CSVF Blog

We’re almost there. There remain just a few wrinkles to iron out, and then the blog should be back full force.

Thanks for your patience.

No Comments »

I will be away on retreat until August 15.  Please pray for me and the other four Dominicans who are preparing to make solemn vows this fall.

Know that I take all of your intentions with me into this week of quiet prayer.

2 Comments »

Light of the Church, teacher of truth,
rose of patience, ivory of chastity,
you freely poured forth the waters of wisdom;
preacher of grace, unite us to the blessed.

From the Dominican Ordo:

Dominic de Guzman was born at Caleruega, Spain, around 1172-73.  After completing his studies at Palencia, he was ordained a priest and became a Canon Regular in the Cathedral Chapter of Osma.  While on a diplomatic mission with his bishop, Diego d’Azevedo, he experienced first hand the Albigensian heresy which was at that time widespread in southern France. From that time on he determined to dedicate his life to the ministry of preaching and to live a life of simplicity.  Eventually he was supported in his work by a monastery of nuns at Prouille which he had directed from its foundation in 1206.

Convinced of the need for a group of trained preachers who would spread the truth of the Gospel by their preaching and teaching and would live in apostolic poverty, in 1215 at Toulouse Dominic organized his fellow preachers into a new religious Order which was formally approved by Pope Honorius III on December 22, 1216.  His own love of prayer and study, his zeal for the salvation of souls, and his belief in apostolic poverty became the foundation stones of his Order.  On August 15, 1217, he dispersed this small band throughout Europe and from such beginnings the Order grew.

It was said of Saint Dominic that “he either spoke with God or about God.” He died at Bologna on August 6, 1221.

On this Feast of Our Holy Father Dominic, we sing praise to God for our redemption in Christ and for the wondrous pathway to Christ’s kingship and priesthood he has revealed to us through his Preacher of Grace.

With devotion to our illustrious founder we sing today the responsory sung by generations of his sons and daughters–the O spem miram.  This ancient chant recalls the paternal charity St. Dominic promised to show his followers after his death.

"O spem miram" Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

O spem miram, quam dedisti mortis hora te flentibus, dum post mortem promisisti te profuturum fratribus! Imple, Pater, quod dixisti nos tuis juvans precibus.

V.  Qui tot signis claruisti in aegrorum corporibus, nobis opem ferens Christi, aegris medere moribus.  Imple, Pater, quod dixisti, nos tuis juvans precibus.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.  Imple, Pater, quod dixisti, nos tuis juvans precibus.

(O wonderful hope, which you gave to those who wept for you at the hour of your death, promising that after your death you would be helpful to your brethren! Fulfill, Father, what you have said, and help us by your prayers.

V.  You shone on the bodies of the sick by so many miracles: bring us the help of Christ to heal our sick souls.  Fulfill, Father, what you have said, and help us by your prayers.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  Fulfill, Father, what you have said, and help us by your prayers.)

For more on the life and holiness of Saint Dominic, click here and here.  For a St. Dominic’s Day reflection written by Fr. Brian Mulcahy, OP, click here.

In your prayers today please remember especially our Province’s eleven postulants.  They begin their novitiate today by receiving the habit of St. Dominic and their new names in religion.  Through the intercession of our Holy Father Dominic, may God prosper their religious vocations!

God of truth,
you graciously enlightened your Church
by the merits and teaching of Saint Dominic,
your confessor and our father.
By his prayers grant that the Church
may never lack for temporal help,
and may grow ever richer in spiritual blessings.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

No Comments »

Dominic prayed:
“Father, you know I have held fast to your will,
and have protected those you gave me.
I commend them to you; now keep them safe.”

Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of St. Dominic, which the Dominicans of New York City will observe with particular solemnity at the 12:00 Noon Mass at St. Catherine of Siena Church (East 68th Street, between 1st and York).  All are welcome to attend.

Tradition has it that St. Dominic and St. Francis of Assisi met each other in Rome in 1215 while observing the deliberations of the Fourth Lateran Council.  Because the Council Fathers were creating legislation governing new religious orders, the two founders were particularly interested in the outcome.  According to one legend, Dominic and Francis met and fell immediately into mutual esteem for each other’s grace and charism.  As a sign of their friendship in the Lord, they exchanged belts.  Francis took Dominic’s leather belt, characteristic of a preaching canon, while Dominic took Francis’s rope cincture, the symbol of his poverty.

In honor of the friendship between Dominic and Francis, a noble tradition has developed among their disciples.  Dominicans and Franciscans celebrate the feasts of their founders together.  Franciscans join Dominicans on August 8, and Dominicans join Franciscans on October 4.  At the Mass of St. Dominic, a Franciscan preaches, and at the Mass of St. Francis a Dominican delivers the homily.  This tradition has been kept until recently, though it seems to be observed in fewer and fewer places.

Lord,
let the holiness and teaching of St. Dominic
come to the aid of your Church.
May he help us now with his prayers
as he once inspired people by his preaching.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

No Comments »

The following was released today by the USCCB’s Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities.  Written by Tom Grenchik, the committee’s executive director, the essay comments on the appropriate Catholic response to the inclusion of abortion coverage in current proposals for health care reform.

For Archbishop Dolan’s comments on the issue, which he gave this week in address at the Knights of Columbus convention in Phoenix, click here.

Lines in the Sand
By Tom Grenchik
August 7, 2009

As members of Congress head home for their August recess, we now have a better picture of where everyone stands on health care reform. While the U.S. bishops support genuine health care reform, there is a clear line in the sand between our bishops and some congressional leaders.

On July 17, Bishop William Murphy, Chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, wrote to Congress saying: “The USCCB looks forward to working with you to reform health care successfully in a manner that offers accessible, affordable and quality health care that protects and respects the life and dignity of all people from conception until natural death.” Then Bishop Murphy drew a line, declaring that “no health care reform plan should compel us or others to pay for the destruction of human life, whether through government funding or mandatory coverage of abortion.

Some seemed surprised at this, since abortion was not specifically mentioned in draft health care bills until recently. Those with longer memories may recall that the Medicaid statute doesn’t mention abortion either, but it was funding 300,000 abortions a year in the 1970s until we put a stop to that with the Hyde amendment. In any case, numerous amendments to keep abortion out of health care reform have been defeated in committee, and it is now apparent that some leaders have every intention of threatening the health care reform process by forcing Americans to accept abortion mandates and/or fund unlimited abortion in their health coverage.

Continue Reading »

No Comments »

Click below to hear this week’s edition of “Word to Life.”

Joining me on the show today were Joe Campo, Michael Campo, and Jeffrey Azize of Grassroots Films.  We discussed the development of their production company at St. Francis House in Brooklyn, and the success they’ve enjoyed with “Fishers of Men,” the USCCB’s vocations promotions video, and their feature-length documentary “The Human Experience,” which we prescreened here at St. Vincent’s last June.  Joe, Michael, and Jeffrey all shared how the faith shapes their mission as filmmakers.

At the end of the program, Fr. Gabriel Gillen, OP, shared his thoughts on the readings for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

“Word to Life” airs live every Friday afternoon at 3:00 PM EST on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.

Word to Life - August 7, 2009 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

No Comments »

The holy martyrs died for Christ;
with their blood they enriched the earth.
Their gift is crowned with everlasting life.

Today, churches are often recognized even by civic officials as safe havens for all sorts of people.  For example, when criminals take refuge in them, the police rarely barge in to make an arrest.  The church’s sacred space and the help of the clergy are respected.  Authorities in these situations hope to negotiate a surrender without having to violate the sanctuary.  Where this tradition still holds, the state recognizes that safe havens offer a certain benefit to society.

Imagine then a world without Christian sanctuaries.  Such a world did exist before the reign of Constantine.  Until the Edict of Milan, the Church could not officially own property.   As a result, public churches did not exist anywhere in the empire (at least ones legally recognized).  Holy Mass and the other sacraments were celebrated in private homes or in other discreet locations, like the catacombs. Without its own property, not only was the Church unable to offer assistance easily to those in need, but the Christian community itself remained vulnerable to constant disruption by its enemies, even when celebrating the sacred liturgy. Today’s feast recalls one such tragic incident. It is hard for us to image today how a pope could be arrested and murdered while offering Mass, but it happened in ancient Rome.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Sixtus’ origin is unknown. During the pontificate of his predecessor, St. Stephen, a sharp dispute had arisen between Rome and the African and Asiatic Churches, concerning the rebaptism of heretics, which had threatened to end in a complete rupture between Rome and the Churches of Africa and Asia Minor. Sixtus II, whom Pontius styles a good and peaceful priest, was more conciliatory than St. Stephen and restored friendly relations with these Churches, though, like his predecessor, he upheld the Roman usage of not rebaptizing heretics.

Shortly before the pontificate of Sixtus II the Emperor Valerian issued his first edict of persecution, which made it binding upon the Christians to participate in the national cult of the pagan gods and forbade them to assemble in the cemeteries, threatening with exile or death whomsoever was found to disobey the order. In some way or other, Sixtus II managed to perform his functions as chief pastor of the Christians without being molested by those who were charged with the execution of the imperial edict. But during the first days of August, 258, the emperor issued a new and far more cruel edict against the Christians, the import of which has been preserved in a letter of St. Cyprian to Successus, the Bishop of Abbir Germaniciana. It ordered bishops, priests, and deacons to be summarily put to death. Sixtus II was one of the first to fall a victim to this imperial enactment. In order to escape the vigilance of the imperial officers he assembled his flock on 6 August at one of the less-known cemeteries, that of Prætextatus, on the left side of the Appian Way, nearly opposite the cemetery of St. Callistus. While seated on his chair in the act of addressing his flock he was suddenly apprehended by a band of soldiers. There is some doubt whether he was beheaded forthwith, or was first brought before a tribunal to receive his sentence and then led back to the cemetery for execution. The latter opinion seems to be the more probable.

We might not often think of the benefits the Church enjoys as a public institution, which status is guaranteed by its ownership of property.  Churches and schools offer the Christian community not only shelter from the elements but also freedom to live its life and perform its work without fear of disruption or persecution.  Indeed, maintaining this property is expensive, but the alternative is costlier for both the Church and society.  Everyone benefits when the Church has a place to call her own, where she can live her life peacefully and open her doors to everyone.

For more on the martyrdom of St. Sixtus, click here.

Father,
by the power of the Holy Spirit
you enables Saint Sixtus and his companions to lay down their lives
for your word in witness to Jesus.
Give us the grace to believe in you
and the courage to profess our faith.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

No Comments »

The parish is honored that Archbishop Dolan has agreed to participate in the forum.  This will be his first visit to St. Vincent’s.

The evening will include a Q & A session with the speakers.  Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, call the Parish Office.

For an English translation of Caritas in Veritate, click here.

No Comments »

Fr. Guilbeau's Homily - August 2, 2009 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fr. Jones's Homily - August 2, 2009 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fr. Keitz's Homily - August 2, 2009 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fr. Mulcahy's Homily - August 2, 2009 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

No Comments »

Today the Lord was transfigured
and the voice of the Father bore witness to him;
Moses and Elijah appeared with him in glory
and spoke with him about the death he was to undergo.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration, a mystery of Christ’s earthly life recorded by all three Synoptic Gospels (Mt 17:1-9, Mk 9:1-9, Lk 9:28-36) and the Second Letter of St. Peter (1:16-18).  Though the event of the transfiguration is not mentioned in John’s Gospel, the theme of Christ’s glory pervades his entire text.

To enter more deeply into the grace of this feast, the Office of Readings has us meditate on a sermon written by St. Anastasius of Sinai, a seventh-century bishop and abbot of St. Catherine’s Monastery near Mt. Sinai. He is the subject of a famous Rembrandt portrait.  In his homily, Anastasius ponders the spiritual significance of Christ’s transfiguration:

Upon Mount Tabor, Jesus revealed to his disciples a heavenly mystery.  While living among them he had spoken of the kingdom and of his second coming in glory, but to banish from their hearts any possible doubt concerning the kingdom and to confirm their faith in what lay in the future by its prefiguration in the present, he gave them on Mount Tabor a wonderful vision of his glory, a foreshadowing of the kingdom of heaven.

These are the divine wonders we celebrate today; this is the saving revelation given us upon the mountain; this is the festival of Christ that has drawn us here.  Let us listen, then, to the sacred voice of God so compellingly calling us from on high, from the summit of the mountain, so that with the Lord’s chosen disciples we may penetrate the deep meaning of these holy mysteries, so far beyond our capacity to express.  Jesus goes before us to show us the way, both up the mountain and into heaven, and–I speak boldly–it is for us now to follow him with all speed, yearning for the heavenly vision that will give us a share in his radiance, renew our spiritual nature and transform us into his own likeness, making us for ever sharers in his Godhead and raising us to heights as yet undreamed of.

Let us run with confidence and joy to enter into the cloud like Moses and Elijah, or like James and John.  Let us be caught up like Peter to behold the divine vision and to be transfigured by that glorious transfiguration.  Let us retire from the world, stand aloof from the earth, rise above the body, detach ourselves from creatures and turn to the Creator, to whom Peter in ecstasy exclaimed: Lord, it is good for us to be here.

It is indeed good to be here, as you have said Peter.  It is good to be with Jesus and to remain here for ever.  What greater happiness or higher honor could we have than to be with God, to be made like him and to live in his light?

In revealing his glory to Peter, James, and John, Jesus reveals to us his care for souls.  This brief glimpse through his flesh into the very light of his glory prepared the three apostles for the upcoming rigors of his passion and death.  So too do exalted moments of grace operate in our lives.  Those instances in which faith is clear and almost tangible serve to confirm us in the truth of Christ’s love.  The consolation can be gratifying, but it is not meant simply for comfort.  The intense pleasures of grace are meant to strengthen just as much as they console.  The comforts help us not to rest but rather to look forward to the trials that lie ahead, to those participations in Christ’s cross that await us.  In good God’s providence for our salvation, every trial in the Christian life has its prior moment of strengthening consolation, a type of graced calm before the storm.

On a side note, it was on this day in 1221 that St. Dominic passed from this world to his eternal reward.  We will celebrate his feast day in two days.

For more on the mystery of Christ’s transfiguration, click here.

God our Father,
in the transfigured glory of Christ your Son,
you strengthen our faith by confirming the witness of your prophets,
and show us the splendor of your beloved sons and daughters.
As we listen to the voice of your Son,
help us to become heirs to eternal life with him,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

No Comments »

Holy Mary, ever-virgin, Mother of God,
blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

Today the Church commemorates the fifth-century dedication of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.  Constructed shortly after the Council of Ephesus approved Mary’s title “Mother of God” as an orthodox expression of the faith, the church was among the first in the West to be dedicated to the theotokos.

From AmericanCatholic.org:

First raised at the order of Pope Liberius in the mid-fourth century, the Liberian basilica was rebuilt by Pope Sixtus III shortly after the Council of Ephesus affirmed Mary’s title as Mother of God in 431. Rededicated at that time to the Mother of God, St. Mary Major is the largest church in the world honoring God through Mary. Standing atop one of Rome’s seven hills, the Esquiline, it has survived many restorations without losing its character as an early Roman basilica. Its interior retains three naves divided by colonnades in the style of Constantine’s era. Fifth-century mosaics on its walls testify to its antiquity.

St. Mary Major is one of the four Roman basilicas known as patriarchal cathedrals in memory of the first centers of the Church. St. John Lateran represents Rome, the See of Peter; St. Paul Outside the Walls, the See of Alexandria, allegedly the see presided over by Mark; St. Peter’s, the See of Constantinople; and St. Mary’s, the See of Antioch, where Mary is supposed to have spent most of her life.

One legend, unreported before the year 1000, gives another name to this feast: Our Lady of the Snows. According to that story, a wealthy Roman couple pledged their fortune to the Mother of God. In affirmation, she produced a miraculous summer snowfall and told them to build a church on the site. The legend was long celebrated by releasing a shower of white rose petals from the basilica’s dome every August 5.

Many Dominicans have a special devotion to this church.  Not only does it house the relics of Pope St. Pius V, but members of the Order constitute the basilica’s “Apostolic College of Confessors.”  To hear confessions at St. Mary Major, these Dominicans receive a special formation and must pass an examination.  Once approved, they hear the confessions of pilgrims from around the world.

For more on the history and architecture of St. Mary Major, click here.  For the basilica’s homepage, which contains many photo galleries of the church’s interior, click here.

After the break you can find the second lesson of today’s Office of Readings.  It contains excerpts from a homily St. Cyril of Alexandria delivered at the Council of Ephesus.  His joyful praise of the Virgin Mary, the glorious theotokos, can help shape the devotion we render her today.

Lord,
pardon the sons of your people.
May the prayers of Mary, the mother of your Son,
help to save us,
for by ourselves we cannot please you.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Continue Reading »

No Comments »

We are fellow-workers with God;
you are his harvest field, you are the temple he builds.

Years ago, August 4 was the feast of St. Dominic.  Now it is the feast of St. John Vianney, the patron of parish priests, who went home to the Lord 150 years ago today.

This nineteenth-century French pastor remains a model of charity for all priests charged with the care of souls.  John Vianney spent himself, to the point of ill health, preaching to his flock and administering to it the sacraments of Christ. What drove him to such love and sacrifice was his profound understanding of the sacrifice of Christ, its salvific character, and the service rendered it by the priests of the Church.  In other words, John Vianney grasped the unique dignity enjoyed by the priest as a minister of Christ’s grace, and he sought to conform his whole life to this mystery.  As the following quotations reveal, he deeply understood what the priest is for, especially his divinely-willed service to Christian truth.

“When men want to destroy religion they begin by attacking the priest, because where the priest is no more, there is no more sacrifice, and where there is no more sacrifice, there is no more religion.”

“Leave a parish for twenty years without a priest, and beasts will be worshipped there.”

How fitting then that Pope Benedict XVI has chosen the 150th anniversary of St. John Vianney’s death to call the whole Church to observe a Jubilee Year for Priests, during which he hopes priests and laity alike will grow in the understanding of the ministerial priesthood and its essential teaching, sanctifying, and governing roles in the life of the Church.

For more on the life and holiness of St. John Vianney, click here.

Below the break you’ll find reprinted an account of the meeting between John Vianney and Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, the diocesan priest turned Dominican who reestablished the Order of Preachers in France after the French Revolution. In May of 1845, God brought these two holy priests together for a memorable day of prayer and conversation.

Father of mercy,
you made Saint John Vianney outstanding
in his priestly zeal and concern for your people.
By his example and prayers,
enable us to win our brothers and sisters
to the love of Christ
and come with them to eternal glory.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Continue Reading »

3 Comments »

My life is at the service of the Gospel;
God has given me this gift of his grace.

From the Dominican Ordo:

Blessed Augustine was born at Trogir in Dalmatia about 1260 and entered the Dominican Order at an early age.  He completed his studies at the University of Paris and returned to his own country where he was regarded as an excellent preacher.  In 1303 Blessed Benedict XI appointed him Bishop of Zagreb, where he successfully restored order in the aftermath of the Tartars.  In 1317 he was transferred to the See of Lucera, where he labored to restore peace after the Muslim withdrawal and completely reformed the diocese.  He died there on August 3, 1323.

At the 2001 General Chapter in Providence, Fr. Richard Schenk, OP, a member of the Western Province, preached the homily for the feast of Blessed Augustine. Click here for his text.

O loving Father,
help us to follow the teaching and example of Blessed Augustine.
By assiduous meditation upon the mysteries of salvation
and intent upon service for the CHurch
may we come to the joys of eternal life.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

No Comments »

On July 29, Justin Cardinal Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia and the chair of the US Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life activities, released the following letter urging Congress to keep abortion and abortion funding out of the current health care reform proposals being debated.

TO: Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee

Dear Representative:

As you consider the “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act” (H.R. 3200), I urge you to consider the overall priorities and concerns presented by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Bishop William Murphy’s July 17 letter to all members of Congress (www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/2009-07-17-murphy-letter-congress.pdf). The bishops’ conference views health care as a basic right belonging to all human beings, from conception to natural death. We therefore have long supported universal health care reform that respects human life and dignity, provides access for all with a special concern for immigrants and the poor, preserves pluralism with respect for rights of conscience, and restrains costs while sharing them equitably.

In this particular letter I am writing specifically about our fundamental requirement that health care legislation respect human life and rights of conscience. Much-needed reform must not become a vehicle for promoting an “abortion rights” agenda or reversing longstanding current policies against federal abortion mandates and funding. In this sense we urge you to make this legislation “abortion neutral” by preserving longstanding federal policies that prevent government promotion of abortion and respect conscience rights.

In this regard several features of H.R. 3200, as introduced on July 14, need to be addressed:

1. The legislation delegates to the Secretary of Health and Human Services the power to make abortion a basic or essential benefit in all health plans, or in the “public plan” created by the legislation. This would be a radical change: Federal law has long excluded most abortions from federal employees’ health benefits plans and places no requirement on private plans, most of which also decline to cover elective abortions.

2. Because some federal funds are authorized and appropriated by this legislation without passing through the Labor/HHS appropriations bill, they are not covered by the Hyde amendment and other provisions that have prevented direct federal funding of abortion for over three decades. The legislation needs its own provision against abortion funding to ensure consistency with the policy in all other federal health programs.

3. Provisions such as those requiring timely access to all benefits covered by qualified health plans could be used by courts to override and invalidate state laws regulating abortion, such as laws to ensure women’s safety and informed consent and to promote parental involvement when minors consider abortion. These laws are modest, widely supported, and constitutionally sound, but they could fall before a new federal mandate to maximize “access” to abortion. It should be made clear in the legislation that such laws will not be preempted.

4. Several federal laws have long protected the conscience rights of health care providers. These laws prevent governmental bodies from discriminating against individual and institutional health care providers that decline involvement in abortion, and respect the moral and religious convictions of health professionals on abortion and other procedures in programs funded under the Public Health Service Act and other federal laws (see www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/abortion/crmay08.pdf). President Obama recently stated that he accepts these current laws and will do nothing to weaken them. Congress should make the same pledge, by ensuring that this legislation will maintain protection for conscience rights.

As long-time supporters of genuine health care reform, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is working to ensure that needed health reform is not undermined by abandoning longstanding and widely supported policies against abortion funding and mandates and in favor of conscience protection.

During committee consideration, Reps. Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Joseph Pitts (R-PA) plan to offer amendments to address these problems in H.R. 3200 as introduced. I strongly urge you to support their efforts. By your actions on these issues, you have the ability to help reform our health care system in a way that will truly serve the poor and needy and uphold the dignity of all.

Sincerely,

Cardinal Justin Rigali
Archbishop of Philadelphia
Chairman
USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities

No Comments »

Those who are learned will be as radiant as the sky in all its beauty;
those who instruct the people in goodness will shine like the stars for all eternity.

Today the Church remembers St. Alphonsus Liguori, the founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, whose members are popularly known as the Redemptorists.  St. Alphonsus is a Doctor of the Church and the patron saint of moral theologians.

From Catholic Online:

Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation. He was born Alphonsus Marie Antony John Cosmos Damien Michael Gaspard de Liguori on September 27,1696, at Marianella, near Naples, Italy. Raised in a pious home, Alphonsus went on retreats with his father, Don Joseph, who was a naval officer and a captain of the Royal Galleys. Alphonsus was the oldest of seven children, raised by a devout mother of Spanish descent.

Educated at the University of Naples, Alphonsus received his doctorate at the age of sixteen. By age nineteen he was practicing law, but he saw the transitory nature of the secular world, and after a brief time, retreated from the law courts and his fame.

Visiting the local Hospital for Incurables on August 28, 1723, he had a vision and was told to consecrate his life solely to God. In response, Alphonsus dedicated himself to the religious life, even while suffering persecution from his family. He finally agreed to become a priest but to live at home as a member of a group of secular missionaries. He was ordained on December 21, 1726, and he spent six years giving missions throughout Naples.

In April 1729, Alphonsus went to live at the “Chiflese College,” founded in Naples by Father Matthew Ripa, the Apostle of China. There he met Bishop Thomas Falcoia, founder of the Congregation of Pious Workers. This lifelong friendship aided Alphonsus, as did his association with a mystic, Sister Mary Celeste. With their aid, Aiphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on November 9, 1732. The foundation faced immediate problems, and after just one year, Alphonsus found himself with only one lay brother, his other companions having left to form their own religious group. He started again, recruited new members, and in 1743 became the prior of two new congregations, one for men and one for women. Pope Benedict XIV gave his approval for the men’s congregation in 1749 and for the women’s in 1750.

During this time, Alphonsus was writing and preaching missions in rural areas. He refused to become the bishop of Palermo but in 1762 had to accept the papal command to accept the See of St. Agatha of the Goths near Naples. There he discovered more than thirty thousand uninstructed men and women and four hundred indifferent priests. For thirteen years Alphonsus fed the poor, instructed families, reorganized the seminary and religious houses, taught theology, and wrote. His austerities were rigorous, and he suffered daily the pain from rheumatism that was beginning to deform his body. He spent several years having to drink from tubes because his head was so bent forward. An attack of rheumatic fever, from May 1768 to June 1769, left him paralyzed. He was not allowed to resign his see, however, until 1775.

In 1780, Alphonsus was tricked into signing a submission for royal approval of his congregation. This submission altered the original rule, and as a result Alphonsus was denied any authority among the Redemptorists. Deposed and excluded from his own congregation, Alphonsus suffered great anguish. But he overcame his depression, and he experienced visions, performed miracles, and gave prophecies. He died peacefully on August 1,1787, at Nocera di Pagani, near Naples as the Angelus was ringing. He was beatified in 1816 and canonized in 1839.

In 1871, Alphonsus was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX. His writings on moral, theological, and ascetic matters had great impact and have survived through the years, especially his Moral Theology and his Glories of Mary. He was buried at the monastery of the Pagani near Naples. Shrines were built there and at St. Agatha of the Goths. He is the patron of confessors, moral theologians, and the lay apostolate. In liturgical art he is depicted as bent over with rheumatism or as a young priest.

Click here for more on the life of St. Alphonsus Liguori.  For his famous Stations of the Cross, click here.  The two provinces of Redemptorists here in the United States are centered in Baltimore and Denver.

Father,
you constantly build up your Church
by the lives of your saints.
Give us grace to follow Saint Alphonsus
in his loving concern for the salvation of men,
and so come to share his reward in heaven.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

1 Comment »