Alphonsus Liguori
St. Doctor of the Church
1696-1787
St. Alphonsus was the most important writer on Our Lady in the eighteenth century, an age of decline in Marian theology and devotion. His contribution was enhanced by his reputation in Moral and Pastoral Theology and as a great religious founder. Alphonsus’ principal Marian work is The Glories of Mary, the most widely distributed book on Our Lady in modern times, over 800 editions, in many languages, since 1750. The saint was convinced that he had received extraordinary graces from Our Lady. Piety born of this conviction led him to deal frequently with Marian themes, especially in his spiritual works. Through sixteen years, crowded with many tasks, he worked at the Glories. His intention was “that devout souls may, with little trouble and little expense, read of the glories of Mary and be inflamed with love for Mary” and “to provide priests with material for sermons, so that they may spread devotion to the Mother of God.” To this pastoral end he would leave other prerogatives of Mary to other authors and confine himself to her mercy and intercession. Hence the plan of the work: Part One deals with phrase after phrase of the Salve Regina; Part Two is made up of sermons of feasts of Mary (Immaculate Conception, Nativity, Presentation, Annunciation, Visitation, Purification, two on the Assumption) and meditations on the seven sorrows of Our Lady and on ten virtues characteristic of her (humility, love of God, love of our neighbor, faith, hope, chastity, poverty, obedience, patience, spirit of prayer) with, to conclude, advice on traditional devotional practices. Later editions (after 1775)carried the saint’s replies to a work by Abbe Rolli and to a critic, LamindusPritaniusredivivus. To each chapter section of the first part and each chapter of the second, the author added edifying stories and prayers.
The text of the Glories of Mary abounds in references to past authors, who are often quoted in brief excerpts. The Fathers are there but the medieval writers are much favored, St. Bernard most of all. St. Bridget of Sweden appears surprisingly often. The author did not have critical texts of these. He has been criticized for his interpretation of Scripture and for his use of dubious material in the edifying stories. On a higher level, Marian ‘minimalists’ have attackedhis theory of Mary’s mediation and the language in which it was expressed. His phenomenal success in communication indicates a favorable response from the Sentiment of the Faithful to the core of the book. It was a successful challenge to Jansenism.
The emphasis on Mary's powerful role as Mediatrixand Advocateis dominantand manifold. Part One opens withthe queenship, on which Alphonsus is quoted in Ad Caeli Reginam, andthe spiritual motherhood. Alphonsus adopts the medieval view of the kingdom of justice ruled by Jesus and that of mercy by Mary. Gerson and St. Bonaventure are his authorities here and he invokes the example of Esther and Ahasuerus. With amazing dexteritythe saint moves around the idea of motherhood, affirming, explaining, exhorting, applyinghis ideas to human need, to one universal need, help in the hour of death.
Chapters V and VI are centered on St. Bernard's axiom that all graces come to us through Mary. Alphonsus clarifies that “Jesus Christ is the only Mediator of justice” and “Mary is the Mediatrix of grace” for “mediation of justice by way of
merit is one thing and mediation of grace is another.” In dealing with the use of the word ‘omnipotent,’ Alphonsus has something similar to say. “Mary then is called omnipotent in the sense in which it can be understood of a creature who is
incapable of a divine attribute: that she is omnipotent because by her prayers she obtains whatever she wishes.” Though stating that “Mary, now in heaven, can no longer command her Son,” Alphonsus later quotes St. Antoninus: “Since the prayers of the Blessed Virgin are those of a mother, they necessarily have, to a certain extent, the nature of a command.” This hopeful theme, help for sinners, continues: “Mary’s saving role is expressed in concrete terms without too systematic a theology and without use of the word Coredemptress, which occurs elsewhere in his works.”
In the sermons on the feasts (Part Two), Alphonsus goes into points of theology. He argues that the Immaculate Conception was fitting to the first-born daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son and the spouse of the Holy Ghost; but his history is in places defective. Speaking of Mary's birth he raises the question of her preeminence in grace over all others, even in the moment of the Immaculate Conception, and defends the view that she possessed the use of reason in her mother’s womb. The Presentation stimulates reflections on her self-offering to God and the vow of virginity she took; the Annunciation on the dignity of the divine motherhood; the Visitation on Mary as the dispenser of graces; the Purification on her part in the final sacrifice to which her present offering looked. Mary, then, “by the merit of her sorrows and by sacrificing her Son became the Mother of all the redeemed. “Again Bernard's idea, so often on Alphonsus’ lips, recurs: all graces come through Mary.
The passage on the Assumption quoted in MunificentissimusDeusis from the sermon on the Immaculate Conception: “It would have redounded to his dishonor if the virginal flesh with which he had clothed himself had rotted away.” Alphonsus refers to Pseudo-Augustine, not doubting its authenticity. The sermons on the feast of the Assumption are imaginative and picturesque. The Apostles come to the death; Mary entering heaven is greeted by the saints, foremost among them her parents and St. Joseph and by the angels.
Intensity of feeling and helpful insights mark the remaining chapters of the book, notablyonthe sorrow of Mary on Calvary, and on Mary’s faith. Alphonsus. recommends traditional devotions and the soundness of his devotion is evident in
the formulas of consecration in which the key phrase is “that I (we) may never offend Jesus.”