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On the Love of Christ [St. Alphonsus Liquori]
CatholicRadio.com ^ | not given | Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Posted on 07/31/2008 7:08:37 PM PDT by Salvation

From a Sermon by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, bishop     
(1696-1787)

     

 On the love of Christ

     All holiness and perfection of soul lies in our love for Jesus Christ our God, who is our Redeemer and our supreme good.  It is part of the love of God to acquire and to nurture all the virtues which make a man perfect.
    Has not God in fact won for himself a claim on all our love?  From all eternity he has loved us.  And it is in this vein that he speaks to us: “O man, consider carefully that I first loved you.  You had not yet appeared in the light of day, nor did the world yet exist, but already I loved you.  From all eternity I have loved you.”
    Since God knew that man is enticed by favors, he wished to bind him to his love by means of his gifts: “I want to catch men with the snares, those chains of love in which they allow themselves to be entrapped, so that they will love me.”  And all the gifts which he bestowed on man were given to this end.  He gave him a soul, made in his likeness, and endowed with memory, intellect and will; he gave him a body equipped with the senses;
it was for him that he created heaven and earth and such an abundance of things.  He made all these things out of love for man, so that all creation might serve man, and man in turn might love God out of gratitude for so many gifts.
    But he did not wish to give us only beautiful creatures; the truth is that to win for himself our love, he went so far as to bestow upon us the fullness of himself.  The eternal Father went so far as to give us his only Son. 

When saw that we were all dead through sin and deprived of his grace, what did he do?  Compelled, as the Apostle says, by the superabundance of his love for us, he sent his beloved Son to make preparation for us and to call us back to a sinless life.


    By giving us his Son, whom he did not spare precisely so that he might spare us, he bestowed on us at once every good: grace, love and heaven; for all these goods are certainly inferior to the Son: He who did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for all of us; how could he fail to give us along with his Son all good things?

 Source:  The Liturgy of the Hours - Office of Readings

Saint Alphonsus (1696-1787) was born near Naples, Italy in 1696 and was the son of a captain of the royal galleys. He received his doctorate in both canon and civil law at the University of Naples when only sixteen and practiced law very successfully for the next eight years.  At twenty four, he proved brilliant in litigating a trial involving two most prominent citizens in Naples, when a document was produced by his opponent that destroyed his case. He had missed discovering the document. He was forced to endure the humiliation of being the laughing stock of the town. But he turned to God in a most serious was. He abandoned his law practice and decided to devote his life to God. He joined the religious order of the Oratorians and was ordained a priest in 1726 at age 29. He was especially devoted to adoration of the Blessed Eucharist, and of the Mass.

In 1732, after five years of teaching , preaching missions and giving retreats, he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, giving himself to follow the example of Jesus in announcing the Good news to the poor and the most abandoned. 
     To foster the Christian life, he applied himself to preaching among the people and writing books on moral theology of which he is considered a master. He was chosen bishop of San't Agata dei Goti, but soon resigned his office to work with his confreres at Nocera dei Pagani in Campagna. For the last few years of his life, in addition to ill health, he experienced deep spiritual depression and he went through a "dark night of the soul." But this period was replaced by a time of peace and light when he experienced visions, ecstasies, made prophesies that were later fulfilled. He was known to have  performed many miracles. 
     Alphonsus died at the age of 90 in 1787. He wrote profusely on spiritual, moral, theological, and ascetical subjects, notably his Moral Theology, and his Glories of Mary. Today there are some 5,500 Redemptorists active throughout the world in the religious Congregation he founded. Alphonsus was canonized a saint in 1839 and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871
.



TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; History; Theology
KEYWORDS: catholic; catholiclist; noqinliguori; saints
For your information and discussion.
1 posted on 07/31/2008 7:08:37 PM PDT by Salvation
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To: Salvation

Thanks for the post. Interesting. Educational.


2 posted on 07/31/2008 7:14:20 PM PDT by PGalt
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To: PGalt

Thank you for stopping by!


3 posted on 07/31/2008 7:17:07 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Salvation
Another by St. Alphonsus Liguori

His words are so beautiful and tender

Holy Repentance

God has said that when sinners repent, their sins are so good as forgotten,

Says Ezekiel, “None of the crimes committed shall be held against him”

Whenever you fall into a fault, immediately raise your eyes to God,

Make an act of love, And confessing your fault, you may rest assured a pardon.

Say to God,

“Master, the one You love is ill, the heart which You love is sick, covered in sores”

“Lord have mercy on me, heal me,” “I have sinned against You”

“You O God go out in search of sinners” “Here is one at Your Feet, who is come in search of You!”

“The evil has been done—what should I do now?”

“You do not want me to loose confidence in You, even now after my sin”

“You wish me only good”

“And I love You as well, as my God!”

“I love You with all my heart and I regret the displeasure I’ve given You.”

“I resolve never to do so again.”

“Forgive Me!

“You who are God, kind and forgiving, most loving to those who call on You.

“Let me hear those words You said to Mary Magdelane, “Your sins are forgiven”

“Give me the strength to be faithful to You in the future.

4 posted on 07/31/2008 8:04:05 PM PDT by notaliberal (Christ Our Hope!)
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To: notaliberal

Thanks for that bit on Repentance.


5 posted on 08/01/2008 8:26:20 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: nickcarraway; Lady In Blue; NYer; ELS; Pyro7480; livius; Catholicguy; RobbyS; markomalley; ...
Saint of the Day Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Saint of the Day Ping List.

6 posted on 08/01/2008 8:27:34 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
St. Alphonsus Liguori

Saint Alphonsus Liguori,
Bishop & Doctor of the Church
Memorial

August 1st

"Copiosa apud eum redemptio"
"With Him there is Plentiful Redemption"  

History:

Born September 27, 1696.
Ordained a priest on December 21, 1726
Founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorist) in 1732.
Died at Nocera de' Pagani, August 1, 1787.
Canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI.
Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871.
Patron of Confessors and Moral Theologians.

Collect:
Father,
you constantly build up your Church
by the lives of your saints.
Give us the grace to follow St. Alphonsus
in his loving concern for the salvation of men,
and so come to share his reward in heaven.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen

First Reading: Romans 8:1-4
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:13-19
"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

"Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.


7 posted on 08/01/2008 8:54:17 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
My Jesus, I believe that Thou art truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love Thee above all things, and I desire to possess Thee within my soul. Since I am unable now to receive Thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace Thee as being already there, and unite myself wholly to Thee; never permit me to be separated from Thee.
St. Alphonsus Liguori

8 posted on 08/01/2008 8:55:20 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Salvation

Thank you, I am learning a lot from your posts!


9 posted on 08/01/2008 10:12:58 PM PDT by notaliberal (Christ Our Hope!)
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