Saint Alphonsus Liguori
(September 27, 1696 ? August
1, 1787) was an Italian
Catholic Bishop, spiritual
writer, theologian, and
founder of the Redemptorists,
an influential religious
order. He was canonized in
1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and
declared a Doctor of the
Church.
Alphonsus was proficient in
the arts- his parents having
had him being trained by
various masters of the arts -
being a musician, painter,
poet, and author at the same
time. He put all his artistic
and literary creativity at the
service of the Christian
mission and he asked the same
of those who joined his
Congregation. His biography
says that, in his later days,
he liked to go to the local
theater, which at the time had
a very bad reputation; after
being ordained, each time he
attended the recitals
Alphonsus simply took his
optic glasses off and sat in
the last row, listening to the
music and not paying attention
to anything else.
Alphonsus wrote 111 works on
spirituality and theology. The
21,500 editions and the
translations into 72 languages
that his works have undergone
attest to the fact that he is
one of the most widely read
Catholic authors. Among his
best known works are The Great
Means of Prayer, The Practice
of the Love of Jesus Christ
and The Visits to the Most
Holy Sacrament. Prayer and its
power, love, his relationship
with Christ and his first-hand
experience of the pastoral
needs of the faithful made
Alphonsus one of the great
masters of the interior life.
His best known musical work is
his Christmas hymn Quanno
Nascetti Ninno, later
translated into Italian by
Pope Pius IX as Tu scendi
dalle stelle ('From starry
skies Thou comest'). Text source : Wikipedia (Hide extended text) ... (Read all)
