Saint Alphonsus Liguori C.Ss.R. |
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Bishop of Sant’Agata de’ Goti | |
Metropolis | Benevento |
Diocese | Sant'Agata de' Goti |
See | Sant'Agata de' Goti |
Appointed | 14 June 1762 |
Installed | 20 June 1762 |
Term ended | 26 June 1775 |
Predecessor | Flaminius Danza |
Successor | Onofrio de Rossi |
Orders | |
Ordination | 21 December 1726 |
Consecration | 20 June 1762 by Ferdinando Maria de Rossi |
Personal details | |
Born |
Marianella, Campania, Kingdom of Naples |
27 September 1696
Died | 1 August 1787 Pagani, Campania, Kingdom of Naples |
(aged 90)
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Sainthood | |
Feast day |
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Venerated in | Catholic Church |
Title as Saint | Bishop, Moral Theologian, Confessor and Doctor of the Church |
Beatified | 15 September 1816 Rome, Papal States by Pope Pius VII |
Canonized | 26 May 1839 Rome, Papal States by Pope Gregory XVI |
Patronage | Pagani, Cancello, Naples (co-patron); arthritis, confessors, moralists |
Shrines |
Ordination history of Alphonsus Liguori |
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History | |
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Priestly ordination
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Date of ordination | 21 December 1726 |
Episcopal consecration
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Consecrated by | Ferdinando Maria de Rossi |
Date of consecration | 20 June 1762 |
Alphonsus Liguori sometimes called Alphonsus Maria Liguori (27 September 1696 – 1 August 1787), was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian.
He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti. A prolific writer, he published nine editions of his Moral Theology in his lifetime, in addition to other devotional and ascetic works and letters. Among his best known works are The Glories of Mary and The Way of the Cross, the latter still used in parishes during Lenten devotions.
He was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. One of the most widely read Catholic authors, he is the patron saint of confessors.
He was born in Marianella, near Naples, then part of the Kingdom of Naples. He was the eldest of eight children of Giuseppe and Anna Cavalieri Liguori. Two days after he was born, he was baptized at the Church of Our Lady the Virgin as Alphonsus Mary Anthony John Cosmas Damian Michael Gaspard de' Liguori. The family was of noble and ancient lineage, but the branch to which the Saint belonged had become somewhat impoverished. Alphonsus's father, Don Joseph de' Liguori, was a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys. His mother was of Spanish descent.
Liguori learned to ride and fence but was never a good shot because of poor eyesight.Myopia and chronic asthma precluded a military career so his father had him educated for the legal profession. He was taught by tutors before entering the University of Naples, where he graduated with doctorates in civil and canon law at 16. He remarked later that he was so small at the time that he was almost buried in his doctor's gown and that all the spectators laughed. When he was 18, like many other nobles, he joined the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy with whom he assisted in the care of the sick at the hospital for "incurables".