Aug.1, 2012 - ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI

Today, August 1, 2012, is the Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, a lawyer, philosopher and theologian who founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer or "The Redemptorists." 

He was born on September 27,1696 in city near Naples, Italy. A brilliant student, he became a lawyer who won every case he handled. Despite his success in his profession, he felt an emptiness within. At age 27,  after practicing law for eight years, he lost his case for the first time and decided to quit. Against his father's wishes, he entered the seminary and was ordained a priest at 30. He lived his first few years as a priest with the homeless and marginalized youth of Naples. He founded Evening Chapels as centers of prayer, preaching and community social activities. Upon his death, there were 72 Evening Chapels established with over 10,000 active participants.

His priestly life was somehow marred, if one would call it that, by a condition known as "scruples" which was an  obsessive concern with one's sins and a compulsive performance of religious direction. St. Ignatius Loyola had been known to suffer from "scruples," too and described the condition as a "groundless fear of sinning that arises from erroneous ideas."

St. Alphonsus Liguori was canonized in 1839 and was elevated to being a Doctor of the Church in 1871.

The Church of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Rome is between the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the seat of the Bishop of Rome and the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiorre), the largest church dedicated to our Blessed Mother in the world. The shrine dedicated to St. Alphonsus Liguori is the repository of the original icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help or as She is also called, "Mother of Perpetual Succour."

It is recorded that the icon was fished out of the waters near the island of Crete by a fisherman who kept it in his home for some time. Then one night, he dreamed the "Lady" telling him that She desired to be venerated in the church between St. John Lateran and St. Mary Major. St. Matthew's church fitted the instructions so that in 1499, the icon was venerated there for 300 years. Then during the 60-year period of turmoil in Rome, the little church of San Matteo was destroyed and the icon hidden away. The Redemptorists built a church in the site in honor of their founder St. Alphonsus Liguori. Pope Pius IX gave the title Mother of Perpetual Help to the icon and also bestowed its custody to the Redemptorists in 1866.

My first visit to the Church of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Rome was in 1976. The original icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help hung above the main altar. The image was painted on a piece of wood measuring about 4 ft by 3 ft. I learned that the icon had existed for several centuries which accounted for its slight discolorization and dire need for restoration.

I have been a devotee of Our Mother of Perpetual Help since my college days when I tried to consistently attend the Wednesday novena at Baclaran in Manila. Only inescapable reasons would cause me then to miss the devotions at Her national shrine. To think that through all those years, I never knew the specifics of the icon until that 1976 talk with the pastor in Rome.