“Brothers, be cheerful, laugh, joke as much as you want, but do not sin!”

He was known and loved by the populace of Rome for his cheerful and peaceful character, able to involve the entire city in his spiritual journey, beseeching charity towards the weakest and most neglected of society. He is Philip Neri, born in Florence on July 21, 1515, to Francesco and Lucrezia da Mosciano Neri. His father was a notary when he lost his wife in 1520. He remarried Alessandra di Michele Lensi, who took care of little Philip, who attended public school and was educated by the Dominicans of the convent of San Marco.