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.
He later founded the Redemptorists to bring the Gospel to the poor, preaching not a God of harsh judgment but of mercy. At a time when many lived in fear of eternal damnation, Alphonsus offered reassurance that God is close, tender, and ready to forgive. “He who prays is certainly saved,” he wrote, not to frighten but to assure souls that God’s grace is always within reach. His writings on moral theology, especially Theologia Moralis, helped the Church find a balanced path between excessive harshness and dangerous leniency. He taught with clarity, but always with compassion.
Alphonsus also endured great physical suffering. Arthritis deformed his body so badly that his chin rested on his chest, yet he continued to write, preach, and pray. He was even misunderstood and rejected by some in his own community, but bore it with humility and faith. His tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was one of the defining aspects of his life. He saw her as both the Mother of God and our own mother—powerful intercessor, refuge for sinners, comfort to the afflicted. His classic The Glories of Mary remains one of the Church’s most beloved Marian works, portraying Mary’s nearness in every trial and her role in drawing us closer to Jesus. “Much more quickly is she ready to grant favours,” he wrote, “than we are to ask for them.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is rejected in his hometown—people could not see beyond the familiar. Alphonsus too was often unrecognized for the saint he was, yet remained faithful, serving those open to grace. In the first reading from Leviticus, God commands Israel to keep sacred festivals, reminders of His faithfulness. Alphonsus lived with this same sense of sacred time, seeing life as a journey toward the eternal celebration. He wrote about the importance of preparing for death—not to alarm, but to awaken hearts. For him, death was not an end but a passage into the fullness of God’s love. “All is vanity which ends with time,” he said. “Happy is he who lives only to love God and dies in His grace.” Saint Alphonsus teaches us that true holiness kneels beside human suffering, listens, consoles, and forgives. May we learn from him to trust God’s mercy, to love Mary with filial devotion, and to long for heaven—not to escape the world, but to bring God’s love more fully into it. Saint Alphonsus Liguori, pray for us.
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