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. "Let us have it." He was more concerned with the spiritual conflict which was going on at the same time. Ever mindful of his own sins, Saint Alphonsus saw prayer for the faithful departed as one of the chief duties of Christian charity. There can be little doubt but that the young Alphonsus with his high spirits and strong character was ardently attached to his profession, and on the way to be spoilt by the success and popularity which it brought. Soon after this the boy began his studies for the Bar, and about the age of nineteen practised his profession in the courts. Still there was a time of danger. He opposed sterile legalism and strict rigourism. [4] Myopia and chronic asthma precluded a military career so his father had him educated in the legal profession. 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. 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". Corrections? Beatified: September 15, 1816. 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. Shrines were built there and at St. Agatha of the Goths. Feast day: August 1. [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". 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. Alphonsus' last illness and Deaths 548 CHAPTER XXXVII. 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. His best plan would have been to consult the Holy See, but in this he had been forestalled. 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". Liguori suffered from scruples much of his adult life and felt guilty about the most minor issues relating to sin. In 1731, the convent unanimously adopted the new Rule, together with a habit of red and blue, the traditional colours of Our Lord's own dress. 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. On 23 October of the same year, 1723, the Saint put on the clerical dress. On the other hand, ever since the Fall of Man, the will of man has been his greatest danger. He had nearly completed his ninety-first year. 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"). Learn interesting facts and tidbits about the beloved St. Patrick. In 1780, Alphonsus was tricked into signing a submission for royal approval of his congregation. She became known in religion as Sister Maria Celeste. By AClarke625. In the end a compromise was arrived at. With Don Carlos, or as he is generally called, Charles III, from his later title as King of Spain, came the lawyer, Bernard Tanucci, who governed Naples as Prime Minister and regent for the next forty-two years. St Alphonsus Mary Liguori and Prayer. This Novena for the Holy Souls in Purgatory was written by St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787), a bishop and founder of the Redemptorist order, and one of the Doctors of the Church. In 1949, the Redemptorists founded the Alphonsian Academy for the advanced study of Catholic moral theology. With their aid, Aiphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on November 9, 1732. Canonized: May 26, 1839. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, in November 1732. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. He called his system Equiprobabilism. SVO), gives an extremely full and picturesque account of the Saint's life and times. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited. After a short interval--we do not know exactly how long--the answer came. The days were indeed evil. "Alphonsus was of middle height", says his first biographer, Tannoia; "his head was rather large, his hair black, and beard well-grown." 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. Nihil Obstat. 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. 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. 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. [9], In 1729, Liguori left his family home and took up residence at the Chinese Institute in Naples. To come to saints, the great Jesuit missionary St. Francis di Geronimo took the little Alphonsus in his arms, blessed him, and prophesied that he would do great work for God; while a Franciscan, St. John Joseph of the Cross, was well known to Alphonsus in later life. 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. St. Alphonsus Liguori Born at Marianella, near Naples, 27 September, 1696; died at Nocera de' Pagani, 1 August, 1787. He continued to live with the Redemptorist community in Pagani, Italy, where he died on 1 August 1787. The Ceremonies of the Interment. In old age he was more than once raised in the air when speaking of God. Actually, the document was a new rule devised by one of his enemies, thus causing the followers of the old rule to break away. A fearful commotion arose. where the Hosts were buried. He was a born leader of men. Visiting the local Hospital for Incurables on August 28, 1723, he had a vision and was told to consecrate his life solely to God. d.kellysaintalphonsus.com Website Website Website Website Website Alyce Gilarski Business Manager / Ministry of Care 847-255-7452, x143 a.gilarskisaintalphonsus.com Dr. Carol Holden DRE, Grades K-8 847-255-9490 x116 c.holdensaintalphonsus.com Dee Munroe Religious Education Administrative Assistant 847-255-9490 x104 d.munroesaintalphonsus.com [4], Liguori learned to ride and fence but was never a good shot because of poor eyesight. In 1732 he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, or the Redemptorists, at Scala. 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. MLA citation. Paths to Heaven; Revelations. [10] He tried to refuse the appointment by using his age and infirmities as arguments against his consecration. He knew how to reach ordinary people who had limited education and very real needs. 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. 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. A justly celebrated life is the Vie et Institut de Saint Alphonse-Marie de Liguori, in four volumes, by CARDINAL VILLECOURT, (Tournai, 1893). The poor advocate turned pale. [11], Liguori was consecrated Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti in 1762. . This was in 1780, when Alphonsus was eighty-three years old. Alphonsus's father, Don Joseph de' Liguori was a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys. He died peacefully on August 1,1787, at Nocera di Pagani, near Naples as the Angelus was ringing. So indeed it proved. [12], He was beatified on 15 September 1816 by Pope Pius VII and canonized on 26 May 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI.[13][14]. by S. HORNER (Edinburgh, 1858); VON REUMONT, Die Carafa von Maddaloni (Berlin, 1851, 2 vols. This lifelong friendship aided Alphonsus, as did his association with a mystic, Sister Mary Celeste. Key Concepts; Teachings; Visions; Search Revelations . After practicing law for eight years, he was ordained a priest in 1726. Dissensions arose, the Saint's former friend and chief companion, Vincent Mannarini, opposing him and Falcoia in everything. 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. Revelations from God, the Saints, and the Angels through the Miracle of Saint Joseph, started in 1967 and continuing to this day. In this state of exclusion he lived for seven years more and in it he died. He started again, recruited new members, and in 1743 became the prior of two new congregations, one for men and one for women. [2][3], He was born in Marianella, near Naples, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, on 27 September 1696. From his earliest years he had an anxious fear about committing sin which passed at times into scruple. This is a historic Catholic Church in mid-town St. Louis. St. Alphonsus was a brilliant, articulate, pragmatic preacher. (Rome, 1905). Besides his Moral Theology, the Saint wrote a large number of dogmatic and ascetical works nearly all in the vernacular. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. [5], By May 1775, Alphonus was "deaf, blind, and laden with so many infirmities, that he has no longer even the appearance of a man", and his resignation was accepted by the recently crowned Pope Pius VI. 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. Educated at the University of Naples, Alphonsus received his doctorate at the age of sixteen. Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 99, Appendix to his work on the Council of Trent, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, patron saint archive, St. Alphonsus 'Rock' Liguori Church (St. Louis), "St. Alphonsus Liguori, Our Founder", Redemptorists, Baltimore Province, Tannoja, Antonio. Tannoia, also, through some mental idiosyncrasy, manages to give the misleading impression that St. Alphonsus was severe. It was approved by the king and forced upon the stupefied Congregation by the whole power of the State. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. His hymns are justly celebrated in Italy. St. Louis, MO 63106 | parish130@archstl.org | Tel: (314) 533-0304. 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. Printable Catholic Saints PDFs He lived his first years as a priest with the homeless and the marginalized youth of Naples.