"Banquets, entertainments, theatres," he wrote later on--"these are the pleasures of the world, but pleasures which are filled with the bitterness of gall and sharp thorns. 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. Here he discovered more than thirty thousand uninstructed men and women and four hundred indifferent priests. At the age of sixteen, on 21 January, 1713, he took his degree as Doctor of Laws, although twenty was the age fixed by the statutes. He was buried at the monastery of the Pagani near Naples. Not less remarkable than the intensity with which Alphonsus worked is the amount of work he did. 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. [2][3], He was born in Marianella, near Naples, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, on 27 September 1696. Cardinals Spinelli, Sersale, and Orsini; Popes Benedict XIV, Clement XIII, Clement XIV, and Pius VI, to each of whom Alphonsus dedicated a volume of his works. He was helped in this by his turn of mind which was extremely practical. He wrote sermons, books, and articles to encourage devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary. [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. 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. Lord, When Did We See You Hungry or Thirsty or a Stranger or Naked or Ill or in Prison? St. Alphonsus Liguori was a bishop and moral theologian living and preaching in Naples in the eighteenth century. To this Alphonsus by the advice of his director, Father Thomas Pagano, himself an Oratorian, agreed. 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. But he was a man of genuine faith and piety and stainless life, and he meant his son to be the same. In a civil action a serious preponderance of evidence gives one side the case. Educated at the University of Naples, Alphonsus received his doctorate at the age of sixteen. He said: "I have never preached a sermon which the poorest old woman in the congregation could not understand". Tradues em contexto de "Mary of Liguori" en ingls-portugus da Reverso Context : The Holy Church honors the priest and the priest must honor the Church with the holiness of his life - proposed St. Alphonsus Mary of Liguori on the day of his Ordination - with zeal, with work and with decorum. 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. They also fought Jansenism, a heresy that preached an excessive moral rigorism: "the penitents should be treated as souls to be saved rather than as criminals to be punished". 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 congregation dedicated primarily to parish and foreign missions. St. Alphonsus Liguori. In 1780, Alphonsus was tricked into signing a submission for royal approval of his congregation. "St. Alphonsus Liguori." 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". 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". 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 best plan would have been to consult the Holy See, but in this he had been forestalled. 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. 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. 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. Addeddate The Saint had four houses, but during his lifetime it not only became impossible in the Kingdom of Naples to get any more, but even the barest toleration for those he had could scarcely be obtained. Alphonsus, having got so much, hoped to get a little more, and through his friend, Mgr. [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". Both last about two hours but are filled with soul-stirring music. 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. Then God called him to his life work. "[17][18], Liguori's greatest contribution to the Catholic Church was in the area of moral theology. In 1949, the Redemptorists founded the Alphonsian Academy for the advanced study of Catholic moral theology. For three days he refused all food. He is credited with the position of Aequiprobabilism, which avoided Jansenist rigorism as well as laxism and simple probabilism. In April 1729, Alphonsus went to live at the "Chiflese College," founded in Naples by Father Matthew Ripa, the Apostle of China. It would be a sacrilege to say otherwise." The saints are not inhuman but real men of flesh and . 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. But in spite of his infirmities both Clement XIII (1758-69) and Clement XIV (1769-74) obliged Alphonsus to remain at his post. In the last years of his life, he suffered a painful sickness and bitter persecution from his fellow priests, who dismissed him from the Congregation that he had founded. More than once he faced assassination unmoved. The priest was Alphonsus. 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. [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". Alphonsus, however, was unflagging in his efforts with the Court. 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, assisted by divine grace, did not disappoint his father's care. 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. 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"). 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.". 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. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). Early Christians began the devotion of following the footsteps of Christ's passion. He was ordained on December 21, 1726, and he spent six years giving missions throughout Naples. 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. His intercession healed the sick; he read the secrets of hearts, and foretold the future. 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. He remained thunderstruck for a moment; then said in a broken voice: "You are right. 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. The other was not to be long delayed. " Wonderful worship experience ". In this state of exclusion he lived for seven years more and in it he died. 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. 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. 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. "What document is that?" Tannoia was born about 1724 and entered the Redemptorist Congregation in 1746. If in some things Alphonsus was an Anglo-Saxon, in others he was a Neapolitan of the Neapolitans, though always a saint. 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. These form the first book of the work, while the second contains the treatises on Faith, Hope, and Charity. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads. He came from a wealthy family in Naples, Italy, and had every advantage in life from the moment he was born in 1696. Besides his Moral Theology, the Saint wrote a large number of dogmatic and ascetical works nearly all in the vernacular. 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. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul T. Crowley. But as he drew up a rule for them, formed from that of the Visitation nuns, he does not seem to have had any clear idea of establishing the new institute of his vision. It was approved by the king and forced upon the stupefied Congregation by the whole power of the State. 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. The difficulty about strong wills and strong passions is that they are hard to tame, but when they are tamed they are the raw material of sanctity. 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. Died: August 1, 1787. 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. On the other hand, ever since the Fall of Man, the will of man has been his greatest danger. Even where he is not that, he may generally be trusted, as he was a Boswell in collecting facts. He continued to live with the Redemptorist community in Pagani, Italy, where he died on 1 August 1787. She was declared Venerable 11 August, 1901. This prayer is a petition asking for the grace to love God more, so as to fear hell and desire to do His . Alphonsus said nothing in his "Moral Theology" which is not the common teaching of Catholic theologians. The Decree of 1779, however, seemed a great step in advance. On 6 April, 1726, he was ordained deacon, and soon after preached his first sermon. Patron saint of: people with arthritis, lawyers, vocations. She was told to write it down and show it to the director of the convent, that is to Falcoia himself. His writings on moral, theological, and ascetic matters had great impact and have survived through the years, especially his Moral Theology and his Glories of Mary. 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. 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. 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. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. He finally agreed to become a priest but to live at home as a member of a group of secular missionaries. I therefore repeat: If the divine teaching authority of the Church, and the obedience to it, are rejected, every error will be endorsed and must be tolerated. There are many editions of the Saint's Moral Theology; the best and latest is that of P. GAUDI, C.SS.R. Neapolitan students, in an animated but amicable discussion, seem to foreign eyes to be taking part in a violent quarrel. His austerities were rigorous, and he suffered daily the pain from rheumatism that was beginning to deform his body. "You have founded the Congregation and you have destroyed it", said one Father to him. He was more concerned with the spiritual conflict which was going on at the same time. Deposed and excluded from his own congregation, Alphonsus suffered great anguish. 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. Pius VI, already deeply displeased with the Neapolitan Government, took the fathers in his own dominions under his special protection, forbade all change of rule in their houses, and even withdrew them from obedience to the Neapolitan superiors, that is to St. Alphonsus, till an inquiry could be held. What are Revelations? Even its Rule was made known to her. But before he called a witness the opposing counsel said to him in chilling tones: "Your arguments are wasted breath. In the minutes it was Revelations from God, the Saints, and the Angels through the Miracle of Saint Joseph, started in 1967 and continuing to this day. St. Alphonsus appeared a miracle of calm to Tannoia. 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. 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. A year of trouble and anxiety followed. His own prayer was perhaps for the most part what some call "active", others "ordinary", contemplation. He died on August 1 at Nocera. It was comparatively late in life that Alphonsus became a writer. In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti. 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. St. Alphonsus encouraged an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ through frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament. 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. Dedicated to Fr. 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 thought his mistake would be ascribed not to oversight but to deliberate deceit. 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. He died on the very eve of the great Revolution which was to sweep the persecutors away, having seen in vision the woes which the French invasion of 1798 was to bring on Naples. Both of them were canonized on the same day as the Holy Doctor, 26 May, 1839. . March 1, 1907. 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. Pardon me, my God. He was crushed to the earth. Alphonsus Liguori, Saint, b. at Marianella, near Naples, September 27, 1696; d. at Nocera de' Pagani, . Alphonsus's temperament was very ardent. The latest life, BERTHE, Saint Alphonse de Liguori (Paris, 1900, 2 vols. Filingeri, was made Archbishop of Naples, the Saint would not write to congratulate the new primate, even at the risk of making another powerful enemy for his persecuted Congregation, because he thought he could not honestly say he "was glad to hear of the appointment." He was born Alphonsus Marie Antony John Cosmos Damien Michael Gaspard de Liguori on September 27,1696, at Marianella, near Naples, Italy. St. Alphonsus Liguori Born at Marianella, near Naples, 27 September, 1696; died at Nocera de' Pagani, 1 August, 1787. The English translation in the Oratory Series is also rather inadequate. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 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. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. The Neapolitan stage at this time was in a good state, but the Saint had from his earliest years an ascetic repugnance to theatres, a repugnance which he never lost. "Let us have it." In vain those around him and even the judge on the bench tried to console him. When the day came the future Saint made a brilliant opening speech and sat down confident of victory. Could he have been what an Anglo-Saxon would consider a miracle of calm, he would have seemed to his companions absolutely inhuman. Alphonsus agreed to both requests and set out with his two friends, John Mazzini and Vincent Mannarini, in September, 1730. Confident that some special sacrifice was required of him, though he did not yet know what, he did not return to his profession, but spent his days in prayer, seeking to know God's will. Alphonsus Liguori. Alphonsus, however, stood firm; soon other companions arrived, and though Scala itself was given up by the Fathers in 1738, by 1746 the new Congregation had four houses at Nocera de' Pagani, Ciorani, Iliceto (now Deliceto), and Caposele, all in the Kingdom of Naples. 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 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. But, before relating the episode of the "Regolamento", as it is called, we must speak of the period of the Saint's episcopate which intervened. His perseverance was indomitable. St. Alphonsus appeared a miracle of calm to Tannoia. 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. [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. The extreme difficulty of the lifelong work of fashioning a saint consists precisely in this, that every act of virtue the saint performs goes to strengthen his character, that is, his will. Not many details have come down to us of Alphonsus's childhood. 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. Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! This is a historic Catholic Church in mid-town St. Louis. 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 . 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. A religious founder, consummate theologian, and holy man of God, Saint Alphonsus never failed to utter a stirring word that draws out a lively penitence and redoubled dedication to the work of God from his congregation. 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. It is remarkable that only 25 years after the Scapular vision, Blessed Pope Gregory X was buried Thus was he left free for his real work, the founding of a new religious congregation. 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. (Rome, 1896). He was a lawyer by the time he was 16 years old! 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. St. Louis, MO 63106 | parish130@archstl.org | Tel: (314) 533-0304. 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. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01334a.htm. He had to endure a real persecution for two months. Clarence F. Galli. 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). He was now free, subject to the approval of the Bishop of Scala, to act with regard to the convent as he thought best. 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. St. Alphonsus was a brilliant, articulate, pragmatic preacher. He was not allowed to resign his see, however, until 1775. Catholic Encyclopedia. He was the eldest of seven children of Giuseppe Liguori, a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys, and Anna Maria Caterina Cavalieri. At the worst, it was only the scaffolding by which the temple of perfection was raised. No doubt Thomas Falcoia had for some time hoped that the ardent young priest, who was so devoted to him, might, under his direction, be the founder of the new Order he had at heart. Saint Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori, C.Ss.R. He lived his first years as a priest with the homeless and the marginalized youth of Naples. St. Alphonsus, after publishing anonymously (in 1749 and 1755) two treatises advocating the right to follow the less probable opinion, in the end decided against that lawfulness, and in case of doubt only allowed freedom from obligation where the opinions for and against the law were equal or nearly equal. Liguori was a prolific and popular author. This submission altered the original rule, and as a result Alphonsus was denied any authority among the Redemptorists. 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. 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. In a riot which took place during the terrible famine that fell upon Southern Italy in 1764, he saved the life of the syndic of St. Agatha by offering his own to the mob. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law. 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. From his earliest years he had an anxious fear about committing sin which passed at times into scruple. He was a born leader of men. 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. He was somewhat worldly and ambitious, at any rate for his son, and was rough tempered when opposed. Alphonsus was not sent to school but was educated by tutors under his father's eye. Office Hours: Mon - Fri: 8am-4pm, Saturday: 9am-12pm . If any reader of this article will go to original sources and study the Saint's life at greater length, he will not find his labour thrown away. His very confessor and vicar general in the government of his Order, Father Andrew Villani, joined in the conspiracy.

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