Tour
Of The Holy Name Of Jesus
3 - The Vestibule
Rome in the sixteenth century presented
many different faces to the world.
The city of St. Peter and St.Paul and
of the Popes had become the centre
of the excesses of the Renaissance
and a place of idleness and wealth
for many of its inhabitants. At the
same time, hidden from public view,
many saints were quietly living lives
of holiness and mortification in the
midst of this worldly splendor. The
Spaniard, Ignatius of Loyola, arrived
in Rome, already a priest, with his
followers - the future 'Companions
of Jesus' (Jesuits) in 1537, to put
themselves at the Pope's disposal for
whatever work he gave them. This was
the year that marked the start of St.
Francis Xavier's missions and the gift
of the little chapel of the Madonna
della Strada which was later incorporated
into the vast new church - the Gesu
- where Ignatius spent the last 19
years of his life directing his rapidly
growing order.
St. Philip came to Rome
about the same time (1533-35) aged
18-20, and spent the next few years
preparing by prayer for his mission.
He was ordained priest in 1551 and
lived at San Girolamo (only 10 minutes
walk from Gesu). The incident depicted
in our shrine shows the two saints
meeting in the street outside San Girolamo.
Philip sees a halo around Ignatius'
head and Ignatius sees a globe of fire
hovering over San Girolamo, where Philip
gathered his young men each afternoon
- the beginnings of the Oratory. It
was in this same street (the Via di
Monserrato) that Philip would greet
the young students of the Venerable
English College with the words "Salvete
flores martyrum" ("Hail flowers of
martyrdom"), 44 of whom gave their
lives for their faith in 16th and 17th
century England.
This church of the Holy
Name was to have been called the Gesu
when it was begun by the Jesuits in
1869. In 1992 they handed over the
running of the church to a group hoping
to form a new Oratory here in Manchester,
three of its first members being priests
who studied at the English College
in Rome.
Please ask for the prayers
of St. Ignatius and St. Philip for
the success of this venture.
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