Alphonsus himself was not spared. Corrections? After a short interval--we do not know exactly how long--the answer came. Copyright 2022 Catholic Online. 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. There are two Sunday services, one at 8:15 and the second at 11. First Station: Jesus Is Condemned to Death V. We adore you, Christ, and we praise you. Could he have been what an Anglo-Saxon would consider a miracle of calm, he would have seemed to his companions absolutely inhuman. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Alphonsus returned to his little cell at Nocera in July, 1775, to prepare, as he thought, for a speedy and happy death. 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. 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. 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. He said himself that he was so small at the time as to be almost buried in his doctor's gown and that all the spectators laughed. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Alphonsus being so old and so inform he was eighty-five, crippled, deaf, and nearly blind his one chance of success was to be faithfully served by friends and subordinates, and he was betrayed at every turn. [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. 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. There is a somewhat unsatisfactory French translation of Tannoia's work. The Saint's own letters are of extreme value in supplementing Tannoia. St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori, Doctor of the Church . But he overcame his depression, and he experienced visions, performed miracles, and gave prophecies. Dissension within the congregation culminated in 1777 when he was deceived into signing what he thought was a royal sanction for his rule. In addition, he published many editions of compendiums of his larger work, such as the "Homo Apostolicus", made in 1759. March 1, 1907. 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. Of extraordinary passive states, such as rapture, there are not many instances recorded in his life, though there are some. 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. A centenary edition, Lettere di S. Alfonso Maria de'Liguori (ROME, 1887, 3 vols. "St. Alphonsus Liguori." He was buried at the monastery of the Pagani near Naples. Castle, Harold. Addeddate 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. [19], His Mariology, though mainly pastoral in nature, rediscovered, integrated and defended that of St Augustine of Hippo, St Ambrose of Milan and other fathers; it represented an intellectual defence of Mariology in the 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment, against the rationalism to which contrasted his fervent Marian devotion.[20]. St. Alphonsus does not offer as much directly to the student of mystical theology as do some contemplative saints who have led more retired lives. St. Alphonsus Liguori Opening Prayer My Lord Jesus Christ, you have made this journey to die for me with infinite love. That legacy is the participation in the redemptive mission of Jesus. Printable Catholic Saints PDFs But to all this secular history about the only reference in the Saint's correspondence which has come down to us is a sentence in a letter of April, 1744, which speaks of the passage of the Spanish troops who had come to defend Naples against the Austrians. [4] He was ordained on 21 December 1726, at the age of 30. 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. 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. Many Miracles are wrought through the intercession of Alphonsus. After practicing law for eight years, he was ordained a priest in 1726. He was the eldest of seven children of Giuseppe Liguori, a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys, and Anna Maria Caterina Cavalieri. [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". His system of moral theology is noted for its prudence, avoiding both laxism and excessive rigour. Alphonsus was a lawyer, and as a lawyer he attached much importance to the weight of evidence. 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." http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01334a.htm. The Ceremonies of the Interment. Died: August 1, 1787. What are Revelations? He finally agreed to become a priest but to live at home as a member of a group of secular missionaries. It is the following of Jesus as a community of disciples, aware that we are sent to be a clear . 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 crushed to the earth. [7] At 27, after having lost an important case, the first he had lost in eight years of practising law, he made a firm resolution to leave the profession of law. In February, 1775, however, Pius VI was elected Pope, and the following May he permitted the Saint to resign his see. Don Joseph de' Liguori had his faults. 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. But before he called a witness the opposing counsel said to him in chilling tones: "Your arguments are wasted breath. The wine had changed into blood; clotted and separated into 5 different sized clots. A strong defender of the Catholic Church, Liguori said: To reject the divine teaching of the Catholic Church is to reject the very basis of reason and revelation, for neither the principles of the one nor those of the other have any longer any solid support to rest on; they can then be interpreted by every one as he pleases; every one can deny all truths whatsoever he chooses to deny. where the Hosts were buried. Saint Alphonsus Liguori 1696 - 1787. It is not necessary to notice certain non-Catholic attacks on Alphonsus as a patron of lying. In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti. For thirteen years Alphonsus fed the poor, instructed families, reorganized the seminary and religious houses, taught theology, and wrote. If in some things Alphonsus was an Anglo-Saxon, in others he was a Neapolitan of the Neapolitans, though always a saint. He opposed sterile legalism and strict rigourism. [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. 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. At the time of his death, there were 72, with over 10,000 active participants. Neapolitan students, in an animated but amicable discussion, seem to foreign eyes to be taking part in a violent quarrel. 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. 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 Saint's confessor declared that he preserved his baptismal innocence till death. He spent several years having to drink from tubes because his head was so bent forward. "Alphonsus was of middle height", says his first biographer, Tannoia; "his head was rather large, his hair black, and beard well-grown." 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. Alphonsus left the Hospital and went to the church of the Redemption of Captives. [2][3], He was born in Marianella, near Naples, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, on 27 September 1696. Both of them were canonized on the same day as the Holy Doctor, 26 May, 1839. 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. 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. 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. It is remarkable that only 25 years after the Scapular vision, Blessed Pope Gregory X was buried He had nearly completed his ninety-first year. Falcoia, hearing of this, begged his friend to give a retreat to the nuns of his Conservatorium at the same time. Twelve years, however, still separated him from his reward, years for the most part not of peace but of greater afflictions than any which had yet befallen him. (27 September 1696 - 1 August 1787), was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. The immediate author of what was practically a lifelong persecution of the Saint was the Marquis Tanucci, who entered Naples in 1734. 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. Liguori suffered from scruples much of his adult life and felt guilty about the most minor issues relating to sin. "Let us have it." In April 1729, Alphonsus went to live at the "Chiflese College," founded in Naples by Father Matthew Ripa, the Apostle of China. There were whole years, indeed, in which the Institute seemed on the verge of summary suppression. St. Alphonsus was a brilliant, articulate, pragmatic preacher. 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. 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! Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! He continued to live with the Redemptorist community in Pagani, Italy, where he died on 1 August 1787. About 1729, however, Filangieri died, and on 8 October, 1730, Falcoia was consecrated Bishop of Castellamare. In vain those around him and even the judge on the bench tried to console him. 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. 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. 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). He was a lawyer, not only during his years at the Bar, but throughout his whole life--a lawyer, who to skilled advocacy and an enormous knowledge of practical detail added a wide and luminous hold of underlying principles. I have been mistaken. He said: "I have never preached a sermon which the poorest old woman in the congregation could not understand". A pure and modest boyhood passed into a manhood without reproach. The Holy Mass, Eugene Grimm ed., Benziger Brothers, New York, 1887, Liguori, Alphonsus. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, Copyright 2022 Catholic Online. In 1949, the Redemptorists founded the Alphonsian Academy for the advanced study of Catholic moral theology. Alphonsus agreed to both requests and set out with his two friends, John Mazzini and Vincent Mannarini, in September, 1730. St. Alphonsus likened the conflict between law and liberty to a civil action in which the law has the onus probandi, although greater probabilities give it a verdict. [4] Myopia and chronic asthma precluded a military career so his father had him educated in the legal profession. Infidelity and impiety were gaining ground; Voltaire and Rousseau were the idols of society; and the ancien rgime, by undermining religion, its one support, was tottering to its fall. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 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. This submission altered the original rule, and as a result Alphonsus was denied any authority among the Redemptorists. In the minutes it was 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. 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. 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. St. Alphonsus appeared a miracle of calm to Tannoia. Updates? [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". Stay up to date with the latest news, information, and special offers. These form the first book of the work, while the second contains the treatises on Faith, Hope, and Charity. 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. SVO), gives an extremely full and picturesque account of the Saint's life and times. Vague rumours of impending treachery had got about and had been made known to him, but he had refused to believe them. (Rome, 1896). 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. He had to endure a real persecution for two months. In 1871, Alphonsus was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX. Still there was a time of danger. 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. Alphonsus' last illness and Deaths 548 CHAPTER XXXVII. Resuming the General Audiences after the summer break the last was held on 27 June in the Vatican the Pope . But we must not push resemblances too far. Feast day: August 1. 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. Furthermore, St. Alphonsus was a great theologian, and so attached much weight to intrinsic probability. 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"). (Rome, 1905). Paths to Heaven; Revelations. Patron saint of: people with arthritis, lawyers, vocations. and reportedly performed miracles. On 21 December of the same year, at the age of thirty, he was ordained priest. It happened that Alphonsus, ill and overworked, had gone with some companions to Scala in the early summer of 1730. 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. His sermons were very effective at converting those who had been alienated from their faith. [9], In 1729, Liguori left his family home and took up residence at the Chinese Institute in Naples. 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. 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. 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. Revelations from God, the Saints, and the Angels through the Miracle of Saint Joseph, started in 1967 and continuing to this day. He started again, recruited new members, and in 1743 became the prior of two new congregations, one for men and one for women. He was now free, subject to the approval of the Bishop of Scala, to act with regard to the convent as he thought best. This was to be a momentous revolution for Alphonsus. 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. 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.". Not less remarkable than the intensity with which Alphonsus worked is the amount of work he did. He died on August 1 at Nocera. 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. The days were indeed evil. Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. On 6 April, 1726, he was ordained deacon, and soon after preached his first sermon. The answer is that God kept him humble by interior trials. 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. 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. Feast Day: August 1. 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. Besides his Moral Theology, the Saint wrote a large number of dogmatic and ascetical works nearly all in the vernacular. Saint Alphonsus Liguori described in detail this miracle and took the opportunity to reawake the faith and devotion of the people towards the Eucharist. Courts, you shall never see me more."
Tennessee Highway Patrol Rank Structure,
Swc All Conference Academic Team,
Who Owns Balistreri's Pizza On 68th,
Articles S