Surviving and Caring: The Oratorians and the Oratory during the Plague of Rome, 1656–1657

Focusing on the Roman plague of 1656-57, the paper analyses the ways in which the Congregation of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri coped with the epidemic outbreak and development, aiming at underlining their fragile and ambiguous balance between charity and health protection. In their house and church, the daily life was reshaped to harmonise the prevention of infection and the continuation of religious activities, implementing prophylactic measures, intensifying the devotional life and redefining the functions of spaces and people according to healthcare needs. In the city, some Oratorians committed themselves in the urban management of the plague, serving the infected people and administering a lazaretto. Each father was left free to decide whether and how to be involved, but the fear for its own survival made the Congregation highly attentive in avoiding excesses in self-sacrifice.