http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01334a.htm. Clarence F. Galli. 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 He died peacefully on August 1,1787, at Nocera di Pagani, near Naples as the Angelus was ringing. For thirteen years Alphonsus fed the poor, instructed families, reorganized the seminary and religious houses, taught theology, and wrote. Both last about two hours but are filled with soul-stirring music. Whenthey had withdrawn into another room, the appearance of the youth changed, and Heshowed Himself crowned with thorns, His flesh torn, and said to her: Prayers in Times of Sickness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. Beatified: September 15, 1816. The cause of this was "regalism", the omnipotence of kings even in matters spiritual, which was the system of government in Naples as in all the Bourbon States. According to this view he chose a different formula from the Jesuit writers, partly because he thought his own terms more exact, and, partly to save his teaching and his congregation as far as possible from the State persecution which after 1764 had already fallen so heavily on the Society of Jesus, and in 1773 was formally to suppress it. Imprimatur. Updates? At the worst, it was only the scaffolding by which the temple of perfection was raised. Alphonsus was preaching missions in the rural areas and writing. He was beatified in 1816 and canonized in 1839. 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. 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. He wrote sermons, books, and articles to encourage devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary. 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! 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. at last came peace, and on 1 August, 1787, as the midday Angelus was ringing, the Saint passed peacefully to his reward. Alphonsus' last illness and Deaths 548 CHAPTER XXXVII. Perhaps in any case the submission of their Rule to a suspicious and even hostile civil power was a mistake. Liguori wrote 111 works on spirituality and theology. Since its publication, it has remained in Latin, often in 10 volumes or in the combined 4-volume version of Gaud. "Alphonsus was of middle height", says his first biographer, Tannoia; "his head was rather large, his hair black, and beard well-grown." [11], Liguori was consecrated Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti in 1762. 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 . Feast day: August 1. March 1, 1907. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In the minutes it was 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. But he overcame his depression, and he experienced visions, performed miracles, and gave prophecies. ), was published by P. KUNTZ, C.SS.R., director of the Roman archives of his Congregation. The Saint only wept in silence and tried in vain to devise some means by which his Order might be saved. In 1732 he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, or the Redemptorists, at Scala. He was born Alphonsus Marie Antony John Cosmos Damien Michael Gaspard de Liguori on September 27,1696, at Marianella, near Naples, Italy. His best plan would have been to consult the Holy See, but in this he had been forestalled. 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. 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. Alphonsus, like so many saints, had an excellent father and a saintly mother. In 1723, he decided to offer himself as a novice to the Oratory of St. Philip Neri with the intention of becoming a priest. St. Alphonsus Liguori. Although there are many modern . Today I would like to present to you the figure of a holy Doctor of the Church to whom we are deeply indebted because he was an outstanding moral theologian and a teacher of spiritual . Thank you. 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. St. Alphonsus was a brilliant, articulate, pragmatic preacher. 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. [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. He was a lawyer by the time he was 16 years old! 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. The differentia of saints is not faultlessness but driving-power, a driving-power exerted in generous self-sacrifice and ardent love of God. [5], A gifted musician and composer, he wrote many popular hymns and taught them to the people in parish missions. This involves expressing our faith in Christ and in His Presence in the Eucharist, and asking Him to unite Himself with us. Actually, the document was a new rule devised by one of his enemies, thus causing the followers of the old rule to break away. 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. 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. 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! 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. 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. It was all-important to the Fathers to be able to rebut the charge of being an illegal religious congregation, which was one of the chief allegations in the ever-adjourned and ever-impending action by Baron Sarnelli. He had a pleasant smile, and his conversation was very agreeable, yet he had great dignity of manner. 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. [9], In 1729, Liguori left his family home and took up residence at the Chinese Institute in Naples. Even its Rule was made known to her. 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. His infirmities were increasing, and he was occupied a good deal with his writings. Saint Alphonsus Liguori. When he was preparing for the priesthood in Naples, his masters were of the rigid school, for though the center of Jansenistic disturbance was in northern Europe, no shore was so remote as not to feel the ripple of its waves. 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 1950 he was named patron saint of moralists and confessors by Pope Pius XII. 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. There he met Bishop Thomas Falcoia, founder of the Congregation of Pious Workers. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. In his new abode he met a friend of his host's, Father Thomas Falcoia, of the Congregation of the "Pii Operarii" (Pious Workers), and formed with him the great friendship of his life. He finally agreed to become a priest but to live at home as a member of a group of secular missionaries. 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. Dignity and Duties of the Priest, Eugene Grimm ed., Benziger Brothers, New York, 1889, Free scores by Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki), "St Alphonsus", St. Alphonsus on Catholic Online, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alphonsus_Liguori&oldid=1141126599, Founders of Catholic religious communities, 18th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops, 18th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians, Articles incorporating a citation from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference, Articles incorporating text from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022, Articles with PDF format bare URLs for citations, Articles containing Neapolitan-language text, Articles containing Italian-language text, Pages using sidebar with the child parameter, Articles incorporating a citation from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia without Wikisource reference, Articles incorporating text from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia without Wikisource reference, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Bishop, Moral Theologian, Confessor and Doctor of the Church, This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 13:49. Alternate titles: Saint Alfonso Liguori, Saint Alfonso Maria de Liguori, Saint Alphonsus Maria deLiguori. In 1724, soon after Alphonsus left the world, a postulant, Julia Crostarosa, born in Naples on 31 October, 1696, and hence almost the same age as the Saint, entered the convent of Scala. Then God called him to his life work. He could never have said Mass again had not an Augustinian prior shown him how to support himself on a chair so that with the assistance of an acolyte he could raise the chalice to his lips. Liguori was a prolific and popular author. A star preacher, he called his fellow sermonizers on the carpet for sermons of "empty, rumbling rhetoric" or "flashy . God, however, intended the new institute to begin with these nuns of Scala. 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. His promotion to the episcopate in 1762 led to a renewal of his missionary activity, but in a slightly different form. 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. Ultimately, however, anything merely human in this had disappeared. When we cannot make it to daily Mass, however, we can still make an Act of Spiritual Communion. Alphonsus was the oldest of seven children, raised by a devout mother of Spanish descent. Let's start with the saint. [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. 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. 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. A justly celebrated life is the Vie et Institut de Saint Alphonse-Marie de Liguori, in four volumes, by CARDINAL VILLECOURT, (Tournai, 1893). 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. Key Concepts; Teachings; Visions; Search Revelations . It was only after his death, as he had prophesied, that the Neapolitan Government at last recognized the original Rule, and that the Redemptorist Congregation was reunited under one head (1793). St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori, Doctor of the Church . "You have founded the Congregation and you have destroyed it", said one Father to him. His devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to Our Lady was extraordinary. This is the great question of "Probabilism". He was also a poet and musician. In 1871, Alphonsus was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX. Alphonsus the Patron. " Wonderful worship experience ". Transcription. He was a born leader of men. As it was, he was refused the royal exequatur to the Brief of Benedict XIV, and State recognition of his Institute as a religious congregation till the day of his death. The Vicar General, Monsignor Onorati drew up the minutes of the diocesan trial which lasted two years from 1772 to 1774. 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. 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. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the tradition of praying the stations of the cross began to develop. [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. Visiting the local Hospital for Incurables on August 28, 1723, he had a vision and was told to consecrate his life solely to God. Dissensions arose, the Saint's former friend and chief companion, Vincent Mannarini, opposing him and Falcoia in everything. In fact, despite his youth, he seems at the age of twenty-seven to have been one of the leaders of the Neapolitan Bar. The Saint's confessor declared that he preserved his baptismal innocence till death. Shrines were built there and at St. Agatha of the Goths. 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. The saints are not inhuman but real men of flesh and blood, however much some hagiographers may ignore the fact. [4], Liguori learned to ride and fence but was never a good shot because of poor eyesight. 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. Many Miracles are wrought through the intercession of Alphonsus. In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti. By AClarke625. 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. 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. But how was Alphonsus to grow in this so necessary virtue when he was in authority nearly all his life? 1. 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. 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. In old age he was more than once raised in the air when speaking of God. Alphonsus, however, was unflagging in his efforts with the Court. In this state of exclusion he lived for seven years more and in it he died. The boy was bright and quick beyond his years, and made great progress in all kinds of learning. "Let us have it." He thought his mistake would be ascribed not to oversight but to deliberate deceit. Saint Alphonsus Liguori 1696 - 1787. 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. 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. "St. Alphonsus Liguori". A few months later Alphonsus left his father's house and went to live with Ripa, without, however, becoming a member of his society. 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. Omissions? 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. "What document is that?" Very few remarks upon his own times occur in the Saint's letters. He opposed sterile legalism and strict rigourism. He was buried at the monastery of the Pagani near Naples. He answered emphatically: "Never! 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. 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. (Rome, 1905). 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". [4] Myopia and chronic asthma precluded a military career so his father had him educated in the legal profession. 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. It was approved by the king and forced upon the stupefied Congregation by the whole power of the State. This submission altered the original rule, and as a result Alphonsus was denied any authority among the Redemptorists. The other was not to be long delayed. He was now free, subject to the approval of the Bishop of Scala, to act with regard to the convent as he thought best. 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." In addition, he published many editions of compendiums of his larger work, such as the "Homo Apostolicus", made in 1759. Pope Benedict XIV gave his approval for the men's congregation in 1749 and for the women's in 1750. The Holy Mass, Eugene Grimm ed., Benziger Brothers, New York, 1887, Liguori, Alphonsus. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, in November 1732. The family was an old and noble one, though the branch to which the Saint belonged had become somewhat impoverished. by S. HORNER (Edinburgh, 1858); VON REUMONT, Die Carafa von Maddaloni (Berlin, 1851, 2 vols. The latest life, BERTHE, Saint Alphonse de Liguori (Paris, 1900, 2 vols. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.