St. Philip Neri was a missionary, founder of the Congregation of the Oratory, and the Apostle of Rome. He was born in Florence in 1515. He studied under the Dominicans at San Marco and was apprenticed into his uncle’s business. He left the business in 1533, going instead to Rome to devote himself to God’s service. He worked as a tutor, practiced stern austerities, and in 1533 took up the study of philosophy and theology. After three years he gave up these to focus on organizing a lay brotherhood to gather together in prayer and to care for the sick and the many pilgrims who came to the city. During this period, he spent many nights in prayer in the catacomb of San Sebastiano on the Appian Way. While in the catacombs one night in 1544, he experienced an ecstasy that, as was proven after his death, enlarged his heart.

Devoting himself to his apostolate, he soon made his community, the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity, well-known throughout the city and earned for himself a sparkling reputation for his charm and goodness.

Philip was ordained in 1551 and joined a community at San Girolamo, where he became a renowned confessor, reportedly capable of reading the hearts of those who visited him. He conducted religious discussions for young men, and was supported by priests and lay persons, who made it possible for him to lay the groundwork for what became the Congregation of the Oratory. The name was most likely derived from the oratory room at San Girolamo, where the religious meetings were conducted. Approval for the congregation was granted in 1575 by Pope Gregory XIII, and the constitution was approved in 1612 by Pope Paul V. The congregation subsequently spread throughout parts of Europe and into South America.

Respected and beloved in Rome, Philip was a trusted advisor to popes, cardinals, and kings and was equally consulted by peasants and the simple people of the city. For his efforts in particular his ceaseless appeal to reach out to lay people, he was honored with the title of Second Apostle of Rome. He was enshrined in the ornate motherhouse church of Santa Maria in Valicella, which Philip was instrumental in having built.