by Oliver Hawkins
St Philip Neri’s Little Dog
Those associated with the Cathedral, and the wider diocese of Arundel and Brighton, will have rejoiced in the appointment of our new Bishop, Stephen Wang, and may at the same time have been intrigued by the fact that his Doctoral studies at Cambridge centred on the notion of human happiness. Such reflections led me to consider an individual whose approach to holiness was strikingly joyful, but whose depiction in the Cathedral gives only a partial account.
Splendid as it may be, the life-size statue of St Philip Neri in the South Transept gives a somewhat inaccurate impression of the saint it represents. Duke Henry’s choice of patron saint for his church in Arundel was doubtless prompted by Philip Neri’s having founded the Oratorian Order, in which the Duke’s great friend and mentor John Henry Newman was a priest. It would have been natural for the sculptor involved, and indeed for his patron, to emphasise the gravitas of St Philip, and so we have a figure with all the apparent characteristics of a severe Victorian headmaster.
But Philip Neri was famous for his cheerfulness, humour and warmth. He was not just compassionate, but deeply affectionate, and had the ability to make people of all sorts feel at ease. He enjoyed practical jokes and recognised the value of absurd, ridiculous gestures as a means of challenging self esteem. He encouraged people toward a joyful, generous relationship with God rather than a gloomy or scrupulous one. The saying most often attributed to him was that ‘cheerfulness strengthens the heart and makes us persevere in a good life’.
The effect of Philip Neri’s charisma was not restricted to human beings. A visiting bishop came accompanied by a small white dog, named Bianco. When the time came for the Bishop’s departure the dog refused to leave, and spent the rest of a very happy life in St Philip’s company.
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Everyone knows about St Philip Howard’s dog. We don’t know its name, but we know he was able to have it in the Tower of London with him, during the years of his captivity when family and friends were not allowed to visit him. It has even been suggested that whereas Philip was confined to his cell, his dog had the run of the Tower, and may have been used to carry messages. The faithful hound is immortalised in the statue at St Philip Howard’s altar, and in a window at the West end.
So here is St Philip Neri with Bianco playing at his feet – not the gravitas that Duke Henry felt appropriate, but perhaps a truer image of ‘the Apostle of Rome’.
St Philip Neri statue in Arundel Cathedral
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