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Concept
Oratory of Jesus
Summary
The Congregation of the Oratory of Jesus and Mary Immaculate (Société de l'Oratoire de Jésus et de Marie Immaculée, Congregatio Oratorii Iesu et Mariæ), best known as the French Oratory, is a society of apostolic life of Catholic priests founded in 1611 in Paris, France, by Pierre de Bérulle (1575–1629), later a cardinal of the Catholic Church. They are known as Bérullians or Oratorians. The French Oratory had a determinant influence on the French school of spirituality throughout the 17th century. It is separate and distinct from the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, which served as its inspiration.
The aim of the Society is to center spiritual life on the human aspect of Jesus, linked to the essence of God. Unlike the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, whose communities are all autonomous, the French Oratory operates under the central authority of a Superior General.
In France, Bérulle, ordained a priest in 1599, felt that the clergy of the country had lost their spirit, seeking only the economic security of benefices. With the goal of restoring the spiritual commitment to their calling, on 11 November 1611, he and five other priests founded a society of priests, without the obligation of religious vows, in which one would dedicate one's entire strength to priestly perfection, in order to carry out all the functions of this ministry and to shape in piety those who aspired to this. Bérulle hoped that such priests would both inspire others of the French clergy, and blunt the attraction of Calvinism.
Taking the example of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in Rome, he envisioned secular clergy living together in community. However, Bérulle felt that the situation in France required a tighter organizational structure than Neri's communities in Italy, so the French Oratory operated under the authority of a Superior General. The Oratory received letters patent from King Louis XIII of France that same year. Pope Paul V authorized them on 10 May 1613. At the time of the founder's death in 1629, the Oratory numbered about 400 priests, living in some 60 communities.
Official source
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