News

The Community’s Friend, Gail at The Catholic Beat, has featured the Community in an article again, this time about the upcoming Banquet.  It is an excellent article, check it out!  Thanks Gail!

Catholic Beat Article

Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam. – Matthaeus 16:18

On the 19th of March 2013, The Community-in-Formation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Cincinnati will celebrate with great reverence, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and share the great joy of Holy Mother Church at the installation of Pope Francis during the papal inauguration ceremony in Saint Peter’s Square.

With our prayers and sacrifices for Pope Francis, that began with his first appearance on the balcony of the Hall of Blessings in Saint Peter’s Basilica, comes our unconditional obedience and admiration for his holiness, simplicity, humility, and his great fraternal affection for the people and his mindfulness of the poor.

St. Philip meeting St. Felix in Rome…

We, the Community-in-Formation entrust ourselves to the prayers and Petrine Ministry of Pope Francis, in order that in our simple priestly ministry to teach, to sanctify and to shepherd the flock entrusted to us – faithfully and fruitfully – we may contribute with joy and reverence, to the Holy Father Francis, the work of building-up the Church of Jesus Christ, the Crucified Son of God.

As he receives his pallium, the sign of being the Shepherd of the most Holy Roman Church and his ring, the sign of being fisher of the people, the community commits ourselves wholeheartedly and unequivocally to his person and to the Magisterium, so that with him and with the faithful we confess one truth – Jesus Christ Crucified, Redeemer of Mankind.

Let us continue to pray and to offer sacrifices for Pope Francis for the fruition of his hope for all of us, that is, that the Holy Spirit, through the prayer of Our Lady, Our Mother, might grant us the grace to walk in Christ, to build the Church of Christ and to profess, with our lives, Jesus Christ crucified.

The Holy Father today, in one of his first official acts, visited the Patriarchal Basilica of St. Mary Major.  He prayed, as promised yesterday, to Our Lady, under the title of the Salvation of the People of Rome.  He also stopped to pray at the tomb of the Dominican St. Pius V, the Pope who codified the already centuries old Tridentine Missal.  Let us continue to pray for the Holy Father, as he prepares to do the task that God is asking of him.

The Community-in-Formation was delighted at the news of the election of Pope Francis, the 266th Successor of Saint Peter, and first from the Americas.  Our prayers are with the Pope as he embarks upon his Petrine Ministry.  The humility he brings to the office that has been laid upon him was evident from his presentation to the faithful, a reminder that it is only through the virtue of humility that we can truly do the work of God.  He has asked for our prayers, and so we pray for him.  Ad Multos Annos!

V. Let us pray for our Pontiff Francis.

R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful, look mercifully upon Thy servant Francis, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church: grant him, we beseech Thee, that, by word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, he may attain everlasting life. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

“In announcing his resignation, Pope Benedict XVI has acted humbly and unselfishly for the good of the Church. That same spirit has characterized his entire life of service.

 “I will always remember Pope Benedict as he described himself on the day of his election as pope in 2005 – ‘a simple, humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.’ When I was in Rome during the period that he was a prominent cardinal, I frequently would see him in St. Peter’s Square, mingling with the crowds in the simple black cassock of a priest. Often he was asked by groups of tourists, undoubtedly assuming that he was one of the local priests, to take their picture. This he would do willingly and with a generous smile.

“In my several encounters with him I found this brilliant theologian to be unfailingly kind, hospitable and welcoming. Ultimately he was a very pastoral man who won the hearts of all Americans on his pastoral visit to the United States in 2008. I will be forever grateful to him for naming me Archbishop of Cincinnati.

“Along with the Church around the world I pray for his health and happiness in retirement.” – Most Rev. Dennis M. Schnurr, Archbishop of Cincinnati

Pray for Pope Benedict XVI, and pray for the Cardinals as they prepare to elect the new Pope…

Dear Brothers,
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.
From the Vatican, 10 February 2013