The Confoederatio Oratorii Sancti Philippi Nerii (Congregation of Oratories of St Philip Neri), commonly known as the Oratorians, was founded in Rome in 1575 by Philip Neri. It is a pontifical society of apostolic life of Catholic priests and lay brothers who live together in a community bound together by no formal vows but only with the bond of charity.

St Philip Neri died on May 27, 1595, aged 80. He was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1615, and canonised by Gregory XV in 1622. In 1653, almost 60 years after  his death, Malta was fortunate enough to enjoy the presence of the first community of priests, following the method and spirit of the saint and subject to the bishop’s jurisdiction. It was established in Vittoriosa. Eight years later, six members of the clergy from Senglea made a formal request to Bishop Miguel Balaguer Camarasa to found an oratory in their hometown, following the example of the Vittoriosa community. This group was led by Don Simone Schembri.

Don Simone Schembri’s portrait, which still hangs in the sacristy of Porto Salvo church, Senglea.

Born in Senglea to Giovanni Maria and Isabellica née Bonnici, Simone was baptised at Senglea parish church on November 4, 1634, by parish priest Don Cosmo Talavera. At the age of five, his parents, seeking to give him a sound education, entrusted him to his paternal uncle Fr Tommaso Schembri, OP. This Dominican friar, devoted to study, prayer and penance, taught him how to read and the rules of grammar.

Discerning that he was called to serve God in the priesthood, Simone studied philosophy at the Jesuits’ College, Valletta, and theology at the Dominican College, Vittoriosa. While his mother provided his ordination patrimony in 1655, most probably he was ordained abroad in 1661. The fact that the Oratorian congregation had opened a house in Vittoriosa at a time when Schembri was in that town studying at the Dominican priory, influenced him to set up a similar congregation in Senglea.

Schembri not only intended to have a church and a retreat house in Senglea but also to invest strongly in education, which he foresaw as the key to religious success and the cultural growth of his fellow townsmen

Schembri, strongly embedded in the Tridentine precepts of education and pastoral work, not only intended to have a church and a retreat house in Senglea, where priests, while remaining part of the secular clergy, could live in a community, but also to invest strongly in education, which he foresaw as the key to religious success and the cultural growth of his fellow townsmen.

Bishop Miguel Balaguer Camarasa, the Spanish Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Malta from 1635 to 1663.

On July 15, 1661, together with Don Evangelista Gandolfo, Don Giuseppe Mifsud, deacons Don Giuseppe Lamagna and Don Orazio Mifsud, and sub-deacon Federico Rispoli, Schembri sought permission from Bishop Balaguer to set up an Oratorian community in his home town according to the norms of St Philip Neri’s institute. Their request was approved on the sole condition that the priests of this new congregation could maintain themselves economically. Thereafter, Don Simone was chosen as the first provost.

A decree, signed by the bishop on March 28, 1662, handed over to this community the church of Our Lady of Porto Salvo and an adjacent house. The Oratorians promised to enlarge the church and to give the house the character of a convent. The said church was situated at the far end of Senglea, in the heart of a popular, albeit shabby, quarter. However, the factual problem was the religious and social ignorance that poverty was bound to create. In fact, Schembri’s aim in setting up this congregation in that specific area was to establish within its limits a centre of learning.

The popularity of the Oratorians was immediately felt. Schembri’s aspiration was not only noble but also full of foresight. Just a few decades after being taken under the pastoral care of this congregation, the locale around this church became one of the preferred places in Senglea.

The church of Our Lady of Porto Salvo at the tip of Senglea, c. 1800.

In 1670, the old church, originally built in 1596, was demolished. A new church and a monastic complex, including a convent and an oratory, started to be constructed under the supervision of the Senglea-born capomastro Carlo Vella. While the church was designed in the shape of a Latin cross, the preferred post-Tridentine plan for churches, the planned convent had to consist of a small garden and several modest rooms.

Though coming from a wealthy family, Don Simone Schembri’s involvement was not exclusively restricted to financial contributions. He also participated in the actual manual labour of the construction of the new church. In order to reduce expenses, parishioners also worked for free and contributed largely to the construction of the church. This further strengthened the church as the symbol of parish identity.

Unfortunately, the plague struck Malta in 1676. Senglea was severely affected, and 1,885 of its inhabitants, including parish priest Don Francesco Azzopardi, died from this infestation. Throughout this calamity, the Oratorians, with much zeal and charity, attended to the plague victims. Moreover, due to this epidemic, the building project suffered a severe setback. From the pastoral visitation report carried out by Bishop Joaquín Canaves in 1715, one concludes that works relating to the construction of the church were still in progress. The dome of the church was not yet constructed.

The main nave of the church of Our Lady of Porto Salvo.

Although donations from the people of Senglea are recorded in the account books of the congregation, these were clearly not sufficient since Don Simone Schembri sponsored most of the construction project through his own means. He exclusively financed entirely the project of the sculpture of the chapel of St Philip Neri, on the right transept of the church, a copy of the chapel in Santa Maria in Vallicella in Rome. By the mid-18th century, the building of the church was completed. Overlooking Grand Harbour, its outline made it a distinctive landmark. In beauty and dimensions, it rivalled parish churches in rural areas. Soon, the building began to be known as the church of St Philip, which in itself attests to the popularity that the church began to have, in spite of the fact that it still remained dedicated to Our Lady of Porto Salvo.

In 1669, Don Simone applied for the post of lecturer in philosophy at the Collegio Urbano di Propaganda Fide in Rome. However, following an examination held on September 19, 1669, he failed to obtain the post. After this unsuccessful attempt to insert himself in the ecclesiastical academic field, he dedicated the rest of his life to the spiritual and pastoral welfare of the Maltese diocese where he was held in high esteem. Bishops Miguel Jerónimo de Molina and Davide Cocco Palmieri chose him co-visitor of pastoral visits.

Being a well-known preacher with a doctorate in theology, Don Schembri preached the so-called missions that preceded pastoral visits. These missions were introduced in the pastoral life of the Maltese diocese in 1671 and could have been the result of Don Simone’s intervention. Apart from being a testimonial to his preaching ability, the fact that he preached them throughout a considerable number of parishes, could imply his personal involvement.

In 1679, he preached these missions in the parishes of Attard, Lija, Żurrieq, Tarxien, Luqa, Qormi, Vittoriosa and Cospicua. He subsequently remained involved in these missions during the 1685-1687 pastoral visit. On that occasion, he delivered the missions also in St George’s parish in Rabat and Xewkija, Gozo, in April 1686. During the 1691-1694 pastoral visit, he performed the same activity. Apart from the said important contributions in the Maltese diocese, in 1680 he was appointed synodal examiner.

On November 11, 1704, he stipulated his last will in the deeds of notary Giovanni Antonio Saliba. He left almost all his personal assets to the Senglea Oratory. This legacy consisted of half of his immovable property, which bore a considerable amount of annual revenue. This income was intended to subsidise those priests who decided to retire to the oratory on account of health reasons. Moreover, it also aimed to provide for the celebration of masses for the repose of their souls after their death.

The main altar of the right transcept of the church dedicated to St Philip Neri, commissioned and financed by Don Simone Schembri. The canvas is by Don Pedro Nunez de Villavicencio, a knight of St John and disciple of Mattia Preti.

The other half of these assets was to cater for certain legacies he established in his last wishes. There included the feast of the Holy Trinity, which was to be celebrated annually on St Philip Neri’s altar, as well as the feast of the Immaculate Conception. All surplus that remained from this second half was to benefit priests who retired in the oratory.

On April 18, 1722, a letter from the Congregation of the Holy Office in Rome informed Inquisitor Antonio Ruffo that Don Schembri had been granted the right of Giubilazione, which meant he was relieved from the normal duties connected with his commitment at the Holy Office in Malta but was entitled to continue enjoying the indulgences and privileges granted to the personnel attached to it. He had been giving his service to this during the previous 60 years. Moreover, he frequently gave advice to Grand Master Fra Marc’Antonio Zondadari, either by letter or in person at the Grand Master’s Palace, Valletta.

Provost Don Simone Schembri died in Senglea on August 20, 1723 – 300 years ago – leaving behind an almost completed complex comprising of the church, the oratory and the convent. While acknowledged for his integrity of life, wisdom, civil prudence and compassion towards the deprived, he was celebrated for the righteousness with which he fulfilled the duties of preacher and confessor.