IF YOU ARE PERSECUTED OR SLANDERED

“Be assured that if you patiently endure persecution, God will come to your defense, and if He allows you to be slandered in this world, it will be so that He may reward your patience in the next life with incomparably greater honor.”

San Alfonso María de Ligorio, “El que quiera venir conmigo”, Ed. Apostolado Mariano.

ALL EYES

"Mary is all eyes, compassionate towards us and ready to help us. Saint Epiphanius calls Mary 'the one with many eyes'; she who is all eyes to see and help those in need. A man possessed by a demon was being exorcised, and when the exorcist asked him what Mary was doing, the possessed man replied: 'She goes down and goes up.' He meant that this most benign Lady does nothing other than descend to earth to bring graces to humankind and ascend to heaven to obtain divine favor for our supplications. Saint Andrew Avellino rightly calls the Virgin the administrator of Paradise, who is constantly engaged in obtaining mercy, imploring graces for all, both the just and the sinners. 'The Lord has his eyes on the righteous' (Psalm 33:16). But the Lady's eyes, says Richard of Saint Lawrence, are turned both towards the just and towards sinners. And this is because Mary's eyes are a mother's eyes, and a mother does not..."  "Look only to prevent your child from falling, but also, having fallen, to help him up."

Saint Alphonsus Liguori

AGAINST THE FALSE MERCY OF THE MODERNISTS

 Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori warns:

“A certain author indicated that hell is populated more by mercy than by divine justice; and so it is, because, recklessly counting on mercy, they continue to sin and are damned. God is merciful. But who denies it? And yet, how many does mercy send to hell today! God is merciful, but also just, and that is why he is obliged to punish those who offend him. He uses mercy on sinners, but only on those who, after offending him, regret it and fear offending him again: His mercy for generations to come is toward those who fear him (Luke 1:50), the Mother of God sang. He uses justice on those who abuse his mercy to despise him. The Lord forgives sins, but he cannot forgive the will to sin.”  Augustine said that whoever sins with the hope of repenting after sinning is not a penitent, but rather mocks God (“Irrisor est, non poenitens”). The Apostle warns us that one does not mock God in vain: “No one mocks God” (Galatians 6:7). It would be mocking God to offend Him however and however much one wants and then go to heaven.”

(Sermon 32, The Sinner's Illusions).

WHAT SHOULD A POPE DO, ACCORDING TO SAINT APHONSUS MARIA DE LIGUORI?

When the conclave of 1774 was about to meet, Cardinal Castelli asked Monsignor Alphonsus Maria de Liguori to write a letter on the measures the new Pope should take to reform the Church, which was afflicted by a general laxity. The main passages from Saint Alphonsus's letter are quoted.

"My friend and Lord, regarding the sentiment you desire from me regarding the current affairs of the Church and the election of the Pope, what sentiment do I, a miserable ignorant and of such little spirit, wish to express?

"I only say that prayer is needed, but much prayer; considering that, to rescue the Church from the state of laxity and confusion in which all social classes universally find themselves, not all human science and prudence can remedy it, but the almighty arm of God is necessary."

Among bishops, few have true zeal for souls.

Practically all religious communities are lax; for in religious life, in the current confusion of things, observance is lacking and obedience is lost.

In the secular clergy, the situation is even worse: a general reform is clearly necessary for all ecclesiastics, in order to remedy the great moral corruption that exists among the secularists.

It is necessary, therefore, to ask Jesus Christ to give us a Head of the Church who, more than doctrine and human prudence, is endowed with spirit and zeal for the honor of God, and is totally detached from all human parties and respect. For if ever, to our misfortune, a Pope should arise who does not have before his eyes only the glory of God, the Lord will help him little, and things, as they are in the present circumstances, will go from bad to worse.

Therefore, prayers can remedy many evils, obtaining from God that He lay His hand upon them and grant them a remedy.

[…] I would wish, above all, that the future Pope (since there are many cardinals to be provided) would choose, among those proposed to him, the most learned and zealous for the good of the Church, and would warn the Princes in advance, in the first letter in which he informs them of his exaltation, that, when they ask him for the cardinalate for some of his favorites, they should propose only subjects of proven piety and doctrine; because otherwise he cannot admit them in good conscience.

Furthermore, I would wish that he would be strong enough to deny further benefits to those who are already provided with the goods of the Church, to the extent sufficient for their maintenance, according to their status. And in this he must employ all his strength against any compromises that arise.

Furthermore, I would like luxury among prelates to be avoided, and therefore that the number of servants be determined for all (otherwise nothing would be remedied), according to what corresponds to each class of prelates: a certain number of servants and no more; a certain number of horses and no more; so that heretics can no longer speak.

Furthermore, greater diligence be exercised in conferring benefices only on those who have served the Church, and not on particular individuals.

Furthermore, every diligence should be used in the election of bishops (on whom divine worship and the salvation of souls primarily depend), and information should be obtained from various quarters about their good lives and the doctrine necessary for governing dioceses; and that even those who sit in their churches, metropolitans and others, be secretly asked to inquire about those bishops who care little for the good of their flocks.

I would also like it to be made clear everywhere that bishops who are negligent and deficient in the housing and luxury of the people in their service, or in the excessive expenditure of furniture, banquets, and similar things, will be punished by suspension or by the sending of apostolic vicars to correct their faults; and that they will set an example from time to time, as necessary.

Any example of this kind would cause all other negligent prelates to take care to moderate themselves.

[…] Above all, I wish that the Pope would universally reduce all religious to the observance of their first Institute, at least in the most important matters.

Now, I do not wish to trouble you further. We can do nothing but ask the Lord to give us a Pastor filled with His Spirit, who knows how to establish these things I have so briefly described, according to what best suits the glory of Jesus Christ.

With this, I pay you the most humble reverence, while protesting with all obsequiousness.

For Your Excellency, devoted, humble, and true servant.

Alfonso María, Bishop of Santa Águeda de los Godos.

SAINT ALPHONSUS LIGORIO DIXIT

 

THE ONLY CONSOLATION

"The end is near, the end is near. Some live longer, others less; but all of us, sooner or later, must die, and at the hour of death the only consolation we will experience will be having loved Jesus Christ and having suffered the hardships of life for his love."

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 

               By St. Alphonsus de Liguori

My Lord Jesus Christ,

who for the love you bear us,

remain night and day in this Sacrament,

full of compassion and of love,

awaiting, calling and welcoming

all who come to visit you.

I believe that you are present 

in the Sacrament of the Altar. 

I adore you from the abyss of my nothingness 

and I thank you for all the graces 

you have given me until now, 

and in particular, 

for having given me your Most Holy Mother Mary 

as my advocate 

and for having called me 

to visit you in this church.

I now salute your Most Loving Heart, 

and this for three ends: 

first, in thanksgiving for this great gift; 

second, to make amends to you for all the outrages 

which you receive in this Sacrament 

from all your enemies; 

third, I intend by this visit to adore you 

in all the places on earth 

in which you are present in this Sacrament 

and in which you are the least revered 

and the most abandoned.

My Jesus, I love you with my heart. 

I grieve for having until now so many times 

offended your infinite goodness. 

I purpose by your grace never more to offend you 

for the time to come; 

and now, miserable and unworthy though I am, 

I consecrate myself to you without reserve. 

I give you and renounce my entire will, 

my affections, my desires, and all that I possess. 

From now on, use me 

and all that I have as you wish. 

All I ask of you and desire is your holy love, 

final perseverance 

and the perfect accomplishment of your will.

I recommend to you the souls in Purgatory; 

but especially those who had the greatest devotion 

to the Most Blessed Sacrament 

and to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. 

I also recommend to you all poor sinners.

And finally, my dear Saviour, 

I unite all my affections with the affections 

of your most loving Heart, 

and I offer them with you to your Eternal Father 

and beg him for your sake 

and for love of you, 

graciously to accept and grant them.

Amen.

St. Alphonsus dixit

 

SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

HOW WE SHOULD ACT EVERY DAY

"May all of our actions, words or thoughts be like those of a person who will leave this earth today and appear before the Judgment of God."

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

THANK YOU, LORD

Jesus, my Redeemer, I thank Thee that Thou didst not let me die when I was in disgrace with Thee! During how many of the past years have I not deserved to be cast into hell!... If I had died on such a day, or on such a night, what would have become of me for all eternity?... I thank Thee for this, O my Lord!

I accept my death as a satisfaction for my sins ; and I accept it in whatever manner it may please Thee to send it to me. But since Thou hast waited for me until now, wait for me yet a little longer.

Give me time to weep over the offences which I have committed against Thee, before Thou comest to judge me. (Job 10, 20.)  

I will no longer resist Thy sweet voice that calls me. Perhaps these words which I have just read may be the last call for me! I confess that I do not deserve pity, for Thou hast so often pardoned me; and I, ungrateful one that I am, have again offended Thee!; 

But "a broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt Thou not despise." (Ps. li. 17.) O Lord, since Thou wilt not despise a broken and contrite heart, look upon a traitor, who being repentant, flees unto Thee." Cast me not away from Thy presence." 

In mercy, do not cast me from Thee, for Thou hast said, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." It is true that I have offended Thee more tnan many others, because I have been favoured by Thee with light and grace; but the blood which Thou hast shed for me gives me courage, and gives me pardon, if only I repent. Yes, O my Sovereign Good, I do repent with my whole heart for having despised Thee. 

Pardon me, and give me grace to love Thee for the time to come. I have offended Thee too many times already. I will not spend the life that remains to me, O my Jesus, in giving Thee offence, but I will spend it ever weeping over the displeasure I have caused Thee, and in loving Thee with all my heart, Thou, O God, who art so worthy of infinite love!

Preparation for Death – Saint Alphonsus Maria Liguori

SOMETHING TO MEDITATE

What would you say of someone who, condemned to death went out to execution mockingly, laughing, looking about on every side, thinking of shows, celebrations and entertainments? And you, are you too not on your way to death? And where do your thoughts turn? Meditate on those tombs of your relatives and friends, whose sentence has already been carried out.

Preparation for Death, Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

SAINT ALPHONSUS MA. DE LIGORI DIXIT

 

THE ONE WHO IS ALL EYES

 Mary is all eyes to pity and help us. Saint Epiphanius calls the Blessed Mother “many-eyed,” because she is ever on the watch to help all poor creatures in this world. Once a possessed person, while being exorcised, was asked by the exorcist what Mary does. The devil in him replied: “She descends and ascends.” By that he meant that Our Lady is constantly coming down from heaven to bring graces to men and going up again to obtain divine favor for our prayers. Saint Andrew of Avellino fittingly calls the Blessed Virgin the “heavenly messenger,” for she is constantly carrying messages of mercy and obtaining graces for everybody, for the good and for sinners. God has his eyes on the good, according to David: The eyes of the Lord are on the just (Ps 33:16). But, according to Richard of Saint Lawrence, the eyes of Mary are on the good and on sinners. Her eyes are the eyes of a mother; and a mother not only keeps an eye on her child to see that it does not fall down, but when it does fall, she picks it up again. 

 Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

THE CRUCIFIXION AND DEATH OF JESUS

Lo, we are on Calvary! made the theatre of divine love, where a God dies for us in a sea of sorrows. When Jesus had arrived there, they violently strip off his garments cleaving to his torn flesh, and cast him on the cross. The divine Lamb stretches himself out on this bed of death, presents his hands to the executioners, and offers to the Eternal Father the great sacrifice of his life for the salvation of men. Behold, now they nail him to the cross and raise him on it. Look, my soul, on thy Saviour, who, fastened by three hard nails, hangs from the cross, where he can find neither room nor rest. At one time he leans on his hands, at another on his feet; but where he leans, there the pain is increased. 

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

HUMILITY

 

THE POWER OF THE VIRGIN MARY

"The Lord revealed to St. Catherine of Sienna, that he, in his goodness, had granted to Mary, from love to his only begotten Son, whose mother she is, that not even one sinner, who commends himself devoutly to her, should be the prey of hell."

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, The Glories of Mary, Chapter VIII, 1

CELESTIAL PHYSICIAN

“She is our mother, and as a mother does not shrink from taking eare of a child covered with wounds, so this celestial physician does not refuse to cure her servants who have recourse to her.”

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

WHEN DEATH COMES

It is most useful for our salvation to say often to ourselves: I must one day die! The Church every year on Ash Wednesday brings this remembrance to the faithful. This certainty of death is brought to our recollection many times in the year; sometimes by the burial grounds which we pass upon the road, sometimes by the graves which we behold in churches, sometimes by the dead who are carried to burial.

The most precious furniture that was carried by the anchorites to their caves was a cross and a skull; the cross to remind them of the great love of Jesus Christ for us, and the skull to remind them of the day of their own death. And so they persevered in penitential works till the end of their days; and thus dying in poverty in the desert, they died more contented than if they had died as kings in their palaces.

"The end is at hand! The end is at hand! In this life one man lives a longer, another a shorter time; but for everyone sooner or later, the end comes; and when that end comes, nothing will comfort us at death but the thought that we have loved Jesus Christ, and have endured with patience the labors of this life for love of Him.

Then, not the riches we have gained, nor the honors we have obtained, nor the pleasures we have enjoyed, will console us. All the greatness of the world cannot comfort a dying man; it rather adds to his pains; and the more he has gained of it, the more does he suffer.

It was said by Sister Margaret of St. Anne, a very holy Discalced Carmelite, and daughter of the Emperor Rudolph II: "What profit is a kingdom at the hour of death?". Oh, how many worldly persons are there to whom, at the very moment when they are busy in seeking for gain, power, and office, the message of death comes: "Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live." (Isaias 37:1). Why, O man, hast thou neglected to make thy will till the hour when thou art in sickness? O my God, what pain is suffered by him who is on the point of gaining some lawsuit, or of taking possession of some palace or property, who hears it said by the priest who has come to pray for his soul: Depart, Christian soul, from this world. Depart from this world, and render thy account to Jesus Christ. "But," he cries, "I am not now well prepared." What matters that? Thou must now depart.

O my God, give me light, give me strength to spend the rest of my life in serving and loving Thee. If now I should die, I should not die content; I should die disturbed. What, then, do I wait for? That death should seize me at a moment of the greatest peril to my soul? O Lord, if I have been foolish in the past, I will not be so for the time to come. Now I give myself wholly to Thee; receive me and help me with Thy grace.

In a word, to every one the end comes, and with the end comes that decisive moment on which depends a happy or wretched eternity. Oh, what a moment, on which Eternity depends! Oh, that all would think upon that moment, and the account they must give to their Judge of their whole life! Truly, they would not then devote themselves to amassing riches, nor labor to become great in this perishable world; they would think how to become Saints, and to be great in that life which never ends. If, then, we have Faith, let us believe that there is a Death, a Judgment, an Eternity, and labour for the rest of our life to live only for God. And, therefore, let us take care to live as pilgrims on this earth, remembering that we must speedily leave it. Let us live ever with death before our eyes; and, in all the affairs of life, let us take care to act precisely as we should act at the point of death.

All things upon earth either leave us or we leave them. Let us hear Jesus Christ, Who says: "Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither the rust nor moth doth consume." (Matthew 6:20). Let us despise the treasures of earth, which cannot content us, and speedily end; and let us gain those heavenly treasures which will make us happy and will never end.

Miserable I am, O Lord, in that I have so often, for the sake of the goods of this life, turned my back upon Thee Who art the Infinite Good! I see my folly in having sought for a great name, and for making my fortune in the world. I see what my true happiness is: it is henceforth to love Thee, and in everything to fulfill Thy Will. O my Jesus, take from me the desire of gain; make me love neglect and a humble life. Give me strength to deny myself in everything that displeases Thee. Make me embrace, with a calm mind, infirmities, persecutions, desolations, and all the crosses that Thou mayst send me. Oh, that I could die for the love of Thee, abandoned by all, as Thou didst die for me!

Holy Virgin, Thy prayers can enable me to find my true happiness, which is earnestly to love Thy Son. Oh, pray for me; in Thee I put my trust.

SAINT ALPHONSUS MARIA DE LIGUORI

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DEVOTION TO MARY WITH A DETERMINATION TO AMEND OUR LIVES IS A SIGN OF SALVATION

"If all sinners had recourse to Mary, with a determination to amend their lives, who shuld ever be lost? Only they that have not recourse to Mary are lost." 

 Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori 

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