Not many details have come down to us of Alphonsus's childhood. Most were in favour of accepting, but the superior objected and appealed to Filangieri, Falcoia's colleague in establishing the convent, and now, as General of the "Pii Operarii", his superior. One branch of the new Institute seen by Falcoia in vision was thus established. [10] He tried to refuse the appointment by using his age and infirmities as arguments against his consecration. The early years, following the founding of the new order, were not promising. Twelve years, however, still separated him from his reward, years for the most part not of peace but of greater afflictions than any which had yet befallen him. He is the patron of confessors, moral theologians, and the lay apostolate. This is a historic Catholic Church in mid-town St. Louis. [11], Liguori was consecrated Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti in 1762. Omissions? 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. Learn interesting facts and tidbits about the beloved St. Patrick. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). But we must not push resemblances too far. In 1762, there was no escape and he was constrained by formal obedience to the Pope to accept the Bishopric of St. Agatha of the Goths, a very small Neapolitan diocese lying a few miles off the road from Naples to Capua. [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. The immediate author of what was practically a lifelong persecution of the Saint was the Marquis Tanucci, who entered Naples in 1734. His spirituality was both affective and active, centered above all on the Passion of Jesus Christ as the principal sign of our Savior's love for us. said Alphonsus somewhat piqued. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. The suffering which this brought on Alphonsus, with his sensitive and high-strung disposition, was very great, besides what was worse, the relaxation of discipline and loss of vocations which it caused in the Order itself. The chapels were centres of prayer and piety, preaching, community, social activities, and education. Many Miracles are wrought through the intercession of Alphonsus. It was comparatively late in life that Alphonsus became a writer. 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. He first addressed ecclesiastical abuses in the diocese, reformed the seminary and spiritually rehabilitated the clergy and faithful. 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. Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Nov 2012. Saint Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori, C.Ss.R. The answer is that God kept him humble by interior trials. It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. Alphonsus's father, Don Joseph de' Liguori was a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys. In April 1729, the Apostle of China, Matthew Ripa, founded a missionary college in Naples, which became known colloquially as the "Chinese College". Dissension within the congregation culminated in 1777 when he was deceived into signing what he thought was a royal sanction for his rule. He had to endure a real persecution for two months. Alphonsus was not sent to school but was educated by tutors under his father's eye. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more all for only $19.99 Born at Marianella, near Naples, 27 September, 1696; died at Nocera de' Pagani, 1 August, 1787. 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. His intercession healed the sick; he read the secrets of hearts, and foretold the future. He died peacefully on August 1,1787, at Nocera di Pagani, near Naples as the Angelus was ringing. The Glories of Mary ( Italian: Le glorie di Maria) is a classic book in the field of Roman Catholic Mariology, written during the 18th century by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, a Doctor of the Church . Copyright 2022 Catholic Online. In February, 1775, however, Pius VI was elected Pope, and the following May he permitted the Saint to resign his see. "You have founded the Congregation and you have destroyed it", said one Father to him. ), was published by P. KUNTZ, C.SS.R., director of the Roman archives of his 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. In 1731, while he was ministering to earthquake victims in the town of Foggia, Alphonsus said he had a vision of the Virgin Mother in the appearance of a young girl of 13 or 14, wearing a white veil. 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. 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. 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. That legacy is the participation in the redemptive mission of Jesus. He lived his first years as a priest with the homeless and the marginalized youth of Naples. 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. 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. The saints are not inhuman but real men of flesh and . In early manhood he became very fond of the opera, but only that he might listen to the music, for when the curtain went up he took his glasses off, so as not to see the players distinctly. Let's start with the saint. Alphonsus left the Hospital and went to the church of the Redemption of Captives. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law. 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. Here he discovered more than thirty thousand uninstructed men and women and four hundred indifferent priests. The days were indeed evil. St. Alphonsus Liguori Born at Marianella, near Naples, 27 September, 1696; died at Nocera de' Pagani, 1 August, 1787. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. He who ruled and directed others so wisely, had, where his own soul was concerned, to depend on obedience like a little child. APA citation. 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. 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. Liguori suffered from scruples much of his adult life and felt guilty about the most minor issues relating to sin. St. Alphonsus was so scrupulous about truth that when, in 1776, the regalist, Mgr. Shrines were built there and at St. Agatha of the Goths. He was born Alphonsus Marie Antony John Cosmos Damien Michael Gaspard de Liguori on September 27,1696, at Marianella, near Naples, Italy. 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 . Alphonsus Liguori, CSsR (27 September 1696 - 1 August 1787), sometimes called Alphonsus Maria de Liguori or Saint Alphonsus Liguori, was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. (Rome, 1905). 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. SVO), gives an extremely full and picturesque account of the Saint's life and times. Alphonsus had still one final storm to meet, and then the end. Though a good dogmatic theologian--a fact which has not been sufficiently recognized--he was not a metaphysician like the great scholastics. His perseverance was indomitable. Even where he is not that, he may generally be trusted, as he was a Boswell in collecting facts. [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]. There were whole years, indeed, in which the Institute seemed on the verge of summary suppression. Cavalieri, himself a great servant of God. Could he have been what an Anglo-Saxon would consider a miracle of calm, he would have seemed to his companions absolutely inhuman. The "Moral Theology", after a historical introduction by the Saint's friend, P. Zaccaria, S.J., which was omitted, however, from the eighth and ninth editions, begins with a treatise "De Conscientia", followed by one "De Legibus". In this state of exclusion he lived for seven years more and in it he died. In 1780, Alphonsus was tricked into signing a submission for royal approval of his congregation. He was the eldest of seven children of Giuseppe Liguori, a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys, and Anna Maria Caterina Cavalieri. At the age of sixteen, on 21 January, 1713, he took his degree as Doctor of Laws, although twenty was the age fixed by the statutes. The question as to what does or does not constitute a lie is not an easy one, but it is a subject in itself. Born: September 27, 1696. For three days he refused all food. 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. 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. His system of moral theology is noted for its prudence, avoiding both laxism and excessive rigour. The version with Italian lyrics was based on his original song written in Neapolitan, which began Quanno nascette Ninno ("When the child was born"). Among his best known works are The Glories of Mary and The Way of the Cross, the latter still used in parishes during Lenten devotions. Dissensions arose, the Saint's former friend and chief companion, Vincent Mannarini, opposing him and Falcoia in everything. 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. His spirituality was both affective and active, centered above all on the passion of Jesus Christ as the principal sign of our Savior's love for us. He is credited with the position of Aequiprobabilism, which avoided Jansenist rigorism as well as laxism and simple probabilism. 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".