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Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Saint
Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori
C.Ss.R.
Bishop of Sant’Agata de’ Goti
St Alphonsus Liguori.jpg
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 (1696-09-27)27 September 1696
Marianella, Campania, Kingdom of Naples
Died 1 August 1787(1787-08-01) (aged 90)
Pagani, Campania, Kingdom of Naples
Denomination Roman Catholic
Sainthood
Feast day
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
  • Basilica Sanctuary of St. Alphonsus di Liguori
  • 1, Piazza Sant'Alfonso di Liguori,
  • Pagani, Salerno, Italy

Saint Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori, C.Ss.R. (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, Alphonsus Liguori is the patron saint of confessors.

Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori 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, though 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 due to 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 age sixteen. He remarked later that he was so small at the time as to be almost buried in his doctor's gown and that all the spectators laughed. When he was 18, like many 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".


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