threefold: prayer, preaching, and the sacraments.[2]
Up to 1800 the Oratory continued to spread through Italy, Sicily, Spain, Portugal, Poland, and other European countries; in South America, Brazil, India, and Ceylon. Under Napoleon I the Oratory was in various places despoiled and suppressed, but the congregation recovered and, after a second suppression in 1869, again revived.[2] A few houses were founded in Munich and Vienna.
Governance
There are 86 Congregations of the Oratory throughout the world. Each Community is autonomous, but there is a Confederation which facilitates contact with the Holy See.[4] As such, the Congregation of the Oratory functions more like a monastic federation than like a religious institute.
Three documents govern the Oratory. The first is the "General Statutes" of the Congregation, which are guidelines to be followed throughout the world; these may be changed or modified when representatives from each Oratory gather every six years in a meeting called a "Congresso Generale". The second is the "Particular Statutes", which outline how an individual Oratory is to be conducted; these must be approved by Rome. The third document is the "Constitutions", which establish general norms, and outline the relationship between the Congregation and the Holy See. As the Oratory is a confederation, there is no central authority such as is found within the Dominicans, Franciscans, or Jesuits. The definitive foundation of an Oratorian Congregation is actually done by the Roman Pontiff directly, which makes a Congregation what is called a "Pontifical Right" foundation.[5]
Frederick William Faber described the Oratorian charism as "a spirituality of everyday life". The Oratory founded by St Philip Neri is a society of priests and brothers who live together under a Rule without taking religious vows. Hence, Oratorians are free to resign their membership in the Congregation without canonical impediment or ecclesiastical dispensation. An Oratorian resides in an Oratory community of his choosing and is permanently stable, i.e., he is not subject to transfer to other Oratories or communities.[5] Oratorians have what is called 'stability,' which means they are committed as members of the community of a particular Oratory, though a member may move if there is a serious enough reason.
As there is no vow of poverty, Oratorians may keep their possessions, and those who can afford to do so are expected to contribute to the support of the house. It is possible for an ordained secular priest to join the Community if he feels called to a more recollected life in community than is possible in a diocesan presbytery, however the Constitutions do not permit anyone who has been a solemnly professed religious to join the Congregation. Neither is it customary to admit anyone over the age of 45.[6]
Unlike the members of some religious institutes, Oratorians are not bound by a rule to pray in common, though this is something that Oratorians consider important, and they commit themselves to praying together at least twice each day, and having one communal meal which is usually dinner. Oratorians normally have a set time each day for praying together in silent meditation; this ends classically with the recitation of a litany.
Although some oratories may have a dominant mission (e.g., the London Oratory, which maintains a school), in general the members of the Oratory spend the day involved in various ministries: teaching, parish work, spiritual direction, campus ministry, hospital chaplaincies, administration or maintaining the fabric of the community house. Some oratories are specifically connected with parishes and thus its members serve as clergy of the parish.[5]
Habit
John Henry Newman and the Oratorian collar
As secular clergy, Oratorians wear a dress similar to that of diocesan priests. However, the black cassock is worn with a distinctive Oratorian clerical collar: a white cloth that folds over the collar all around the neck, with a number of folds inward, indicating the particular oratory from which the priest originates. The cassock is bound by a fascia. The habit is given at formal reception into the community which comes after a few months of living together to see if the candidate fits in well. Members often, but do not necessarily, wear the cassock whilst engaged in their respective ministries. When not wearing the cassock, members of the Oratory would wear the normal street clothes of a cleric, such as a clerical shirt, but with the Oratorian collar. In some countries such as Spain, Oratorians do not wear the distinctive Oratorian cassock and collar, making them indistinguishable from other secular priests.
Oratories around the world
As of 2014, the website of the oratory's "headquarters" in Rome lists the following as some of the numerous congregations throughout the world:
In 1849 a second congregation was founded in King William Street, Strand, London (the London Oratory), with Frederick William Faber as superior; in 1854 it was transferred to Brompton. The Fathers of the London Oratory founded the London Oratory School in 1863, which continues providing education in the Oratorian tradition to this day. Its church, the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, was consecrated on 16 April 1884 and is the second largest Roman Catholic church in London.
As of October 2013, the church of St Wilfrid, York, was turned over to the Oxford Oratorians on the retirement of the incumbent parish priest[8] and is now canonically established, known as the York Oratory.
In Manchester (St Chad's) there is a community canonically established on the Feast of All Saints, 2019.
As of 2012 there was an Oratory in Formation in Port Antonio, Jamaica (Archdiocese of Kingston). This community of priests had been constituted many years ago and upon completing the necessary requirements in the Archdiocese of Kingston in 2014 the community was erected as a Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, the first in the history of the English speaking Caribbean.[11]
North America
In Canada, the Oratorians have a house in Toronto, the Toronto Oratory, although the original foundation was in Montreal in 1975.
The first Oratory in the United States was founded in Rock Hill, South Carolina, in 1934.[12] The ministry of the Rock Hill Oratorians has long included campus ministry at Winthrop University and prison visitation at the Moss detention center in York County.
The principal ministry of the Brooklyn Oratory, established in 1988,[14] are the parishes of Saint Boniface, which it has cared for since 1990, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Brooklyn Heights which came under its pastoral care in 2016. In this year, the Brooklyn Oratory also began a pastoral outreach to students in the various secular colleges and universities in Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights.[15]
The Philadelphia Oratory was formed in 1990 at the Fairmount neighborhood parish of St. Francis Xavier. The oratory then gained responsibility for the parochial grade school: St. Francis Xavier School.[16] It was formally established by Pope John Paul II in 2000.
The Raritan Congregation was formally established by Pope John Paul II, on 8 September 1998 as the New Brunswick Congregation. The members of the Congregation served in Catholic campus ministry at Rutgers University, at St. Peter the Apostle Parish and at St. Joseph Parish, New Brunswick, N.J. until 2018. The Oratory relocated to Raritan, N.J. at the request of Bishop James Checchio. The Raritan Oratory of St. Philip Neri serves five apostolates under its care: the Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, St. Ann Church, St. Joseph Church, and St. Ann Classical Academy of Raritan, N.J. and Holy Trinity Church of Bridgewater, N.J.
On 26 May 1994 Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of the Archdiocese of Chicago decreed the formation of a diocesan right Oratory of St. Philip Neri which follow the Constitutions and General Statutes of the Congregration of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Its members continue in pastoral ministries.
The New York Oratory was founded on 28 June 2007, in Sparkill, New York.[17] On the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 15 August 2007, the Procurator General P. Edoardo Cerrato consigned the Decree of the Foundation of New York Oratory to its members, during the celebration of the Eucharist, presided by Cardinal Egan, in the presence of Archbishop Alojz Tkac, Metropolitan of Košice, Slovakia, participating honorable guests, parishioners of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish Tappan, NY, visitors from other parishes and friends.
In Washington, D.C., the Community of St. Philip Neri was established as a community-in-formation in July 2013 by canonical decree of the Archbishop of Washington, Donald Cardinal Wuerl.[18] Washington's Oratorians are responsible for the administration of the parish of St. Thomas Apostle in Woodley Park. They oversee a chapter of the Little Oratory of St. Philip Neri, a group of Catholic laymen. [citation needed]
The Red Bank Oratory: On Divine Mercy Sunday, April 7th, 2024, His Holiness, Pope Francis established The Red Bank Oratory as a Congregation of Pontifical Right. The church of the Oratory was established as The Oratory Church of St. Anthony of Padua in perpetuity. The Red Bank Oratory had begun in September 2015, as an Oratory-in-formation and was established in Red Bank, New Jersey, with the permission of Bishop David M. O'Connell. Bishop O'Connell then issued a canonical decree on 29 May 2016 to govern the community, and established the permanent home of the community at the church of Saint Anthony of Padua. The members of the Oratory-in-Formation subsequently established a Secular Oratory, the Women of Vallicella, a Children's Oratory, Jr. Oratory, a Youth Oratory, and the Friends of Saint Philip Neri which share in the spiritual and ministerial life of the Oratory. [19]
In 2017, Pope Francis issued a decree establishing the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The Oratory is based at Old St. Mary's Church in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati.[20]
In 2011, work towards establishing the first Australian Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri was conceived. The community-in-formation was welcomed to Brisbane by Archbishop Mark Coleridge, and is supported by the Fathers of the London, Oxford and Toronto Oratories.[24] The Brisbane Oratory in Formation is based at Mary Immaculate Church, Annerley, in the Annerley Ekibin parish.[25]
Oratorian saints and blesseds
Note that feast days of blesseds are only celebrated by permission in specific dioceses or religious congregations and not throughout the whole Roman Rite.
St. Philip Neri (1515-1595). Canonized 12 March 1622. Feast 26 May.
Bl. Juvenal Ancina (1545–1604). Beatified 9 February 1890. Feast 30 August (1962 Calendar, 31 August).
Cesare Baronio, C.O. was an Italian Oratorian, cardinal and historian of the Catholic Church. His best-known works are his Annales Ecclesiastici, which appeared in 12 folio volumes (1588–1607). He is under consideration for sainthood and, in 1845, Pope Benedict XIV declared him "Venerable."
Philip Romolo Neri, sometimes referred to as the Second Apostle of Rome after Saint Peter, was an Italian Catholic priest who founded the Congregation of the Oratory, a society of secular clergy dedicated to pastoral care and charitable work. Neri's spiritual mission emphasized personal holiness and direct service to others, particularly through the education of young people and care for the poor and sick. His work played a significant role in the Counter-Reformation, especially within the city of Rome.
Camillus de Lellis, M.I., was a Roman Catholic priest from Italy who founded the Camillians, a religious order dedicated to the care of the sick. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XIV in the year 1742, and canonized by him four years later in 1746. De Lellis is the patron saint of the sick, hospitals, nurses and physicians. His assistance is also invoked against gambling.
The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary, is one of the five original mendicant orders in the Roman Catholic Church. It includes several branches of friars, contemplative nuns, a congregation of religious sisters, and lay groups. The order's objectives are the sanctification of its members, the preaching of the Gospel, and the propagation of devotion to the Mother of God, with special reference to her sorrows. The Servites friars lead a community life in the tradition of the mendicant orders.
The Birmingham Oratory is a Catholic religious community of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, located in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham. The community was founded in 1849 by John Henry Newman as the first house of that congregation in England.
The London Oratory, officially the Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri in London, is a Catholic community of priests living under the rule of life established by Philip Neri (1515-1595). It is located in an Oratory House, next to the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the Brompton Road, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, SW7.
Aufhausen Priory, formerly the Aufhausen Oratory, was a Benedictine monastery located at Aufhausen near Regensburg in Bavaria, Germany. It once again houses an Oratorian community.
A society of apostolic life is a group of men or women within the Catholic Church who have come together for a specific purpose and live fraternally. It is regarded as a form of consecrated life.
The Oxford Oratory Church of St Aloysius Gonzaga is the Catholic parish church for the centre of Oxford, England. It is located at 25 Woodstock Road, next to Somerville College. The church is served by the Congregation of the Oratory.
The Congregation of Jesus and Mary, abbreviated CIM or (CJM) also known as the Eudists, is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men in the Catholic Church. It was established on March 25, 1643 by Saint Fr. John Eudes, C.I.M.
In the canon law of the Catholic Church, an oratory is a place which is set aside by permission of an ordinary for divine worship, for the convenience of some community or group of the faithful who assemble there, but to which other members of the faithful may have access with the consent of the competent superior. The word oratory comes from the Latin verb orare, to pray.
Holy Family is a Roman Catholic church in Toronto's west end neighbourhood of Parkdale and within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. It has been served since 1979 by clergy of the Oratory of St Philip Neri who also run a seminary from the location.
The Congregation of the Oratory of Jesus and Mary Immaculate, best known as the French Oratory or Oratory of Jesus, is a society of apostolic life of Catholic priests founded in 1611 in Paris, France, by Pierre de Bérulle (1575–1629), who later became a cardinal. Members are known as Bérullians or Oratorians.
Sebastian Valfrè was a Catholic priest and a member of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri. He is called the Apostle of Turin for his long years of service to the people of that city, where he served as the provost of the local Oratory for many years.
The Port Elizabeth Oratory is a Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri in Walmer, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The Congregation serves the Catholic parish of St Bernadette in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Elizabeth. The Oratory Fathers also run an Educare Centre known as St Anne’s, and serve at St Dominic’s Priory School.
Mario Alberto Avilés is a Mexican-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Brownsville in Texas since 2017.
The Toronto Oratory is a Catholic community of priests living under the rule of life established by its founder, Philip Neri (1515-1595). It is housed next to the Holy Family Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Mary Immaculate Church is a heritage-listed Roman Catholic church located on the corner of Ipswich Road and Ferndale Street, Annerley, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Mary Immaculate Church is located in the Archdiocese of Brisbane and is under the care of the Brisbane Oratory in Formation, a Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri.
Michael Scott Napier was a British Roman Catholic priest. He was an Oratorian Father of the London Oratory from 1959 until his death, and twice served as its provost. He also served as the pope's Apostolic Visitor to the Oratory of St Philip Neri, 63 Oratories worldwide, between 1982 and 1994.
Bartolomeu de Quental, C.O. was a Portuguese Catholic priest, theologian, and distinguished preacher. Quental was the founder of the first Congregation of the Oratory of Saint Philip in Portugal in 1668.
↑ "Thank You to Canon Ryan". St Wilfrid's Catholic Church, York. 29 October 2013. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
↑ "Brisbane Oratory News". Brisbane Oratory in Formation. Annerley Ekibin Parish and the Brisbane Oratory in Formation. 2 July 2021. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
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