Monday, August 02, 2010

Today's Saint (August 2 ): Alphonsus Mary de Ligouri

One of the Doctors of the Church, Alphonsus (1696 - 1787) was born to a Neapolitan nobleman and a very fervent Christian mother.

His family also consisted of six siblings, two of whom became priests and two nuns.

In his early life he was a lawyer; however, at the age of 27 he lost a case and realized his true calling. He then began studying for the priesthood, and was ordained in 1726, quickly becoming famous for his preaching in and around the city of Naples.

He subsequently founded what would become known as the Redemptorists, whose focus at that time was preaching the gospel to the poor in the rural areas around Naples. Later he became a Bishop, and died at the age of 91, having retired because of ill health into the Redemptorist House, where he suffered severe spiritual trials and darkness.

Alphonsus wrote many devotional and spiritual works, and what is known as his "Stations of the Cross" is a favorite of mine, and has been posted for years on our web site, episcopalnet.org.

A man of many gifts, and yet a man dedicated specifically to prayer, he summed up his treatise on grace with this famous maxim - "He who prays is saved, he who does not pray is damned."

O God, who didst inflame blessed Alphonsus, thy Confessor and Bishop, with zeal for the salvation of souls, and didst thereby increase thy Church with a new offspring: grant, we pray thee, that we may in such wise be taught by his wholesome counsels, and strengthened by his ensample, that we may be counted worthy to attain in gladness unto thee. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (People's Anglican Missal, page S 75)

The above picture is a statue on Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, and was created by Pietro Tenerani in 1839.

[NOTE: Alphonsus is a "Supplemental Saint" - that is, he is listed in the Anglican Missal's "Supplement to the Proper of Saints - Masses Observed in Certain Places." As such, his feast day is not posted on the Ordo Kalendar linked on this blog.]