Totus Tuus - Totus 2us

Catechesis by Pope Benedict XVI      
_{General Audience, Wednesday 30 March 2011 - also in Croatian, French, German, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish}

"Dear brothers and sisters,
Today I would like to present to you the figure of a holy Doctor of the Church to whom we owe a great deal, because he was an outstanding moral theologian and a teacher of spiritual life for everyone, above all for simple people. He is the author of the words and music of one of the most popular Christmas carols in Italy and not only Italy: Tu scendi dalle stelle [You come down from the stars].

Belonging to a noble and wealthy Neopolitan family, Alfonso Maria de’ Liguori was born in 1696. Endowed with remarkable intellectual qualities, at only 16 years old he obtained a degree in civil and canon law. He was the most brilliant lawyer at the Naples Bar: for eight years he won all the cases he defended. However, in his soul thirsting for God and desirous of perfection, the Lord led Alphonsus to understand that it was to another vocation that he was being called. In fact, in 1723, indignant at the corruption and injustice that vitiated the legal milieu, he abandoned his profession — and with it riches and success — and decided, despite his father's opposition, to become a priest. He had excellent teachers, who introduced him to the study of Sacred Scripture, Church history and mysticism. He acquired a vast theological culture, which he put to good use when, after a few years, he embarked on his work as a writer. He was ordained a priest in 1726 and joined the diocesan Congregation of Apostolic Missions for the exercise of his ministry. Alphonsus began an activity of evangelization and catechesis among the humblest strata of Neapolitan society, to whom he loved to preach, and whom he instructed in the basic truths of the faith. Many of these poor and modest people he spoke to were very often addicted to vice and committed criminal acts. With patience he taught them to pray, encouraging them to improve their way of life. Alphonsus obtained excellent results: in the most wretched districts of the city groups of people multiplied that, in the evening, gathered in private houses and shops, so as to pray and meditate on the Word of God, under the guidance of several catechists trained by Alphonsus and other priests, who regularly visited these groups of the faithful. When, tat the wish of the Archbishop of Naples, these meetings were held in the chapels of the city, they took the name “evening chapels”. They were a true and proper source of moral education, of social restoration, of mutual help among the poor: thefts, duels, prostitution almost disappeared.

Athough the social and religious context of the epoch of St Alphonsus was very different from ours, the “evening chapels” appear as a model of missionary action from which we can also draw inspiration today for a “new evangelization”, particularly of the poorest people, and for building a more just, fraternal and supportive human coexistence. Priests are entrusted with a task of spiritual ministry, while well-formed lay people can be effective Christian animators, authentic Gospel leaven within society.

After having thought of leaving to evangelize the pagan peoples, Alphonsus, at the age of 35, came into contact with the peasants and shepherds of the interior regions of the Kingdom of Naples and, struck by their religious ignorance and by the state of abandonment in which they were living, he decided to leave the capital and to dedicate himself to these people, who were poor spiritually and materially. In 1732 he founded the religious Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, which he placed under the tutelage of the bishop Tommaso Falcoia, and of which he subsequently became the superior. These religious, guided by Alphonsus, were authentic itinerant missionaries, who reached even the most remote villages, exhorting conversion and perseverance in the Christian life, above all through prayer. Still today the Redemptorists, spread out in many of the countries of the world, with new forms of apostolate continue this mission of evangelization. I think of them with gratitude, exhorting them to be always faithful to the example of their holy Founder.

Esteemed for his goodness and pastoral zeal, in 1762 Alphonsus was nominated Bishop of Sant’Agata dei Goti, a ministry which, after being afflicted by illness, he left in 1775, through a concession of Pope Pius VI. The same Pontiff, in 1787, on learning the news of his death, which occurred after much suffering, exclaimed: “He was a saint!” And he was not mistaken: Alphonsus was canonized in 1839, and in 1871 was declared a Doctor of the Church. This title suits him for multiple reasons. First of all, because he proposed a rich teaching of moral theology, which appropriately expresses Catholic doctrine, to the point that he was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII “Patron of all confessors and moral theologians”. In his epoch, a very rigorous interpretation of moral life had spread, also because of the Jansenist mentality which, instead of nurturing trust and hope in God’s mercy, fomented fear and presented a grim and severe face of God, far removed from the one revealed to us by Jesus. St Alphonsus, above all in his main work entitled Moral Theology, proposes a balanced and convincing synthesis between the demands of God’s law, engraved on our hearts, fully revealed by Christ and authoritatively interpreted by the Church, and the dynamics of man's conscience and freedom, which precisely in adherence to truth and goodness allow the maturation and realization of the person. Alphonsus recommended to pastors of souls and to confessors that they be faithful to Catholic moral doctrine, while at the same time assuming a charitable, understanding, sweet attitude so that penitents could feel accompanied, supported, encouraged on their pathway of faith and Christian life. St Alphonsus never tired of repeating that priests are a visible sign of the infinite mercy of God, who forgives and illuminates the mind and heart of the sinner so that he may be converted and change his life. In our epoch, in which there are clear signs of the loss of moral conscience and — it must be recognized — of a certain lack of esteem for the Sacrament of Confession, St Alphonsus’ teaching is still of great actuality.

Together with his theological works, St Alphonsus wrote many other writings, destined for the religious formation of the people. The style is simple and pleasing. Read and translated into numerous languages, St Alphonsus' works have contributed to shaping the popular spirituality of the last two centuries. Some of them are texts to be read with great profit still today, such as The Eternal Maxims, The Glories of Mary, The Practice of Loving Jesus Christ, the latter being a work which represents the synthesis of his thought and his masterpiece. He insists a lot on the necessity of prayer, which allows one to open up to divine Grace so as to accomplish daily the will of God and to attain one’s own sanctification. Regarding prayer he writes: “God does not deny to anyone the grace of prayer, with which one obtains the help to overcome every concupiscence and every temptation. And I say, and repeat and will always repeat, as long as I live, that all our salvation lies in praying." From which comes his famous axiom: “The one who prays is saved.” In this regard, the exhortation of my predecessor John Paul II comes to mind. “Our Christian communities must become "schools of prayer" ... It is therefore necessary that education in prayer becomes a qualifying point of every pastoral programme” (Novo Millennio Ineunte, 33,34).

Among the forms of prayer fervently recommended by St Alphonsus stands out the visit to the Most Holy Sacrament or, as we would say today, adoration, brief or prolonged, personal or as a community, before the Eucharist. “Certainly” - writes Alphonsus - “amongst all devotions that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the first after the sacraments, the dearest to God and the most useful to us… Oh, what beautiful delight to stay before an altar with faith… and to present ones needs to him, as a friend does to another friend in whom one has full confidence!” (Visits to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin Mary for each day of the month. Introduction). Alphonsian spirituality is in fact eminently Christological, centred on Christ and His Gospel. Meditation on the mystery of the Incarnation and the Passion of the Lord are frequently the subject of his preaching. In these events, in fact, the Redemption is offered “copiously” to all men and women. And precisely because it is Christological, Alphonsian piety is also exquisitely Marian. Deeply devoted to Mary, he illustrates her role in the history of salvation: associate in the Redemption and Mediatrix of grace, Mother, Advocate and Queen. Furthermore, St Alphonsus affirms that devotion to Mary will be of great comfort to us at the moment of our death. He was convinced that meditation on our eternal destiny, on our call to participate for ever in the beatitude of God, as well as on the tragic possibility of damnation, contributes to living with serenity and commitment, and to facing the reality of death, always retaining all trust in the goodness of God.

St Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori is an example of a zealous pastor, who conquered souls by preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments, combined with a way of acting marked by a sweet and mild goodness, which was born from his intense relationship with God, who is infinite Goodness. He had a realistically optimistic vision of the resources of good which the Lord gives to each man and woman and he gave importance to the affections and sentiments of the heart, as well as to the mind, so as to be able to love God and one's neighbour.

In conclusion, I would like to recall that our Saint, like St Francis de Sales - of whom I spoke a few weeks ago - insists on saying that holiness is accessible to every Christian: “The religious as religious, the secular as secular, the priest as priest, the married as married, the merchant as merchant, the soldier as soldier, and so on for every other state of life” (Practice of loving Jesus Christ. Ascetic Works I). Let us thank the Lord who, with his Providence, raises up saints and doctors in different times and places, who speak the same language so as to invite us to grow in faith and to live with love and joy our being Christians in the simple actions of each day, to walk on the road of holiness, on the road towards God and towards true joy. Thank you."