Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1787) was an Italian bishop, moral theologian, and founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, the Redemptorists. A brilliant lawyer who left the courts to serve God, he devoted his life to preaching to the poor and abandoned in the countryside around Naples and wrote beloved works such as The Glories of Mary. He was canonized in 1839 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1871, and he is the patron of confessors and moral theologians.
Alphonsus gave up worldly success to seek out the forgotten and bring them the tenderness of God, showing that true greatness lies in gentle, patient love. Even in old age, bent by painful illness, he kept writing, praying, and trusting — a witness that suffering borne with faith can still bear beautiful fruit.
Saint Alphonsus, teacher of God's mercy, help us to love the forgotten and to trust Jesus in every trial; keep those we love, especially the little ones gone before us, close to the heart of the Redeemer. Amen.Enter today’s Mass → All saints →