Page Map - Our Holy Founder Saint Alfonso Maria de Liguori - Redemptorist Priests are not exorcists - Saint Alfonso's revolutionary teachings on Moral Theology

Our Holy Founder Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Learn about the life and legacy of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, the founder of the Redemptorists. Discover his profound impact on the Catholic Church and his enduring message of love and redemption. Join us as we explore the life of a saint who dedicated himself to serving the most abandoned souls.

"O Saviour of the world, O Love of souls, O Lord most lovely of all beings!

Thou by Thy Passion didst come to win to Thyself our hearts, by showing

us the immense love that Thou didst bear to us in accomplishing a

redemption which has brought to us a sea of benedictions, and which cost

Thee a sea of pains and ignominies. It was principally for this end that Thou

didst institute the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, in order that we might

have a perpetual memorial of Thy Passion: "That we might have forever a

perpetual memorial of so great a benefit," says St. Thomas, "He gives his

body to be the food of the faithful," which St. Paul had already said. As

often as you shall eat this bread, you shall show the death of the Lord.

Oh, how many holy souls hast Thou persuaded by these prodigies of love,

consumed by the flames of Thy love, to renounce all earthly goods, in order

to dedicate themselves entirely to loving Thee alone, O most amiable

Saviour! O my Jesus! "

"My most loving Redeemer and Lord Jesus Christ, I thy poor servant,

knowing how pleasing to thee are those who seek to glorify thy most holy

mother, whom thou lovest so much, and dost so much desire to see loved

and honored by all men, I propose to publish this book of mine which treats

of her glories. I know not to whom I could commend it but to thee, who

hast so much at heart the glory of this mother. To thee, then, I present and

dedicate it. Receive this little offering of my love for thee and thy beloved

mother. Take it under thy protection, and pour into the hearts of those who

read it the light of confidence in this immaculate Virgin, and the warmth of

a burning love for her, in whom thou hast placed the hope and refuge of all

the redeemed. And for the reward of this, my poor effort, give me, I pray

thee, that love for Mary with which I have desired to inflame, by this my

little work, the hearts of all those who read it."

Saint Alfonso Maria de Liguori

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."

The above quote is not from St Alfonso!

For those who are passionate about The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

& ARE READY TO DIE FOR IT

For those who are passionate about

The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

& ARE READY TO DIE TO PERSEVERE IN IT

For those who, across the centuries, have been or will be spiritual children of Saint Alfonso

& ARE READY TO DIE AS CHRISTIANS

For the love of Jesus and Mary and of souls, of the Catholic Church, and of Christendom

FOR THE WORK OF THE REDEMPTION

Words once addressed by Alexander to a cowardly soldier who was also named Alexander: "Either change thy name or change thy conduct."

https://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/faith-mary.htm

The Work of God & of St Alfonso Maria de Liguori

The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

Maybe marriage is best for her -her Dad is on the right- but perhaps the religious life is best for you. 

Think twice about what your eternity depends on.

St Alphonsus cherished the Pope, the cardinals, and the bishops, not as a critic but with devout veneration and obedient humility, an obedience made especially compulsory by the Rule. Even when the Pope Pius VI condemned him. 

Pray for our Pope Leo XIV!

Lord give us priests! Lord give us holy priests! Lord give us holy Redemptorists! Lord give us holy families!

Redemptorist Priests are not exorcists

The Hidden War: Why Real Exorcists Shun the Spotlight

In the digital age, a new phenomenon has emerged on social media platforms: the "YouTube Exorcist." These channels feature dramatic footage of deliverances, intense confrontations with the demonic, and priests—or laypeople—performing rites before a global audience of millions. However, if we examine the deep-rooted traditions of Catholic demonology and the lives of the great saints, a troubling paradox emerges. The very act of filming an exorcism for public consumption suggests a spiritual disposition that may render the minister ineffective.

True exorcism is not a performance; it is an act of profound, hidden humility.

The Theology of Humility vs. The Sin of Pride

The spiritual battle between a priest and a demon is not a clash of personal "power." The priest has no inherent power over spirits; he acts only as an instrument of Christ. For this instrument to be effective, it must be hollowed out by humility.

• The Devil's Domain: Pride is the foundational sin of Satan. He is the "King over all the sons of pride." When a minister seeks the spotlight, he enters the devil's own territory.

• The Power of the Void: A humble priest is a vacuum into which God's grace flows. A proud priest, preoccupied with views, likes, or his own reputation as a "powerful healer," is full of himself. There is no room for God's authority where human ego resides.

As many masters of the interior life have noted, the devil does not fear a man who shouts; he fears a man who is truly humble. A priest who displays his "success" against demons is, in effect, feeding the very spirit he claims to be casting out.

The "Secret" Ministry: Why Real Exorcists Stay Hidden

Traditionally, the Church has treated exorcism with extreme discretion. There are three primary reasons why a legitimate exorcist avoids the public eye:

1. Protection of the Afflicted: A person suffering from extraordinary demonic influence is in a state of extreme vulnerability. To film their agony and broadcast it to the world is often seen as a violation of their dignity and a lack of pastoral charity.

2. Avoidance of Vain-Glory: St. Alphonsus de Liguori and other moral theologians warned that spiritual gifts are easily corrupted by vainglory. By showing the world that they are exorcists, these "influencers" risk transforming a sacred rite into a personal brand.

3. The Strategy of the Enemy: The devil loves a stage. When an exorcism is filmed, the demon often plays to the camera, using the opportunity to spread confusion, lies, or fear. A real exorcist knows that the most effective work is done in the silence of a closed chapel, where the only witness is God.

The Shield of Authority: The Role of the Bishop

A primary indicator of a "real" exorcist is his obedience. In the Catholic tradition, a priest does not appoint himself an exorcist. He acts strictly under the mandate of his Bishop.

This "canonical mission" is the priest's primary protection. When an exorcist stays hidden and obedient to his Bishop, he is protected by the authority of the Church. A YouTube exorcist who acts independently or seeks personal fame steps outside this protective circle of obedience. By making himself the "star" of the video, he replaces the Bishop's authority with his own ego—a move the devil recognizes and exploits.

The Rule of Prudence: Natural Before Supernatural

A legitimate exorcist is often the most skeptical person in the room. Long before considering a "demonic" explanation, a real exorcist is required by Church law to exhaust all natural explanations.

• Medical and Psychological Screening: Authentic exorcists work alongside doctors, psychiatrists, and psychologists. They look for mental health issues, neurological disorders, or emotional trauma first.

• The Deception of Fame: YouTube exorcists often skip this rigorous "discernment of spirits." To maintain a channel's engagement, they often misidentify mental illness as demonic possession. A real exorcist would rather find a medical explanation and help the person get therapy than prematurely jump to a rite that could further traumatize a mentally ill person.

The Powerless Priest

The article of faith remains clear: The devil hates humility. He cannot understand it, and he cannot defeat it. Conversely, he mocks pride. If a priest is motivated—even subconsciously—by the desire to be seen as a "heroic" or "famous" exorcist, he loses his spiritual "teeth."

When a priest stands before a demon, the demon does not see the stole or the holy water; he sees the soul. If he sees the stain of pride and the thirst for public recognition, he knows he has found a kindred spirit rather than a divine adversary.

"The more we think of ourselves, the less God can work through us. The demon is cast out not by the strength of our voice, but by the depth of our disappearance into Christ."

Conclusion: Discerning the Real from the Visual

While the dramatic videos on YouTube may garner millions of clicks, they often lack the hallmarks of authentic spiritual warfare. A real exorcist strives for the "Hidden Life." They do not want you to know their name, their face, or their "track record."

If a minister is busy managing a YouTube channel and showcasing his "authority" over the darkness, it is a sign to tread carefully. True spiritual authority is silent, hidden, and entirely focused on the glory of God—never the "content" of the creator.

Saint Alfonso's revolutionary teachings on Moral Theology 1

In the 18th century, the Catholic Church's confessional booths were a spiritual battlefield. On one side stood the Jansenists (Rigorists), who preached a cold, terrifyingly strict morality—suggesting that almost everything was a sin and that humans were rarely worthy of Holy Communion. On the other side stood extreme Probabilists (Laxists), who used clever legal loopholes to argue that if a person could find even one obscure theologian to say a sin was "probably" okay, they were free to do it.

People were either paralyzed by fear of damnation or entirely indifferent to the moral law.

Stepping into this chaos, Saint Alphonsus Liguori—with his brilliant legal mind and pastoral heart—devised a revolutionary middle path that saved the Church's confessional practice: Equiprobabilism (from the Latin for "equal probability").

The Core Concept: Law vs. Liberty

Equiprobabilism is a framework designed to answer a single, practical question: When a moral law is genuinely doubtful, are you bound to follow it, or are you free to act?

Alphonsus framed this as a tension between two competing principles:

• The Law: The obligation to obey God's commandments.

• Liberty: The God-given freedom of the human conscience.

He argued that both law and liberty have rights, and a Christian cannot simply disregard either. To resolve doubts, he established two fundamental, common-sense rules depending on how strong the arguments are.

How Equiprobabilism Works

To make a moral decision, you weigh the evidence for the Law (you must not do the action) against the evidence for Liberty (you are free to do the action). Alphonsus divided the scenarios beautifully:

Scenario A: One side is clearly stronger (The Preponderance of Truth)

If the argument for the Law is more probable (safer, better grounded in truth) than the argument for Liberty, you must follow the Law.

Example: If there is a 70% theological probability that an action is a sin, and only a 30% chance it is permitted, your conscience is bound. You cannot choose the weaker option just because it is easier.

Scenario B: The arguments are perfectly balanced (True Equiprobability)

What if the arguments for the Law and the arguments for Liberty are equally probable (a 50/50 split)? Both sides have highly respected, holy, and logical arguments.

Here, Alphonsus applied a classic legal maxim from his lawyer days: "A doubtful law does not bind."

If God's law on a specific, complex matter is genuinely unclear and the arguments are perfectly equal, Liberty wins. God does not lay traps for His children; He does not bind a conscience with a law that cannot be clearly known. In this case, you are free to act in liberty.

The Crucial Exceptions: When You Can Never Risk It

Alphonsus was a realist. He noted that there are three areas where you cannot use probability to choose liberty over the safer course, because the stakes are too high:

1. The Validity of the Sacraments: A priest cannot use a "probably valid" element for Baptism or the Eucharist; he must use what is absolutely certain.

2. Physical Safety and Life: A doctor cannot use a drug that "might" save a patient if there is a known, certain cure, nor can a hunter shoot into a bush that "probably" contains a deer if it might be a human.

3. The Certain Rights of Others: If you owe someone money, you cannot claim a "probable" excuse not to pay them; their right to the money is certain.

Why It Revolutionized Catholic Theology

By introducing Equiprobabilism, Saint Alphonsus achieved three massive spiritual victories:

• He Defeated Jansenism: He snatched ordinary Catholics out of the jaws of despair by proving that God is a loving Father, not a tyrant searching for reasons to condemn us.

• He Closed the Loopholes: He stopped people from treating confession like a game of legal gymnastics, insisting that we must always seek the truth rather than the easiest way out.

• He Restored the Confessional: Confession went from being a place of terrifying interrogation to a "tribunal of mercy". Priests were trained to be gentle physicians of the soul, guiding penitents with mildness, clarity, and deep psychological balance.

It is because of this brilliant, balanced pastoral system—which guides millions of consciences to this day—that Saint Alphonsus was declared the Patron Saint of Confessors and Moralists.

Saint Alfonso's revolutionary teachings on Moral Theology 2

In the 18th century, the Catholic Church was caught in a destructive theological tug-of-war. On one side stood Jansenism and Rigorism, which painted God as a severe judge, demanded near-impossible perfection before receiving the sacraments, and bound penitents' consciences with an iron fist. On the other side was Laxism, which excused almost any behavior and made a mockery of moral accountability.

This conflict played out in confessionals across Europe, leaving ordinary believers either paralyzed by scrupulosity or completely indifferent.

Into this crisis stepped Saint Alphonsus Liguori. Drawing from his training as a lawyer and his deep pastoral love for the poor, he developed Equiprobabilism—a balanced moral system that revolutionized Catholic confessionals and earned him the title of Patron of Confessors and Moralists.

The Core Question: What to Do When in Doubt?

To understand Alphonsus's system, we must first look at the core problem of moral systems:

What is a person permitted to do when they are genuinely unsure whether a specific law applies to them in a given situation?

For example, if you are unsure whether a fast day applies to you due to mild illness, are you bound by the law to fast, or are you free?

Before Alphonsus, theologians fought bitterly using four main systems:

What is Equiprobabilism?

Alphonsus saw that Rigorism drove sinners to despair, while Laxism drove them to spiritual apathy. He sought a middle path. He proposed Equiprobabilism (from the Latin for "equal probability").

The system rests on two foundational rules:

Rule 1: When the Law vs. Freedom are Equally Balanced

If you have examined the situation and find that the arguments for the law and the arguments for your personal freedom are equally strong (or if the argument for freedom is stronger), you are free to choose liberty.

• Why? Because of the ancient legal maxim: "A doubtful law does not bind." If God's law is not clearly promulgated in this instance, God does not demand blind obedience to a guess.

Rule 2: When the Law is Decidedly More Probable

If, after looking at the situation, the argument for the law is clearly stronger and more likely than the argument for your freedom, you must follow the law.

• Why? You cannot choose a weaker argument for convenience when truth clearly leans toward the law. Doing so would be acting with an insincere conscience.

The Pastoral Revolution: Mercy in the Confessional

Father Berthe's biography emphasizes that Alphonsus did not write his Moral Theology to win academic debates; he wrote it to save souls in the confessional. Equiprobabilism fundamentally changed how priests treated penitents:

• The Priest as Doctor, Not Judge: Alphonsus taught that the priest in confession should act as a compassionate physician seeking to heal a wound, not a cold judge searching for a reason to condemn.

• Curing Scrupulosity: For souls plagued by constant, obsessive worry that everything they did was a sin (a torture Alphonsus himself suffered), Equiprobabilism provided instant relief. If it wasn't clear that something was a sin, they were free.

• Bringing Back the Sacraments: Because rigorists insisted on denying absolution until a sinner proved their perfection over months, people stayed away from the church. Alphonsus instructed his priests to absolve sinners readily, trusting in God's grace and frequent Holy Communion to gradually heal them.

Through Equiprobabilism, Saint Alphonsus successfully steered the Catholic Church away from the cold cliffs of Jansenism without letting it drift into moral indifference. He restored peace to millions of anxious consciences by proving that God's law is designed to guide human happiness, not to lay traps for our destruction.

Action, Mission, and Intellectual Revival: A Historical Analysis of Three Key Catholic Figures

An analysis of three figures in Catholic history requires looking at their distinct approaches, historical contexts, and pastoral priorities.

Here is a objective analysis detailing three figures: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, and Pope Leo XIII.

History within the Catholic Church reflects a diverse range of strategies, priorities, and historical contexts. The actions of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, and Pope Leo XIII highlight how different eras demanded vastly different forms of leadership—from military preaching in the Middle Ages to rural missions in the Enlightenment and philosophical re-establishment in the 19th century.

1. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153): Preaching the Second Crusade

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a Cistercian abbot and Doctor of the Church known as the "Melodious Doctor" for his writings on humility and divine love, played a pivotal role in 12th-century geopolitics.

• The Historical Context: Following the fall of the County of Edessa to Muslim forces in 1144, Pope Eugene III commissioned Bernard to preach and organize what would become the Second Crusade (1147–1149). 

• The Action: In 1146, Bernard delivered a speech at Vézelay, rousing European nobility and commoners alike. He framed participation in the military expedition as a spiritual duty and an act of penance for the forgiveness of sins.

• The Outcome: The Second Crusade resulted in severe military defeats for European armies in Asia Minor and at the Siege of Damascus. Bernard acknowledged the disaster in his writings, attributing the failure not to the crusade's holy objective, but to the sins and improper motives of the crusaders themselves.

2. Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696–1787): Rural Missions and Moral Theology

Saint Alfonso lived six centuries later, during the Enlightenment, a radically different era for the Church in Europe.

• The Historical Context: Alfonso grew up in the Kingdom of Naples. Rather than looking toward external military conflict, he turned his focus toward internal pastoral decay and spiritual neglect within Europe.

• The Action: In 1732, St Alphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). He directed his missionaries away from major urban centers to small, forgotten rural villages and agricultural communities where peasants lacked basic religious instruction and pastoral care.

• The Approach: Rather than mobilizing armies for external campaigns, St Alphonsus mobilized clergy to bring practical moral instruction, simple preaching, and direct access to the sacraments to local populations. He rejected the severe, punitive theological style of Jansenism in favor of a balanced moral system centered on God's mercy.

3. Pope Leo XIII (1810–1903): The Revival of Thomism

In 1879, Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Aeterni Patris, calling for the restoration of Christian philosophy in Catholic schools and seminaries.

POPE LEO XIII & THOMISM

Challenge: 19th-Century Modern Philosophy, Secularism & Rationalism

Action: Issued Encyclical 'Aeterni Patris' (1879)

Focus: Elevated Thomas Aquinas for Systematic Philosophical Foundation

The Selection of Thomas Aquinas over Alphonsus Liguori

The primary focus of Aeterni Patris was Thomas Aquinas, leading to questions about why closer contemporary figures like Alphonsus Liguori were not the focal point of this specific decree:

• Philosophical vs. Pastoral Objectives: Pope Leo XIII's central objective in Aeterni Patris was to counter the prevailing secular philosophies of the 19th century (such as rationalism, positivism, and materialism) with a unified, systematic philosophical structure. Thomas Aquinas provided a comprehensive philosophical synthesis linking faith and natural reason (ratio).

• Distinct Spheres of Expertise: Saint Alphonsus Liguori was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871, just eight years prior to Aeterni Patris, specifically as the "Prince of Moral Theologians. "His primary contributions lay in moral theology, confessional practice, and popular devotion rather than abstract metaphysics or epistemological philosophy.

• Institutional Complementarity: Pope Leo XIII did not dismiss Alphonsus Liguori; rather, the Holy See maintained Alphonsus's moral systems as the standard for confessors while utilizing Aquinas's scholastic framework as the core intellectual defense for Catholic academic institutions.