Wednesday's Audience

On St. Alphonsus Liguori

"Priests Are a Visible Sign of the Infinite Mercy of God"

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 30, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the

Italian-language catechesis Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience

held in St. Peter's Square. Continuing the cycle of catecheses on the doctors of the

Church, he focused his meditation on St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787).

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today I would like to present to you the figure of a holy doctor of the Church to

whom we are very indebted, since he was an outstanding moral theologian and a

teacher of the spiritual life for everyone, above all for simple people. He is the

author of the words and music of one of the most popular Christmas songs in Italy,

"Tu scendi dalle stelle" [You come down from the stars], and of many other things.

Alphonsus Maria Liguori was born in 1696 of a noble and rich Neapolitan family.

Gifted with remarkable intellectual qualities, at just 16 he received a degree in civil

and canon law. He was the most brilliant lawyer of the bar in Naples: For eight

years he won every cause he defended. However, his soul thirsted for God and

desired perfection and the Lord led him to understand that he was calling him to

another vocation. In fact, in 1723, indignant about the corruption and injustice that

plagued his environment, he left his profession -- and with it wealth and success --

and decided to become a priest, despite his father's opposition.

He had excellent teachers, who introduced him to the study of sacred Scripture,

history of the Church and mysticism. He acquired a vast theological culture that he

brought to fruition when, after a few years, he began his work as a writer. He was

ordained a priest in 1726 and for his ministry, joined the diocesan Congregation of

the Apostolic Missions.

Alphonsus began evangelization and catechesis among the most humble strata of

Neapolitan society, to whom he loved to preach and whom he instructed on the

basic truths of the faith. Not a few of these persons whom he addressed, poor and

modest, very often were dedicated to vices and carried out criminal activity. With

patience he taught them to pray, encouraging them to improve their way of living.

Alphonsus obtained great results: In the poorest quarters of the city, there were

increasing groups of persons who gathered in the evening in private homes and

shops, to pray and meditate on the Word of God, under the guidance of some

catechists formed by Alphonsus and other priests, who regularly visited these

groups of faithful. When, by desire of the archbishop of Naples, these meetings

were held in the chapels of the city, they took the name "evening chapels." They

were a real and proper source of moral education, of social healing, of reciprocal

help among the poor: thefts, duels and prostitution virtually disappeared.

Even though the social and religious context of St. Alphonsus' time was very

different from ours, these "evening chapels" are a model of missionary action in

which we can be inspired today as well, for a "new evangelization," particularly

among the poorest, and to build a more just, fraternal and solidary human

coexistence. Entrusted to priests is a task of spiritual ministry, while well-formed

laymen can be effective Christian leaders, genuine evangelical leaven in the heart of

society.

After having thought of leaving to evangelize the pagan peoples, Alphonsus, at the

age of 35, came into contact with peasants and shepherds of the interior regions of

the Kingdom of Naples and, stricken by their religious ignorance and their state of

abandonment, he decided to leave the capital and dedicate himself to these people,

who were poor spiritually and materially. In 1732 he founded the religious

Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, which he placed under the protection of

Bishop Thomas Falcoia, and of which he himself became superior. These religious,

guided by Alphonsus, were genuine itinerant missionaries who reached the most

remote villages, exhorting to conversion and to perseverance in the Christian life,

above all through prayer. Still today, the Redemptorists spread over so many

countries of the world with new forms of apostolate, continue this mission of

evangelization. I think of them with gratitude, exhorting them to always be faithful

following the example of their holy founder.

Esteemed for his goodness and pastoral zeal, in 1762 Alphonsus was appointed

bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti, a ministry that he left in 1775 by the concession of

Pope Pius VI because of the illnesses afflicting him. In 1787 that same Pontiff,

hearing the news of his death that came after many sufferings, exclaimed: "He was

a saint!" And he was not mistaken: Alphonsus was canonized in 1839, and in 1871

he was declared a doctor of the Church.

This title was bestowed on him for many reasons. First of all, because he proposed a

rich teaching of moral theology, which adequately expresses Catholic doctrine, to

the point that Pope Pius XII proclaimed him "patron of all confessors and moral

theologians." Widespread at his time was a very rigorous interpretation of moral

life, also because of the Jansenist mentality that, instead of nourishing trust and

hope in God's mercy, fomented fear and presented God's face as frowning and

severe, very far from that revealed to us by Jesus.

Above all in his principal work, titled "Moral Theology," St. Alphonsus proposes a

balanced and convincing synthesis between the demands of God's law, sculpted in

our hearts, revealed fully by Christ and interpreted authoritatively by the Church,

and the dynamics of man's conscience and his liberty, which precisely by adherence

to truth and goodness allow for the maturation and fulfillment of the person. To

pastors of souls and to confessors, Alphonsus recommended faithfulness to Catholic

moral doctrine, accompanied by a comprehensive and gentle attitude so that

penitents could feel accompanied, supported and encouraged in their journey of

faith and Christian life.

St. Alphonsus never tired of repeating that priests are a visible sign of the infinite

mercy of God, who forgives and illumines the mind and heart of the sinner so that

he will convert and change his life. In our time, in which there are clear signs of the

loss of the moral conscience and -- it must be acknowledged -- of a certain lack of

appreciation of the sacrament of confession, the teaching of St. Alphonsus is again

of great timeliness.

Together with the works of theology, St. Alphonsus composed many other writings,

designed for the religious formation of the people. The style is simple and pleasing.

Read and translated into numerous languages, the works of St. Alphonsus have

contributed to mold popular spirituality of the last two centuries. Some of them are

texts to be read with great profit again today, such as "The Eternal Maxims," "The

Glories of Mary," "The Practice of Loving Jesus Christ" -- this last one a work that

represents the synthesis of his thought and his masterpiece.

He insisted a lot on the need for prayer, which enables one to open to Divine Grace

to carry out daily the will of God and to obtain one's sanctification. In regard to

prayer, he wrote: "God does not deny to anyone the grace of prayer, with which one

obtains the help to overcome every concupiscence and every temptation. And I say,

and repeat and will always repeat, for my entire life, that the whole of our salvation

rests on prayer." From which stems his famous axiom: "He who prays is saved"

(From the great means of prayer and related booklets. Opere ascetiche II, Rome

1962, p. 171).

There comes to mind, in this connection, the exhortation of my predecessor, the

Venerable Servant of God John Paul II: "Christian communities must become

genuine 'schools' of prayer. Therefore, education in prayer should become in some

way a key-point of all pastoral planning" (Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte,

33, 34).

Outstanding among the forms of prayer fervently recommended by St. Alphonsus is

the visit to the Most Blessed Sacrament or, as we would say today, adoration --

brief or prolonged, personal or in community -- of the Eucharist. "Certainly," wrote

Alphonsus, "among all the devotions this one of adoration of the sacramental Jesus

is the first after the sacraments, the dearest to God and the most useful to us. O,

what a beautiful delight to be before an altar with faith and to present to him our

needs, as a friend does to another friend with whom one has full confidence!"

(Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament and to Mary Most Holy for each day of the

month. Introduction).

Alphonsus' spirituality is in fact eminently Christological, centered on Christ and

his Gospel. Meditation on the mystery of the incarnation and the passion of the

Lord were often the object of his preaching: In these events, in fact, redemption is

offered "copiously" to all men. And precisely because it is Christological,

Alphonsus' piety is also exquisitely Marian. Most devoted to Mary, he illustrated

her role in the history of salvation: partner of the Redemption and Mediatrix of

grace, Mother, Advocate and Queen. Moreover, St. Alphonsus affirmed that

devotion to Mary will be of great comfort at the moment of our death. He was

convinced that meditation on our eternal destiny, on our call to participate for ever

in God's blessedness, as well as on the tragic possibility of damnation, contributes

to live with serenity and commitment, and to face the reality of death always

preserving full trust in God's goodness.

St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori is an example of a zealous pastor who won souls

preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments, combined with a way of

acting marked by gentle and meek goodness, which was born from his intense

relationship with God, who is infinite Goodness. He had a realistically optimistic

vision of the resources of goods that the Lord gives to every man and gave

importance to the affections and sentiments of the heart, in addition to the mind, to

be able to love God and one's neighbor.

In conclusion, I would like to remind that our saint, similar to St. Francis de Sales --

of whom I spoke a few weeks ago -- insists on saying that holiness is accessible to

every Christian: "The religious as religious, the lay person as lay person, the priest

as priest, the married as married, the merchant as merchant, the soldier as soldier,

and so on speaking of every other state" (Practice of Loving Jesus Christ, Opere

ascetiche I, Rome 1933, p. 79). I thank the Lord who, with his Providence, raises

saints and doctors in different times and places who, speaking the same language,

invite us to grow in faith and to live with love and joy our being Christians in the

simple actions of every day, to walk on the path of holiness, on the path to God and

to true joy. Thank you.

[Translation by ZENIT]