Post #6171

SAINT ALPHONSUS MARIA DE LIGUORI, BISHOP, CONFESSOR, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH Alfonso Maria de' Liguori, born on the 27th of September 1696 in Marianella di Napoli of noble parents, from an early age gave clear indications of holiness. He was still a child when, his parents introduced him to Saint Francis De Geronimo of the Society of Jesus, who, after wishing him well, declared that he would reach ninety years of age, that he would be raised to the episcopal dignity, and that he would do great good in the Church. Already abhorring from games from childhood, he trained noble children in Christian modesty by word and example. While he was young, having joined pious associations, he put his delights in serving the sick in public hospitals, staying long in prayers in churches, and frequenting the holy sacraments. He combined the study of letters so well with piety that he was barely sixteen, in 1713, he obtained a degree in canon and civil law at his home university.