PRIESTLY

S piritual
nfluences
I
PHILIP NERI
Born July 21, 1515, Florence
Died May 26, 1595, Rome
Canonized 1622 Feast day May 26

Italian priest and one of the out-

standing mystics during the Counter-
Reformation and founder of the
Congregation of the Oratory, a 1515-1595
congregation of secular priests and
clerics.

I PREFER HEAVEN
PHILIP NERI
He went to Rome c. 1533, where he
tutored, studied, and undertook
many charitable works. In 1548 he
founded a society of laymen
dedicated to the care of the poor,
convalescents, and pilgrims. After
ordination in 1551 he moved to 1515-1595
the ecclesiastical community at San
Girolamo della Carità in Rome.

I PREFER HEAVEN
PHILIP NERI
There he held religious conferences
that became so popular that a large
room was built over the church nave
to accommodate his audiences. This
room was called the Oratory, a name
that subsequently referred to those
who met there and to the devotional, 1515-1595
charitable, recreational activities
including musical performances.

I PREFER HEAVEN
PHILIP NERI
Philip was rector of the church of San
Giovanni from 1564 to 1575, during
which period he ordained his
disciples. In 1575 Pope Gregory XIII
granted him Sta. Maria in Vallicella,
where he established the Institute of
the Oratory. A house was built for the 1515-1595
priests, and Philip, elected provost in
1577, resided there after 1583.

I PREFER HEAVEN
PHILIP NERI
Although Philip helped influence
Pope Clement VIII to absolve (1595)
King Henry IV of France from excom-
munication, he had little to do with
contemporary political events. Noted
for his personal spirituality, he under-
went numerous ecstatic religious 1515-1595
experiences, and many miracles were
attributed to him.

I PREFER HEAVEN
VINCENT DE PAUL
The patron saint of charitable
societies, St. Vincent de Paul is
primarily recognized for his charity
and compassion for the poor, though
he is also known for his reform of the
clergy and for his early role in
opposing Jansenism.
1581-1660

ENCOUNTERING CHRIST
IN THOSE WHO ARE POOR
VINCENT DE PAUL
Educated by the Franciscans at Dax,
France, he was ordained in 1600
and graduated from the University
of Toulouse in 1604. He was
allegedly captured at sea by Barbary
pirates and sold as a slave but
eventually
escaped.
1581-1660

ENCOUNTERING CHRIST
IN THOSE WHO ARE POOR
VINCENT DE PAUL
Born April 24, 1581, Pouy
Died September 27, 1660, Paris
Canonized 1737 Feast day September 27

French saint, founder of

the Congregation of the
Mission (Lazarists or Vincentians)
for preaching missions to the
peasantry and for educating and
training a pastoral clergy.
1581-1660

ENCOUNTERING CHRIST
IN THOSE WHO ARE POOR
VINCENT DE PAUL
He spent a year in Rome to continue
his studies and then went to Paris,
where he remained permanently. He
placed himself under the spiritual
guidance of the celebrated Cardinal
Pierre de Bérulle, who entrusted him
with the parish of Clichy.
1581-1660

ENCOUNTERING CHRIST
IN THOSE WHO ARE POOR
VINCENT DE PAUL
After founding the Congregation of
the Mission in 1625, Vincent de Paul
established in and around Paris the
Confraternities of Charity —associa-
tions of laywomen who visited, fed,
and nursed the sick poor. The wealth
of these women, many of noble
family, aided him in establishing the 1581-1660
foundling and other hospitals.
ENCOUNTERING CHRIST
IN THOSE WHO ARE POOR
VINCENT DE PAUL
With St. Louise de Marillac he co-
founded the Daughters of Charity
(Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de
Paul) in 1633. The association was
patterned after the Confraternities of
Charity and was the first nonclois-
tered religious institute of women
devoted to active charitable works. 1581-1660

ENCOUNTERING CHRIST
IN THOSE WHO ARE POOR
APHONSUS DE LIGUORI
Born September 27, 1696, Marianella, Kingdom of Naples
Died August 1, 1787, Pagani
canonized 1839 Feast day August 1

Italian doctor of the Church,

one of the chief 18th-century 
moral theologians, and founder of
the Redemptorists, a Congregation
dedicated primarily to parish and 1696-1787
foreign missions.

THE HEART OF MAN IS

THE PARADISE OF GOD
APHONSUS DE LIGUORI
After practicing law for eight years,
he was ordained a priest in 1726. In
1732 he founded the Congregation of
the Most Holy Redeemer, or the
Redemptorists, at Scala.

1581-1660

THE HEART OF MAN IS

THE PARADISE OF GOD
APHONSUS DE LIGUORI
Dissension within the congregation
culminated in 1777 when he was
deceived into signing what he
thought was a royal sanction for his
rule. Actually, the document was a
new rule devised by one of his
enemies, thus causing the followers
of the old rule to break away. 1581-1660

THE HEART OF MAN IS

THE PARADISE OF GOD
APHONSUS DE LIGUORI
Liguori’s extensive works fall into
three genres: moral theology best
represented by his celebrated
Theologia moralis, ascetical and
devotional writings, including The
Glories of Mary, which became one
of the most widely used manuals of
devotion to the Virgin Mary, and 1581-1660
dogmatic writings.

ENCOUNTERING CHRIST
IN THOSE WHO ARE POOR
APHONSUS DE LIGUORI
In theology Alphonsus Maria Liguori
is known as the principal exponent
of equiprobabilism, a system of
principles designed to guide the
conscience of one in doubt as to
whether he or she is free from or
bound by a given civil or religious law.
1581-1660

ENCOUNTERING CHRIST
IN THOSE WHO ARE POOR
APHONSUS DE LIGUORI
In 1871 he was named a doctor of
the Church by Pope Pius IX. In 1950
he was named patron saint of
moralists and confessors by
Pope Pius XII

1581-1660

THE HEART OF MAN IS

THE PARADISE OF GOD
FRANCIS OF SALES
Born Aug. 21, 1567, Thorens-Glières, Savoy
Died Dec. 28, 1622, Lyon
Canonized 1665 Feast day January 24

Roman Catholic bishop of Geneva
and doctor of the Church, who was
active in the struggle against
Calvinism and cofounded the order
of the Visitation Nuns.
1567-1622

DOING EVERYTHING
OUT OF LOVE
FRANCIS OF SALES
He was educated at the Jesuit
college of Clermont in Paris (1580–
1588) and at Padua, Italy, where he
received a doctorate in law (1591).
After briefly practicing law he turned
to religion and was ordained in 1593
at Annecy, chief town of his
native Savoy. 1567-1622

DOING EVERYTHING
OUT OF LOVE
FRANCIS OF SALES
Francis began intense missionary
work in Chablais, a district that had
broken away from Savoy and had
become Calvinist but had been re-
gained by the duke of Savoy, Charles
Emmanuel, an ardent Catholic.
Under his protection, Francis won
the bulk of the people of Chablais 1567-1622
back to Catholicism.
DOING EVERYTHING
OUT OF LOVE
FRANCIS OF SALES
Francis was consecrated bishop of
Geneva on December 8, 1602.
In 1610, with St. Jane Frances de
Chantal, he founded the Visitation
of Holy Mary or popularly called
the Visitation Nuns, which became
principally a teaching order.
1567-1622

DOING EVERYTHING
OUT OF LOVE
FRANCIS OF SALES
He wrote the devotional
classic Introduction to a Devout
Life which emphasized that
spiritual perfection is possible for
people busy with the affairs of the
world and not only, as many
believed at the time, for those who
withdraw from society. 1567-1622

DOING EVERYTHING
OUT OF LOVE