[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. Printable Catholic Saints PDFs He was the eldest of seven children and the hope of his house. In a civil action a serious preponderance of evidence gives one side the case. Born: September 27, 1696. Don Joseph de' Liguori had his faults. The version with Italian lyrics was based on his original song written in Neapolitan, which began Quanno nascette Ninno ("When the child was born"). Tannoia was born about 1724 and entered the Redemptorist Congregation in 1746. The impulse to this passionate service of God comes from Divine grace, but the soul must correspond (which is also a grace of God), and the soul of strong will and strong passions corresponds best. He was beatified in 1816 and canonized in 1839. It was approved by the king and forced upon the stupefied Congregation by the whole power of the State. So indeed it proved. 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. Saint Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori, C.Ss.R. 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. In 1871, he was declared a Doctor of the Church. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. 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. Saint Alphonsus Liguori described in detail this miracle and took the opportunity to reawake the faith and devotion of the people towards the Eucharist. 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. 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. 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. A few months later Alphonsus left his father's house and went to live with Ripa, without, however, becoming a member of his society. 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. 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. 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. 1. "[17][18], Liguori's greatest contribution to the Catholic Church was in the area of moral theology. 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. Saint Alphonsus Liguori 1696 - 1787. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. She was told to write it down and show it to the director of the convent, that is to Falcoia himself. For thirteen years Alphonsus fed the poor, instructed families, reorganized the seminary and religious houses, taught theology, and wrote. (Rome, 1905). 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. Beatified: September 15, 1816. St. Alphonsus Liguori. But we must not push resemblances too far. St Alphonsus Mary Liguori and Prayer. He is said never to have refused absolution to a penitent. 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". After practicing law for eight years, he was ordained a priest in 1726. But he was a man of genuine faith and piety and stainless life, and he meant his son to be the same. . R. 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.". In 1949, the Redemptorists founded the Alphonsian Academy for the advanced study of Catholic moral theology. A justly celebrated life is the Vie et Institut de Saint Alphonse-Marie de Liguori, in four volumes, by CARDINAL VILLECOURT, (Tournai, 1893). Liguori suffered from scruples much of his adult life and felt guilty about the most minor issues relating to sin. "Alphonsus was of middle height", says his first biographer, Tannoia; "his head was rather large, his hair black, and beard well-grown." 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. "Let us have it." It is remarkable that only 25 years after the Scapular vision, Blessed Pope Gregory X was buried The Glories of Mary ( Italian: Le glorie di Maria) is a classic book in the field of Roman Catholic Mariology, written during the 18th century by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, a Doctor of the Church . 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. The early years, following the founding of the new order, were not promising. In 1732, while he was staying at the Convent of the Consolation, one of his order's houses in the small city of Deliceto in the province of Foggia in Southeastern Italy, Liguori wrote the Italian carol "Tu scendi dalle stelle" ("From Starry Skies Descending") in the musical style of a pastorale. 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. The poor advocate turned pale. A fearful commotion arose. 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. He was fervent about using common words in . 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. 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. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. He said: "I have never preached a sermon which the poorest old woman in the congregation could not understand". He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). 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. [4] He was ordained on 21 December 1726, at the age of 30. He founded the congregation with the charism of preaching popular missions in the city and the countryside. He was declared "Venerable", 4 May, 1796; was beatified in 1816, and canonized in 1839. The English translation in the Oratory Series is also rather inadequate. 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. 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. 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. 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. St. Alphonsus was so scrupulous about truth that when, in 1776, the regalist, Mgr. He spent several years having to drink from tubes because his head was so bent forward. 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. Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation. Office Hours: Mon - Fri: 8am-4pm, Saturday: 9am-12pm . by S. HORNER (Edinburgh, 1858); VON REUMONT, Die Carafa von Maddaloni (Berlin, 1851, 2 vols. Learn interesting facts and tidbits about the beloved St. Patrick. Other personal friends of Alphonsus were the Jesuit Fathers de Matteis, Zaccaria, and Nonnotte. Alphonsus's temperament was very ardent. Both last about two hours but are filled with soul-stirring music. Alphonsus Liguori was not a favorite with the windbags of his day. In response, Alphonsus dedicated himself to the religious life, even while suffering persecution from his family. 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. 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. Vague rumours of impending treachery had got about and had been made known to him, but he had refused to believe them. 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's prayer to Jesus Christ to obtain His holy love comes from the "Rule of Life", a guide for growing in holiness. He thought his mistake would be ascribed not to oversight but to deliberate deceit. The Saint only wept in silence and tried in vain to devise some means by which his Order might be saved. 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. 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. [5], By May 1775, Alphonus was "deaf, blind, and laden with so many infirmities, that he has no longer even the appearance of a man", and his resignation was accepted by the recently crowned Pope Pius VI. He knew how to reach ordinary people who had limited education and very real needs. [5], A gifted musician and composer, he wrote many popular hymns and taught them to the people in parish missions. Courts, you shall never see me more." 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." His best plan would have been to consult the Holy See, but in this he had been forestalled. Transcription. 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. Filangieri forbade any change of rule and removed Falcoia from all communication with the convent. [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. One of the most widely read Catholic authors, he is the patron saint of confessors. 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. He was baptized two days later in the church of Our Lady of the Virgins, in Naples. Here he discovered more than thirty thousand uninstructed men and women and four hundred indifferent priests. In the minutes it was Shop St. Alphonsus Marie Liguori. "I know his obstinacy", his father said of him as a young man; "when he once makes up his mind he is inflexible".