Saint Philip Neri’s feast day is May 26. What an extraordinary saint! So writes William Bloomfield, General Counsel for the Diocese of Lansing and long-time devotee of Saint Philip. Will continues:

Philip Neri lived in Rome in the 16th century during tumultuous times following the Protestant Reformation. He was known for many things: he founded the Congregation of the Oratory. He was devoted to prayer and the liturgy. He was generous to the poor, was friends with Cardinals and Popes, and was a confessor and spiritual director to many of all classes. He was humble and lived a life of poverty and mortification. He was a mystic; he was a prophet; he was a miracle-worker. Saint Philip was even known as a joker and prankster. For his profound influence in Rome, he is known as the Apostle of Rome.

Eight years ago I stumbled upon The Life of Saint Philip Neri by Father Pietro Giacomo Bacci, which tells of the many extraordinary features of Saint Philip’s life. What intrigued me about this book is that it was first published in 1622, which was the year of Saint Philip’s canonization and just 27 years after Saint Philip’ death. In other words, it is a contemporary account of Saint Philip’s life that was based on witness testimony and could be trusted as an accurate account. I was so impressed with The Life of Saint Philip Neri that, since it was out-of-print, I decided to republish it.

As I continued to learn about Saint Philip’s life, I discovered that Saint Philip’s followers had compiled the saint’s many memorable sayings into a saying for each day of the year. I had an idea: what if I used e-mail and social media to share these sayings each day? I soon created an email list to do just that and called it the Daily Sayings of Saint Philip Neri. I sent these messages for eight years. Earlier this year, I concluded that it was time to wind this small apostolate down. However, when I informed my audience, to my surprise and delight, I started receiving messages from around the world thanking me for the Daily Sayings and telling me what an important part of their daily lives these sayings had become. Several offered to take over the apostolate for me. One such offer came from the Bournemouth Oratory in Formation in the United Kingdom, and happily I successfully transferred the project to them. You can sign up here.

Here are some of my favorite sayings from Saint Philip:

January 11: He who wishes to be perfectly obeyed, should give but few orders.

March 17: If young men would preserve their purity, let them avoid bad company.

April 2: Let a man who desires the first place take the last.

April 25: Charity and cheerfulness, or charity and humility, should be our motto.

April 29: At table, especially where there are guests, we ought to eat every kind of food, and not say, “I like this,” and “I do not like that.”

July 30: Without mortification nothing can be done.

Saint Philip Neri, Apostle of Rome, pray for us!⁣