The story of Saint Alphonsus de Liguori

A brilliant lawyer turned priest

Saint Alphonsus was born in 1696 in Naples, into a noble and Christian family. A child prodigy, he obtained his doctorate in civil and ecclesiastical law at just 16. He soon became a renowned lawyer in Naples. Despite his success, however, a court case in which he was the victim of a profound injustice turned his life upside down. At the age of 27, he gave up his legal career and decided to devote himself to God.

Against his father's advice, Alphonsus entered the seminary and was ordained a priest in 1726. He immediately set about serving the poor and forgotten in the working-class districts of Naples. He preached, confessed, visited the sick and wrote his first spiritual works. He wanted a pastoral ministry that was close to the people, clear, merciful and rooted in the Gospel.

Founder of the Redemptorists

In 1732, struck by the material and spiritual misery of the countryside around Naples, Alphonsus founded a new congregation: the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists. Their mission: to proclaim the Good News to the poorest, most abandoned and excluded people in the towns and countryside. Their motto: "Copiosa apud eum redemptio" - With Him, redemption abounds.

Alphonse insisted on simple, warm preaching that was accessible to all. He wanted to help everyone rediscover the love of Christ, the beauty of forgiveness, the grace of prayer. Under his leadership, the congregation grew rapidly and spread throughout Italy.

A preacher of morality and prayer

Saint Alphonsus was also a great moralist theologian. In his time, the Church was riven by two extreme currents: Jansenist rigorism and moral laxity. Alphonse proposed a balanced path that was both demanding and merciful, based on a conscience enlightened by grace. His major work, Moral Theology, would be a reference for confessors and seminaries for centuries.

But he was above all a master of the spiritual life. He wrote more than 100 works: treatises, prayers, meditations, canticles. Among his most famous writings: The Glories of Mary, Visits to the Blessed Sacrament, Preparation for Death.

He taught that prayer is essential:

"He who prays saves himself, he who does not pray damns himself. "

But this prayer, he says, must be simple, trusting, filial.

An end of life in suffering and holiness

Alphonse became Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti in 1762, despite his reluctance. He exercised an active ministry, visiting his parishes, teaching the faith and reforming abuses. After 13 years, exhausted and ill, he obtained permission to retire.

He spent the last years of his life in suffering: paralysed, almost blind, abandoned even by some of his brothers. Yet he remained faithful, praying and offering everything to the Lord. He died on 1 August 1787, aged 90.

Canonised in 1839, he was proclaimed Doctor of the Church in 1871, and patron saint of confessors and moralists.