Today I would like to present to you the figure of a holy Doctor of the Church to whom we are deeply indebted because he was an outstanding moral theologian and a teacher of spiritual . He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). Stay up to date with the latest news, information, and special offers. Both of them were canonized on the same day as the Holy Doctor, 26 May, 1839. "[17][18], Liguori's greatest contribution to the Catholic Church was in the area of moral theology. [11], Liguori was consecrated Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti in 1762. At all events, it proved disastrous in the result. The foundation of all subsequent lives is the Della vita ed istituto del venerabile Alfonso Maria Liguori, of ANTONY TANNOIA, one of the great biographies of literature. 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. In 1871, Alphonsus was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX. Matters remained thus for some years. The Holy Mass, Eugene Grimm ed., Benziger Brothers, New York, 1887, Liguori, Alphonsus. By AClarke625. Shrines were built there and at St. Agatha of the Goths. The difficulty about strong wills and strong passions is that they are hard to tame, but when they are tamed they are the raw material of sanctity. 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. Could he have been what an Anglo-Saxon would consider a miracle of calm, he would have seemed to his companions absolutely inhuman. He knew how to reach ordinary people who had limited education and very real needs. If in some things Alphonsus was an Anglo-Saxon, in others he was a Neapolitan of the Neapolitans, though always a saint. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul T. Crowley. Visiting the local Hospital for Incurables on August 28, 1723, he had a vision and was told to consecrate his life solely to God. He finally agreed to become a priest but to live at home as a member of a group of secular missionaries. Office Hours: Mon - Fri: 8am-4pm, Saturday: 9am-12pm . Alphonsus was what we call a "gifted" student today. 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. Alphonsus Liguori. Much of the material for a complete life of St. Alphonsus is still in manuscript in the Roman archives of the Redemptorist Congregation and in the archives of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars. But as he drew up a rule for them, formed from that of the Visitation nuns, he does not seem to have had any clear idea of establishing the new institute of his vision. 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". He was not afraid of making up his mind. He both made and kept a vow not to lose a single moment of time. I will love you all my life. With their aid, Aiphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on November 9, 1732. But in spite of his infirmities both Clement XIII (1758-69) and Clement XIV (1769-74) obliged Alphonsus to remain at his post. [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. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. The version with Italian lyrics was based on his original song written in Neapolitan, which began Quanno nascette Ninno ("When the child was born"). 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. Clarence F. Galli. The saints are not inhuman but real men of flesh and blood, however much some hagiographers may ignore the fact. 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. Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation. Tannoia was born about 1724 and entered the Redemptorist Congregation in 1746. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This submission altered the original rule, and as a result Alphonsus was denied any authority among the Redemptorists. Many Miracles are wrought through the intercession of Alphonsus. The days were indeed evil. About 1729, however, Filangieri died, and on 8 October, 1730, Falcoia was consecrated Bishop of Castellamare. In liturgical art he is depicted as bent over with rheumatism or as a young priest. Shop St. Alphonsus Marie Liguori. In December, 1724, he received minor orders, and the subdiaconate in September, 1725. The chapels were centres of prayer and piety, preaching, community, social activities, and education. 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. Although there are many modern . St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori, Doctor of the Church . Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Besides his Moral Theology, the Saint wrote a large number of dogmatic and ascetical works nearly all in the vernacular. His system of moral theology is noted for its prudence, avoiding both laxism and excessive rigour. 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. To this altered Rule or "Regolamento", as it came to be called, the unsuspecting Saint was induced to put his signature. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Tannoia, also, through some mental idiosyncrasy, manages to give the misleading impression that St. Alphonsus was severe. 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. "I follow my conscience", he wrote in 1764, "and when reason persuades me I make little account of moralists." He spent several years having to drink from tubes because his head was so bent forward. His friend the Grand Almoner betrayed him; his two envoys for negotiating with the Grand Almoner, Fathers Majone and Cimino, betrayed him, consultors general though they were. 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 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. Still there was a time of danger. Alternate titles: Saint Alfonso Liguori, Saint Alfonso Maria de Liguori, Saint Alphonsus Maria deLiguori. Contact information. 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." R. A few months later Alphonsus left his father's house and went to live with Ripa, without, however, becoming a member of his society. His austerities were rigorous, and he suffered daily the pain from rheumatism that was beginning to deform his body. But we must not push resemblances too far. In fact, despite his youth, he seems at the age of twenty-seven to have been one of the leaders of the Neapolitan Bar. 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! Ecclesiastical approbation. 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. 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. An attack of rheumatic fever, from May 1768 to June 1769, left him paralyzed. Here with 30,000 uninstructed people, 400 mostly indifferent and sometimes scandalous secular clergy, and seventeen more or less relaxed religious houses to look after, in a field so overgrown with weeds that they seemed the only crop, he wept and prayed and spent days and nights in unremitting labour for thirteen years. At his General Audience, 30 March 2011, in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father presented Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church. His sermons were very effective at converting those who had been alienated from their faith. 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. Corrections? In case things became hopeless in Naples, he looked to these houses to maintain the Rule and Institute. 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. To this Alphonsus by the advice of his director, Father Thomas Pagano, himself an Oratorian, agreed. 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. I have been mistaken. He was buried at the monastery of the Pagani near Naples. 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 addition, he published many editions of compendiums of his larger work, such as the "Homo Apostolicus", made in 1759. 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. [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. He had to endure a real persecution for two months. It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. Tradues em contexto de "Mary of Liguori" en ingls-portugus da Reverso Context : The Holy Church honors the priest and the priest must honor the Church with the holiness of his life - proposed St. Alphonsus Mary of Liguori on the day of his Ordination - with zeal, with work and with decorum. Alphonsus, however, was unflagging in his efforts with the Court. He was more concerned with the spiritual conflict which was going on at the same time. 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". Believe me who have experienced it, and now weep over it." [4], Liguori learned to ride and fence but was never a good shot because of poor eyesight. Alphonsus said nothing in his "Moral Theology" which is not the common teaching of Catholic theologians. 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. There is a somewhat unsatisfactory French translation of Tannoia's work. 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. It happened that Alphonsus, ill and overworked, had gone with some companions to Scala in the early summer of 1730. said Alphonsus somewhat piqued. 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. He was the eldest of seven children and the hope of his house. 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. He continued to live with the Redemptorist community in Pagani, Italy, where he died on 1 August 1787. Alphonsus Liguori, Saint, b. at Marianella, near Naples, September 27, 1696; d. at Nocera de' Pagani, . [5], A gifted musician and composer, he wrote many popular hymns and taught them to the people in parish missions. 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! 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. St. Alphonsus Liguori, the Prince of Moral Theologians, was one of the greatest preachers in Church history. The Fathers in the Papal States, with too precipitate zeal, in the very beginning denounced the change of Rule to Rome. St. Alphonsus appeared a miracle of calm to Tannoia. He had nearly completed his ninety-first year. St. Alphonsus was so scrupulous about truth that when, in 1776, the regalist, Mgr. 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 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". The Saint's confessor declared that he preserved his baptismal innocence till death. 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 not allowed to resign his see, however, until 1775. St. Alphonsus Liguori Opening Prayer My Lord Jesus Christ, you have made this journey to die for me with infinite love. St. Alphonsus Liguori Born at Marianella, near Naples, 27 September, 1696; died at Nocera de' Pagani, 1 August, 1787. Castle, Harold. The Saint's complete dogmatic works have been translated into Latin by P. WALTER, C.SS.R., S. Alphonsi Mariae de Liguori Ecclesiae Doctoris Opera Dogmatica, (New York, 1903, 2 vols., 4to). 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. 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. But before he called a witness the opposing counsel said to him in chilling tones: "Your arguments are wasted breath. Yet, to take anger alone, though comparatively early in life he seemed dead to insult or injury which affected himself, in cases of cruelty, or of injustice to others, or of dishonour to God, he showed a prophet's indignation even in old age. In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti. Beatified: September 15, 1816. 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 centenary edition, Lettere di S. Alfonso Maria de'Liguori (ROME, 1887, 3 vols. "The life of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori" (1855)John Murphy & Co., Baltimore, 1855, "Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori", St. Alphonsus Liguori Parish, Peterborough, Ontario, The life of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Bishop of St. Agatha of the Goths and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Redeemer, Tannoja, Antonio (d. 1808), John Murphy & Co. (1855), "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Alphonsus Liguori", "Alphonsus Maria de Liguori", Saint Alphonsus Mary de Liguori Parish, Makati City Philippines, "1st English Translation of St. Alphonsus Liguori's Moral Theology", https://www.avemarialynnfield.org/sites/g/files/zjfyce466/files/2021-01/Stations-of-the-Cross-St-Liguori.pdf, Liguori, Alphonsus. Alphonsus suffers great interior trials. For six years he laboured in and around Naples, giving missions for the Propaganda and preaching to the lazzaroni of the capital. One branch of the new Institute seen by Falcoia in vision was thus established. 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, 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. The differentia of saints is not faultlessness but driving-power, a driving-power exerted in generous self-sacrifice and ardent love of God. by S. HORNER (Edinburgh, 1858); VON REUMONT, Die Carafa von Maddaloni (Berlin, 1851, 2 vols. Moral Theology (also known as the Theologia Moralis) is a nine-volume work concerning Catholic moral theology written between 1748 and 1785 by Alphonsus Liguori, a Catholic theologian and Doctor of the Church.This work is not to be confused with Theologia moralis universa ad mentem S. Alphonsi, a 19th-century treatise by Pietro Scavini written in the philosophical tradition of Alphonsus Liguori. The immediate author of what was practically a lifelong persecution of the Saint was the Marquis Tanucci, who entered Naples in 1734. He who ruled and directed others so wisely, had, where his own soul was concerned, to depend on obedience like a little child. 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. He was taught by tutors before entering the University of Naples, where he graduated with doctorates in civil and canon law at 16. He was ordained on December 21, 1726, and he spent six years giving missions throughout Naples. Cavalieri, himself a great servant of God. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. St. Alphonsus tell us: "Modern heretics make a mockery of wearing the Scapular, they decry it as so much trifling nonsense." Yet many of the popes have approved and recommended it. The traditional Stations of the Cross were written by St. Alphonsus Liguori, a bishop and Doctor of the Church, in 1761. 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. In 1732 he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, or the Redemptorists, at Scala. He was a lawyer by the time he was 16 years old! At the time of his death, there were 72, with over 10,000 active participants. It would be a sacrilege to say otherwise." Alphonsus's temperament was very ardent. There he met Bishop Thomas Falcoia, founder of the Congregation of Pious Workers. When the day came the future Saint made a brilliant opening speech and sat down confident of victory. 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. [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. Then God called him to his life work. 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. The extreme difficulty of the lifelong work of fashioning a saint consists precisely in this, that every act of virtue the saint performs goes to strengthen his character, that is, his will. Preaching, Eugene Grimm ed., Benziger Brothers, New York, 1887, Liguori, Alphonsus. The family was an old and noble one, though the branch to which the Saint belonged had become somewhat impoverished. After practicing law for eight years, he was ordained a priest in 1726. 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. 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. "St. Alphonsus Liguori". 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. Pardon me, my God. 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. The Superior of the Propaganda and even Falcoia's friend, Matthew Ripa, opposed the project with all their might. Died: August 1, 1787. 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.