St. Alphonsus Liguori: "Doctor Moralis"

August 2 marks the traditional feast day of Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (C.Ss.R.) and Doctor of the Church. Here is a brief recounting of his life, taken from the third reading at Matins.
 

Born at Naples of noble parents, Alphonsus Mary Liguori as very young man took delight in caring for the sick in the public hospitals and in devoting his spare time to prayer in churches. In obedience to his father he became a lawyer; but when he had experienced the dangers of this kind of career, he abandoned the profession. He renounced his right of inheritance as oldest son and became a priest, attacking vice with such zeal that he obtained the conversions of a great number of sinners. He took special pity on the poor and those living in rural districts and founded the Congregation of Priests of the Most Holy Redeemer to preach the Gospel to them. Lest anything should turn him from his determination, he bound himself by a perpetual vow never to waste any time. Constant in contemplating the Passion of the Lord and the holy Eucharist, he was outstanding in his devotion to the holy Mother of God, being more than once refreshed by signs of her heavenly protection.

He wrote many books of religious instruction and of devotion by which he strove to gain souls for Christ. He consistently refused the ecclesiastical honours offered to him, but was compelled by the Holy See to accept the Bishopric of the Church of Santa Agata dei Goti, where he was generous to the poor and made himself all things to all men. He also brought nuns back to a more perfect form of life. Serious chronic illnessses led him to resign the episcopal office and return to his disciples. Finally, at the age of ninety years, radiant with innocence of life and penance, he died a most peaceful death in the year 1787. Pope Pius IX declared him a Doctor of the universal Church, and Pius XII established him as the heavenly patron before God of all confessors and moral theologians.

While many Catholics today are aware of St. Alphonsus’s great devotional works such as The Glories of Mary and Preparation for Death (both available from Angelus Press), surprisingly few have given study to the saint’s impressive theological oeuvre.

This is no doubt due the lamentable fact that notably few Catholics are properly schooled in Latin, the language of St. Alphonsus’s four-volume masterpiece, Theologia Moralis. This treatise, which went through nine editions during the Holy Doctor’s lifetime, has never been translated into English in full. Although excerpts of this and other theological works by St. Alphonsus have made their way into various anthologies, many of these books are long out-of-print and inaccessible to most Catholics. Thankfully, efforts have been made in recent years to bring the saint’s theology back to light, including fresh translations of excerpts from the Theologia Moralis.

Over at the website The Josias, a portion of St. Alphonsus’s dissertation on the just prohibition of dangerous books (Theologia Moralis, appendix III) has been rendered into English for the first time. With the saint’s feast fast approaching, it would behoove faithful Catholics to consider Alphonsus’s learned but straightforward reflection on the necessity of banning harmful works, a necessity which arises from both ecclesiastical history and immemorial custom. Here is an excerpt.
 

If religion and public order cannot be maintained while wicked men are allowed to spread false doctrines or circulate dangerous opinions contrary to accepted norms of morality . . . [,] how much more will they be threatened if worthless rascals such as these are permitted to disseminate these same opinions even more widely in writing, and make them more compelling with cunning arguments that are more dangerous when read than heard? For whatever we read makes a stronger impression on our minds and more easily slips into our hearts. Just as holy reading can foster virtue, perverse reading urges us into vice; and more strongly so, since men are more naturally inclined to vice than to virtue. St. Basil was right to call books the food of the soul; because just as food is pleasurable while we eat it, and goes on to become human blood, so a book pleases when read—for who reads unwillingly?—and thus is more quickly digested.

Further, a reader gives himself like a student to the author he reads, offering him a docile and benevolent heart, and thus leaves himself vulnerable to deception. For it is very difficult not have some affection toward an author, from which it easily comes about that the impiety and error latent in the text is absorbed insensibly, and later tenaciously retained.

While we can no longer depend on secular authorities to follow these words, that does not mean Catholics should cast aside vigilance when it comes to keeping harmful books (and other forms of media) out of their homes. Parents in particular have a duty before God to monitor what their children are exposed to and to intervene when a particular work poses a threat to faith and morals. At the individual level, the faithful must be good stewards of their eyes and ears so as to prevent pernicious material from polluting their souls.

This is often easier said than done, of course. However, Catholics should take comfort in the fact that not only has St. Alphonsus bequeathed the Church numerous devotional and theological works during his lifetime, but now stands before the throne of God praying for the salvation of souls.

Seek out St. Alphonsus in prayer. Ask him for the strength to resist the temptations of this world, particularly lurid books and perverse music. And above all, follow St. Alphonsus in giving thanks to God throughout the day for the great gift of the Redemption.