He often writes as a Neapolitan to Neapolitans. In bestowing the title of "Prince of Moral Theologians", the church also gave the "unprecedented honour 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". He was the eldest of seven children of Giuseppe Liguori, a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys, and Anna Maria Caterina Cavalieri. The rudder is humility, which, in the intellect, is a realization of our own unworthiness, and in the will, docility to right guidance. He was helped in this by his turn of mind which was extremely practical. In December, 1724, he received minor orders, and the subdiaconate in September, 1725. [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. Moral Theology (Liguori) - Wikipedia Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Neapolitan students, in an animated but amicable discussion, seem to foreign eyes to be taking part in a violent quarrel. This submission altered the original rule, and as a result Alphonsus was denied any authority among the Redemptorists. Author and Publisher - Catholic Online He was named the patron of confessors and moral theologians by Pope Pius XII on 26 April 1950, who subsequently wrote of him in the encyclical Haurietis aquas. But he overcame his depression, and he experienced visions, performed miracles, and gave prophecies. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. The Fathers in the Papal States, with too precipitate zeal, in the very beginning denounced the change of Rule to Rome. Testa, the Grand Almoner, even to have his Rule approved. 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. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. 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. Saint Alphonsus Liguori: Doctor of the Church - TAN Books [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. Alphonsus Liguori. [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. 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. "I know his obstinacy", his father said of him as a young man; "when he once makes up his mind he is inflexible". The question as to what does or does not constitute a lie is not an easy one, but it is a subject in itself. 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. and reportedly performed miracles. The life of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Bishop of St. Agatha of the His perseverance was indomitable. He started again, recruited new members, and in 1743 became the prior of two new congregations, one for men and one for women. There is a somewhat unsatisfactory French translation of Tannoia's work. 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. He was not allowed to resign his see, however, until 1775. [4], Liguori learned to ride and fence but was never a good shot because of poor eyesight. 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. Alphonsus left the Hospital and went to the church of the Redemption of Captives. In early manhood he became very fond of the opera, but only that he might listen to the music, for when the curtain went up he took his glasses off, so as not to see the players distinctly. Alphonsus was not sent to school but was educated by tutors under his father's eye. He remained thunderstruck for a moment; then said in a broken voice: "You are right. Mimoires sur la vie et la congrigation de St. Alphonse de Liguori (Paris, 1842, 3 vols.). Died: August 1, 1787. 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. In 1762 Pope Clement XIII made him bishop of Sant Agata del Goti near Naples; he resigned in 1775 because of ill health. Both of them were canonized on the same day as the Holy Doctor, 26 May, 1839. When the day came the future Saint made a brilliant opening speech and sat down confident of victory. Alphonsus was preaching missions in the rural areas and writing. His infirmities were increasing, and he was occupied a good deal with his writings. For three days he refused all food. 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. In 1723 there was a lawsuit in the courts between a Neapolitan nobleman, whose name has not come down to us, and the Grand Duke of Tuscany, in which property valued at 500,000 ducats, that to say, $500,000 or 100,000 pounds, was at stake. From his earliest years he had an anxious fear about committing sin which passed at times into scruple. St. Alphonsus Liguori Opening Prayer My Lord Jesus Christ, you have made this journey to die for me with infinite love. So bent was it in the beginning, that the pressure of his chin produced a dangerous wound in the chest. 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. In the minutes it was 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. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited. At his General Audience, 30 March 2011, in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father presented Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church. Tannoia, also, through some mental idiosyncrasy, manages to give the misleading impression that St. Alphonsus was severe. Thank you. More than once he faced assassination unmoved. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 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"). Clarence F. Galli. Born: September 27, 1696. 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. 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. 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. He had nearly completed his ninety-first year. 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. 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 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: Doctor of The Church - Catholic Tradition Then the storm subsided, and he began to see that his humiliation had been sent him by God to break down his pride and wean him from the world. With their aid, Aiphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on November 9, 1732. 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. [5] He founded the Evening Chapels, which were managed by the young people themselves. There were whole years, indeed, in which the Institute seemed on the verge of summary suppression. Paths to Heaven; Revelations. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Indeed, apart from those who become saints by the altogether special grace of martyrdom, it may be doubted if many men and women of phlegmatic temperament have been canonized. 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. 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. 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. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). He thought his mistake would be ascribed not to oversight but to deliberate deceit. The English translation in the Oratory Series is also rather inadequate. He was the eldest of seven children and the hope of his house. Let's start with the saint. R. An English translation in five volumes is included in the 22 volumes of the American centenary edition of St. Alphonsus's ascetical works (New York). His promotion to the episcopate in 1762 led to a renewal of his missionary activity, but in a slightly different form. Finally, St. Alphonsus was a wonderful letter-writer, and the mere salvage of his correspondence amounts to 1,451 letters, filling three large volumes. This was to be a momentous revolution for Alphonsus. Ultimately, however, anything merely human in this had disappeared. That legacy is the participation in the redemptive mission of Jesus. 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. 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. 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. The Saint only wept in silence and tried in vain to devise some means by which his Order might be saved. 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. A fearful commotion arose. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, in November 1732. Alphonsus Liguori was not a favorite with the windbags of his day. 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. Alphonsus was the oldest of seven children, raised by a devout mother of Spanish descent. The experience and teaching of St Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori regarding the Eucharist was in line with the Pope's invitation to Christians to persevere in their most important duty: to proclaim to humanity the great mystery of God's love, especially visible in the Eucharist. In the eight years of his career as advocate, years crowded with work, he is said never to have lost a case. Our founder, St. Alphonsus Liguori | The National Shrine of St. John Beatified: September 15, 1816. 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. This has recently been translated into English with additions and corrections (Dublin, 2 vols., royal SVO); DUMORTIER, Les premihres Redemptoristines (Lille, 1886), and Le Phre Antoine-Marie Tannoia (Paris, 1902), contain some useful information; as does BERRUTI, Lo Spirito di S. Alfonso Maria de Liguori, 3 ed. The differentia of saints is not faultlessness but driving-power, a driving-power exerted in generous self-sacrifice and ardent love of God. In April 1729, the Apostle of China, Matthew Ripa, founded a missionary college in Naples, which became known colloquially as the "Chinese College". He knew that trials were before him. Perhaps in any case the submission of their Rule to a suspicious and even hostile civil power was a mistake. He was more concerned with the spiritual conflict which was going on at the same time. Other personal friends of Alphonsus were the Jesuit Fathers de Matteis, Zaccaria, and Nonnotte. Saint Alphonsus Liguori | EWTN The Saint Alphonsus de Liguori Collection [30 Books] ); JOHNSTON, The Napoleonic Empire in South Italy, 2 vols. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul T. Crowley. In vain those around him and even the judge on the bench tried to console him. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads. "I follow my conscience", he wrote in 1764, "and when reason persuades me I make little account of moralists." This article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul T. Crowley. The early years, following the founding of the new order, were not promising. Contact information. Pure probabilism likens it to a criminal trial, in which the jury must find in favour of liberty (the prisoner at the bar) if any single reasonable doubt whatever remain in its favour. 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. Both last about two hours but are filled with soul-stirring music. Prayer to Jesus Christ to Obtain His Holy Love - I Am Jesus The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. 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. By age nineteen he was practicing law, but he saw the transitory nature of the secular world, and after a brief time, retreated from the law courts and his fame. Falcoia, hearing of this, begged his friend to give a retreat to the nuns of his Conservatorium at the same time. 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. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more all for only $19.99 Born at Marianella, near Naples, 27 September, 1696; died at Nocera de' Pagani, 1 August, 1787. A star preacher, he called his fellow sermonizers on the carpet for sermons of "empty, rumbling rhetoric" or "flashy . Alphonsus's father, Don Joseph de' Liguori was a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys. In September of the next year he received the tonsure and soon after joined the association of missionary secular priests called the "Neapolitan Propaganda", membership of which did not entail residence in common. Alphonsus, however, was unflagging in his efforts with the Court. This involves expressing our faith in Christ and in His Presence in the Eucharist, and asking Him to unite Himself with us. 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 1732 he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, or the Redemptorists, at Scala. These form the first book of the work, while the second contains the treatises on Faith, Hope, and Charity. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. But how was Alphonsus to grow in this so necessary virtue when he was in authority nearly all his life? 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. I will love you all my life. 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! The family was of noble lineage, but the branch to which Liguori belonged had become somewhat impoverished. Here St. Alphonsus teaches that those who refuse to bow to the will of God only double their afflictions. By 1777, the Saint, in addition to four houses in Naples and one in Sicily, had four others at Scifelli, Frosinone, St. Angelo a Cupolo, and Beneventum, in the States of the Church. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. So many times I have sinned, but I repent sincerely because I love you. St. Alphonsus appeared a miracle of calm to Tannoia. 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. 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. He was buried at the monastery of the Pagani near Naples. SVO), gives an extremely full and picturesque account of the Saint's life and times. He continued to live with the Redemptorist community in Pagani, Italy, where he died on 1 August 1787. He came from a wealthy family in Naples, Italy, and had every advantage in life from the moment he was born in 1696. Early Christians began the devotion of following the footsteps of Christ's passion. There he met Bishop Thomas Falcoia, founder of the Congregation of Pious Workers. This was in 1780, when Alphonsus was eighty-three years old. His austerities were rigorous, and he suffered daily the pain from rheumatism that was beginning to deform his body. 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 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. Preaching, Eugene Grimm ed., Benziger Brothers, New York, 1887, Liguori, Alphonsus. Saint Alphonsus Liguori | Biography, Contributions, & Facts He first addressed ecclesiastical abuses in the diocese, reformed the seminary and spiritually rehabilitated the clergy and faithful. In 1871 he was named a doctor of the church by Pope Pius IX. 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. Eight times during his long life, without counting his last sickness, the Saint received the sacraments of the dying, but the worst of all his illnesses was a terrible attack of rheumatic fever during his episcopate, an attack which lasted from May, 1768, to June, 1769, and left him paralyzed to the end of his days. Daily Readings for Friday, March 03, 2023, St. Katharine Drexel: Saint of the Day for Friday, March 03, 2023, Lenten Prayer: Prayer of the Day for Monday, February 27, 2023. On 21 December of the same year, at the age of thirty, he was ordained priest. 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. Saint Alphonsus Liguori. 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. 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 . 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. The Holy Father addressed the faithful taking part in the General audience of Wednesday, 1 August [2012], in Piazza della Libert, the square outside the Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. He was somewhat worldly and ambitious, at any rate for his son, and was rough tempered when opposed. It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. In response, Alphonsus dedicated himself to the religious life, even while suffering persecution from his family. 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". 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. 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. St. Alphonsus Liguori Born at Marianella, near Naples, 27 September, 1696; died at Nocera de' Pagani, 1 August, 1787. Miraculous Stories of the Blessed Virgin Mary : Saint Alphonsus De Sarnelli was almost openly supported by the all-powerful Tanucci, and the suppression of the Congregation at last seemed a matter of days, when on 26 October, 1776, Tanucci, who had offended Queen Maria Carolina, suddenly fell from power. PDF Eucharistic Miracle of PATIERNO (NAPLES) - Our Lady Of Peace Shrine And St. Alphonsus encouraged an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ through frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament. 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. If in some things Alphonsus was an Anglo-Saxon, in others he was a Neapolitan of the Neapolitans, though always a saint. 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. He founded the congregation with the charism of preaching popular missions in the city and the countryside. Novena for the Holy Souls in Purgatory - Learn Religions On the other hand, ever since the Fall of Man, the will of man has been his greatest danger. He who ruled and directed others so wisely, had, where his own soul was concerned, to depend on obedience like a little child. 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. [4] Myopia and chronic asthma precluded a military career so his father had him educated in the legal profession. 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. 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 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. 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. Matters remained thus for some years. 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. Saint Alphonsus Liguori described in detail this miracle and took the opportunity to reawake the faith and devotion of the people towards the Eucharist. Under the government of the Marquis della Sambuca, who, though a great regalist, was a personal friend of the Saint's, there was promise of better times, and in August, 1779, Alphonsus's hopes were raised by the publication of a royal decree allowing him to appoint superiors in his Congregation and to have a novitiate and house of studies. 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.
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