Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguuori, Bishop

Alphonsus  Maria de Liguori was born in 1696 to a distinguished and affluent Neapolitan family. A prodigy, he earned a doctorate in civil and canon law at just 16 and went on to become a brilliant advocate in the Naples court, winning every trial he defended over eight years. However, feeling an insatiable thirst for God and a desire for spiritual perfection, he began to sense a different calling. Disillusioned with the corruption and injustice of the judicial system, he abandoned his lucrative career in 1723, despite his father’s objections, and pursued the priesthood. Under the guidance of excellent mentors, he delved into the study of Holy Scripture, church history, and mysticism, acquiring a comprehensive theological education that would serve him well in his future endeavors.

After being ordained a priest in 1726, Alphonsus worked with the Diocesan Congregation of Apostolic Missions, evangelizing and catechizing the poorest segments of Neapolitan society. Despite their struggles with vice and crime, he proclaimed the Gospel with love and taught them fundamental truths. With patience, he encouraged them to pray and improve their lives. His efforts yielded remarkable results: groups of people began gathering in private homes and workshops to pray and meditate under the guidance of trained catechists. When these meetings moved to city chapels at the Archbishop’s request, they became known as “Evening Chapels.” These gatherings fostered moral education, social healing, and mutual aid, nearly eradicating theft, violence, and prostitution among the poor.

Despite the vastly different social and religious context of St. Alfonza’s time, the “Evening Chapels” remain a compelling model for missionary work that can inspire us today, particularly in the “new evangelization” of the poor and in fostering a more just, fraternal, and solidarity-driven human coexistence. While priests are entrusted with spiritual service, well-formed laypeople can also become effective Christian leaders, serving as a genuine gospel presence in the heart of society.

After he began to think about the evangelization of the pagan nations – Alphonsus at the age of 35 – he came into contact with the country people and shepherds in the interior regions of the Kingdom of Naples and – struck by their religious ignorance and their neglect – he decided to leave the capital and devote himself to these persons, the poor spiritually and materially. In 1732, he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, which he placed under the care of Bishop Tommaso Falcoia, and he himself became its superior. These religious, led by Alfonso, became authentic itinerant missionaries who went even to the most remote villages, encouraging conversion and persistence in the Christian life primarily through prayer. Even today, Redemptorists spread in many countries of the world with new forms of apostolate continue this evangelistic mission. I think of them with appreciation and encourage them to always be faithful to the example of their holy founder.

Admired for his goodness and pastoral zeal, Alfonz was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Sant’Agata dei Goti, but he renounced this service – due to the various illnesses he suffered – in 1775 with the permission of Pope Pius VI. The same Pope in 1787, when he learned of his death, which came after many sufferings, exclaimed: “He was a saint!” and he was not wrong. Alfonz was canonized in 1839. In 1871 he was declared a Teacher of the Church. This title belongs to him for several reasons. Above all, for the rich teaching of moral theology, which appropriately expresses Catholic teaching, so much so that he was Pope Pius XII. proclaimed “patron of confessors and moralists”. In his time, an extremely rigorous interpretation of the moral life became very widespread, also because of Jansenism, which instead of nurturing trust and hope in God’s mercy, incited fear and presented God as gloomy and strict, far removed from the one who was revealed to us by Jesus.

St. Above all, in his main work entitled Moral Theology, Alfonz presents a balanced and convincing synthesis of the requirements of God’s law engraved in our hearts, fully revealed by Christ and reliably interpreted by the Church, as well as the dynamism of conscience and human freedom, which precisely through adherence to truth and goodness enable maturation and full realization of the person. Alfonz advised the shepherds of souls and confessors to be faithful to Catholic moral teaching, emphasizing at the same time a kind, receptive and pleasant attitude, so that penitents can feel accompanied, supported and encouraged on their journey of faith and Christian life. Sv. Alfonz never tired of repeating that priests are a visible sign of God’s invisible mercy, which forgives and sanctifies the mind and heart of the sinner to convert and change his life. In our time, in which there are clear signs of a loss of moral consciousness and – it must be acknowledged – a certain loss of respect for the sacrament of reconciliation, the teachings of St. Alfonza is still extremely relevant.

Along with theological works, Alfons created a number of other writings intended for the religious formation of the people. Their style is simple and pleasant. Read and translated into many languages ​​the works of St. Alfonza contributed to the formation of folk spirituality of the last two centuries. Some of them are texts whose reading is very useful even today, such as Eternal Maxims, The Glory of Mary and The Way of Love. Especially this last work represents the synthesis of his ideas and is his crowning work. He strongly emphasizes the necessity of prayer, which enables the opening of God’s grace to the daily fulfillment of God’s will and the achievement of one’s own sanctification. He writes about prayer: “God does not deprive anyone of the grace of prayer, by which help is obtained to overcome every lust and every temptation. And I say, I repeat and I will always repeat as long as I live that all our salvation consists in prayer.” This is where the famous saying “He who prays will be saved” comes from (Del gran mezzo della preghiera e opuscoli affini. Opere ascetiche II. Roma 1962 , p.171). On this occasion, I recall the call of my predecessor, the venerable Servant of God John Paul II: “Our Christian communities must become “schools of prayer”… It is therefore necessary that education in prayer becomes an essential point of every pastoral planning” (Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, 33,34).

Among the forms of prayer fervently recommended by St. A visit to the Blessed Sacrament or – as we would say today – adoration, be it short or long, private or shared before the Eucharist, stands out for Alfonzo. “Certainly”, writes Alfons, “among all pieties this one – the adoration of the sacramental Jesus – is the first right after the sacraments, it is the one most pleasing to God and the most useful to us… Oh, how sweet it is to stand with faith in front of the altar… entrusting our needs to him, as a friend does to a friend in whom he fully trusts!” (Visitation of the Blessed Sacrament and Mary for each day of the month. Introduction). Alphonsian spirituality is indeed extremely Christological, with a focal point in Christ and his Gospel. Meditation on the mystery of the incarnation and passion of the Lord is often the object of his sermons. In these events, salvation is offered to all people “abundantly.” And precisely because it is Christological, Alphonsian spirituality is also Marian. Particularly devoted to Mary, he points to her role in the history of salvation: Companion of Redemption, Mediatrix of Grace, Mother, Advocate and Queen. In addition, St. Alfonz affirms that reverence for Mary will be a great comfort to us at the moment of our death. He was convinced that meditating on our eternal destiny, on our vocation to always share in God’s bliss, as well as on the tragic possibility of damnation, contributes to living with peace and effort and facing the reality of death always with full confidence in God’s goodness.

St. Alfonz Mária The provided text is an empty string. If you meant to provide a text for rewriting, please provide it within the triple quotes. de Ligouri is an example of a zealous shepherd who won souls by proclaiming the Gospel and administering the sacraments in a gentle and kind-hearted way, born of an intense relationship with God, the Infinite Goodness. He had a realistic optimistic view of the sources of goodness that the Lord gives to all people and emphasized the feelings of the heart as well as the mind for love of God and neighbor.

In conclusion, I would like to remind you that our saint – like St. Francis de Sales, whom I spoke about a few weeks ago – emphasizes that holiness is accessible to every Christian: “To a religious as a religious, a layman as a layman, a priest as a priest, a husband as a husband, a merchant as a merchant, a soldier as a soldier, and similarly talking about everyone else position” (Pratica di amare Gesú Cristo. Opere ascetiche I, Roma 1933, p. 79). We thank the Lord that by his providence he raises up saints and teachers in different places and times who speak the same language, to invite us to grow in faith and to live our Christianity with love and joy in simple daily actions, so that we walk on the path of holiness, on the way to God and true joy.