The family was an old and noble one, though the branch to which the Saint belonged had become somewhat impoverished. Born: September 27, 1696. 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. The Fathers in the Papal States, with too precipitate zeal, in the very beginning denounced the change of Rule to Rome. But he was a man of genuine faith and piety and stainless life, and he meant his son to be the same. 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 the end a compromise was arrived at. He was taught by tutors before entering the University of Naples, where he graduated with doctorates in civil and canon law at 16. 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. "You have founded the Congregation and you have destroyed it", said one Father to him. 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. The wine had changed into blood; clotted and separated into 5 different sized clots. 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. This prayer is a petition asking for the grace to love God more, so as to fear hell and desire to do His . 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. Alphonsus suffers great interior trials. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. The saints are not inhuman but real men of flesh and blood, however much some hagiographers may ignore the fact. With their aid, Aiphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on November 9, 1732. He became very popular because of his plain and simple preaching. 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. The saints are not inhuman but real men of flesh and . Saint Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori, C.Ss.R. He knew how to reach ordinary people who had limited education and very real needs. A year of trouble and anxiety followed. 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. "What document is that?" He answered emphatically: "Never! 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. 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. Believe me who have experienced it, and now weep over it." Tannoia, also, through some mental idiosyncrasy, manages to give the misleading impression that St. Alphonsus was severe. 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. 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. Ever mindful of his own sins, Saint Alphonsus saw prayer for the faithful departed as one of the chief duties of Christian charity. His perseverance was indomitable. 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. St. Alphonsus appeared a miracle of calm to Tannoia. His hymns are justly celebrated in Italy. 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. [4] He was ordained on 21 December 1726, at the age of 30. She was told to write it down and show it to the director of the convent, that is to Falcoia himself. There was a considerable difference in age between the two men, for Falcoia, born in 1663, was now sixty-six, and Alphonsus only thirty-three, but the old priest and the young had kindred souls. 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. 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 not afraid of making up his mind. 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. On 23 October of the same year, 1723, the Saint put on the clerical dress. It has a tendency at every moment to deflect, and if it does deflect from the right path, the greater the momentum the more terrible the final crash. 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. There he met Bishop Thomas Falcoia, founder of the Congregation of Pious Workers. 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 St. Alphonsus teaches that those who refuse to bow to the will of God only double their afflictions. In all this there was no serious sin, but there was no high sanctity either, and God, Who wished His servant to be a saint and a great saint, was now to make him take the road to Damascus. The family was of noble lineage, but the branch to which Liguori belonged had become somewhat impoverished. St. Paul of the Cross (1694-1775) and St. Alphonsus, who were altogether contemporaries, seem never to have met on earth, though the founder of the Passionists was a great friend of Alphonsus's uncle, Mgr. 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. 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. He had a tender charity towards all who were in trouble; he would go to any length to try to save a vocation; he would expose himself to death to prevent sin. 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. 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. Preaching, Eugene Grimm ed., Benziger Brothers, New York, 1887, Liguori, Alphonsus. Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Alphonsus was the oldest of seven children, raised by a devout mother of Spanish descent. There are two Sunday services, one at 8:15 and the second at 11. Alphonsus' last illness and Deaths 548 CHAPTER XXXVII. What are Revelations? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). said Alphonsus somewhat piqued. Even where he is not that, he may generally be trusted, as he was a Boswell in collecting facts. The early years, following the founding of the new order, were not promising. This lifelong friendship aided Alphonsus, as did his association with a mystic, Sister Mary Celeste. It is the following of Jesus as a community of disciples, aware that we are sent to be a clear . Although there are many modern . 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! In 1725, while still a novice, she had a series of visions in which she saw a new order (apparently of nuns only) similar to that revealed to Falcoia many years before. It was this which made him the prince of moral theologians, and gained him, when canonization made it possible, the title of "Doctor of the Church". He thought his mistake would be ascribed not to oversight but to deliberate deceit. where the Hosts were buried. [6], He became a successful lawyer. 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. In 1871, Alphonsus was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX. 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! [10] He was proficient in the arts, his parents having had him trained by various masters, and he was a musician, painter, poet and author at the same time. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. 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. 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. [4], Liguori learned to ride and fence but was never a good shot because of poor eyesight. He was beatified in 1816 and canonized in 1839. This is a historic Catholic Church in mid-town St. Louis. [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". 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. But he overcame his depression, and he experienced visions, performed miracles, and gave prophecies. He spent the next few years in recasting this work, and in 1753 appeared the first volume of the "Theologia Moralis", the second volume, dedicated to Benedict XIV, following in 1755. "I know his obstinacy", his father said of him as a young man; "when he once makes up his mind he is inflexible". He fed the poor, instructed the ignorant, reorganized his seminary, reformed his convents, created a new spirit in his clergy, banished scandalous noblemen and women of evil life with equal impartiality, brought the study of theology and especially of moral theology into honour, and all the time was begging pope after pope to let him resign his office because he was doing nothing for his diocese. Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) was a Neapolitan who founded the Redemptorist Order of priests, a congregation dedicated to providing parish missions, especially to the poor in rural areas. [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. It was comparatively late in life that Alphonsus became a writer. He died on August 1 at Nocera. He is the patron of confessors, moral theologians, and the lay apostolate. 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. Office Hours: Mon - Fri: 8am-4pm, Saturday: 9am-12pm . It is not necessary to notice certain non-Catholic attacks on Alphonsus as a patron of lying. Still there was a time of danger. Early Christians began the devotion of following the footsteps of Christ's passion. Not many details have come down to us of Alphonsus's childhood. He was ordained on December 21, 1726, and he spent six years giving missions throughout Naples. 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. His system of moral theology is noted for its prudence, avoiding both laxism and excessive rigour. [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. Even its Rule was made known to her. But we must not push resemblances too far. 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). Paths to Heaven; Revelations. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. 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. 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. Very few remarks upon his own times occur in the Saint's letters. 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"). The Holy Mass, Eugene Grimm ed., Benziger Brothers, New York, 1887, Liguori, Alphonsus. She was declared Venerable 11 August, 1901. The crisis arose in this way. Blessed Clement Hofbauer joined the Redemptorist congregation in the aged Saint's lifetime, though Alphonsus never saw in the flesh the man whom he knew would be the second founder of his Order. He wrote sermons, books, and articles to encourage devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mimoires sur la vie et la congrigation de St. Alphonse de Liguori (Paris, 1842, 3 vols.). 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. He called his system Equiprobabilism. 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. Alphonsus agreed to both requests and set out with his two friends, John Mazzini and Vincent Mannarini, in September, 1730. 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. [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. Alphonsus, assisted by divine grace, did not disappoint his father's care. Vol. In 1949, the Redemptorists founded the Alphonsian Academy for the advanced study of Catholic moral theology. 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 canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. In liturgical art he is depicted as bent over with rheumatism or as a young priest. A centenary edition, Lettere di S. Alfonso Maria de'Liguori (ROME, 1887, 3 vols. It was this which gave St. Alphonsus the bent head which we notice in the portraits of him. Saint Alphonsus Liguori. The Catholic Encyclopedia. ), was published by P. KUNTZ, C.SS.R., director of the Roman archives of his Congregation. Revelations from God, the Saints, and the Angels through the Miracle of Saint Joseph, started in 1967 and continuing to this day. 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. Don Joseph agreed to allow his son to become a priest, provided he would give up his proposal joining the Oratory, and would continue to live at home. Theabbot of that monastery soon after visited it, and attempted to reform it, but he didnot succeed; and one day he saw a great number of demons entering the cells of all thenuns except that of Jane, for the heavenly mother, before whose image he saw herpraying, banished them from that. [9], In 1729, Liguori left his family home and took up residence at the Chinese Institute in Naples. at last came peace, and on 1 August, 1787, as the midday Angelus was ringing, the Saint passed peacefully to his reward. 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. 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. 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. Ultimately, however, anything merely human in this had disappeared. 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. 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. 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. Corrections? There were whole years, indeed, in which the Institute seemed on the verge of summary suppression. [11], Liguori was consecrated Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti in 1762. Could he have been what an Anglo-Saxon would consider a miracle of calm, he would have seemed to his companions absolutely inhuman. Cavalieri, himself a great servant of God. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01334a.htm. His masterpiece was The Moral Theology (1748), which was approved by the Pope himself[5] and was born of Liguori's pastoral experience, his ability to respond to the practical questions posed by the faithful and his contact with their everyday problems. APA citation. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. He had nearly completed his ninety-first year. 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. [5] He founded the Evening Chapels, which were managed by the young people themselves. He was somewhat worldly and ambitious, at any rate for his son, and was rough tempered when opposed. In the second edition the work received the definite form it has since retained, though in later issues the Saint retracted a number of opinions, corrected minor ones, and worked at the statement of his theory of Equiprobabilism till at last he considered it complete. 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. Shop St. Alphonsus Marie Liguori. 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. Dissensions arose, the Saint's former friend and chief companion, Vincent Mannarini, opposing him and Falcoia in everything. [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. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Copyright 2022 Catholic Online. Falcoia, hearing of this, begged his friend to give a retreat to the nuns of his Conservatorium at the same time. Soon after this the boy began his studies for the Bar, and about the age of nineteen practised his profession in the courts. The Decree of 1779, however, seemed a great step in advance. Resuming the General Audiences after the summer break the last was held on 27 June in the Vatican the Pope . He had to endure a real persecution for two months. 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. Deposed and excluded from his own congregation, Alphonsus suffered great anguish. 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. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed.
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