He was the eldest of seven children and the hope of his house. While the continual intensity of reiterated acts of virtue which we have called driving-power is what really creates sanctity, there is another indispensable quality. "I follow my conscience", he wrote in 1764, "and when reason persuades me I make little account of moralists." The German life, DILGSKRON, Leben des heiligen Bischofs und Kirchenlehrers, Alfonsus Maria de Liguori (New York, 1887), is scholarly and accurate. St. Alphonsus Liguori was a bishop and moral theologian living and preaching in Naples in the eighteenth century. Theabbot of that monastery soon after visited it, and attempted to reform it, but he didnot succeed; and one day he saw a great number of demons entering the cells of all thenuns except that of Jane, for the heavenly mother, before whose image he saw herpraying, banished them from that. The wine had changed into blood; clotted and separated into 5 different sized clots. He lived his first years as a priest with the homeless and the marginalized youth of Naples. This prayer is a petition asking for the grace to love God more, so as to fear hell and desire to do His . The saints are not inhuman but real men of flesh and . Nov 2012. Alphonsus was a devoted friend of the Society of Jesus and its long persecution by the Bourbon Courts, ending in its suppression in 1773, filled him with grief. St. Alphonsus Liguori Born at Marianella, near Naples, 27 September, 1696; died at Nocera de' Pagani, 1 August, 1787. On 21 December of the same year, at the age of thirty, he was ordained priest. . Other saints and servants of God were those of Alphonsus's own household, the lay brother, St. Gerard Majella, who died in 1755, and Januarius Sarnelli, Csar Sportelli, Dominic Blasucci, and Maria Celeste, all of whom have been declared "Venerable" by the Church. Copyright 2022 Catholic Online. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law. Under the government of the Marquis della Sambuca, who, though a great regalist, was a personal friend of the Saint's, there was promise of better times, and in August, 1779, Alphonsus's hopes were raised by the publication of a royal decree allowing him to appoint superiors in his Congregation and to have a novitiate and house of studies. Alphonsus, assisted by divine grace, did not disappoint his father's care. He was fervent about using common words in . This article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul T. Crowley. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01334a.htm. He said: "I have never preached a sermon which the poorest old woman in the congregation could not understand". Alternate titles: Saint Alfonso Liguori, Saint Alfonso Maria de Liguori, Saint Alphonsus Maria deLiguori. [4] When he was 18, like many other nobles, he joined the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy, with whom he assisted in the care of the sick at the hospital for "incurables". Even its Rule was made known to her. Quite recently, a duet composed by him, between the Soul and God, was found in the British Museum bearing the date 1760 and containing a correction in his own handwriting. There can be little doubt but that the young Alphonsus with his high spirits and strong character was ardently attached to his profession, and on the way to be spoilt by the success and popularity which it brought. His austerities were rigorous, and he suffered daily the pain from rheumatism that was beginning to deform his body. R. His sermons were very effective at converting those who had been alienated from their faith. He submitted the new Rule to a number of theologians, who approved of it, and said it might be adopted in the convent of Scala, provided the community would accept it. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The family was of noble lineage, but the branch to which Liguori belonged had become somewhat impoverished. Feast Day: August 1. (27 September 1696 - 1 August 1787), was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. A piece of evidence was handed to him which he had read and re-read many times, but always in a sense the exact contrary of that which he now saw it to have. In response, Alphonsus dedicated himself to the religious life, even while suffering persecution from his family. Updates? The version with Italian lyrics was based on his original song written in Neapolitan, which began Quanno nascette Ninno ("When the child was born"). The fifth book has two treatises "De Actibus Humanis" and "De Peccatis"; the sixth is on the sacraments, the seventh and last on the censures of the Church. Three years later he published the first sketch of his "Moral Theology" in a single quarto volume called "Annotations to Busembaum", a celebrated Jesuit moral theologian. Vague rumours of impending treachery had got about and had been made known to him, but he had refused to believe them. In 1871, Alphonsus was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX. by S. HORNER (Edinburgh, 1858); VON REUMONT, Die Carafa von Maddaloni (Berlin, 1851, 2 vols. Blessed Clement Hofbauer joined the Redemptorist congregation in the aged Saint's lifetime, though Alphonsus never saw in the flesh the man whom he knew would be the second founder of his Order. St. Alphonsus does not offer as much directly to the student of mystical theology as do some contemplative saints who have led more retired lives. If civil courts could not decide against a defendant on greater probability, but had to wait, as a criminal court must wait, for moral certainty, many actions would never be decided at all. St. Alphonsus was a brilliant, articulate, pragmatic preacher. Saint Alphonsus Liguori. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the tradition of praying the stations of the cross began to develop. Castle, H. (1907). Canonized: May 26, 1839. Naples had been part of the dominions of Spain since 1503, but in 1708 when Alphonsus was twelve years old, it was conquered by Austria during the war of the Spanish Succession. Indeed, apart from those who become saints by the altogether special grace of martyrdom, it may be doubted if many men and women of phlegmatic temperament have been canonized. Alphonsus was a lawyer, and as a lawyer he attached much importance to the weight of evidence. St. Alphonsus Liguori. A respected opponent was the redoubtable Dominican controversialist, P. Vincenzo Patuzzi, while to make up for hard blows we have another Dominican, P. Caputo, President of Alphonsus's seminary and a devoted helper in his work of reform. The chapels were centres of prayer and piety, preaching, community, social activities, and education. Yet, to take anger alone, though comparatively early in life he seemed dead to insult or injury which affected himself, in cases of cruelty, or of injustice to others, or of dishonour to God, he showed a prophet's indignation even in old age. Died: August 1, 1787. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. The priest was Alphonsus. New York: Robert Appleton Company. The Vicar General, Monsignor Onorati drew up the minutes of the diocesan trial which lasted two years from 1772 to 1774. This has recently been translated into English with additions and corrections (Dublin, 2 vols., royal SVO); DUMORTIER, Les premihres Redemptoristines (Lille, 1886), and Le Phre Antoine-Marie Tannoia (Paris, 1902), contain some useful information; as does BERRUTI, Lo Spirito di S. Alfonso Maria de Liguori, 3 ed. A fearful commotion arose. Alphonsus, like so many saints, had an excellent father and a saintly mother. MLA citation. Except for the chances of European war, England and Naples were then in different worlds, but Alphonsus may have seen at the side of Don Carlos when he conquered Naples in 1734, an English boy of fourteen who had already shown great gallantry under fire and was to play a romantic part in history, Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Alphonsus, having got so much, hoped to get a little more, and through his friend, Mgr. Could he have been what an Anglo-Saxon would consider a miracle of calm, he would have seemed to his companions absolutely inhuman. Corrections? To this altered Rule or "Regolamento", as it came to be called, the unsuspecting Saint was induced to put his signature. and reportedly performed miracles. CARDINAL CAPECELATRO has also written a life of the Saint, La Vita di Sant' Alfonso Maria de Liguori (Rome, 2 vols.). Not less remarkable than the intensity with which Alphonsus worked is the amount of work he did. "What document is that?" With the aid of two laymen, Peter Barbarese, a schoolmaster, and Nardone, an old soldier, both of whom he converted from an evil life, he enrolled thousands of lazzaroni in a sort of confraternity called the "Association of the Chapels", which exists to this day. Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Liguori was a prolific and popular author. Cavalieri, himself a great servant of God. The differentia of saints is not faultlessness but driving-power, a driving-power exerted in generous self-sacrifice and ardent love of God. A prolific writer, he published nine editions of his Moral Theology in his lifetime, in addition to other devotional and ascetic works and letters. Although there are many modern . New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. St. Alphonsus Liguori was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. If we except a few poems published in 1733 (the Saint was born in 1696), his first work, a tiny volume called "Visits to the Blessed Sacrament", only appeared in 1744 or 1745, when he was nearly fifty years old. The foundation faced immediate problems, and after just one year, Alphonsus found himself with only one lay brother, his other companions having left to form their own religious group. He could never have said Mass again had not an Augustinian prior shown him how to support himself on a chair so that with the assistance of an acolyte he could raise the chalice to his lips. [16] The 21,500 editions and the translations into 72 languages that his works have undergone attest to the fact that he is one of the most widely-read Catholic authors. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. From 1726 to 1752, first as a member of the Neapolitan "Propaganda", and then as a leader of his own Fathers, he traversed the provinces of Naples for the greater part of each year giving missions even in the smallest villages and saving many souls. Both of them were canonized on the same day as the Holy Doctor, 26 May, 1839. He died on August 1 at Nocera. . "Let us have it." Then the storm subsided, and he began to see that his humiliation had been sent him by God to break down his pride and wean him from the world. His best plan would have been to consult the Holy See, but in this he had been forestalled. In April 1729, the Apostle of China, Matthew Ripa, founded a missionary college in Naples, which became known colloquially as the "Chinese College". In fact, despite his youth, he seems at the age of twenty-seven to have been one of the leaders of the Neapolitan Bar. It would be a sacrilege to say otherwise." Its goal was to teach and preach in the slums of cities and other poor places. For thirteen years Alphonsus fed the poor, instructed families, reorganized the seminary and religious houses, taught theology, and wrote. Suddenly he found himself surrounded by a mysterious light; the house seemed to rock, and an interior voice said: "Leave the world and give thyself to Me." This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. Thus was he left free for his real work, the founding of a new religious congregation. Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! He is said never to have refused absolution to a penitent. Saint Alphonsus De Liguori Usage Public Domain Topics Blessed Virgin Mary, Miracles, Apparitions, Conversion, Saints, Rosary, Sin, Repentance, Catholic Collection opensource Language English Stories from St Alphonsus De Liguori, which he culled from various sources, which can be seen in the larger work, "The Glories of Mary". Here he laid his sword before the statue of Our Lady, and made a solemn resolution to enter the ecclesiastical state, and furthermore to offer himself as a novice to the Fathers of the Oratory. By AClarke625. Saint Alphonsus Liguori described in detail this miracle and took the opportunity to reawake the faith and devotion of the people towards the Eucharist. In April 1729, Alphonsus went to live at the "Chiflese College," founded in Naples by Father Matthew Ripa, the Apostle of China. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more all for only $19.99 Born at Marianella, near Naples, 27 September, 1696; died at Nocera de' Pagani, 1 August, 1787. The eighteenth century was not an age remarkable for depth of spiritual life, yet it produced three of the greatest missionaries of the Church, St. Leonard of Port Maurice, St. Paul of the Cross, and St. Alphonsus Liguori. St. Alphonsus, however, did not in all things follow their teaching, especially on one point much debated in the schools; namely, whether we may in practice follow an opinion which denies a moral obligation, when the opinion which affirms a moral obligation seems to us to be altogether more probable. He had a love for the lower animals, and wild creatures who fled from all else would come to him as to a friend. To this Alphonsus by the advice of his director, Father Thomas Pagano, himself an Oratorian, agreed. Daily Readings for Friday, March 03, 2023, St. Katharine Drexel: Saint of the Day for Friday, March 03, 2023, Lenten Prayer: Prayer of the Day for Monday, February 27, 2023. On 3 October, 1731, the eve of the feast of St. Francis, she saw Our Lord with St. Francis on His right hand and a priest on His left. On 1 April, 1733, all the companions of Alphonsus except one lay brother, Vitus Curtius, abandoned him, and founded the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, which, confined to the Kingdom of Naples, was extinguished in 1860 by the Italian Revolution. Neapolitan students, in an animated but amicable discussion, seem to foreign eyes to be taking part in a violent quarrel. Alphonsus' last illness and Deaths 548 CHAPTER XXXVII. He was named the patron of confessors and moral theologians by Pope Pius XII on 26 April 1950, who subsequently wrote of him in the encyclical Haurietis aquas. Nihil Obstat. Liguori wrote 111 works on spirituality and theology. "[17][18], Liguori's greatest contribution to the Catholic Church was in the area of moral theology. He was born Alphonsus Marie Antony John Cosmos Damien Michael Gaspard de Liguori on September 27,1696, at Marianella, near Naples, Italy. He died peacefully on August 1,1787, at Nocera di Pagani, near Naples as the Angelus was ringing. Here he discovered more than thirty thousand uninstructed men and women and four hundred indifferent priests. He was ordained on December 21, 1726, and he spent six years giving missions throughout Naples. Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 99, Appendix to his work on the Council of Trent, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, patron saint archive, St. Alphonsus 'Rock' Liguori Church (St. Louis), "St. Alphonsus Liguori, Our Founder", Redemptorists, Baltimore Province, Tannoja, Antonio. In 1871 he was named a doctor of the church by Pope Pius IX. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). Alphonsus was not sent to school but was educated by tutors under his father's eye. St. Alphonsus appeared a miracle of calm to Tannoia. A justly celebrated life is the Vie et Institut de Saint Alphonse-Marie de Liguori, in four volumes, by CARDINAL VILLECOURT, (Tournai, 1893). He had even tried to form a branch of the Institute by uniting twelve priests in a common life at Tarentum, but the community soon broke up. Alphonsus was one of the leading counsel; we do not know on which side. In 1723 there was a lawsuit in the courts between a Neapolitan nobleman, whose name has not come down to us, and the Grand Duke of Tuscany, in which property valued at 500,000 ducats, that to say, $500,000 or 100,000 pounds, was at stake. Entdecke ST. ROSE VON LIMA, SCHWESTER MARY ALPHONSUS katholisches heiliges Buch in groer Auswahl Vergleichen Angebote und Preise Online kaufen bei eBay Kostenlose Lieferung fr viele Artikel! When the Saint began to hear confessions, however, he soon saw the harm done by rigorism, and for the rest of his life he inclined more to the mild school of the Jesuit theologians, whom he calls "the masters of morals". Psychologically, Alphonsus may be classed among twice-born souls; that is to say, there was a definitely marked break or conversion, in his life, in which he turned, not from serious sin, for that he never committed, but from comparative worldliness, to thorough self-sacrifice for God. The question as to what does or does not constitute a lie is not an easy one, but it is a subject in itself. In February, 1775, however, Pius VI was elected Pope, and the following May he permitted the Saint to resign his see. A final attempt to gain the royal approval, which seemed as if at last it had been successful, led to the crowning sorrow of Alphonsus's life: the division and apparent ruin of his Congregation and the displeasure of the Holy See. Whenthey had withdrawn into another room, the appearance of the youth changed, and Heshowed Himself crowned with thorns, His flesh torn, and said to her: Prayers in Times of Sickness Disease & Danger, True Devotion to Mary (St. Louis de Montfort), The Glories of Mary (St. Alphonsus Liguori), A young nobleman was reading one day, while at sea, an obscene book, in which he. According to him, those were paths closed to the Gospel because "such rigour has never been taught nor practised by the Church". ), was published by P. KUNTZ, C.SS.R., director of the Roman archives of his Congregation. In bestowing the title of "Prince of Moral Theologians", the church also gave the "unprecedented honour she paid to the Saint in her Decree of 22 July 1831, which allows confessors to follow any of St. Alphonsus's own opinions without weighing the reasons on which they were based". "You have founded the Congregation and you have destroyed it", said one Father to him. He was thinking of leaving the profession and wrote to someone, "My friend, our profession is too full of difficulties and dangers; we lead an unhappy life and run risk of dying an unhappy death". This submission altered the original rule, and as a result Alphonsus was denied any authority among the Redemptorists. He was a born leader of men. Alphonsus Liguori, CSsR (27 September 1696 1 August 1787), sometimes called Alphonsus Maria de Liguori or Saint Alphonsus Liguori, was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. In 1762 Pope Clement XIII made him bishop of Sant Agata del Goti near Naples; he resigned in 1775 because of ill health. He is credited with the position of Aequiprobabilism, which avoided Jansenist rigorism as well as laxism and simple probabilism. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. "Alphonsus was of middle height", says his first biographer, Tannoia; "his head was rather large, his hair black, and beard well-grown." A star preacher, he called his fellow sermonizers on the carpet for sermons of "empty, rumbling rhetoric" or "flashy . "St. Alphonsus Liguori." It has a tendency at every moment to deflect, and if it does deflect from the right path, the greater the momentum the more terrible the final crash. It was through Louis Florent Gillet, Redemptorist priest and co-founder of the Sisters of IHM that we have been gifted with the legacy of St. Alphonsus Liguori. There were whole years, indeed, in which the Institute seemed on the verge of summary suppression. He finally agreed to become a priest but to live at home as a member of a group of secular missionaries. Contact information. [4] Myopia and chronic asthma precluded a military career so his father had him educated in the legal profession. Matters remained thus for some years. Imprimatur. Even the baleful shadow of Voltaire falls across the Saint's life, for Alphonsus wrote to congratulate him on a conversion, which alas, never took place! At the worst, it was only the scaffolding by which the temple of perfection was raised. St. Alphonsus Liguori, the Prince of Moral Theologians, was one of the greatest preachers in Church history. The Decree of 1779, however, seemed a great step in advance. For three days he refused all food. As he did not die till 1808 (his work appeared in 1799) he was a companion of the Saint for over forty years and an eyewitness of much that he relates. Vol. [7], On 9 November 1732, he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer,[10] when Sister Maria Celeste Crostarosa told him that it had been revealed to her that he was the one that God had chosen to found the congregation. To supplement this, God allowed him in the last years of his life to fall into disgrace with the pope, and to find himself deprived of all external authority, trembling at times even for his eternal salvation. It is not necessary to notice certain non-Catholic attacks on Alphonsus as a patron of lying. In the end a compromise was arrived at. He called his system Equiprobabilism. The answer is that God kept him humble by interior trials. In all this there was no serious sin, but there was no high sanctity either, and God, Who wished His servant to be a saint and a great saint, was now to make him take the road to Damascus. In vain those around him and even the judge on the bench tried to console him. The result of the retreat to the nuns was that the young priest, who before had been prejudiced by reports in Naples against the proposed new Rule, became its firm supporter, and even obtained permission from the Bishop of Scala for the change. St. Paul of the Cross (1694-1775) and St. Alphonsus, who were altogether contemporaries, seem never to have met on earth, though the founder of the Passionists was a great friend of Alphonsus's uncle, Mgr. But how was Alphonsus to grow in this so necessary virtue when he was in authority nearly all his life? Raised in a pious home, Alphonsus went on retreats with his father, Don Joseph, who was a naval officer and a captain of the Royal Galleys. [8] Moreover, Liguori viewed scruples as a blessing at times and wrote: "Scruples are useful in the beginning of conversion. they cleanse the soul, and at the same time make it careful". He had nearly completed his ninety-first year. In this state of exclusion he lived for seven years more and in it he died. Saint Alphonsus Liguori 1696 - 1787. More than once he faced assassination unmoved. St. Alphonsus encouraged an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ through frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament. St. Alphonsus tell us: "Modern heretics make a mockery of wearing the Scapular, they decry it as so much trifling nonsense." Yet many of the popes have approved and recommended it. Author and Publisher - Catholic Online He fell into a clairvoyant trance at Arienzo on 21 September, 1774, and was present in spirit at the death-bed in Rome of Pope Clement XIV. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. Of extraordinary passive states, such as rapture, there are not many instances recorded in his life, though there are some. The traditional Stations of the Cross were written by St. Alphonsus Liguori, a bishop and Doctor of the Church, in 1761. St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori, Doctor of the Church . Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation. Castle, Harold. Alphonsus, however, was unflagging in his efforts with the Court. He knew how to reach ordinary people who had limited education and very real needs. In 1719, together with a Father Filangieri, also one of the "Pii Operarii", he had refounded a Conservatorium of religious women at Scala on the mountains behind Amalfi. Alphonsus left the Hospital and went to the church of the Redemption of Captives. Patron saint of: people with arthritis, lawyers, vocations. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, in November 1732. Alphonsus Liguori. This combination of practical common sense with extraordinary energy in administrative work ought to make Alphonsus, if he were better known, particularly attractive to the English-speaking nations, especially as he is so modern a saint. First Station: Jesus is condemned to death, Saint of the Day for Saturday, March 4th, 2023, Sixth Station: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus, Eighth Station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem. The Saint's confessor declared that he preserved his baptismal innocence till death. He was the eldest of seven children of Giuseppe Liguori, a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys, and Anna Maria Caterina Cavalieri. "The life of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori" (1855)John Murphy & Co., Baltimore, 1855, "Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori", St. Alphonsus Liguori Parish, Peterborough, Ontario, The life of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Bishop of St. Agatha of the Goths and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Redeemer, Tannoja, Antonio (d. 1808), John Murphy & Co. (1855), "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Alphonsus Liguori", "Alphonsus Maria de Liguori", Saint Alphonsus Mary de Liguori Parish, Makati City Philippines, "1st English Translation of St. Alphonsus Liguori's Moral Theology", https://www.avemarialynnfield.org/sites/g/files/zjfyce466/files/2021-01/Stations-of-the-Cross-St-Liguori.pdf, Liguori, Alphonsus. Mimoires sur la vie et la congrigation de St. Alphonse de Liguori (Paris, 1842, 3 vols.). In the second edition the work received the definite form it has since retained, though in later issues the Saint retracted a number of opinions, corrected minor ones, and worked at the statement of his theory of Equiprobabilism till at last he considered it complete. In 1762, there was no escape and he was constrained by formal obedience to the Pope to accept the Bishopric of St. Agatha of the Goths, a very small Neapolitan diocese lying a few miles off the road from Naples to Capua. He came from a wealthy family in Naples, Italy, and had every advantage in life from the moment he was born in 1696. His best-known musical work is his Christmas hymn Quanno Nascetti Ninno, later translated into Italian by Pope Pius IX as Tu scendi dalle stelle ("From Starry Skies Thou Comest"). When we cannot make it to daily Mass, however, we can still make an Act of Spiritual Communion.
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