God’s Motley Fool

St. Philip Neri, the Apostle of Joy and Holy Folly

“Figliuoli, state allegri. Siate umili, siate bassi.” These simple words of St. Philip Neri — “Children, be cheerful. Be humble, be lowly.” — capture the bright, upside-down spirit of the saint we celebrate on May 26th.

Known as the “Apostle of Rome,” Philip Neri was no grim person. He danced in public squares, shaved only half his beard, and once strutted through the streets in a fur cape and backward cassock. He was happy that people should laugh at him, joyful to be mocked and called mad. He joked, teased, and made faces during serious meetings, especially when people were tempted to treat him like a saint.

In fact, his holy foolishness inspired the title of Theodore Maynard’s biography: Mystic in Motley. St Philip trusted in community, humility, and the disarming power of joy. Joy, Maynard writes, was for Philip one of the surest paths to holiness because it flows naturally from genuine humility. In other words, if you want to be a saint, don’t take yourself too seriously!

St. Philip was proof that sanctity doesn’t need to wear a serious face. Sometimes it grins, dances, and turns the world on its head — just to remind us that heaven, like holiness, is also full of joy.

Image: Pieter Bruegel il Vecchio, La danza nuziale (1566) da Wikimedia Commons