He started again, recruited new members, and in 1743 became the prior of two new congregations, one for men and one for women. 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. So many times I have sinned, but I repent sincerely because I love you. Omissions? 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. In 1949, the Redemptorists founded the Alphonsian Academy for the advanced study of Catholic moral theology. In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti. Author and Publisher - Catholic Online I will love you all my life. (1913). It is a matter for friendly controversy, but it seems there was a real difference, though not as great in practice as is supposed, between the Saint's later teaching and that current in the Society. At three different times in his missions, while preaching, a ray of light from a picture of Our Lady darted towards him, and he fell into an ecstasy before the people. For thirteen years Alphonsus fed the poor, instructed families, reorganized the seminary and religious houses, taught theology, and wrote. St. Alphonsus appeared a miracle of calm to Tannoia. He did not, as in the past, ask for an exequatur to the Brief of Benedict XIV, for relations at the time were more strained than ever between the Courts of Rome and Naples; but he hoped the king might give an independent sanction to his Rule, provided he waived all legal right to hold property in common, which he was quite prepared to do. Alphonsus Mary Antony John Cosmas Damian Michael Gaspard de' Liguori was born in his father's country house at Marianella near Naples, on Tuesday, 27 September, 1696. Liguoris extensive works fall into three genres: moral theology, best represented by his celebrated Theologia moralis (1748); ascetical and devotional writings, including Visits to the Blessed Sacrament, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ (for nuns), Selva (for priests), and The Glories of Mary, the latter of which became one of the most widely used manuals of devotion to the Virgin Mary; and dogmatic writings on such subjects as papal infallibility and the power of prayer. The Saint only wept in silence and tried in vain to devise some means by which his Order might be saved. 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. [15] The church did not bestow this unique privilege lightly but was due to the extraordinary combination of exceptional knowledge and understanding of church teachings combined with the great precision in which he wrote. "St. Alphonsus Liguori." Other personal friends of Alphonsus were the Jesuit Fathers de Matteis, Zaccaria, and Nonnotte. After practicing law for eight years, he was ordained a priest in 1726. "You have founded the Congregation and you have destroyed it", said one Father to him. APA citation. Alphonsus was the oldest of seven children, raised by a devout mother of Spanish descent. Even its Rule was made known to her. The Superior of the Propaganda and even Falcoia's friend, Matthew Ripa, opposed the project with all their might. It saw only recently its first publication in translation, in an English translation made by Ryan Grant and published in 2017 by Mediatrix Press. From the year 1759 two former benefactors of the Congregation, Baron Sarnelli and Francis Maffei, by one of those changes not uncommon in Naples, had become its bitter enemies, and waged a vendetta against it in the law courts which lasted for twenty-four years. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul T. Crowley. To this altered Rule or "Regolamento", as it came to be called, the unsuspecting Saint was induced to put his signature. This document gives you the case." He was also a poet and musician. Saint Alphonsus Liguori 1696 - 1787. His promotion to the episcopate in 1762 led to a renewal of his missionary activity, but in a slightly different form. Shop St. Alphonsus Marie Liguori. But when the question was put to the community, opposition began. Both of them were canonized on the same day as the Holy Doctor, 26 May, 1839. Among his best known works are The Glories of Mary and The Way of the Cross, the latter still used in parishes during Lenten devotions. "[17][18], Liguori's greatest contribution to the Catholic Church was in the area of moral theology. 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. The other was not to be long delayed. He both made and kept a vow not to lose a single moment of time. In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti. 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. Twelve years, however, still separated him from his reward, years for the most part not of peace but of greater afflictions than any which had yet befallen him. 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. [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. Revelations from God, the Saints, and the Angels through the Miracle of Saint Joseph, started in 1967 and continuing to this day. Liguori suffered from scruples much of his adult life and felt guilty about the most minor issues relating to sin. It was approved by the king and forced upon the stupefied Congregation by the whole power of the State. 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. Visiting the local Hospital for Incurables on August 28, 1723, he had a vision and was told to consecrate his life solely to God. Alphonsus Liguori. Many years before, in Rome, Falcoia had been shown a vision of a new religious family of men and women whose particular aim should be the perfect imitation of the virtues of Our Lord. There were whole years, indeed, in which the Institute seemed on the verge of summary suppression. The German life, DILGSKRON, Leben des heiligen Bischofs und Kirchenlehrers, Alfonsus Maria de Liguori (New York, 1887), is scholarly and accurate. Castle, Harold. Alternate titles: Saint Alfonso Liguori, Saint Alfonso Maria de Liguori, Saint Alphonsus Maria deLiguori. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. [11], Liguori was consecrated Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti in 1762. The Holy Mass, Eugene Grimm ed., Benziger Brothers, New York, 1887, Liguori, Alphonsus. St. Alphonsus likened the conflict between law and liberty to a civil action in which the law has the onus probandi, although greater probabilities give it a verdict. Thank you. To prevent the ship going to pieces on the rocks, it has need of a very responsive rudder, answering to the slightest pressure of Divine guidance. He was taught by tutors before entering the University of Naples, where he graduated with doctorates in civil and canon law at 16. 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. [4] He was ordained on 21 December 1726, at the age of 30. Here he discovered more than thirty thousand uninstructed men and women and four hundred indifferent priests. said Alphonsus somewhat piqued. In 1732 he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, or the Redemptorists, at Scala. For six years he laboured in and around Naples, giving missions for the Propaganda and preaching to the lazzaroni of the capital. Two days after he was born, he was baptized at the Church of Our Lady the Virgin as Alphonsus Mary Anthony John Cosmas Damian Michael Gaspard de' Liguori. Printable Catholic Saints PDFs 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 1725, while still a novice, she had a series of visions in which she saw a new order (apparently of nuns only) similar to that revealed to Falcoia many years before. But in spite of his infirmities both Clement XIII (1758-69) and Clement XIV (1769-74) obliged Alphonsus to remain at his post. 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. The saints are not inhuman but real men of flesh and blood, however much some hagiographers may ignore the fact. He was the eldest of seven children and the hope of his house. Vol. 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 His infirmities were increasing, and he was occupied a good deal with his writings. Preaching, Eugene Grimm ed., Benziger Brothers, New York, 1887, Liguori, Alphonsus. Still there was a time of danger. To all his administrative work we must add his continual literary labours, his many hours of daily prayer, his terrible austerities, and a stress of illness which made his life a martyrdom. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). He fed the poor, instructed the ignorant, reorganized his seminary, reformed his convents, created a new spirit in his clergy, banished scandalous noblemen and women of evil life with equal impartiality, brought the study of theology and especially of moral theology into honour, and all the time was begging pope after pope to let him resign his office because he was doing nothing for his diocese. Alphonsus wrote profusely on moral, theological, and ascetical subjects [notably his Moral Theology], was constantly engaged in combating anticlericalism and Jansenism, and was involved in several controversies over . Alphonsus returned to his little cell at Nocera in July, 1775, to prepare, as he thought, for a speedy and happy death. Catholic Encyclopedia. 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. In addition his father made him practice the harpsichord for three hours a day, and at the age of thirteen he played with the perfection of a master. Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation. 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. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited. He continued to live with the Redemptorist community in Pagani, Italy, where he died on 1 August 1787. Still it must in fairness be admitted that all priests are not great theologians able to estimate intrinsic probability at its true worth, and the Church herself might be held to have conceded something to pure probabilism by the unprecedented honours 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. Courts, you shall never see me more." "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. A companion, Balthasar Cito, who afterwards became a distinguished judge, was asked in later years if Alphonsus had ever shown signs of levity in his youth. Feast Day: August 1. Alphonsus being so old and so inform he was eighty-five, crippled, deaf, and nearly blind his one chance of success was to be faithfully served by friends and subordinates, and he was betrayed at every turn. He was buried at the monastery of the Pagani near Naples. A voice said "This is he whom I have chosen to be head of My Institute, the Prefect General of a new Congregation of men who shall work for My glory." Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. 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". In a civil action a serious preponderance of evidence gives one side the case. The answer is that God kept him humble by interior trials. This involves expressing our faith in Christ and in His Presence in the Eucharist, and asking Him to unite Himself with us. (London, 1904). He was now free, subject to the approval of the Bishop of Scala, to act with regard to the convent as he thought best. Alphonsus Liguori, Saint, b. at Marianella, near Naples, September 27, 1696; d. at Nocera de' Pagani, . This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Alfonso-Maria-de-Liguori, The Catholic Encyclopedia - Biography of St. Alphonsus Liguori. 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. He died on August 1 at Nocera. His father, already displeased at the failure of two plans for his son's marriage, and exasperated at Alphonsus's present neglect of his profession, was likely to offer a strenuous opposition to his leaving the world. He remained thunderstruck for a moment; then said in a broken voice: "You are right. 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. About the year 1722, when he was twenty-six years old, he began to go constantly into society, to neglect prayer and the practices of piety which had been an integral part of his life, and to take pleasure in the attention with which he was everywhere received. 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. He was not afraid of making up his mind. Liguori wrote 111 works on spirituality and theology. The "Moral Theology", after a historical introduction by the Saint's friend, P. Zaccaria, S.J., which was omitted, however, from the eighth and ninth editions, begins with a treatise "De Conscientia", followed by one "De Legibus". In 1780, Alphonsus was tricked into signing a submission for royal approval of his congregation. St. Alphonsus Liguori. She was declared Venerable 11 August, 1901. a special feature of his method was the return of the missionaries, after an interval of some months, to the scene of their labours to consolidate their work by what was called the "renewal of a mission.". But one may easily overcrowd a narrow canvas and it is better in so slight a sketch to leave the central figure in solitary relief. Alphonsus himself was not spared. 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. He was more concerned with the spiritual conflict which was going on at the same time. In the eight years of his career as advocate, years crowded with work, he is said never to have lost a case. MLA citation. Actually, the document was a new rule devised by one of his enemies, thus causing the followers of the old rule to break away. In 1734, however, it was reconquered by Don Carlos, the young Duke of Parma, great-grandson of Louis XIV, and the independent Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was established. The third book deals with the Ten Commandments, the fourth with the monastic and clerical states, and the duties of judges, advocates, doctors, merchants, and others. So the Saint was cut off from his own Order by the Pope who was to declare him "Venerable". He knew that trials were before him. Clarence F. Galli. d.kellysaintalphonsus.com Website Website Website Website Website Alyce Gilarski Business Manager / Ministry of Care 847-255-7452, x143 a.gilarskisaintalphonsus.com Dr. Carol Holden DRE, Grades K-8 847-255-9490 x116 c.holdensaintalphonsus.com Dee Munroe Religious Education Administrative Assistant 847-255-9490 x104 d.munroesaintalphonsus.com 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. His hymns are justly celebrated in Italy. The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano took place in the 8th century: a Basilian monk, who had doubted the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist, was celebrating Mass, and at the consecration, saw that the Host had changed into flesh. A strong defender of the Catholic Church, Liguori said: To reject the divine teaching of the Catholic Church is to reject the very basis of reason and revelation, for neither the principles of the one nor those of the other have any longer any solid support to rest on; they can then be interpreted by every one as he pleases; every one can deny all truths whatsoever he chooses to deny. "St. Alphonsus Liguori". He was helped in this by his turn of mind which was extremely practical. 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. Since its publication, it has remained in Latin, often in 10 volumes or in the combined 4-volume version of Gaud. 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. and reportedly performed miracles. Saint Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori, C.Ss.R. Much of the material for a complete life of St. Alphonsus is still in manuscript in the Roman archives of the Redemptorist Congregation and in the archives of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars. 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. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. Contact information. Saint Alphonsus Liguori's Story Moral theology, Vatican II said, should be more thoroughly nourished by Scripture, and show the nobility of the Christian vocation of the faithful and their obligation to bring forth fruit in charity for the life of the world. Finally, St. Alphonsus was a wonderful letter-writer, and the mere salvage of his correspondence amounts to 1,451 letters, filling three large volumes. He first addressed ecclesiastical abuses in the diocese, reformed the seminary and spiritually rehabilitated the clergy and faithful. He is said never to have refused absolution to a penitent. With their aid, Aiphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on November 9, 1732. 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. CARDINAL CAPECELATRO has also written a life of the Saint, La Vita di Sant' Alfonso Maria de Liguori (Rome, 2 vols.). There are many editions of the Saint's Moral Theology; the best and latest is that of P. GAUDI, C.SS.R. An attack of rheumatic fever, from May 1768 to June 1769, left him paralyzed. Tannoia, also, through some mental idiosyncrasy, manages to give the misleading impression that St. Alphonsus was severe. His very confessor and vicar general in the government of his Order, Father Andrew Villani, joined in the conspiracy. There he met Bishop Thomas Falcoia, founder of the Congregation of Pious Workers. This lifelong friendship aided Alphonsus, as did his association with a mystic, Sister Mary Celeste. 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. Patron saint of: people with arthritis, lawyers, vocations. The Decree of 1779, however, seemed a great step in advance. This is a historic Catholic Church in mid-town St. Louis. MIRACLES RELATED BY ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI from his book The Glories of Mary Some persons, boasting of being free from prejudices, take great credit to themselves for believing no miracles but those recorded in the holy scriptures, esteeming all others as tales and fables for foolish women. 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. 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. Alphonsus was preaching missions in the rural areas and writing. "What document is that?" "Alphonsus was of middle height", says his first biographer, Tannoia; "his head was rather large, his hair black, and beard well-grown." 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. Matters remained thus for some years. At the worst, it was only the scaffolding by which the temple of perfection was raised. The Ceremonies of the Interment. 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. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01334a.htm. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The "Glories of Mary", "The Selva", "The True Spouse of Christ", "The Great Means of Prayer", "The Way of Salvation", "Opera Dogmatica, or History of the Council of Trent", and "Sermons for all the Sundays in the Year", are the best known. 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. Paths to Heaven; Revelations. The Fathers in the Papal States, with too precipitate zeal, in the very beginning denounced the change of Rule to Rome. The eighteenth century was one series of great wars; that of the Spanish, Polish, and Austrian Succession; the Seven Years' War, and the War of American Independence, ending with the still more gigantic struggles in Europe, which arose out of the events of 1789. The days were indeed evil. 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. [2] Moreover, he heard an interior voice saying: "Leave the world, and give yourself to me."[5]. 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! See also HASSALL, The Balance of Power (1715-89) (London, 1901); COLLETTA, History of the Kingdom of Naples, 1734-1825, 2 vols., tr. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law. St. Alphonsus appeared a miracle of calm to Tannoia. [7] At 27, after having lost an important case, the first he had lost in eight years of practising law, he made a firm resolution to leave the profession of law. 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.
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