He was the eldest of seven children and the hope of his house. He continued to live with the Redemptorist community in Pagani, Italy, where he died on 1 August 1787. [9], In 1729, Liguori left his family home and took up residence at the Chinese Institute in Naples. When the Saint began to hear confessions, however, he soon saw the harm done by rigorism, and for the rest of his life he inclined more to the mild school of the Jesuit theologians, whom he calls "the masters of morals". Let's start with the saint. In 1749, the Rule and Institute of men were approved by Pope Benedict XIV, and in 1750, the Rule and Institute of the nuns. The Saint's confessor declared that he preserved his baptismal innocence till death. He refused to become the bishop of Palermo but in 1762 had to accept the papal command to accept the see of St. Agatha of the Goths near Naples. St Alphonsus Mary Liguori and Prayer. He knew how to reach ordinary people who had limited education and very real needs. Died: August 1, 1787. 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. After practicing law for eight years, he was ordained a priest in 1726. 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. 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. MIRACLES RELATED BY ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI from his book The Glories of Mary Some persons, boasting of being free from prejudices, take great credit to themselves for believing no miracles but those recorded in the holy scriptures, esteeming all others as tales and fables for foolish women. 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. He was also a poet and musician. Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! [12], He was beatified on 15 September 1816 by Pope Pius VII and canonized on 26 May 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI.[13][14]. This lifelong friendship aided Alphonsus, as did his association with a mystic, Sister Mary Celeste. He came from a wealthy family in Naples, Italy, and had every advantage in life from the moment he was born in 1696. "I know his obstinacy", his father said of him as a young man; "when he once makes up his mind he is inflexible". Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation. He had even tried to form a branch of the Institute by uniting twelve priests in a common life at Tarentum, but the community soon broke up. 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. He died peacefully on August 1,1787, at Nocera di Pagani, near Naples as the Angelus was ringing. 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. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. He was crushed to the earth. 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. Pope Benedict XIV gave his approval for the men's congregation in 1749 and for the women's in 1750. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01334a.htm. To prevent the ship going to pieces on the rocks, it has need of a very responsive rudder, answering to the slightest pressure of Divine guidance. 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. 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). 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. A centenary edition, Lettere di S. Alfonso Maria de'Liguori (ROME, 1887, 3 vols. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01334a.htm. About three years before his death he went through a veritable "Night of the Soul". 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 was a lawyer, and as a lawyer he attached much importance to the weight of evidence. 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. The answer is that God kept him humble by interior trials. 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. 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 appeared a miracle of calm to Tannoia. The version with Italian lyrics was based on his original song written in Neapolitan, which began Quanno nascette Ninno ("When the child was born"). He answered emphatically: "Never! But we must not push resemblances too far. Alphonsus Liguori. Still it must in fairness be admitted that all priests are not great theologians able to estimate intrinsic probability at its true worth, and the Church herself might be held to have conceded something to pure probabilism by the unprecedented honours 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. 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. 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. Raised in a pious home, Alphonsus went on retreats with his father, Don Joseph, who was a naval officer and a captain of the Royal Galleys. Even if there be some exaggeration in this, for it is not in an advocate's power always to be on the winning side, the tradition shows that he was extraordinarily able and successful. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. St. Alphonsus Liguori Opening Prayer My Lord Jesus Christ, you have made this journey to die for me with infinite love. His devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to Our Lady was extraordinary. 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. 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. It saw only recently its first publication in translation, in an English translation made by Ryan Grant and published in 2017 by Mediatrix Press. 1. He felt as if his career was ruined, and left the court almost beside himself, saying: "World, I know you now. St. Alphonsus encouraged an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ through frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament. 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". Alphonsus was one of the leading counsel; we do not know on which side. Moral Theology (Liguori) - Wikipedia 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. On 21 December of the same year, at the age of thirty, he was ordained priest. (27 September 1696 - 1 August 1787), was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. Alphonsus suffers great interior trials. Other personal friends of Alphonsus were the Jesuit Fathers de Matteis, Zaccaria, and Nonnotte. Here he discovered more than thirty thousand uninstructed men and women and four hundred indifferent priests. In a civil action a serious preponderance of evidence gives one side the case. He was now free, subject to the approval of the Bishop of Scala, to act with regard to the convent as he thought best. Catholic Encyclopedia. Raised in a pious home, Alphonsus went on retreats with his father, Don Joseph, who was a naval officer and a captain of the Royal Galleys. Ecclesiastical approbation. 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. He suspended those priests who celebrated Mass in less than 15 minutes and sold his carriage and episcopal ring to give the money to the poor. 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 own letters are of extreme value in supplementing Tannoia. The eighteenth century was not an age remarkable for depth of spiritual life, yet it produced three of the greatest missionaries of the Church, St. Leonard of Port Maurice, St. Paul of the Cross, and St. Alphonsus Liguori. Learn interesting facts and tidbits about the beloved St. Patrick. Colletta's book gives the best general picture of the time, but is marred by anti-clerical bias. 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 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. " Wonderful worship experience ". He often writes as a Neapolitan to Neapolitans. Educated at the University of Naples, Alphonsus received his doctorate at the age of sixteen. 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. A companion, Balthasar Cito, who afterwards became a distinguished judge, was asked in later years if Alphonsus had ever shown signs of levity in his youth. Alphonsus wrote profusely on moral, theological, and ascetical subjects [notably his Moral Theology], was constantly engaged in combating anticlericalism and Jansenism, and was involved in several controversies over . This occurred twice. He first addressed ecclesiastical abuses in the diocese, reformed the seminary and spiritually rehabilitated the clergy and faithful. A respected opponent was the redoubtable Dominican controversialist, P. Vincenzo Patuzzi, while to make up for hard blows we have another Dominican, P. Caputo, President of Alphonsus's seminary and a devoted helper in his work of reform. 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. He opposed sterile legalism and strict rigourism. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. His intercession healed the sick; he read the secrets of hearts, and foretold the future. After 1752 Alphonsus gave fewer missions. 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 the eldest of seven children of Giuseppe Liguori, a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys, and Anna Maria Caterina Cavalieri. 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. The Decree of 1779, however, seemed a great step in advance. The family was an old and noble one, though the branch to which the Saint belonged had become somewhat impoverished. . St. Louis, MO 63106 | parish130@archstl.org | Tel: (314) 533-0304. St. Alphonsus Liguori Born at Marianella, near Naples, 27 September, 1696; died at Nocera de' Pagani, 1 August, 1787. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Alphonsus Liguori - New Advent The Catholic Encyclopedia. A fearful commotion arose. Had it happened a few years later, the new Government might have found the Redemptorist Congregation already authorized, and as Tanucci's anti-clerical policy rather showed itself in forbidding new Orders than, with the exception of the Society of Jesus, in suppressing old ones, the Saint might have been free to develop his work in comparative peace. "Banquets, entertainments, theatres," he wrote later on--"these are the pleasures of the world, but pleasures which are filled with the bitterness of gall and sharp thorns. Castle, Harold. 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. Ultimately, however, anything merely human in this had disappeared. He fell into a clairvoyant trance at Arienzo on 21 September, 1774, and was present in spirit at the death-bed in Rome of Pope Clement XIV. said Alphonsus somewhat piqued. 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. On 28 August, 1723, the young advocate had gone to perform a favourite act of charity by visiting the sick in the Hospital for Incurables. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. St. Alphonsus was a brilliant, articulate, pragmatic preacher. Copyright 2022 Catholic Online. He was not allowed to resign his see, however, until 1775. An attack of rheumatic fever, from May 1768 to June 1769, left him paralyzed. 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. 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. 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." It is true that theologians even of the broadest school are agreed that, when an opinion in favour of the law is so much more probable as to amount practically to moral certainty, the less probable opinion cannot be followed, and some have supposed that St. Alphonsus meant no more than this by his terminology. In 1949, the Redemptorists founded the Alphonsian Academy for the advanced study of Catholic moral theology. 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. The differentia of saints is not faultlessness but driving-power, a driving-power exerted in generous self-sacrifice and ardent love of God. Two days after he was born, he was baptized at the Church of Our Lady the Virgin as Alphonsus Mary Anthony John Cosmas Damian Michael Gaspard de' Liguori. St. Alphonsus, however, did not in all things follow their teaching, especially on one point much debated in the schools; namely, whether we may in practice follow an opinion which denies a moral obligation, when the opinion which affirms a moral obligation seems to us to be altogether more probable. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. He had a pleasant smile, and his conversation was very agreeable, yet he had great dignity of manner. [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. Tannoia, also, through some mental idiosyncrasy, manages to give the misleading impression that St. Alphonsus was severe. . This was to be a momentous revolution for Alphonsus. Patron saint of: people with arthritis, lawyers, vocations. At three different times in his missions, while preaching, a ray of light from a picture of Our Lady darted towards him, and he fell into an ecstasy before the people. After a short interval--we do not know exactly how long--the answer came. So the Saint was cut off from his own Order by the Pope who was to declare him "Venerable". New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. What are Revelations? [2][3], He was born in Marianella, near Naples, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, on 27 September 1696. 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.". Thus was he left free for his real work, the founding of a new religious congregation. The Miracle of Saint Joseph 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. According to him, those were paths closed to the Gospel because "such rigour has never been taught nor practised by the Church". 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." [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. St. Alphonsus, after publishing anonymously (in 1749 and 1755) two treatises advocating the right to follow the less probable opinion, in the end decided against that lawfulness, and in case of doubt only allowed freedom from obligation where the opinions for and against the law were equal or nearly equal. Alphonsus Liguori, Saint | Catholic Answers MLA citation. St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori, Doctor of the Church . In case things became hopeless in Naples, he looked to these houses to maintain the Rule and Institute. He was taught by tutors before entering the University of Naples, where he graduated with doctorates in civil and canon law at 16. Since its publication, it has remained in Latin, often in 10 volumes or in the combined 4-volume version of Gaud. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Saint Alphonsus Liguori 1696 - 1787. At all events, it proved disastrous in the result. His perseverance was indomitable. 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 is said never to have refused absolution to a penitent. 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. Alphonsus Liguori was not a favorite with the windbags of his day. (Rome, 1896). 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." [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]. Feast day: August 1. Shop St. Alphonsus Marie Liguori. 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. To this altered Rule or "Regolamento", as it came to be called, the unsuspecting Saint was induced to put his signature. Suddenly he found himself surrounded by a mysterious light; the house seemed to rock, and an interior voice said: "Leave the world and give thyself to Me." The Superior of the Propaganda and even Falcoia's friend, Matthew Ripa, opposed the project with all their might. In vain those around him and even the judge on the bench tried to console him. He remained thunderstruck for a moment; then said in a broken voice: "You are right. It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. Contact information. The chapels were centres of prayer and piety, preaching, community, social activities, and education. In 1723, he decided to offer himself as a novice to the Oratory of St. Philip Neri with the intention of becoming a priest. Brown Scapular Miracles The basic elements of an Act of Spiritual Communion are an Act of Faith, an Act of Love, a desire to receive Christ, and an . The English translation in the Oratory Series is also rather inadequate. [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". It was this which gave St. Alphonsus the bent head which we notice in the portraits of him. The Glories of Mary - Wikipedia Preaching, Eugene Grimm ed., Benziger Brothers, New York, 1887, Liguori, Alphonsus. Alphonsus Liguori | Saints Resource 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. The crisis arose in this way. St. Alphonsus Liguori. 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. Neapolitan students, in an animated but amicable discussion, seem to foreign eyes to be taking part in a violent quarrel. Saint Alphonsus De Liguori Usage Public Domain Topics Blessed Virgin Mary, Miracles, Apparitions, Conversion, Saints, Rosary, Sin, Repentance, Catholic Collection opensource Language English Stories from St Alphonsus De Liguori, which he culled from various sources, which can be seen in the larger work, "The Glories of Mary".