Alphonsus was the kind of man you would follow to the ends of the earth, once you were touched by his zeal and dynamism.

    At twelve years of age, he won a Diploma in Rhetoric at the University of Naples, his native city.

    At sixteen, he obtained a Doctorate in Law.  "They decked me out", he said, "in a long robe that trailed under my feet and made everybody laugh".

    At twenty, he was a lawyer, a poet and a musician.  His people then tried to marry him off, but he smiled mischievously when the young lady became a Carmelite nun.

    At thirty, he was a Priest.  Then came Scala!

    Alphonsus went to Scala for a fortnight's holiday.  It became the longest fortnight of his life. "Can't someone do something for these people?" he pleaded with his friend, Bishop Falcoia.

    "You do something for them", challenged the Bishop.

    So Alphonsus gathered the people around him, spoke to them of God, of Heaven and Eternity, gave them the Mass and the Sacraments, taught them to pray, and the first Redemptorist Mission was under way.

    As a result, on November 9th 1732, in the Church of Scala, Alphonsus and a few companions vowed to devote their lives to labour for the forgotten ones of God.

    In their joy they sang the Te Deum, took as their motto - "With Him is the Fullness of Redemption", and the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer was born.

    For the next thirty years, Alphonsus preached Missions, till the Pope made him a Bishop.

    His reaction? "I would not trade my Congregation for all the tea in China".

    When the Pope insisted, Alphonsus said, "This is the saddest day of my life", but his deep Faith saw him through.

    He rebuilt the Diocesan Seminary, wrote a book of Theology for the students, introduced Contemplative Nuns into the Diocese, and set up a day-care centre for children of the working classes, while through all he did, there ran the golden threads of Faith, zeal and joy.

    A Government Minister criticised his way of leading the Diocese, and Alphonsus replied:

    "The Minister maintains I am a Saint, and my Vicar General is a rogue. The Minister has told two lies - I am not a Saint, and my Vicar General is not a rogue".

    Eventually afflicted with an intensely painful arthritis which left him with a limp and rendered him helpless, he resigned his Diocese and returned to the Congregation he loved.

    "The Congregation", he used to say, "is not my work. It is God's work. While I am alive, it will exist in obscurity. After my death, however, it will spread its wings, especially in the Northern countries of Europe".

    When he died, aged ninety-two, his prediction became reality. From obscurity in Scala and Naples, the Redemptorists spread northwards into Poland, Germany, France and Belgium.

    Then westward into England, Scotland and Ireland, till in full circle, the Providence of God sent them southward to the ends of the earth - to the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit - Australia.