Wednesday, May 27, 2009

St Philip Neri

I have a special affection for St Philip Neri, the name of the parish where I made my First Holy Communion and Confirmation. I always knew about his sense of humor but never heard about his experience of the Holy Spirit.
Please don't forget to pray the Pentecost Novena with me for my mother.

"He was twenty-nine years old at the time, and as the feast of Pentecost was approaching, Philip who had always had a special devotion to the Holy Spirit, was praying with extreme earnestness for his gifts and graces, when he seemed to see a globe of fire which entered his mouth and sank down into his heart. At the same time he was pervaded by a fire of love which seemed to be a positive physical heat, so that he had to throw himself on the ground and bare his breast to cool it. When he rose he was seized with a violent trembling, accompanied by an extraordinary sense of joy, and putting his hand to his heart, he felt there a swelling as big as a man's fist. After his death it was discovered that the first two of the false ribs were broken, and the broken ends thrust outwards, never having rejoined or return to the normal position during he fifty remaining years of Philip's life." 9
Fr. V.J. Matthews, Saint Philip Neri (Tan Books: 1984), 9.

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