HE is considered a great theologian, “probably the greatest moral theologian in the history of the Catholic church.” And few can equal his academic accomplishment—a doctorate of canon and civil law at 16! The pope, during Alphonsus de’ Liguori’s lifetime, declared that “priests could follow any opinion in the Moral Theology, a book he wrote.
To his 20 years of rheumatic pains was added more sufferings. Ten years before his death, he was crippled, deaf and nearly blind.
On the twilight of his life, the honors attached to de’ Liguori’s name did not matter much. He had to “suffer persecutions from members of the congregation. Betrayed by his own brothers, he was expelled from the order he founded.”
The papers he was requested to sign for the royal approval of the congregation he founded, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, “greatly altered the original rule approved by Pope Benedict XIV in 1749,” A.J.M. Mausolfe and J.K. Mausolfe said in Saint Companions for Each Day. The result: He was “stripped of all authority, virtually splitting the congregation ang plunging him into deep anguish.”
One-and-a-half years before his death, de Liguori went into a “dark night of the soul,” besieged by doubts, temptations and worries.
The way to serve
Alphonsus Marie Anthony John Cosmos Damien Michael Gaspard de’ Liguori was born on September 27, 1696, in Marianella near Naples, Italy. He is the eldest among the eight children of Giuseppe and Anna Cavalieri de’ Liquori, a devout and noble family. Sickly and myopic, he was educated at home before he entered the University of Naples, where he finished two doctorate degrees in Canon and Civil Law at the age of 16.
During the graduation rites, the spectators laughed at him, according to Harold Castle in “Saint Alphonsus de’ Liguori” in the Catholic Encyclopedia. The reason: He was a small guy in a large and regal academic gown. He was “almost buried in his doctor’s gown.”
When he was 27, he lost a case in court for the first time. His emotional turmoil was overshadowed by a soothing voice within: “Leave the world and give yourself to me.”
A novice in the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, he was ordained priest on December 21, 1726. He became a much sought-after preacher and confessor among the poor in Naples. He refuted Jansenism, a heresy on very strict morality.
He considered penitents and people ignorant of the Christian faith abandoned to themselves as “souls to be saved rather than criminals to be punished.” So, he did not refuse absolution to penitents who approached him for confession.
To enhance prayer life and piety among the parishioners, he founded Evening Chaplets, chapels managed by young people. At the time of his death there were 72 chaplets with approximately 10,000 active members.
In 1732 he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer to oversee the spiritual nourishment of the neglected people in Naples, which was approved in 1749. His appointment as bishop of Sant’ Agata dei Goti in 1762 was a great challenge. He had to reform the entire diocese.
In a span of 13 years, his tactful reforms covered seminaries, monasteries, missions, liturgical deviations and parishioners. He suspended a priest who celebrated Mass hurriedly—“in less than 15 minutes.”
He sold his Episcopal ring and carriage to augment funds for the poor. And he continued to write his scholastic and spiritual thoughts. He wrote a total of 111 books.
Spiritual writers agree that his book Moral Theology is a masterpiece. It had nine editions during his lifetime and 60 editions during the century after it was written. On July 22, 1831, the Holy See decreed that priests can follow all his opinions on moral issues.
Interior struggle
The last years of his life was spent in prayer, aware that perseverance in “many things that seem to us as misfortunes are in reality graces,” and a “crown is given only to those who persevere.”
He exemplified the words of wisdom he shared in his books. The Way of Salvation and Perfection, and Preparation for Death are great spiritual classic.
On August 1, 1787, de’ Liguori—the spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet and scholastic philosopher—died in Campagna, Italy. He no longer saw the restoration of peace and unity in the congregation in 1793.
He was was beatified by Pope Pius VII on September 15, 1816, and canonized by Pope Gregory XVI on May 26, 1839.
He was declared Doctor of the Church on March 23, 1871, by Pope Pius IX.
Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris College in Calauan, Laguna.