NERI, PHILIP nit, a saint of the Roman Catholic church, and founder of the congre gation of the oratory (q.v.), was b. of a distinguished family of Florence, July 21, 1515. Eis character, even in boyhood, foreshadowed the career of piety and benevolence to which ire was destined, and ire was commonly known among his youthful companions by the name of "good Philip." On the death of his parents, he was adopted by a very wealthy uncle, with whom he lived for some time at. San Germano, near Monte Cassino, and by whom he was recognized as his destined heir. But he relinquished all these prospects for a life of piety and charity, and having come to Rome in 1584, he there completed his philosophical and theological studies, and won the esteem and reverence of all by his extraordinary piety, and his benevolence and activity in every good work, whether of charity or of religion. Although he did nit receive priest's orders till 1551, he had already been for years one of the most earnest and devoted in all the pious works of Rome for the instruction of the poor, the care of the sick, and the reclamation of the vicious; and in 1550, in unison with several of his friends, he established a confrater nity for the care of poor pilgrims visiting Rome, and other homeless persons, as well as of the sick generally, which still subsists, and which has numbered among its associates many of the most distinguished members of the Roman Catholic church. This confra ternity, however, is chiefly noteworthy as having been the germ of the far more cele brated congregation of the oratory (q.v.), which was founded by St. Philip in concert with his friends Baronius and Tarugio, both afterwards cardinals, Sabriati, and some others. Besides the general objects above indicated, and the spiritual duties designed for the personal sanctification of the members, the main object of this association was tire moral instruction and religions.training of the young and uneducated, who were assem
bled in chapels or oratorios, for prayer and for religious and moral instruction. As a further means of withdrawing youth from dangerous amusements, sacred musical enter hunments (thence called by the name of oratorio) were held in the oratory, at first con sisting solely of hymns, but afterwards partaking of the nature of sacred operas or dramas, except that they did not admit the scenic or dramatic accompaniments of these more secular cIgnisokritions.. Religious auttl*rary wormed part of his plan, and it was in the lectures originally prepared for the oratory that, at the instance of Neri, the gigantic Church History of Barouius had its origin. The personal character of Neri, the unselfish devotedness of his life, his unaffecteu piety, his genuine love of the poor, his kindly and cheerful disposition, and, perhaps, as much as any of the rest, a certain quaint humor, and a tinge of what may almost be called drollery which pervaded many of his sayings and doings, contributed to popularize his institute, and to engage the public favor for himself and his fellow-laborers. He himself enjoyed the reputation of sanctity and of miracles among his fellow-religionists almost beyond any of the, modern saints; and he may still be described as emphatically the popular saint of the) Roman people. He lived to an extreme age in the full enjoyment of all his facunies, an 1 in the active discharge to the last of all the charitable duties to which his life had been devoted. He died at the age of 80, May 26, 1595. He was canonized by Gregory NV. in 1022. His only literary remains are his Letters (8vo, Padua. 1751); the Constita Cons of his congregation, printed in 1612; some short spiritual treatises, and a few son nets, which are printed in the collection of Rime Neste.