About the book: Many lives of St Philip have been written. They have now mostly disappeared and you will with difficulty find a copy of a biography in English which is likely to attract ordinary folk. It is only by reading and thinking deeply about a holy person that we can get to know him and make him such a part of our lives that we naturally turn to him when we need help; try to do as he would have us do; love every word he said and every thing he did.
It is our hope that this charming book in its simplicity and its many pictures of St Philip's life as well as of the places where he lived and did his work for souls will draw you to love the Saint. For those of you who are already his old acquaintances, we hope that this book will serve to renew your friendship with one of the kindest of fathers - who is so condescending that he deigns even to work miracles for those who read his life as if they had prayed to him during that time.
The name of "Good Philip" - Pippo Buono - which we have chosen for this book is connected with his boyhood, while most people think of him as the old man we see in pictures. It has been our wish to show that, however much he may have changed in age and appearance, Philip's heart, miraculously enlarged as it was by the Holy Ghost, and on fire with Divine love, was always young and loved young people.
St Philip Neri is one of the most extraordinary saints in the annals of the Holy Catholic Church. He spent his life seeking very actively to be despised. He read jokes aloud when distinguished visitors visited his cell to see "the Saint" and ended by asking them what they thought of his library of excellent books. He escaped repeated efforts of the popes to raise him to the cardinalate, finally telling Gregory XIV, "I will myself let [you] know when I wish to accept the dignity of Cardinal." He mortified himself and his disciples with such tasks as taking a dog for a walk in their arms through the streets of Rome, wearing fur coats in the heights of summer, singing the Miserere at weddings and speaking of the wellbeing of his cat before cardinals! Yet, the more this holy fool-for-Christ's-sake sought to make others scorn him, the more they loved and esteemed him.
St Philip once had a penitent whose name was Francesco Zazzara, who was studying law with an absorbing eagerness that he might make his way and obtain advancement at court. The Saint saw that there was in Francesco an inordinate desire of the glory and rewards of the world, and so one day he sent for him. The youth came and knelt at his feet, and Philip set out before him, one by one, the daydreams of his youthful ambition. "Happy you, dear Francesco," he said; "you are studying now, and then one day you will be doctor, and will gain money and raise your family; and then one day you may be even a prelate, till you have nothing more to long for." He went on speaking of other greatnesses and honours to which Francesco might aspire, repeating again and again the words: "Oh, happy you!" Francesco was somewhat surprised, but it all seemed quite natural to him. These were the very dreams of his fancy and his hope and Philip entered into them and approved them! Then Philip drew the youth's head tenderly to his heart, looked earnestly at him, and whispered in his ear: "Then?"
These words, which bring before us the fleetingness of time and the vanity of all that exists only in time, were often on Philip's lips, and sank deep into the heart of his disciple. Francesco left the world and gave himself to God.
When St Philip embarked upon his apostolic life, it was his first thought to go to the Indian mission. The Cistercian monk whose advice he sought, had a vision of the Holy Evangelist St John and the next day made known to Philip what the saint had told him: "Your India is to be Rome!" It is our hope that the story of this gentle saint, Good Philip (1926; corrected, 2008), may inspire a new generation of young persons to give themselves, like Francesco Zazzara, to a life of humility, love and toil in the work for the salvation of souls.
Where will your "India" be?
About the author: Alfonso Capecelatro (Marseille, 5 February 1824 – 14 November 1912) was an Italian Archbishop of Capua, ecclesiastical writer, Vatican librarian, and Cardinal. He was descended from the family of the dukes of Castelpagano. His father served under Joachim Murat, adopted the political principles of the Napoleonic period, and voluntarily exiled himself to Malta and Marseilles, when Ferdinand I of Naples, after his restoration by the Congress of Laibach, set about the repression of political Liberalism.
The family returned to Italy in 1826 and to Naples in 1830. At sixteen, Alfonso entered the Oratory of St. Philip Neri at Naples. Ordained priest in 1847, he devoted himself to the confessional, preaching, and various charitable enterprises, but also to ecclesiastical studies, giving especial attention to ecclesiastical history. He was particularly drawn to Peter Damian, Catherine of Siena, Philip Neri, and Alphonsus Liguori, whose biographies he wrote.
He attacked Ernest Renan's "Life of Christ", then widely circulated in Italy, and afterwards himself published a "Life of Jesus Christ". He devoted three volumes to an exposition of Catholic doctrine and two to the Christian virtues, and published several volumes of sermons.
Meanwhile, he maintained personal relations with various persons, particularly priests and religious at Naples, among them the Franciscan Ludovico da Casoria, whose biography he wrote, and two priests Ignatius Persico and Casanova, with whom he often discussed methods of catechetical instruction. He corresponded with other Liberal Catholics, among them Manzoni, Cesare Cantu, Dupanloup, and Montalembert. Pope Leo XIII summoned him to Rome, together with Luigi Tosti, and made him assistant librarian, wishing thereby not only to honour a learned man, but also to make use of him for the work of reconciliation which occupied his mind until 1887.
In 1880, Capecelatro was appointed Archbishop of Capua. There he passed his life in the administration of his diocese, literary labours, and works of charity. He was made a cardinal by Leo XIII in 1885. He received some votes in the papal conclave of 1903.
In the pastoral letters and other minor works published in the last years of his life, he treats the great questions of modern times, especially those relating to public life in Italy. He had little influence in ecclesiastical politics, and in the end was overwhelmed by the course of events in the modernist crisis in the Catholic Church. (Source: Wikipedia)
