When on the streets he met people complaining about their sufferings, for their consolation to keep their spirits up with a loving wise and human word, he preferred to gather young people in the Oratory, his true invention! He made it a place of joyful encounter, a school of formation, a center of radiant art. In the Oratory of St. Philip, in addition to cultivating religiosity in its ordinary and new ways of expressing commitment also to reforming and raising art, bringing it back to serving God and the Church. Convinced that beauty leads to good, he introduced into his educational plan everything that had the mark of artistry. And, he himself becomes a patron of various artistic expressions, supporting all initiatives capable of leading to what is true and good. Expressive and original was the contribution that St. Philip was able to make to religious music, stimulating it to rise from the surface of pleasure alone to the level of a work that renews and comforts the spirit. It was thanks to his excitement that musicians and composers began the reform, which in Per Luigi Palestrina reached its highest peak.
May Saint Philip, a kind and noble man, holy, pure and humble, an active and contemplative apostle, remain a constant model for the members of the Congregation of the Oratory! He transmits to all oratories a program and a way of life that still remain particularly relevant today.
The so-called “quadrilateral” – humility, love, prayer, and joy – always remains the most solid posture on which the inner edifice of one’s spiritual life is supported. If they are able to follow the example of their Founder, the Oratorians will continue to play a significant role in the events of the Church.
I therefore encourage all the sons and daughters of Saint Philip Neri to always be faithful to the Oratorian vocation, seeking Christ, remaining with Him with perseverance and becoming noble sowers of joy among young people, often tempted by mistrust and discouragement. With these exhortations, I am pleased to implore from heaven the heavenly protection of the entire Oratorian Community, expressing my hope that the Jubilee celebrations will be an occasion for an encouraging discovery of the figures and works of this particular witness of Christ, who at the end of this century still has so much to teach Christians engaged in the new evangelization. To these wishes I add a special Apostolic Blessing, which I cordially impart to the members of the Confederation of the Oratory and to all those who draw from the spirituality of the “Joyful Saint”.
From the Vatican, October 7, 1994
John Paul II
