Introduction

Saints are people who have followed the way of the Father as shown to them by Jesus, his Son. They live the teachings of Christ in every phase of their life. In this they all share a common quality. The saints are also a group

with much diversity. They can be either young or old, male or female. Some have been rich. Others have been poor. Their numbers include

priests, monks, Brothers and Sisters. Some were paupers while others were kings; some were housewives, others queens.

One of the most accomplished of all the saints is Alphonsus Liguori. He was a lawyer in both civil and Church law, founder of a religious order, author of more than 100 books, originator of modern moral theology, renowned preacher and confessor, bishop, musical composer, and painter. For all his 91 years on earth he was also a man of prayer and deep personal holiness.
 

The Young Nobleman

On September 29, 1696, a Baptism took place in the Church of Our Lady of the Virgins in Naples, Italy. Alphonsus Mary Liguori was the son of Donna Anna Cavalieri, a deeply spiritual woman revered by all who knew her, and Don Joseph Liguori, a distinguished nobleman and the captain of a royal galley.

Alphonsus was the first-born son and so it was natural that his noble father wanted nothing but the best for his future heir. An early marriage was arranged by Don Joseph but was later cancelled. In these marriage plans Alphonsus had nothing to say. However - before his father could attempt to arrange a second marriage -- he took a private vow not to marry. His education as a youth came from the best tutors that money could hire. It was not wasted either. Alphonsus was truly a genius.

At thirteen, Alphonsus began the study of jurisprudence. At the age of sixteen, four years beneath the usual minimum age, he presented himself at the University of Naples for examination in both civil and Church law.

He passed the bar exam with flying colours. As a lawyer he had an eight-year career that could not be equalled. He lost only one case and that was to be his last. It was this loss which changed his whole outlook on life.

Alphonsus had always been most thorough as a lawyer. He worked diligently on all the cases that he undertook. Somehow on this one occasion -- while reading an important document -- he missed a few words in the fine print at the bottom of the page. (The case concerned ownership of land with a property value of $500,000.) His great courtroom speech was to no avail; the opposing lawyer simply pointed out the few words that Alphonsus had overlooked. Alphonsus acknowledged his mistake, apologised to his client, and left the courtroom never again to return.

After his defeat in court it was not easy for Alphonsus to face his father and tell the great nobleman that his first-born son had no further desire to be married or to pursue a career that would enhance the family name. It took many years for his father to accept the fact that Alphonsus was not going to be the famous heir, the great lawyer, or the splendid nobleman.
 

Called to the Priesthood

It was while visiting the sick in a hospital for the incurably ill that Alphonsus heard God calling him to leave the world and dedicate himself more closely to the service of souls. He made a retreat at the house of some Vincentian priests. These men encouraged him to practice the faith more fully, and instilled in him a love for Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. This devotion to the Blessed Sacrament spending some time each day in church praying before the tabernacle - was a practice followed by Alphonsus until he died.

To show that he was leaving the world and forsaking his title of nobility, Alphonsus laid his sword on the altar of Our Lady of Ransom. Alphonsus gave up his life of luxury and accepted a life of poverty as it was lived by the poor people of his times. By this way of life he separated himself from the rich priests of Naples. But by dedicating himself to the poor shepherds and the destitute workmen of that region, he became the priest that they could approach with their problems.
 

A Great Young Priest

Alphonsus was ordained a priest in 1726 at the age of 30, three years after his great legal mistake. He spent the first two years of his priesthood as a missionary in the area surrounding Naples.

At once he made his mark. The early eighteenth century was a time for speakers to use pompous oratorical styles and florid • verbosity. It was also an era characterised by harsh confessors who gave severe penances. Alphonsus rejected both of these characteristics. He preached simply. He proclaimed to '' the people the same message that Jesus Christ had spoken 1,700 years before, "Rerepent and believe the good news. " He spoke to be heard and understood. He inflamed hearts with a deep love for their Saviour, Jesus Christ. His goal was to have people follow Christ more closely.

Alphonsus would later give his Redemptorists missionaries the same instructions. When he sent them out to preach he told them that their sermons were to be simple in style yet well constructed and delivered with a clear manner. Everyone in the church should be able to hear and understand their message.

In the confessional, Alphonsus treated people as penitents to be saved and not as criminals to be punished. He saw that frightening or threatening the sinner needlessly would do little good. He could always bring the sinner to show a sorrow for the sins he had committed. Alphonsus believed that the deeper a person had fallen into sin, the more kindness he would have to show as a confessor to win back the person to Jesus Christ.

Along with his love for the poor and his great ability to preach and hear confessions, young Alphonsus yearned to go off to the foreign •' missions. It was a desire he was to have for the rest of his life and one that led him in 1729 to become the chaplain at a college for the training of missionaries to China. It was here that he met Father Thomas Falcoia. This holy priest was twice as old as Alphonsus and was to be his confessor and spiritual director for the next ten years. He was also the one wt7o would put Alphonsus in touch with Sister Mary Celeste. Alphonsus, Mother Celeste, and Father Falcoia would all have important roles in God's plan for the starting of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, the Redemptorists.

Mother Celeste had been having visions about a new religious order of Sisters following a specific rule and living a cloistered life. Alphonsus, acting with his lawyer's precision, spoke to Mother Celeste and determined that the visions were truly from God. He helped Sister to carry out the visions and start the Redemptoristine Sisters. From that first convent in 1731 they have spread throughout the world, and still today the Redemptoristine Sisters give witness to the kingdom of God through their contemplative way of life. (For further information, write to the Redemptoristine Nuns,

        Mother Prioress.
        Redemptoristine Nuns,
        Monastery of the Most Holy Redeemer,
        64 Maitland Vale Rd., Bolwarra Heights, NSW Australia.2320
        Phone: Aust (02) 4930 1739 )
 

Founder of the Redemptorists

Less than a year after the Redemptoristine Sisters had begun their new order, the time was right for Alphonsus to set out with a small band of men to start a new religious order of his own. At first they would be called the Congregation of the Most Holy Saviour. Very soon they would become the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (C.SS.R.). Today they are more commonly known as the Redemptorists. Once again it was Mother Celeste who was having the visions and Father Falcoia who was instrumental in providing the impetus and selecting the location for the first foundation at Scala; but it was Alphonsus who was actually directing the small band of men. His spirit inspired the early men and remains with the Redemptorists to the present day.

Only with much hesitation and after long soul-searching did Alphonsus set off for the little town of Scala. In that first group there were seven men banded together to live a common life, to follow the Gospel more closely, to imitate Christ in all they did, and to preach the GospeI to the poor and to those who were most abandoned. It was a great idea.

Unfortunately there were many obstacles in the way of the new Congregation. More than forty years would elapse before the Congregation really took hold.

It was the autumn of 1732 when Alphonsus left his beloved Naples to journey to the little town of Scala. On November 9, 1732, the Redemptorists were officially begun. Alphonsus had four followers that first day and three more men were on their way. Dissension set in almost immediately and five months later only one of the original band had remained faithful to Alphonsus. He must have been more than a little discouraged but he could not abandon t7is divine mission.

Fortunately, in the early years of the Congregation two men ca me for every one that departed. It was not long before the Redemptorists had outgrown the little house in Scala. They accepted the Villa delgichiavi as a novitiate for the new candidates. The young recruits (and some who were not so young) could come to this house and spend a year or two getting to know themselves, growing closer to God, and being filled with the spirit of Alphonsus and his missionary zeal for souls. I n 1736 a further expansion brought the Redemptorists to Ciorani, the house that was to be the cradle of the new Congregation.
 

The Redemptorists Grow

Alphonsus found the time to spend two years away from the Redemptorists directing a general mission throughout the Archdiocese of Naples. It was the death of his friend and spiritual director Father Falcoia in 1743 that brought him back to his Congregation as its leader. Soon the tremendous zeal and apostolic success of his band of missionaries reached the ears of the pope in Rome. Unfortunately the local rulers were not so impressed, and they made things difficult for the Redemptorists by limiting the number of mission houses they could occupy.

Although this was a hindrance to their work and especially to their growth as a religious order, it did not stop Alphonsus and his Redemptorists. In 1740 they made the religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience along with the oath of perseverance for the first time. Three years later they repeated the vows at the first General Chapter. It was also at this meeting that they voted to make Alphonsus their leader, or Rector Major, for life. At this time, too, they drew up the rules and constitutions that would govern their daily living and determine the procedures to be followed in governing the Redemptorists.

The time had come for the Congregation to seek the official approval of the Holy Fat her. It had been in existence for over fifteen years. There were four houses of Redemptorists living in community. Father Villani was the priest chosen to represent the Congregation in Rome. He was gone for nearly a year during which time the men fasted and prayed that the rule might be approved. It was on February 25, 1749, that Pope Benedict XIV gave his official stamp of approval to the Redemptorist way of life.

This rule approved by the Pope had come directly from God through the visions of Mother Mary Celeste. Alphonsus then put the Word of God into written form. Central to the Redemptorist way of life was a spirit of poverty, mortification, and humility coupled with a great apostolic zeal for souls.

All Redemptorists were called to centre their lives on a special virtue assigned to each month. The year would begin with faith, hope, love of God, and love of neighbour. The vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience received consideration next. Humility, mortification, recollection, and prayer followed. The virtue of self-denial and love of the Cross completed the twelve-month cycle.

Redemptorists were also to concentrate on the imitation of Christ and to develop special devotion to Mary, his Mother. These were the marks of a true Redemptorist in 1732. They are still the signs of a good Redemptorist today.
 

Alphonsus the Writer

Alphonsus had more than enough to keep him busy just by doing his work as a priest, missionary, confessor, and leader of all the Redemptorists. Somehow he found time to be a writer, and what a writer he was! This was best shown by his Moral Theology. More than any other single book, this work revolutionised the thought of the whole Church. It was a fresh outlook in an age characterised by the rigorism of the Jansenists. Alphonsus did for moral theology in the middle of the eighteenth century what St. Thomas Aquinas had done for dogmatic theology several centuries earlier.

It took an extraordinary person to perform this task. And what makes his work more incredible is that it has stood the test of time over the last 200 years. Even today, Alphonsus Liguori is frequently quoted by popes and moral theologians as an authority when a moral matter is brought into question. As testimony to his vast knowledge, Alphonsus made 80,000 citations from 800 different authors in the course of writing his monumental Moral Theology.

Moral Theology established Alphonsus as a theologian beyond equal, yet this scholarly approach was not his usual style of writing. In most of his works his purpose was to reach through the written word the people he could not reach through the spoken word. He did not want to promote great theories. He wanted to help people in their everyday life. He made a conscious effort to move them into the saving arms of Christ.

Alphonsus wrote for priests, Brothers, and Sisters. He instructed them in their religious life and explained to them the duties they had as servants of the people bringing the message of Jesus Christ to all men. He wrote for ordinary lay people telling them how to love God, avoid sin, and win eternal salvation. Besides his booklet of prayers, Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament, he also wrote The Glories of Mary in which he shared his own special love for the Mother of God.

Alphonsus is known to have written 111 different works. In his own lifetime these works went through 402 editions. He lived to see his Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament go through 40 editions alone. In the less than 200 years since his death, the works of Alphonsus Liguori have gone through more than 20,000 separate editions and been translated into at least 61 languages.
 

Alphonsus the Bishop

Early in life Alphonsus had made a vow never to waste a moment of time. In 1762, at the age of 65, he began to think about slowing down.

He was still Rector Major over all the Redemptorists. He preached occasionally on the missions and still spent much time at his writing. He also suffered from ill health. Alphonsus was afflicted with severe asthma and migraine headaches. He was losing his sight; his hearing was weakening; he was a bit lame. However there was still work to be done, and the pope asked his help.

Pope Clement XIII appointed Alphonsus Liguori as the bishop to the diocese of St. Agatha of the Goths. Alphonsus listed for the pope every possible reason he could think of to avoid this appointment. Pope Clement would hear none of this, so Alphonsus became a bishop. He found himself with 30,000 souls, 17 religious houses, and 400 priests. For various reasons, the faith of the people was very weak. In no time at all Alphonsus had begun a general mission throughout the diocese. He visited every parish, reorganised the seminary, and revitalised the clergy. The diocese made a complete turnaround and became an example of holiness for all of Italy to see.

The health of Alphonsus continued to worsen. An attack of rheumatism in 1768 left him partially paralysed. He asked several times to be allowed to retire but the pope would hear nothing of it. Even if he could do nothing else, so the pope reasoned, the prayerful example of Alphonsus would be enough. Finally in April 1775, at the age of 78, Alphonsus was allowed to retire. He returned to his beloved Redemptorists at Pagani and felt that his life would end shortly.
 

Final Years

With his return to Pagani, Alphonsus once again assumed leadership of the Redemptorists. His relationship to his men was warm and personal. Authority, to him, meant service. He conducted himself not as their lord and master, but as a loving mother or a pleading father. He suggested rather than demanded, encouraged rather than forced.

Alphonsus ended his career as a writer in 1778 with the last of his 111 published works, but he continued to write to his Redemptorists through letters sent to each of the Redemptorist houses. In these he spoke as clearly and as directly as his sermons of prior times. Alphonsus had a great love for the students and novices of the Congregation. He knew them all by name and took a personal interest in their individual progress through the course of studies and along the path of holiness. He made sure that they did not overwork or overstudy, but that they got sufficient exercise, fresh air, and recreation. This fatherly concern shown by Alphonsus did not stop with the students but carried over to his dealings with all the Redemptorist priests and Brothers.

But all was not peace and serenity in other areas. Relations with the local political authorities continued to be very strained. The king would not approve the rule of the Redemptorists. In fact, over the years he restricted their missionary activity, the number of their houses, the amount of their funds, and their plans for expansion. There was even talk that the king might ban the Redemptorists from his territory completely. With this in mind the Redemptorists established foundations in the Papal States. These houses would be safe regardless of the rulers of Naples.

In the years 1777 to 1779 things began to look up for the Redemptorists. Some of the people who opposed the Congregation died and some new supporters were found within the court of the king. It was time to seek royal approbation. Alphonsus gave Father Majone the task of amending the rule so that it would be approved by the king. Father Majone and his companions felt that drastic changes were necessary. The three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience were eliminated. The authority of the superiors was greatly diminished. All notions of a common life were ended. Obviously, these changes also destroyed the substance of the Redemptorist religious way of life.

This amended rule was brought to Alphonsus for his signature. Suffering from many physical afflictions and trusting in the testimony of Father Majone and the others who gave the impression that nothing substantial had been changed, Alphonsus signed the new rule. He had been tricked! The king approved the rule as it was presented to him, but what followed for the Redemptorists was a disaster that led to separation and almost complete extinction.

Were it not for the houses in the Papal States the Redemptorists could have been totally destroyed. A papal decree separated the Redemptorists into two groups. Those living in the kingdom of Naples were to follow the new rule, which was really no rule at all. Those of the Papal States followed the old rule. In effect, Alphonsus, as the signer of the new rule and as someone living in the region of Naples, was excluded from the Congregation he had founded.

Father de Paula became the new head of the Redemptorists. Only in 1793, after the death of Alphonsus, were matters straightened out between the Redemptorists of the Papal States and those who remained in the Kingdom of Naples. Final unification of the two groups took place in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Along with this great cross, Alphonsus was to suffer great spiritual trials in the last eighteen months of his life. For nearly ninety years he had been a model of holiness, prayer, and mortification. Yet at the end of his life he was severely tested. He was tempted against every article of the faith and against every virtue. He suffered from scruples and a grave fear of going to hell. He was bothered constantly by demonic illusions. Only in the very last days of his life did a sense of peace return to his soul. He died in the early hours of August 1, 1787, certain that his last journey would be to heaven where he would see clearly the God he had served so faithfully throughout his long life.
 

Conclusion

There are so many things that Saint Alphonsus Liguori did with excellence. He was a writer, bishop, preacher, and confessor. He was also a lawyer, poet, musician, architect, and painter. His life of prayer, mortification, and humility has inspired many others to follow in his footsteps. His zeal for souls cannot be matched. Even while he lived people recognized that Alphonsus would surely be declared a saint. Pope Pius VI, the man who had excluded Alphonsus from his own Congregation, began the case for his canonisation in 1796. In 1816 Alphonsus was declared blessed. In 1839 the name of Alphonsus Mary Liguori was en rolled in the list of the saints. It was declared, in 1871, that Alphonsus Liguori was a Doctor of the Church.

This honour, rarely given, shows just how highly his teachings were valued. In 1950 he was given the title of patron for confessors and moral theologians.

These are all great achievements but maybe the greatest achievement of all was the founding of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. Alphonsus once said:

Saint Alphonsus Liguori may have left this world in 1787, but nearly 200 years later there are 7,000 men carrying his spirit forward.

Every day these men do a little more of the Father's work. Every year more men take on the work of the Redemptorists and live the life of Saint Alphonsus. Pray for these men and for the work they are called to do. Pray also that young men will continue to hear God's call and become Redemptorists, men like their founder, Saint Alphonsus Liguori.