St. Alphonsus de Liguori - August 2nd
Alphonsus was born in Italy and did so well in his studies that when he was still a teen-ager, he was given his degree in law and became a famous lawyer. He enjoyed going to stage shows for a while, but only for the music. To make sure he would not sin, he used to take off his glasses as soon as the show began. Since he was near-sighted, he could see nothing of the bad shows and just enjoyed the music!
A mistake he made in court convinced Alphonsus of what he had already thought-he should give up his law practice and become a priest. His father tried to persuade him not to do it, but Alphonsus laid his sword on our Lady’s alter to show that he was giving up the world for God. His life as a priest was full of activity. He preached, he wrote many books, he started his congregation of priests called Redemptorists, he guided souls, he wrote hymns and even found time to paint pictures.
St. Alphonsus took a vow never to waste time and he kept it until he died, at the age of ninety-one. That is how he was able to write about sixty books, although he was always busy and often very sick. Sometimes his head ached so badly that he would hold a piece of cold marble against it and keep on writing.
Although he was naturally inclined to act quickly from anger to pride, St. Alphonsus kept strict control over himself and acted only and always for God. He had become so humble that when the Pope made him bishop, he handed the announcement back to the messengers who had brought it, saying, “Please do not come back again to call me ‘Most Illustrious Lord.’ That would kill me!” But the Pope would not take “no” for an answer and made him a bishop. St. Alphonsus sent many preachers all over his diocese, which was in a bad condition, and he told them to give simple sermons. “I never preached a sermon that the simplest old women in the church could not understand,” he said.
When he was very old, crippled, deaf, and almost blind, the Saint had to suffer terrible disappointments and temptations. But he had great devotion to the Blessed Mother, as we know from his famous book called the Glories of Mary, and the trial were followed by great peace, joy and a holy death.
Let us increase our devotion to the Blessed Mother. St. Alphonsus write, “Whoever has devotion to Mary will save his soul; whoever has a great devotion to Mary will become a saint.”
Some good books of and by St. Alphonsus de Liguori:
St. Alphonsus Liguori
By: Rev. D. F.Miller & Rev. L. X. Aubin - https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage_gr/product_id/275/
Uniformity with God's Will
By: St. Alphonsus Liguori
The Way of the Cross - Liguori
By: St. Alphonsus Liguori
