Saint Alphonsus Liguori was born September 27, 1696 and died August 1, 1787. Although the 18th century is known for men of great political thought, yet from this age came three great missionaries of the Church: St. Leonard of Port Maurice, St. Paul of the Cross, and St. Alphonsus Liguori.
Saint Alphonsus, who founded the Redemptorist Congregation, was consecrated a bishop, was an excellent writer, thinker and theologian, and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church. His humility, obedience and steadfastness are great examples to all, as is his determination to serve the Lord through multiple physical ailments — receiving the sacrament of the dying eight times, living his latter years paralyzed.
Alphonsus was preaching missions in the rural areas and writing. He refused to become the bishop of Palermo but in 1762 had to accept the papal command to accept the see of St. Agatha of the Goths near Naples. Here he discovered more than thirty thousand uninstructed men and women and four hundred indifferent priests. For thirteen years Alphonsus fed the poor, instructed families, reorganized the seminary and religious houses, taught theology, and wrote.
Physical suffering did not keep St. Alphonsus Liguori from serving, missionary work, writing, teaching, and founding the Redemptorists.
