Good Friday: Sermon from St Alphonsus di Liguori

Good Friday: Sermon from St Alphonsus di Liguori

SOURCE

On the Number of Sins You Commit
by St. Alphonsus Di Liguori

“Because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evil without fear.”–Eccl. viii. 11.
FIRST POINT.
If God instantly chastised the man who insults him, we certainly should not see Him so much outraged as we do at present. But because the Lord does not instantly punish sinners, but waits for them, they are encouraged to offend Him the more. It is necessary to understand that, though God waits and bears, he does not wait and bear forever.

A Vile Lord Repents

St. Alphonsus Liguori

 
As a youth, the noble entered a pact with the devil

We read in the revelations of St. Bridget that there was once a lord as noble by birth as he was low and sinful in his habits. He had given himself by an express compact as a slave to the Devil and had served him for 60 years, leading such a bad life as may easily be imagined and never approaching the Sacraments.  

St. Alphonsus De Lgiouri, "The Eternal Word Is Made Man Part 2"

DISCOURSES FOR ADVENTTaken from THE INCARNATION, BIRTH AND INFANCY OF JESUS CHRIST
by St. Alphonsus Liguori

The Eternal Word Is Made Man Part 2
The decree then being passed that the Divine Son should be made Man, and so become the Redeemer of men, the Archangel Gabriel speeds on his way to Mary. Mary accepts Him for her Son: And the Word was made flesh. [John 1:14] And thus behold Jesus in the womb of Mary; laving now made His entry into the world in all humility and obedience, he says: "Since, O My Father, men cannot make atonement to Thy offended justice by their works and sacrifices, behold Me, Thy Son, now clothed in mortal flesh, behold Me ready to give Thee in their stead satisfaction with My sufferings and with My death!" Wherefore when He cometh into the world He saith: Sacrifice and oblation Thou wouldst not ... but a body Thou hast fitted to Me. ... Then said I, Behold, I come. ... It is written of Me that I should do Thy will. [Heb 10:5]

The Eternal Word Is Made Man Part 1

DISCOURSES FOR ADVENT
Taken from THE INCARNATION, BIRTH AND INFANCY OF JESUS CHRIST
by St. Alphonsus Liguori
THE REDEMPTORIST FATHERS
1927
With Nihil Obstat and ImprimaturDISCOURSE I

The Eternal Word Is Made Man
Part 1
Ignum veni mittere in terram; et quid volo, nisi ut accendatur?

"I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I but that it be kindled?"---Luke, 12:49

On the Great thought of Eternity

The Way of Salvations Meditations

by St. Alfonso Maria de Liguori

On the Great thought of Eternity

I. Thus did St. Augustin designate the thought of eternity: The great thought: magna cogitatio. It was this thought that induced so many solitaries to retire into deserts, so many religious, even kings and queens, to shut themselves up in cloisters, and so many martyrs to sacrifice their lives in the midst of torments, in order to acquire a happy eternity in heaven, and to avoid a miserable eternity in hell. The Ven. John of Avila converted a certain lady with these two words: Reflect, said he to her, on these two words: Ever and Never. A certain monk went down into a grave that he might meditate continually on eternity, and constantly repeated, O eternity! eternity! How frequently, my God, have I deserved the eternity of hell! Oh that I had never offended thee! Grant me sorrow for my sins, have compassion on me.

Praying For the Deceased....

What can I do for my departed loved Ones

by St. Alphonsus Liguori

 
The holy souls suffering in the prison of purgatory are incapable of helping themselves. Out of the depths of torturing flame they call to us "Miseremini!" "Have pity on us!" We have it in our power to help these suffering friends of God. We can do so by prayer, alms-deeds, works of mercy, holy communion, the Holy Mass, and indulgences, and to do so is certainly an act of charity. Understanding this full well, the saints, without exception, have been most earnest and constant in their efforts to help them. Some of them have made this devotion one of the strong characteristics of their sanctity, and we venture to say that no truly devout or sincere Catholic neglects this spiritual work of mercy.

Mary, Hope of Sinners by St. Alphonsus Liguori

Mary, Hope of Sinners

 

  TAKEN FROM THE GLORIES OF MARY, CHAPTER 3, PART 2

by St. Alphonsus Liguori

There are three sources for our knowledge of and devotion to Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners:
St. John Bosco was given a vision wherein it was revealed that Our Lady is the resort of sinners and also the Lady of the Blessed Eucharist.
St. Alphonsus Liguori had a tremendous devotion to the Mother of God and suffered from scruples. He is known as the Doctor  of the Church who has promoted devotion to Our Lady as the hope or refuge of sinners and in his book, the Glories of Mary, he has several pages devoted to her as that refuge; the pages are scattered throughout, almost as a running theme within the overall theme. 

Saint Quote of the Day- Wrath of God

'What shall we then do, my brethren? Do you not see that God is angered? He can no longer bear with us. The Lord is angry. Do you not behold the scourges of God increasing every day? Our sins increase, says St. John Chrysostom, and our scourges increase likewise. God, my brethren, is wrathful: but with all his anger he has commanded me to say, what he formerly commanded to be said by the prophet Zachary: And thou shall say to them, Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Turn to Me says the Lord of Hosts, and I will turn to you says the Lord of Hosts. Sinners, says the Lord, you have turned your backs upon me, and therefore have constrained me to deprive you of my grace. Do not oblige me to drive you forever from my face, and punish you in hell without hope of pardon. Have done with it: abandon sin, be converted to me, and I promise to pardon you all your offences, and once more to embrace you as my children.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Donations:  If you have been with us a month or two please consider getting in this fight for the Faith with a financial contribution.  For CASH, CHECK or MONEY ORDER inquiries please send an email to apostleofmary@hotmail.com

The Greatest Sorrow of Jesus

The Greatest Sorrow of Jesus

EXTRACT FROM The Incarnation, Birth and Infancy of Jesus, St. Alphonsus Liguori with Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur 

Quæ utilitas in sanguine meo, dum descendo in corruptionem?

"What profit is there in My Blood, whilst I go down to corruption?"-----Ps. 29:10

 

<>  Jesus Christ revealed to the Venerable Agatha of the Cross that whilst He was in his Mother's womb, that which afflicted Him more than any other sorrow was the hardness of the hearts of men, who should, after His Redemption, despise the graces which He came into the world to diffuse. And He had expressed this sentiment before, by the mouth of David, in the words just quoted, which are generally thus understood by the holy Fathers: What profit is there in My blood, whilst I go down to corruption? St. Isidore explains whilst I descend into corruption, "whilst I descend to take the nature of man, so corrupted by vices and sins;" as if He had said, "O my Father, I am indeed going to clothe Myself with human flesh, in order to shed My Blood for men; but what profit is there in My Blood?-----the greater part of the world will set no value on My Blood, and will go on offending Me, as if I had done nothing for the love of them."
 

The Seven Words Spoken by Jesus Christ on the Cross

The Seven Words Spoken by Jesus Christ on the Cross
by St. Alphonsus Liguori

Taken from THE PASSION AND DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST, Redemptorist Fathers, 1927

with Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur

FIRST WORD "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." [Luke 23: 34]
O loving tenderness of Jesus towards men! Saint Augustine says that when the Savior was injured by His enemies, He besought pardon for them; for He thought not so much of the injuries He received from them, and the death they inflicted upon Him, as upon the love which brought Him to die for them.

Sermon Series: The Abuse of the Mercy of God by St. Alphonsus de Ligouri

 Sermon Series: The Abuse of the Mercy of God by St. Alphonsus de Ligouri

 "Knowest thou not that the benignity of God leadeth thee to penance?" Rom. 2:4

FIRST POINT
God is Merciful, but He is also Just

We read in the parable of the cockle, that the servants of the good man of the house, seeing that it had grown up in the field along with the wheat, wished to pluck it up. Wilt thou, said they, that we go and gather it up? [Matt. 13:24] No, replied the master; suffer it to grow up, and then it shall be gathered and cast into the fire. In the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it in bundles to burn. [Ibid. 30] In this parable we see, on the one hand, the patience with which the Lord treats sinners; and on the other, the rigor with which He chastises the obstinate.

St. Alphonsus De Ligouri: The Desire that Jesus Had to Suffer for Us

The Desire that Jesus Had to Suffer for Us

St. Alphonsus De Ligouri

Baptismo habeo baptizari; et quomodo coarctor, usquedum perficiatur?

"I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized; and how am I straitened until it be accomplished?" ---Luke, xii. 50.

I. 

Jesus could have saved us without suffering; but He chose rather to embrace a life of sorrow and contempt, deprived of every earthly consolation, and a death of bitterness and desolation, only to make us understand the love which He bore us, and the desire which He had that we should love Him. He passed His whole life in sighing for the hour of His death, which He desired to offer to God, to obtain for us eternal salvation. And it was this desire which made Him exclaim: I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized; and how am I straitened until it be accomplished? He desired to be baptized in His Own Blood, to wash out, not, indeed, His Own, but our sins. O infinite Love, how miserable is he who does not know Thee, and does not love Thee!

St. Alphonsus De Ligouri: The Vocation to the Priesthood

St. Alphonsus De Ligouri: The Vocation to the Priesthood

The Dignities and Duties of the Priest
by St. Alphonsus Liguori C.SS.R.
Doctor of the Church

 The Vocation to the Priesthood
Necessity of a Divine Vocation to take Holy Orders

To enter any state of life, a Divine vocation is necessary; for without such a vocation it is, if not impossible, at least most difficult to fulfill the obligations of our state, and obtain salvation. But if for all states a vocation is necessary, it is necessary in a particular manner for the ecclesiastical state. He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber. [John 10:1] Hence he who takes holy orders without a call from God is convicted of theft, in taking by force a dignity which God does not wish to bestow upon him. And before him St. Paul said the same thing: Neither doth any man take the honor to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was. So Christ also did not glorify Himself that He might be made a high priest, but He that said unto Him: Thou art My Son; this day I have begotten Thee. [Heb 5:4, 5]

Saint Quote of the Day- Reading of Bad Books

'The reading of spiritual works is as profitable as the reading of bad books is noxious. As the former has led to the conversion of many sinners, so the latter is every day the ruin of many young persons. The first author of pious books is the Spirit of God; but the author of pernicious writings is the devil, who often artfully conceals from certain persons the poison that such works contain, and makes these persons believe that the reading of such books is necessary in order to speak well, and to acquire a knowledge of the world for their own direction, or at least in order to pass the time agreeably. But I say that, especially for nuns, nothing is more pernicious than the reading of bad books. And by bad books I mean not only those that are condemned by the Holy See, either because they contain heresy, or treat of subjects opposed to chastity, but also all books that treat of worldly love. What fervor can a religious have if she reads romances, comedies, or profane poetry? What recollection can she have in meditation or at Communion? Can she be called the spouse of Jesus Christ? Should she not rather be called the spouse of a sinful world? Even young women in the world that are in the habit of reading such books are generally not virtuous seculars.

But some one may say, What harm is there in reading romances and profane poetry when they contain nothing immodest? Do you ask what harm? Behold the harm: the reading of such works kindles the concupiscence of the senses, and awakens the passions; these easily gain the consent of the will, or at least render it so weak that when the occasion of any dangerous affection occurs the devil finds the soul already prepared to allow itself to be conquered. A wise author has said that by the reading of such pernicious books heresy has made, and makes every day, great progress; because such reading has given and gives increased strength to libertinism. The poison of these books enters gradually into the soul; it first makes itself master of the understanding, then infects the will, and in the end kills the soul. The devil finds no means more efficacious and secure of sending a young person to perdition than the reading of such poisoned works.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Saint Quote of the Day- Sins of the Flesh

'Come ye to Him and be enlightened. He that wants light must draw near to God; but because, according to the words of St. Thomas, "a thoroughly impure man is mostly removed from God," impurity removes man to a great distance from God, the unchaste becomes, as it were, senseless brutes that no longer apprehend spiritual things. But the sensual man, says St. Paul, perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God. Hell, eternity, and the dignity of the priesthood, no longer make any impression upon the incontinent ecclesiastic: He perceiveth not. Perhaps he will, as St. Ambrose says, begin even to entertain doubts about faith: "Whenever one begins to be incontinent, one begins to deviate from the faith." Oh! how many miserable priests have by this vice even lost their faith? His bones, says Job, shall be filled with the vices of his youth (the vices of youth are impurities), and they shall sleep with him in the dust. As the light of the sun cannot enter into a vessel filled with earth, so the light of God cannot shine into a soul habituated to sins of the flesh: her vices shall continue to sleep with her till death.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Donations:  Last week was poor.  If you have been with us for a month or two please join in the fight for the Faith with a financial contribution.  I need ongoing/consistent help.  We go and grow as your charity flows!  If you do not want to use paypal please email me at apostleofmary@hotmail.com

 

St. Liguori: Jesus Suffers During His Whole Life

Jesus Suffers During His Whole Life

EXTRACT FROM The Incarnation, Birth and Infancy of Jesus, St. Alphonsus Liguori
with Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur 
Dolor meus in conspectu meo semper. 
"My sorrow is continually before me."-----Ps.  38:18

 

   Consider that all the sufferings and ignominy that Jesus endured in His life and death, all were present to Him from the first moment of His life: My sorrow is continually before Me; and even from His childhood He began to offer them in satisfaction for our sins, beginning even then to fulfill His office of Redeemer. He revealed to one of His servants that from the commencement of His life even until His death, He suffered continually; and suffered so much for each of our sins that if He had had as many lives as there are men, He would as many times have died of sorrow, if God had not preserved His life, that He might suffer more. 

The Sight of Our Sins Afflicted Jesus from the First Moment of His Life

The Sight of Our Sins Afflicted Jesus
from the First Moment of His Life

St. Alphonsus De Ligouri 

Dolor meus in conspectu meo semper.
"My sorrow is continually before me."---Ps. xxxvii. 18.

I.
All the afflictions and ignominies which Jesus Christ suffered in life and death, all were present to His mind from the first moment of His life. And He offered them all every moment of His life in satisfaction for our sins. Our Lord revealed to one of His servants that every sin of men gave Him during His life so much sorrow that it would have sufficed to cause His death, if His life had not been preserved in order that He might suffer more. Behold, O my Jesus! what gratitude hast Thou received from men, and especially from me. Thou hast spent thirty-three years of life for my salvation, and I have done as much as I could, as far as it depended on me, to make Thee die with sorrow, as often as I have committed sin.

Preparation for Death: The Shortness of Life by St. Alphonsus de Liquori

Preparation for Death

The Shortness of Life

by St. Alphonsus de Liquori

“What is thy life? It is a vapor, which appeareth for a little while.”
St. James 4,15

First Point - Death Comes Quickly

What is your life? It is vapor, which is dissipated by a blast of wind, and seen no more. All know that they must die; but the delusion of many is, that they imagine death as far off as if it were never to arrive. But Job tells us that the life of man is short.

God Threatens to Chastise us in order to deliver us from Chastisement

God Threatens to Chastise us in order to deliver us from Chastisement
"Heu! consolabor super hostibus meis, et vindicabor de inimicis meis. "
"Ah, I will comfort Myself over My adversaries: and I will be revenged of My enemies." Isa. i. 24.

by St. Alphonsus Liguori

 Jonah warns the inhabitants of Nineveh of God's impending chastisement

Such is the language of God, when speaking of punishment and vengeance: He says that He is constrained by His justice to take vengeance on His enemies. But, mark you, He begins with the word Heu, "Ah:" this word is an exclamation of grief by which he would give us to understand, that if He were capable of weeping when about to punish, He should weep bitterly at being compelled to afflict us His creatures, whom He has loved so dearly as to give up His life through love for us. 

God is Merciful for a Season, and then Chastises (Video)

God is Merciful for a Season, and then Chastises 

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, . . how often would I have gathered thy children . . and thou wouldst not,
behold your house shall be left to you desolate (Luke, xiii. 34)
by St. Alphonsus Liguori

 Sinners will not Believe in the Divine Threats
until the Chastisement has come upon Them.

"Indulsistigenti, Domine, indulsisti genti; numquid glorificatus es?"
"Thou hast been favorable to the nation, O Lord, thou hast been favorable to the nation; hast thou been glorified ?"--Isa. xxvi. 15.