Nicola Commisso, a Roman from Rome - as they say in this city to identify someone who was born here and distinguish him from a non-"authentic" Roman - tells me his story with the distance established by law of one and a half meters and both wearing masks. He proposes to talk to me in the garden of orange trees, next to the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, in the center of Rome, where St. Philip Neri, founder of the Congregation of the Oratory to which Nicola belongs, is buried.
I am Fr. Nicola Commisso, of the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. I was born 34 years ago and I have been a priest for almost a year. My original neighborhood is in the suburbs of Rome and I lived there until 2013, when I began my vocational journey in this same Congregation of the Oratory, here in the center of the city.
A boy from the suburbs! And was it your vocation to bring you here, to the heart of the city?
Yes, it was my vocation, and more precisely Jesus Christ: He is my vocation. It was He who seduced me, attracted me, called me while I was searching for the love that would give a meaning to my whole lifeIt was He who freely saved me when I was a boy walking on dangerous paths; and it was He who, once I returned to the Church, wanted me among His closest friends while I was thinking of getting married and working as a journalist.
What happened then?
After graduating with a degree in Political Science, I was beginning a career as a journalist, until God, in His mercy, did not choose me for Himself, calling me to the priesthood in the Oratorian tradition of Father Philip Neri. To anyone who asks me "why" I made this decision, I give only one answer: because Jesus Christ asked me to.
I returned to my parish when I was twenty, after leaving God and the Church, and I never imagined the life I have now: I was in love with a beautiful girl and dreamed of having a family with her, but Jesus grew in my heart and called me with his Love, a love with which no human creature can compete. That is why I would say, in the words of Saint Therese of Lisieuxthat "my vocation is love" and the love of a living and real person: Jesus.
Through another special friend...
Of course! In my relationship with Jesus, the figure of St. Philip Neri, who attracted me with his fire and his passion for Jesus Christ, has been fundamental and continues to be so. He was always saying: "Whoever wants something other than Christ does not know what he wants; whoever asks for something other than Christ does not know what he is asking for; whoever does not work for Christ does not know what he is doing.".
And it seemed to me that these words came to explain my years of searching in emptiness, in darkness, blindly for a love that would give meaning to my whole existence. St. Philip Neri has taught me to have a personal, carnal, true and loyal relationship with Christ; he has taught me to pray with his words - "My Jesus, if you love me, remove every obstacle!"; What will I do if you do not help me, my Jesus? - freeing me from the burden of "having to be something" with my strength and teaching me the fire of God, the Holy Spirit, teaching me to ask for it unceasingly as a poor man, as a beggar.
This Fire is the charism of our Congregation: to set on fire today, as in Philip's time, the hearts of men with the love of God and to do so in this city, holy by divine choice but so much in need of Christ. It is true that, as St. Philip himself used to say, "I am a saint.He who does good to Rome, does good to all and for all the world!".
"This fire is the charism of our Congregation: to set on fire today, as in the time of St. Philip Neri, the hearts of men with the love of God.
Nicola Commisso is a priest of the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. He was born 34 years ago and has been a priest for almost a year. He grew up in the suburbs of Rome and lived there until 2013, when "I began my vocational journey in this same Congregation of the Oratory. He was the one who freely saved me when I was a boy walking on dangerous paths".
Is your experience also related to training?
No doubt about it. I believe that training is fundamental to a priest, y especially today, in a society that is very critical of the Christian faith and culture.. We are called, yesterday as today, to "give a reason for our hope", and this presupposes a study made with intelligence and love: with intelligence, capable of grasping the heart of the beauty of the Gospel and explaining it simply; with love, that is, towards the Truth that is God, first of all, but also towards every man who thirsts for this Truth and to whom our study is directed.
And you have found all this training at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross?
Yes, I am very grateful to God for the formation I received in the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. Last year I finished my Bachelor of Theology, but I have not moved away from our university: I am still studying Latin. Therefore, I have decided to share some of what I have learned with my professors at Holy Cross especially in Bible studies, and in particular the Gospel of St. John.
I am giving a seminar on this same Gospel to the consecrated men and women in my parish and we are having a great time. I feel a great responsibility to give what I myself have received over the years, that is, a great love for the truth - a love that I have always perceived, both in the professors and in the classes - which is proper only to those who, in the field of knowledge, humbly recognize that they are "dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants", as Bernard of Chartres used to say. And I believe that it is also for this reason that in Holy Cross I have always found free theological research, fidelity and love for the Magisterium.
"I feel a great responsibility to give what I myself have received."
Nicola Commisso with Cristian Galluccio He is also a young novice of the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri who is preparing to become a priest. Both are studying at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. They thank all the benefactors of CARF for the help received both financially and spiritually. "Your help is a concrete sign of the spiritual communion that unites us," they say.
What are the challenges facing the Church in Europe, and in particular in Italy?
Today's challenges are - the word itself says it - the lack of faith of our timesWhy do people not believe in Jesus Christ? Maybe it is because, sometimes, even we who proclaim Him do not believe in Him; or also because, instead of proclaiming Jesus, we propose values, lifestyles, works of solidarity.... In my opinion, the crises of the Church are always crises of saints: I see boys light up when they are told about holiness, about the beauty of a full life spent for love, for the love of the One who is everything and who gives everything.
Our western world, in particular, is already saturated and empty.As Cardinal Biffi wrote about his city, Bologna, it is a world "satiated and desperate". So what? What can be done? The One who is the meaning of every breath can be announcedof every heartbeat, of every work. Let us ask God to make us holy, on fire with his Love, to enlighten and enkindle the darkness within us and around us.
Nicola's eyes water as she speaks of the fire that was lit in her life. His gaze turns to the roof and dome of the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, his home and the home of St. Philip Neri.
I really want to thank all benefactors for what they are doing for me, for all of us. Their help is a concrete sign of the spiritual communion that unites us, and for this reason I ask for each one of them a hundredfold and the reward of eternal life, in the certainty of Christ's promise: "I will be with you forever.And whosoever shall give to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, because he is a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward." (Mt 10:42).
Gerardo Ferrara
BA in History and Political Science, specializing in the Middle East.
Responsible for the student body
University of the Holy Cross in Rome
