Posts Tagged ‘St. Alphonsus’
Discourse on Mary’s Immaculate Conception
How becoming it was that each of the Three Divine Persons should preserve Mary from Original Sin Great indeed was the injury entailed on Adam and all his posterity by his accursed sin; for at the same time that he thereby, for his own great misfortune, lost grace, he also forfeited all the other precious…
Read MoreDiscourse on the Presentation of Mary
The offering that Mary made of herself to God was prompt without delay, and entire without reserve There never was, and never will be, an offering on the part of a pure creature greater or more perfect than that which Mary made to God when, at the age of three years, she presented herself in…
Read MoreSpiritual Desolation
We ought to view in the light of God’s holy will, the loss of persons who are helpful to us in a spiritual or material way. Pious souls often fail in this respect by not being resigned to the dispositions of God’s holy will. Our sanctification comes fundamentally and essentially from God, not from spiritual…
Read MoreSerenity in This Life
Acting according to this pattern, one not only becomes holy but also enjoys perpetual serenity in this life. Alphonse the Great, King of Aragon, being asked one day whom he considered the happiest person in the world, answered: “He who abandons himself to the will of God and accepts all things, prosperous and adverse, as…
Read MoreMeditation on the Feast of the Birth of Mary
“Mary was born a saint, and a great saint; for the grace with which God enriched her from the beginning was great, and the fidelity with which she immediately corresponded with it was great.” -St. Alphonsus Men usually celebrate the birth of their children with great feasts and rejoicings; but they should rather pity them,…
Read MoreDiscourse on the Feast of the Assumption
Meditation on the Death of Mary On this day the Church celebrates, in honour of Mary, two solemn festivals; the first is that of her happy passage from this world; the second, that of her glorious Assumption into Heaven. In the present discourse we shall speak of her happy passage from this world; and in…
Read MoreMary is the Hope of All (PART II)
In the Book of Proverbs Mary herself tells us that she possesses all the riches of God, that is to say, His mercies, that she may dispense them in favour of her lovers: “With me are riches . . . and glorious riches . . . that I may enrich them that love me.” And…
Read MoreMary is the Hope of All (PART I)
OUR HOPE Modern heretics cannot endure that we should salute and call Mary our Hope: ‘Hail, our Hope!’ They say that God alone is our hope; and that He curses those who put their trust in creatures in these words of the prophet Jeremias: “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man.” Mary, they exclaim,…
Read MoreUniformity with God’s Will
Perfection is founded entirely on the love of God: “Charity is the bond of perfection;” (Col. 3:14) and perfect love of God means the complete union of our will with God’s: “The principal effect of love is to unite the wills of those who love each other as to make them will the same things.”…
Read MoreA Famous Christmas Carol Written by St. Alphonsus Liguori
All Catholics should know of St. Alphonsus Liguori’s (1696-1787) famous Christmas hymn he penned as a young priest entitled, Tu Scendi dale Stelle. The song can be heard here, performed by Luciano Pavarotti in Vienna, Austria. St. Alphonsus was an Italian bishop from the Kingdom of Naples who was a prolific writer and thinker with…
Read MoreGod Wills Our Good
“If, devout soul, it is your will to please God and live a life of serenity in this world, unite yourself always and in all things to the divine will.” -St. Alphonsus Our Lord assured His apostles the reward of following his will, “Your joy no man shall take from you…your joy shall be full”…
Read MoreGod Wills You to Be Happy
He and he alone, whose will is perfectly united to God’s possesses “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding” (Phil. 4:7). Happiness and conformity to the will of God work in tandem and have always been a common theme for Catholic theologians and spiritual writers on the subject of joy. Saint Thomas Aquinas, following…
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