Saint Philip Neri

Translated by Clareece G. Godt, Ph.D.

The legacy of Philip Neri “is for the entire People of God, called to spread joy and trust and to walk in faith and hope, responding faithfully to the universal call to holiness” (Pope John Paul II). This legacy is the fruit of steadfast devotion to Christ and his Church, cheerful charity, patient suffering, and all-embracing pastoral care. In Saint Philip Neri: His Work and His Legacy, Edoardo Aldo Cerrato, C.O., meticulously examines Philip’s crowning achievement: the founding of the Congregation of the Oratory. By examining Philip in light of the Oratory, Bishop Cerrato writes, “we have looked for the testimony of our roots, while sharing fully in Victor Hugo’s conviction… The tradition is the newness: the tradition produces the newness, the new is the spring of the tradition.”

The Christian joy of which he [Philip Neri] is the “prophet” is nothing other than the happiness of the man who knows that he is the son, the child of God… (Edoardo Aldo Cerrato, C.O.)

Newly translated into English by Clareece G. Godt, Saint Philip Neri: His Work and His Legacy is that rara avis in which hagiography and history are balanced with both competence and consonance, and Pippo Buono and his posterity are brought brilliantly to life.