Today we honour Saint Alphonsus Liguori, one of the Church’s most brilliant and compassionate saints—a man whose holiness was both extraordinary and deeply human. He was a theologian, founder, missionary, miracle-worker, and above all, a man who loved God with a heart wide open to the poor, the sinner, and the suffering. Born near Naples in 1696, Alphonsus was a gifted intellect who earned a doctorate in civil and canon law by the age of 16. After a humiliating defeat in court, he experienced a personal crisis that became a turning point. Letting go of worldly ambition, he turned to the priesthood and devoted himself to Christ, especially among the most abandoned and neglected.