MEMORIAL: AUGUST 1
St. Alphonsus Liguori was born at the end of the 17th century and was a brilliant young man. He achieved his doctorate in law at the age of 16. However, at the age of 19, he felt God calling him to religious life and the priesthood. St. Alphonsus would start a community called the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). He fought the battle against the heresy against Jansenism which denies human free being involved with receiving grace. He also had many writings on Moral Theology.
St. Alphonsus saw all but one of the original Redemptorists leave his community, but over time the Redemptorists began to grow again. In his later years, St. Alphonsus suffered from Rheumatism which deformed his body and was the ultimate cause of his death. Because of his condition, St. Alphonsus was tricked out of the Redemptorist community, but ended his life having visions and prophecies in addition to experiencing great desolations. After his canonization, St. Alphonsus was named a Doctor of the Church and is the patron saint of moral theologians.
