St. Alphonsus Liguori, in full Saint Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori, Alphonsus also spelled Alfonso, (born September 27, 1696, Marianella, Kingdom of Naples [Italy]died August 1, 1787, Pagani; canonized 1839; feast day August 1), Italian doctor of the church, one of the chief 18th-century moral theologians, and founder of the Redemptorists, a The basic elements of an Act of Spiritual Communion are an Act of Faith, an Act of Love, a desire to receive Christ, and an . St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church is known far and wide as "The Rock." The parish is staffed by the Redemptorists, making history in 1922 when it began the weekly novena in honor of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. An English translation in five volumes is included in the 22 volumes of the American centenary edition of St. Alphonsus's ascetical works (New York). Alphonsus' last illness and Deaths 548 CHAPTER XXXVII. 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. If in some things Alphonsus was an Anglo-Saxon, in others he was a Neapolitan of the Neapolitans, though always a saint. In December, 1724, he received minor orders, and the subdiaconate in September, 1725. "I know his obstinacy", his father said of him as a young man; "when he once makes up his mind he is inflexible". 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. Nine editions of the "Moral Theology" appeared in the Saint's life-time, those of 1748, 1753-1755, 1757, 1760, 1763, 1767, 1773, 1779, and 1785, the "Annotations to Busembaum" counting as the first. His masterpiece was The Moral Theology (1748), which was approved by the Pope himself[5] and was born of Liguori's pastoral experience, his ability to respond to the practical questions posed by the faithful and his contact with their everyday problems. Now the saint has a very great momentum indeed, and a spoiled saint is often a great villain. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. This is a historic Catholic Church in mid-town St. Louis. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). After practicing law for eight years, he was ordained a priest in 1726. He thought his mistake would be ascribed not to oversight but to deliberate deceit. According to him, those were paths closed to the Gospel because "such rigour has never been taught nor practised by the Church". Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation. 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 Liguori, Saint, b. at Marianella, near Naples, September 27, 1696; d. at Nocera de' Pagani, . The childish fault for which he most reproached himself in after-life was resisting his father too strongly when he was told to take part in a drawing-room play. Shop St. Alphonsus Marie Liguori. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. 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 English translation in the Oratory Series is also rather inadequate. But in spite of his infirmities both Clement XIII (1758-69) and Clement XIV (1769-74) obliged Alphonsus to remain at his post. The Saint's confessor declared that he preserved his baptismal innocence till death. Unfortunately, he was not obliged by his confessor, in virtue of holy obedience, as St. Teresa was, to write down his states of prayer; so we do not know precisely what they were. In 1731, while he was ministering to earthquake victims in the town of Foggia, Alphonsus said he had a vision of the Virgin Mother in the appearance of a young girl of 13 or 14, wearing a white veil. St. Alphonsus Liguori Born at Marianella, near Naples, 27 September, 1696; died at Nocera de' Pagani, 1 August, 1787. The version with Italian lyrics was based on his original song written in Neapolitan, which began Quanno nascette Ninno ("When the child was born"). 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 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. By 1777, the Saint, in addition to four houses in Naples and one in Sicily, had four others at Scifelli, Frosinone, St. Angelo a Cupolo, and Beneventum, in the States of the Church. Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) was a Neapolitan who founded the Redemptorist Order of priests, a congregation dedicated to providing parish missions, especially to the poor in rural areas. In the eight years of his career as advocate, years crowded with work, he is said never to have lost a case. 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". He spent several years having to drink from tubes because his head was so bent forward. The other was not to be long delayed. Shrines were built there and at St. Agatha of the Goths. Nihil Obstat. A few months later Alphonsus left his father's house and went to live with Ripa, without, however, becoming a member of his society. Perhaps in any case the submission of their Rule to a suspicious and even hostile civil power was a mistake. 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. The experience and teaching of St Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori regarding the Eucharist was in line with the Pope's invitation to Christians to persevere in their most important duty: to proclaim to humanity the great mystery of God's love, especially visible in the Eucharist. The traditional Stations of the Cross were written by St. Alphonsus Liguori, a bishop and Doctor of the Church, in 1761. His sermons were very effective at converting those who had been alienated from their faith. The dissensions even spread to the nuns, and Sister Maria Celeste herself left Scala and founded a convent at Foggia, where she died in the odour of sanctity, 14 September, 1755. He was also a poet and musician. 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. In April 1729, Alphonsus went to live at the "Chiflese College," founded in Naples by Father Matthew Ripa, the Apostle of China. On 28 August, 1723, the young advocate had gone to perform a favourite act of charity by visiting the sick in the Hospital for Incurables. Author and Publisher - Catholic Online As it was traditionally associated with the zampogna, or large-format Italian bagpipe, it became known as Canzone d'i zampognari, the "Carol of the Bagpipers". Moral Theology (also known as the Theologia Moralis) is a nine-volume work concerning Catholic moral theology written between 1748 and 1785 by Alphonsus Liguori, a Catholic theologian and Doctor of the Church.This work is not to be confused with Theologia moralis universa ad mentem S. Alphonsi, a 19th-century treatise by Pietro Scavini written in the philosophical tradition of Alphonsus Liguori. 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. On 6 April, 1726, he was ordained deacon, and soon after preached his first sermon. The Holy Father addressed the faithful taking part in the General audience of Wednesday, 1 August [2012], in Piazza della Libert, the square outside the Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. 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. Not many details have come down to us of Alphonsus's childhood. Even its Rule was made known to her. Alphonsus was what we call a "gifted" student today. St Alphonsus Mary Liguori and Prayer. 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. On 23 October of the same year, 1723, the Saint put on the clerical dress. In this state of exclusion he lived for seven years more and in it he died. With their aid, Aiphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on November 9, 1732. Deposed and excluded from his own congregation, Alphonsus suffered great anguish. His life contains a number of minor inaccuracies, however, and is seriously defective in its account of the founding of his Congregation and of the troubles which fell on it in 1780. When he heard from her of the devotion of the Rosary, which she practiced, and the letter she had received, he ordered all the others to repeatit, and it is related that this monastery became a paradise. He said himself that he was so small at the time as to be almost buried in his doctor's gown and that all the spectators laughed. He died peacefully on August 1,1787, at Nocera di Pagani, near Naples as the Angelus was ringing. Educated at the University of Naples, Alphonsus received his doctorate at the age of sixteen. Unable to be idle, he had preached to the goatherds of the mountains with such success that Nicolas Guerriero, Bishop of Scala, begged him to return and give a retreat in his cathedral. Testa, the Grand Almoner, even to have his Rule approved. Saint Alphonsus Liguori 1696 - 1787. Alphonsus, assisted by divine grace, did not disappoint his father's care. He was a lawyer, not only during his years at the Bar, but throughout his whole life--a lawyer, who to skilled advocacy and an enormous knowledge of practical detail added a wide and luminous hold of underlying principles. R. [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. His friend the Grand Almoner betrayed him; his two envoys for negotiating with the Grand Almoner, Fathers Majone and Cimino, betrayed him, consultors general though they were. 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. [5] He remarked later that he was so small at the time that he was almost buried in his doctor's gown and that all the spectators laughed. St. Alphonsus as a moral theologian occupies the golden mean between the schools tending either to laxity or to rigour which divided the theological world of his time. Liguori wrote 111 works on spirituality and theology. His intercession healed the sick; he read the secrets of hearts, and foretold the future. Though St. Alphonsus was founder and de facto head of the Institute, its general direction in the beginning, as well as the direction of Alphonsus's conscience, was undertaken by the Bishop of Castellamare and it was not till the latter's death, 20 April, 1743, that a general chapter was held and the Saint was formally elected Superior-General. His works have gone through several thousand editions and have been translated into more than 60 languages. Ecclesiastical approbation. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori, Doctor of the Church . Soon after, Falcoia made known to the latter his vocation to leave Naples and establish an order of missionaries at Scala, who should work above all for the neglected goatherds of the mountains. He was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. Since its publication, it has remained in Latin, often in 10 volumes or in the combined 4-volume version of Gaud. The differentia of saints is not faultlessness but driving-power, a driving-power exerted in generous self-sacrifice and ardent love of God. The answer is that God kept him humble by interior trials. In 1871, Alphonsus was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX. He felt as if his career was ruined, and left the court almost beside himself, saying: "World, I know you now. But he overcame his depression, and he experienced visions, performed miracles, and gave prophecies. The early years, following the founding of the new order, were not promising. [19], His Mariology, though mainly pastoral in nature, rediscovered, integrated and defended that of St Augustine of Hippo, St Ambrose of Milan and other fathers; it represented an intellectual defence of Mariology in the 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment, against the rationalism to which contrasted his fervent Marian devotion.[20]. This occurred twice. The Saint's mother was of Spanish descent, and if, as there can be little doubt, race is an element in individual character, we may see in Alphonsus's Spanish blood some explanation of the enormous tenacity of purpose which distinguished him from his earliest years. It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. But Alphonsus's director, Father Pagano; Father Fiorillo, a great Dominican preacher; Father Manulio, Provincial of the Jesuits; and Vincent Cutica, Superior of the Vincentians, supported the young priest, and, 9 November, 1732, the "Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer", or as it was called for seventeen years, "of the Most Holy Saviour", was begun in a little hospice belonging to the nuns of Scala. Vague rumours of impending treachery had got about and had been made known to him, but he had refused to believe them. 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. A star preacher, he called his fellow sermonizers on the carpet for sermons of "empty, rumbling rhetoric" or "flashy . Some persons, boasting of being free from prejudices, take great credit to themselvesfor believing no miracles but those recorded in the holy scriptures, esteeming all others. Matters remained thus for some years. 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. In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti. Corrections? While affecting to treat the novice with severity and to take no notice of her visions, the director was surprised to find that the Rule which she had written down was a realization of what had been so long in his mind. He had a pleasant smile, and his conversation was very agreeable, yet he had great dignity of manner. The boy was bright and quick beyond his years, and made great progress in all kinds of learning. Sarnelli was almost openly supported by the all-powerful Tanucci, and the suppression of the Congregation at last seemed a matter of days, when on 26 October, 1776, Tanucci, who had offended Queen Maria Carolina, suddenly fell from power. 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. He came from a wealthy family in Naples, Italy, and had every advantage in life from the moment he was born in 1696. The foundation of all subsequent lives is the Della vita ed istituto del venerabile Alfonso Maria Liguori, of ANTONY TANNOIA, one of the great biographies of literature. In 1950 he was named patron saint of moralists and confessors by Pope Pius XII. 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. Even when taking him into society in order to arrange a good marriage for him, he wished Alphonsus to put God first, and every year father and son would make a retreat together in some religious house. 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. Saint Alphonsus Liguori. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul T. Crowley. Addeddate 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. His father opposed the plan, but after two months (and with his Oratorian confessor's permission), he and his father compromised: he would study for the priesthood, but not as an Oratorian, and would live at home. . Alphonsus himself was not spared. His own prayer was perhaps for the most part what some call "active", others "ordinary", contemplation. His hymns are justly celebrated in Italy. He often writes as a Neapolitan to Neapolitans. Except in '45, in all of these, down to the first shot fired at Lexington, the English-speaking world was on one side and the Bourbon States, including Naples, on the other. They followed this gifted preacher from church to church and town to town to hear him give a message of hope in Christ for all people. Office Hours: Mon - Fri: 8am-4pm, Saturday: 9am-12pm . He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). He called his system Equiprobabilism. She was declared Venerable 11 August, 1901. Soon after this the boy began his studies for the Bar, and about the age of nineteen practised his profession in the courts. In the year 1747, King Charles of Naples wished to make Alphonsus Archbishop of Palermo, and it was only by the most earnest entreaties that he was able to escape. 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! Father Francis de Paula, one of the chief appellants, was appointed their Superior General, "in place of those", so the brief ran, "who being higher superiors of the said Congregation have with their followers adopted a new system essentially different from the old, and have deserted the Institute in which they were professed, and have thereby ceased to be members of the Congregation." In a civil action a serious preponderance of evidence gives one side the case. He was the eldest of seven children and the hope of his house. 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. In case things became hopeless in Naples, he looked to these houses to maintain the Rule and Institute. It may be he was even too anxious, and on one occasion when he was over-whelmed by a fresh refusal, his friend the Marquis Brancone, Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs and a man of deep piety, said to him gently: "It would seem as if you placed all your trust here below"; on which the Saint recovered his peace of mind. 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. There he met Bishop Thomas Falcoia, founder of the Congregation of Pious Workers. It is true that theologians even of the broadest school are agreed that, when an opinion in favour of the law is so much more probable as to amount practically to moral certainty, the less probable opinion cannot be followed, and some have supposed that St. Alphonsus meant no more than this by his terminology. Were the vehement things in his letters and writings, especially in the matter of rebuke or complaint, to appraised as if uttered by an Anglo-Saxon in cold blood, we might be surprised and even shocked. He was a lawyer by the time he was 16 years old! An interesting series of portraits might be painted of those who play a part in the Saint's history: Charles III and his minister Tanucci; Charle's son Ferdinand, and Ferdinand's strange and unhappy Queen, Maria Carolina, daughter of Maria Teresa and sister of Marie Antoinette. Mimoires sur la vie et la congrigation de St. Alphonse de Liguori (Paris, 1842, 3 vols.). New York: Robert Appleton Company. Ultimately, however, anything merely human in this had disappeared. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Riding and fencing were his recreations, and an evening game of cards; he tells us that he was debarred from being a good shot by his bad sight. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Alphonsus was preaching missions in the rural areas and writing. The Government throughout had recognized the good effect of his missions, but it wished the missionaries to be secular priests and not a religious order. To come to saints, the great Jesuit missionary St. Francis di Geronimo took the little Alphonsus in his arms, blessed him, and prophesied that he would do great work for God; while a Franciscan, St. John Joseph of the Cross, was well known to Alphonsus in later life. But we must not push resemblances too far. Again, we have a friendship of thirty years with the great Venetian publishing house of Remondini, whose letters from the Saint, carefully preserved as became business men, fill a quarto volume. [7] It was there that he began his missionary experience in the interior regions of the Kingdom of Naples, where he found people who were much poorer and more abandoned than any of the street children in Naples. St. Alphonsus Liguori's prayer to Jesus Christ to obtain His holy love comes from the "Rule of Life", a guide for growing in holiness. The English translation of the work is projected to be around 5 volumes. First Station: Jesus Is Condemned to Death V. We adore you, Christ, and we praise you. 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. These form the first book of the work, while the second contains the treatises on Faith, Hope, and Charity. Liguori Publications is a nonprofit Catholic publishing company that came into existence through a saint, some students, and a once-famous St. Louis resort. In the end the Rule was so altered as to be hardly recognizable, the very vows of religion being abolished. 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. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 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". In the 12th and 13th centuries, the tradition of praying the stations of the cross began to develop. and reportedly performed miracles. [12], He was beatified on 15 September 1816 by Pope Pius VII and canonized on 26 May 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI.[13][14]. The Ceremonies of the Interment. Clarence F. Galli. Alternate titles: Saint Alfonso Liguori, Saint Alfonso Maria de Liguori, Saint Alphonsus Maria deLiguori. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul T. Crowley. His spirituality was both affective and active, centered above all on the passion of Jesus Christ as the principal sign of our Savior's love for us.
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