CrucisSt. Alphonsus Liguori
St. Alphonsus Liguori was born on 27 September 1696 near Naples, Italy, and died on 1 August 1787 at Pagani. A brilliant young man, he earned doctorates in both civil and canon law by the age of sixteen and practiced as a lawyer, but abandoned the profession after a painful courtroom defeat and a call to serve God. Ordained a priest, he devoted himself to preaching missions among the abandoned poor, and in 1732 founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists) to continue that work.
Later made bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti, he is honored as a Doctor of the Church and one of the most important moral theologians in Catholic history; his Moral Theology charted a balanced path between rigorism and laxity, and he is patron of confessors and moralists. He also wrote enduring devotional classics such as The Glories of Mary and Visits to the Blessed Sacrament. He was canonized in 1839 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1871.
Selected quotes
“The missionary goes where souls are dying without the sacraments, without a priest, without hope — and he brings them all three.”
“God does not ask for extraordinary penances; He asks for ordinary fidelity — the heroism of daily duty done with love.”
“The preacher who goes to the poor with nothing but the Gospel and the sacraments has brought them everything — everything else is secondary to this.”