The Oratory of the Divine love

1. The Current oratory. To the left of the altar of s. Andrew Avellino, there is the oratory, the head office of the Society of Divine Love, where the brethren were gathered to sung pslams and pray on the holidays. It is painted in fake marble colors, with the checkered decorated ceiling and paintings . The altar painting represents s. Cajetan is in the event when he received from the Virgin Mary baby Jesus and by his side Andrew Avellino. To the left at the end, there is the entrance to the sacristy, from which you can access the two upper dressing and meetings rooms.

2. The Society of Divine Love. The Society of Divine Love, from which was born in 1524 the Order of the Regular Clerics “Theatines”, was instituted in Rome by Ettore Vernazza and had his first headquarters in the church of Saints Sylvester and Dorothy in Trastevere. In 1516, the Society was able to transform the 14th century hospital of st. Jacob “in Augusta” in a modern shelter for the so-called “incurable” of that time.

In 1527, the brethren of Divine Love were dispersed by the terrible “Sack of Rome”, but in 1667 they were re-established and assembled in the church of Jesus  st. Mary in Via Lata for the zeal of canonian Girolamo Barbensi with the consent of Alexander VIII, who granted the confraternity many indulgences and privileges. In 1751 the Theatine Order welcomed the Society in s. Andrea della Valle, where it was moved with the decree of Cardinal Guadagni, Vicar of His Holiness, who approved his statutes and the erection in archconfraternity.

3. Registration to the Society. The brethren dressed up black coat, purple mozzetta and crown at the side. Invited, they attend the main functions of the church. For the membership to the Society, born “to sow and plant charity in our hearts by exhorting our brothers to true humility, from whom all good habits proceed”, you must contact the Rector of the Basilica, which is entrusted with the care of the spirit and of his apostolic activity.