Typically when we think of evangelization, we think of a priest preaching the good news of the Gospel at the pulpit or on the street corner.
We don't often connect that word to the confessional, as confessing one's sins is a deeply personal and private act.
Yet, one of St. Philip Neri's priorities in his ministry was his dedication to hearing people's confessions.
St. Philip Neri and the confessional
St. John Henry Newman highlighted this aspect of St. Philip Neri's life in a sermon he gave in 1850. He contrasted St. Philip's ministry with that of other missionaries:
He was kept at home, in the very heart of Christendom, not to evangelize, but to recover; and his instrument of conversion was, not Baptism, but Penance. The Confessional was the seat and seal of his peculiar Apostolate. Hence, as St. Francis Xavier baptized his tens of thousands, Philip was, every day and almost every hour, for forty-five years, restoring, teaching, encouraging, and guiding penitents along the narrow way of salvation.
Newman continues by relating how often St. Philip would remain in the confessional:
We are told in his Life, that "he abandoned every other care, and gave himself to hearing confessions." Not content with the day, he gave up a considerable portion of the night to it also. Before dawn he had generally confessed a good number. When he retired to his room, he still confessed every one who came; though at prayers, though at meals, he broke off instantly, and attended to the call. When the church was opened at daybreak, he went down to the Confessional, and remained in it till noon, when he said Mass.
Essentially every free moment St. Philip Neri had was spent hearing confessions. He even heard several confessions on the morning of his death.
He firmly believed that all people needed to experience the love and mercy of God. It was his goal in life to reconcile as many people as possible with God.
Many of his maxims focused on confession, such as the following, "When we go to confession, we should accuse ourselves of our worst sins first, and of those things which we are most ashamed of, because by this means we put the devil to greater confusion, and reap more fruit from our confession."
St. Philip Neri was a simple and humble instrument of God's love for the people of Rome and evangelized one person at a time.
