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This submission altered the original rule, and as a result Alphonsus was denied any authority among the Redemptorists. The prayer he recommended to his Congregation, of which we have beautiful examples in his ascetical works, is affective; the use of short aspirations, petitions, and acts of love, rather than discursive meditation with long reflection. 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. Believe me who have experienced it, and now weep over it." Vol. 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. 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. A few months later Alphonsus left his father's house and went to live with Ripa, without, however, becoming a member of his society. This document gives you the case." http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01334a.htm. In fact, in the beginning, the young priest in his humility would not be Superior even of the house, judging one of his companions, John Baptist Donato, better fitted for the post because he had already had some experience of community life in another institute. In fact, despite his youth, he seems at the age of twenty-seven to have been one of the leaders of the Neapolitan Bar. About three years before his death he went through a veritable "Night of the Soul". 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. 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. The third book deals with the Ten Commandments, the fourth with the monastic and clerical states, and the duties of judges, advocates, doctors, merchants, and others. Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Alphonsus, however, was unflagging in his efforts with the Court. The Superior of the Propaganda and even Falcoia's friend, Matthew Ripa, opposed the project with all their might. Many Miracles are wrought through the intercession of Alphonsus. When he heard from her of the devotion of the Rosary, which she practiced, and the letter she had received, he ordered all the others to repeatit, and it is related that this monastery became a paradise. Nihil Obstat. Early Christians began the devotion of following the footsteps of Christ's passion. Ecclesiastical approbation. The saints are not inhuman but real men of flesh and . The boy was bright and quick beyond his years, and made great progress in all kinds of learning. It would be a sacrilege to say otherwise." . In 1871 he was named a doctor of the church by Pope Pius IX. First Station: Jesus Is Condemned to Death V. We adore you, Christ, and we praise you. 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 often writes as a Neapolitan to Neapolitans. It was only after his death, as he had prophesied, that the Neapolitan Government at last recognized the original Rule, and that the Redemptorist Congregation was reunited under one head (1793). St. Alphonsus Liguori, the Prince of Moral Theologians, was one of the greatest preachers in Church history. At the worst, it was only the scaffolding by which the temple of perfection was raised. Alphonsus, having got so much, hoped to get a little more, and through his friend, Mgr. 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. Vague rumours of impending treachery had got about and had been made known to him, but he had refused to believe them. Alphonsus was preaching missions in the rural areas and writing. Could he have been what an Anglo-Saxon would consider a miracle of calm, he would have seemed to his companions absolutely inhuman. 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. 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. 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. St. Alphonsus Liguori's prayer to Jesus Christ to obtain His holy love comes from the "Rule of Life", a guide for growing in holiness. Alphonsus suffers great interior trials. With their aid, Aiphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on November 9, 1732. [2][3], He was born in Marianella, near Naples, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, on 27 September 1696. This has recently been translated into English with additions and corrections (Dublin, 2 vols., royal SVO); DUMORTIER, Les premihres Redemptoristines (Lille, 1886), and Le Phre Antoine-Marie Tannoia (Paris, 1902), contain some useful information; as does BERRUTI, Lo Spirito di S. Alfonso Maria de Liguori, 3 ed. His works have gone through several thousand editions and have been translated into more than 60 languages. Again, we have a friendship of thirty years with the great Venetian publishing house of Remondini, whose letters from the Saint, carefully preserved as became business men, fill a quarto volume. 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. His own prayer was perhaps for the most part what some call "active", others "ordinary", contemplation. 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. 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. Both last about two hours but are filled with soul-stirring music. He came from a wealthy family in Naples, Italy, and had every advantage in life from the moment he was born in 1696. March 1, 1907. He was not afraid of making up his mind. "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. Contact information. 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. [9], In 1729, Liguori left his family home and took up residence at the Chinese Institute in Naples. said Alphonsus somewhat piqued. St. Alphonsus Liguori. The favors and graces by which God attested his sanctity 526 CHAPTER XXXVI. He opposed sterile legalism and strict rigourism. To this Alphonsus by the advice of his director, Father Thomas Pagano, himself an Oratorian, agreed. Alphonsus, assisted by divine grace, did not disappoint his father's care. This is the great question of "Probabilism". Alphonsus returned to his little cell at Nocera in July, 1775, to prepare, as he thought, for a speedy and happy death. Alphonsus was lawyer, founder, religious superior, bishop, theologian, and mystic, but he was above all a missionary, and no true biography of the Saint will neglect to give this due prominence. Other personal friends of Alphonsus were the Jesuit Fathers de Matteis, Zaccaria, and Nonnotte. The saints are not inhuman but real men of flesh and blood, however much some hagiographers may ignore the fact. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. Alphonsus was what we call a "gifted" student today. He was crushed to the earth. In liturgical art he is depicted as bent over with rheumatism or as a young priest. In vain those around him and even the judge on the bench tried to console him. Author and Publisher - Catholic Online 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. The rudder is humility, which, in the intellect, is a realization of our own unworthiness, and in the will, docility to right guidance. Finally, St. Alphonsus was a wonderful letter-writer, and the mere salvage of his correspondence amounts to 1,451 letters, filling three large volumes. Printable Catholic Saints PDFs Furthermore, St. Alphonsus was a great theologian, and so attached much weight to intrinsic probability. Imprimatur. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. He thought his mistake would be ascribed not to oversight but to deliberate deceit. Not less remarkable than the intensity with which Alphonsus worked is the amount of work he did. [4], Liguori learned to ride and fence but was never a good shot because of poor eyesight. In 1749, the Rule and Institute of men were approved by Pope Benedict XIV, and in 1750, the Rule and Institute of the nuns. 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. His intercession healed the sick; he read the secrets of hearts, and foretold the future. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. [5], A gifted musician and composer, he wrote many popular hymns and taught them to the people in parish missions. It is a matter for friendly controversy, but it seems there was a real difference, though not as great in practice as is supposed, between the Saint's later teaching and that current in the Society. In a riot which took place during the terrible famine that fell upon Southern Italy in 1764, he saved the life of the syndic of St. Agatha by offering his own to the mob. In the eight years of his career as advocate, years crowded with work, he is said never to have lost a case. 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. Tannoia, also, through some mental idiosyncrasy, manages to give the misleading impression that St. Alphonsus was severe. In April 1729, Alphonsus went to live at the "Chiflese College," founded in Naples by Father Matthew Ripa, the Apostle of China. The priest was Alphonsus. In the minutes it was [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". It happened that Alphonsus, ill and overworked, had gone with some companions to Scala in the early summer of 1730. 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. But how was Alphonsus to grow in this so necessary virtue when he was in authority nearly all his life? 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. Mimoires sur la vie et la congrigation de St. Alphonse de Liguori (Paris, 1842, 3 vols.). 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. 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 eighteenth century was one series of great wars; that of the Spanish, Polish, and Austrian Succession; the Seven Years' War, and the War of American Independence, ending with the still more gigantic struggles in Europe, which arose out of the events of 1789. Educated at the University of Naples, Alphonsus received his doctorate at the age of sixteen.