Our Background....

....Our Mission...

Our Motivation...

Our Background

The Oratory began as a lay movement, and so the Oratory in Hawaii began the same way:  being founded close to its roots as a house of prayer.  The congregation is small and multi-cultural, reflecting the island’s emphasis on Ohana (family) and being a welcoming church where no one ethnic group is in the majority. The laity are essential to the Oratory in Hawaii and its foundation began, like St. Philip's, with the Secular Oratory first.

The first ministry of the Oratory here is prayer. We gather for meditation with psalms and readings twice a day. The Eucharist is essential to our life and we celebrate that daily.  There is no community prayer that is separate from the laity who are always welcome as part of the praying family, and from this prayer we work a parish, a school, an outreach program, in teaching and leading retreats.

In 1992, having been asked by the vicar for religious to consider bringing the Oratory to the Islands, Father Halbert Weidner was instrumental in refounding the Oratory closer to its original roots of contemplative prayer and promoting the Secular Oratory, thus beginning the formation of the Oratory in Honolulu starting first with the laity just as St. Philip did.  The Secular Oratory began as a small Oratory where people could support each other and pray together regularly. These people came from all over East Honolulu and the Windward side and from many other parts of Oahu. They are about equally divided between men and women, and today more than two dozen men and women, including single and married couples, gather regularly for the weekly sharing of meals, faith life and prayer.  This number continues to grow as we continue to grow in faith and in service together.

Our Mission

Working with the laity interested in the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, we have dedicated The Oratory in Hawaii to this mission: to be an open contemplative community offering prayer and hospitality to anyone seeking God.

This is rather lofty, but it works out very simply in practice. The members of the Oratory wanting to be priests and brothers living together are the anchor of the daily prayer. We use a simple form of Morning Prayer borrowed from the Taizé community, which in France attracts hundreds to its daily prayer the way St. Philip attracted people in his time in Rome, but we have added 20 minutes of Oratorian silence.  Traditionally the Oratory gathers for 30 minutes of prayer and all but the final five minutes is silent. This seemed a little austere so we have sweetened it with the lovely music and simplicity of the Taizé community.  In the afternoon we gather again for some readings from Scripture and then more silent prayer before Mass and Vespers.

The laity are welcomed and do attend these gatherings. They are faithful and devoted.

On Thursday evenings the people who want to be part of the Secular Oratory gather with us for supper, formation, and another round of prayer similar to the mornings with 20 minutes of silence.

From this have come the workshops, retreats, ecumenical and interfaith gatherings, spiritual direction ministry, as well as articles, reviews and books, and an active parish ministry and teaching.

 Our Motivation

	From the Constitutions of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri… “Oratory” is the name we use for a place destined for prayer. So the Oratory founded by St. Philip Neri took its name from a place of prayer. The Oratory is a fraternal union of the faithful who, following the lines laid down by St. Philip, aim at what he taught and did, and so become, “one heart, one mind” (Acts 4:32) The Oratory was established from its very birth for familiar discourse on the Word of God, for mental and vocal prayer in common. By these means the Oratory fosters the contemplative spirit and love of divine things among the faithful as in a school. As St. Philip was a sign of this love of divine things, so the Oratory demonstrates the same love in an attractive and effective way, through joyful service and simplicity of heart.
	From Pope John Paul II… Along the ecumenical path to unity, pride of place certainly belongs to common prayer, the prayerful union of those who gather around Christ himself...If Christians meet more often and more regularly before Christ in prayer, they will be able to gain the courage to face all the painful human reality of their divisions, and they will find themselves together once more in that community of the Church which Christ constantly builds up in the Holy Spirit, in spite of all weaknesses and human limitations...Fellowship in prayer leads people to look at the Church and Christianity in a new way. That All Might Be One.
	From Cardinal Newman… It was the mission of St Philip Neri to save people, not from, but in the world.
	From the Bible ...in quietness and trust shall be your strength Isaiah 30:15 ...my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people. Isaiah 56:7 ...pray without ceasing; give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I Thessalonians 5:17 Lord, teach us to pray… Luke 11:1 All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. Acts 1:14