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. 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. 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. St. Alphonsus Liguori, the Prince of Moral Theologians, was one of the greatest preachers in Church history. "St. Alphonsus Liguori". He often writes as a Neapolitan to Neapolitans. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. St. Alphonsus was a brilliant, articulate, pragmatic preacher. A pure and modest boyhood passed into a manhood without reproach. 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. Alphonsus was one of the leading counsel; we do not know on which side. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01334a.htm. To follow an opinion in favour of liberty without weighing it, merely because it is held by someone else, would have seemed to Alphonsus an abdication of the judicial office with which as a confessor he was invested. See also HASSALL, The Balance of Power (1715-89) (London, 1901); COLLETTA, History of the Kingdom of Naples, 1734-1825, 2 vols., tr. 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. With Don Carlos, or as he is generally called, Charles III, from his later title as King of Spain, came the lawyer, Bernard Tanucci, who governed Naples as Prime Minister and regent for the next forty-two years. Alphonsus' last illness and Deaths 548 CHAPTER XXXVII. 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. Description [ edit] The book was written at a time when some were criticizing Marian devotions, and was written in part as a defense of Marian devotion. The suffering which this brought on Alphonsus, with his sensitive and high-strung disposition, was very great, besides what was worse, the relaxation of discipline and loss of vocations which it caused in the Order itself. 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 complete dogmatic works have been translated into Latin by P. WALTER, C.SS.R., S. Alphonsi Mariae de Liguori Ecclesiae Doctoris Opera Dogmatica, (New York, 1903, 2 vols., 4to). His intercession healed the sick; he read the secrets of hearts, and foretold the future. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Saint Alphonsus Liguori; Revelation Delivered Through Frances Marie Klug Let's start with the saint. At his General Audience, 30 March 2011, in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father presented Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church. A prolific writer, he published nine editions of his Moral Theology in his lifetime, in addition to other devotional and ascetic works and letters. Lord, When Did We See You Hungry or Thirsty or a Stranger or Naked or Ill or in Prison? 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. The differentia of saints is not faultlessness but driving-power, a driving-power exerted in generous self-sacrifice and ardent love of God. " Wonderful worship experience ". The days were indeed evil. 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. When the day came the future Saint made a brilliant opening speech and sat down confident of victory. 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 was lawyer, founder, religious superior, bishop, theologian, and mystic, but he was above all a missionary, and no true biography of the Saint will neglect to give this due prominence. For three days he refused all food. A long process followed in the Court of Rome, and on 22 September, 1780, a provisional Decree, which on 24 August, 1781, was made absolute, recognized the houses in the Papal States as alone constituting the Redemptorist Congregation. . 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". Furthermore, St. Alphonsus was a great theologian, and so attached much weight to intrinsic probability. 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.". [11], Liguori was consecrated Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti in 1762. He continued to live with the Redemptorist community in Pagani, Italy, where he died on 1 August 1787. His austerities were rigorous, and he suffered daily the pain from rheumatism that was beginning to deform his body. In 1780, a crisis arose in which they did this, yet in such a way as to bring division in the Congregation and extreme suffering and disgrace upon its founder. Alphonsus, however, was unflagging in his efforts with the Court. Stay up to date with the latest news, information, and special offers. 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". Perhaps in any case the submission of their Rule to a suspicious and even hostile civil power was a mistake. In case things became hopeless in Naples, he looked to these houses to maintain the Rule and Institute. 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. But how was Alphonsus to grow in this so necessary virtue when he was in authority nearly all his life? 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. These form the first book of the work, while the second contains the treatises on Faith, Hope, and Charity. It will be remembered that even as a young man his chief distress at his breakdown in court was the fear that his mistake might be ascribed to deceit. Alphonsus Liguori, Saint, b. at Marianella, near Naples, September 27, 1696; d. at Nocera de' Pagani, . 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. Nov 2012. The Superior of the Propaganda and even Falcoia's friend, Matthew Ripa, opposed the project with all their might. where the Hosts were buried. In response, Alphonsus dedicated himself to the religious life, even while suffering persecution from his family. He lived his first years as a priest with the homeless and the marginalized youth of Naples. 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. His system of moral theology is noted for its prudence, avoiding both laxism and excessive rigour. 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. 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. It was this which gave St. Alphonsus the bent head which we notice in the portraits of him. Alphonsus had still one final storm to meet, and then the end. He felt as if his career was ruined, and left the court almost beside himself, saying: "World, I know you now. 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". "I know his obstinacy", his father said of him as a young man; "when he once makes up his mind he is inflexible". She was declared Venerable 11 August, 1901. It was this which made him the prince of moral theologians, and gained him, when canonization made it possible, the title of "Doctor of the Church". The latest life, BERTHE, Saint Alphonse de Liguori (Paris, 1900, 2 vols. In 1731, the convent unanimously adopted the new Rule, together with a habit of red and blue, the traditional colours of Our Lord's own dress. 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. Beatified: September 15, 1816. The favors and graces by which God attested his sanctity 526 CHAPTER XXXVI. The prayer he recommended to his Congregation, of which we have beautiful examples in his ascetical works, is affective; the use of short aspirations, petitions, and acts of love, rather than discursive meditation with long reflection. He was the eldest of seven children and the hope of his house. Here with 30,000 uninstructed people, 400 mostly indifferent and sometimes scandalous secular clergy, and seventeen more or less relaxed religious houses to look after, in a field so overgrown with weeds that they seemed the only crop, he wept and prayed and spent days and nights in unremitting labour for thirteen years. [4] He was ordained on 21 December 1726, at the age of 30. The answer is that God kept him humble by interior trials. Author and Publisher - Catholic Online 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. Cavalieri, himself a great servant of God. This Novena for the Holy Souls in Purgatory was written by St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787), a bishop and founder of the Redemptorist order, and one of the Doctors of the Church. He refused to become the bishop of Palermo but in 1762 had to accept the papal command to accept the see of St. Agatha of the Goths near Naples. On 21 December of the same year, at the age of thirty, he was ordained priest. He started again, recruited new members, and in 1743 became the prior of two new congregations, one for men and one for women. 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. About 1729, however, Filangieri died, and on 8 October, 1730, Falcoia was consecrated Bishop of Castellamare. 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. Could he have been what an Anglo-Saxon would consider a miracle of calm, he would have seemed to his companions absolutely inhuman. St. Alphonsus Liguori Opening Prayer My Lord Jesus Christ, you have made this journey to die for me with infinite love. In old age he was more than once raised in the air when speaking of God. [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. He suspended those priests who celebrated Mass in less than 15 minutes and sold his carriage and episcopal ring to give the money to the poor. After 1752 Alphonsus gave fewer missions.