By Corazon Damo-Santiago
INDEED, life is precious. This concept inspired the development of sciences on the hows and whys of human existence.
Moral Theology deals with the greatest reality about man’s life. That the fullness of life can be attained only when he loses himself in the greatest reality—that he “wishes to enter into life, to keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17).
Moral Theology is a science which studies human behavior in relation to Christian revelations—the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, is “probably the greatest moral theologian in the history of the Catholic church.” His book, Moral Theology, earned him the respect of church leaders that the Vatican, in a decree on July 22, 1831, declared that “priests could follow any opinion of Saint Alphonsus on moral questions,” Fr. Nil Guillemette in The Cedars of Lebanon notes.
Pope Pius VII (1800-1823) even wished to have as relics the three fingers in Saint Alphonsus’s right hand, which he used to write his books.
A prolific writer Saint Alphonsus have written more than 100 books about Jesus Christ, the Eucharist, the glories of Mary, death, martyrs and ways to perfection.
‘Give yourself to Me’
Saint Alphonsus de Liguori was born on September 27, 1696, in Naples, Italy. At an early age, his mother taught him love for God and strict compliance to religious duties, while his father was charged with his education.
He was only 16 in 1712 when he finished his doctorate degree in canon and civil law. Three years after, he was admitted to the bar.
In 1723, he lost a case that so disappointed him, that an interior voice urged him: “Leave the world and give yourself to me.”
Despite oppositions he entered the seminary and was ordained priest in 1726. A very good preacher, it is said that even the old and the poor in the congregation understood the essence of his homilies.
He was appointed bishop of Agatha in 1756, a post he occupied for 19 years. He sold his carriage and Episcopal ring to raise money for the poor. He suspended priests who did not put importance in Eucharistic celebrations and celebrated Mass in less than 15 minutes.
Saint Alphonsus wrote and talked against Jansenism, a heresy that endorsed very strict morality.
Jansenism was proposed by French Bishop Jansen who wrote a book on the topic which declared that “only the most holy people should receive Holy Communion frequently” and only those with extensive preparation and practice of virtue, Leo Trese says in The Faith Explained.
The heresy persisted, making Saint Pius X issue a decree that those with the right intention with an eager desire to be united with Jesus and have no mortal sin can go to frequent communion.
Loves God par excellence
Because all people are sinners and vary only in degrees, Saint Alphonsus declared that “penitents should be treated as souls to be saved rather than as criminals to be punished.” He never refused absolution to a penitent.
Rev. Alban Butler in Lives of the Saints praised Saint Alphonsus for his love for sinners. Fr. Gaspar Cajone, his friend for many years, admired his purity of intention, while Fr. Giovanni Mazzini, praised him for his divine precept of loving God above all things.
Father Guillemette wrote about his patience in enduring trials. For the last 20 years before his death, he suffered terrible rheumatic pains and in his eighties, was crippled, deaf and almost blind. These inconveniences in life he suffered graciously and quietly without a trace of complaint.
He also went through spiritual dryness, persecutions, betrayals, temptations of all kinds and “dark night of the soul.”
All sufferings he bore without bitterness, even adding voluntary mortifications to all his sufferings.
The founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, or Redemptorist, died in Nocera de Pagani on August 1,1787, at the age of 91.
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 Laguna.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons