UNLESS a Priest esteem the Holy Sacrifice as it deserves, he can never celebrate it with suitable devotion. Assuredly there is no action, which man can perform, so sublime, so sacred, as the celebration of Mass. God himself could not enable a man to perform anything greater than the celebration of Mass. All the ancient sacrifices, by which God was so much honored, were but shadows and figures of our sacrifice of the altar. All the honor that angels by their adorations, and men by their good works, austerities, and even martyrdoms, have ever rendered or will ever render to God, never could, and never will, give him so much glory as one single Mass; for, while the honor of all creatures is only finite, that which accrues to God from the holy Sacrifice of the Al tar is infini te, inasmuch as the victim which is offered is of infinite value. The Mass, therefore, offers to God the greatest honor that can be given him; subdues most triumphantly the powers of hell; affords the greatest relief to the suffering souls in purgatory; appeases most efficaciously the wrath of God against sinners, and brings down the greatest blessings on mankind. Hence St. Bonaventure says, that in the Mass God manifests to us all the love which he has borne us, and includes in it, as in a compendium, all his benefits. On this account the devil has always endeavored to abolish the Mass througbout the world by means of heretics, making them the precursors of Antichrist, who before all things will endeavor to abolish, and in fact will, in punishment of the sins' of men, succeed in abolishing the holy sacrifice of the altar, according to the prediction of Daniel: “And strength was given him against the continual sacrifice, because of sins: and truth shall be cast down on the ground, and he shall do and shall prosper.”

Sacerdos Sanctificatus: or Discourses on the Mass and Office

Religion & Spirituality

Ligouri, Saint Alphonsus

Christian Books & Bibles

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"Ah, I will comfort Myself over My adversaries: and I will be revenged of my enemies." -----Isa. 1:24.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. " 'Alas' " says Cornelius a Lapide, "is uttered by one who is lamenting and not insulting; God signifies by this word that He is grieving, and that He is unwilling to punish sinners." No, this God, Who is the Father of mercies, and so much loves us, is not of a disposition to punish and afflict, but rather to pardon and console us. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of affliction. -----Jer. 29:2. But some one will say, since such is His character, why does He now punish us? or, at least, appear as if He meant to punish us? Why so? Because He wishes to be merciful towards us: this anger which He now displays is all mercy and patience.Let us then, my brethren, understand how the Lord at present appears in wrath, not with a view to our punishment, but in order that we may cleanse ourselves of our sins, and thus enable Him to pardon us. Such is the subject of our discourse: GOD THREATENS TO CHASTISE IN ORDER TO DELIVER US FROM CHASTISEMENT.The chapters are:God Threatens to Chastise Us in Order to Deliver Us from Chastisement Sinners Will Not Believe in the Divine Threats Until the Chastisement Has Come Upon Them, Part 1God Is Merciful for a Season, and Then ChastisesThe Four Principal Gates of Hell, Part 1: Hatred The Four Principal Gates of Hell, Part 2: BlasphemyThe Four Principal Gates of Hell, Part 3: TheftThe Four Principal Gates of Hell, Part 4: ImpurityExternal Devotions are Useless if we do not Cleanse our Souls from SinGod Chastises Us in This Life for Our Good, Not for our DestructionCITATIONS: Referring to Some Particular Calamities1. Earthquakes2. Drought3. Scarcity and Sterility4. Hail and Lightning5. Hurtful Animals6. Sickness7. Calamities in General

Six Discourses on Natural Calamities, Divine Threats, and the Four Gates of Hell

SOME persons asked me to write a book on the Eternal Maxims, for the use of those who desire to establish themselves in virtue and to advance in a spiritual life. Others requested me to prepare a collection of matter for the sermons of the missions and of the spiritual exercises. Not to multiply books, labor, and expense, I resolved to compose the work in the present form, with the hope that it might answer both purposes. To render it useful as a book of meditations for seculars, I have divided the considerations into three points. Each point will serve for one meditation, and therefore I have annexed to each point affections and prayers. I entreat my readers not to grow weary, if, in those prayers, they always find petitions for the grace of perseverance and of divine love. For us, these are the two graces most necessary for the attainment of eternal salvation. The grace of divine love is, according to St. Francis de Sales, the grace which contains in itself all graces: because the virtue of charity toward God brings with it all other virtues. Now all good things come to me together with her (Wisd. VII, II) He who loves God is humble, chaste, obedient, and mortified; in a word, he possesses all virtues. " Love," says St. Augustine, " and do what you wish" (Ama, et fac quod vis). They who love God labor to avoid whatever is offensive to him, and seek to please him in all things. The grace of perseverance is that grace by which we obtain the eternal crown. St. Bernard says that Paradise is promised to those who begin a good life, but is only given to those who persevere. " To beginners a reward is promised, but to him who perseveres it is given;." (De modo bene vivere, s. 6) But this gift of perseverance is, as the Fathers teach, given only to those who ask it. Hence St. Thomas asserts that to enter heaven continual prayer is necessary. And our Redeemer said: We ought always to pray, and not to faint. (Luke XIII, 1) It is because they do not pray for the gift of perseverance that so many miserable sinners, after having obtained pardon, lose again the grace of God. Their sins are forgiven; but because they afterward neglect to ask of God the grace of perseverance, particularly in the time of temptations, they relapse into sin. And although the grace of final perseverance is altogether gratuitous, and cannot be merited by good works; still Suarez teaches that it can be infallibly obtained by prayer: and according to St. Augustine, it may be merited by humble supplication.(De Dono persev. C. 6) This necessity of prayer I have demonstrated at length in another little work, entitled The Great Means of Prayer. This book, though small, has cost me a great deal of labor. I consider it to be of extreme utility to all sorts of persons; and I unhesitatingly assert that, among all spiritual treatises, there is none, and there can be none, more necessary than that which treats on prayer as a means of obtaining eternal salvation. To render these considerations useful to preachers who have but few books or little time for reading, I have furnished these considerations with texts of Scripture and passages from the Fathers, which are short, but strong and animated, as they ought to be in sermons. The three points of each consideration will supply matter for one sermon. I have endeavored to collect from many authors the sentiments which appeared to me best suited to move the will, and have inserted several of them expressed briefly, that the reader may select and extend at pleasure those that please him most. May all tend to the glory of God! I pray my reader to recommend me to Jesus Christ, whether I am living or dead (Now that St. Alphonsus Liguori is a canonized Saint we ask for his intercession); and I promise to do the same for all those who perform this act of charity toward me. Live Jesus, our love, and Mary, our hope! This work is excerpted from a larger work of Saint Alphonsus with the same name.

Preparation for Death

In Volume 1, Opere Ascetiche di S. Alfonso M. de Liguori, Roma, 1933, “Uniformity with God’s Will” is included as one of three works under the heading, “Lesser Works on Divine Love.” There is no preface in the Italian original. However, it has been thought well to provide one here. Prof. Candido M. Romano (1) says this brochure was written probably in 1755, as appears from a letter by the Saint, under date of Nov. 2, 1755, to Sister Giannastasio, at Cava. Romano goes on to say: “This (i.e. God’s will) was for Alphonsus a theme of predilection, a theme dearest to his heart. Just as St. Ignatius stressed ‘the greater glory of God,’ St. Alphonsus in all his works, gave prominence to ‘the greater good pleasure of God.’ Most likely the occasion that brought forth this treatise was the death, in 1753, of Father Paul Cafaro, C.SS.R., St. Alphonsus’ confessor and director. The death of this worthy priest deeply affected the Saint and he expressed his sentiments in a poem on God’s will. The wide acclaim it received may have suggested to him the thought that a tract on the same subject would be helpful to the souls of others. If this be true, his surmise proved correct, for the appearance of his subsequent pamphlet was greeted with instant favor.” Cardinal Villecourt, in his Life of St. Alphonsus, quotes long passages from this pamphlet and ends by saying: “Our Saint frequently read it himself and when his sight had failed he arranged to have it read to him by others.” This brochure bears the stamp of Alphonsian simplicity of style and solidity of doctrine. Moreover the instances he cites from the lives of the saints have a gentle graciousness and contain a fragrance that is redolent of the Fioretti of St. Francis of Assisi. Through God’s grace and our Lady’s prayers may a diligent reading of the book bring us far along the way of perfection by the cultivation of uniformity with God’s holy will!

Uniformity With God's Will

Saint Alphonsus Marie de Ligouri presents the proper method of preaching, that will move hearts to repentance and encourage people to live a virtuous way of life. The first chapter is devoted to this method of preaching, which is opposed to the showy method of many preachers of his day and even ours. Many seek to gain the praise of their listeners, rather than to bring them to repentance and educate them in the way of salvation. Saint Alphonsus, following the example of Saints Francis de Sales and Vincent de Paul sought to teach priests how to make saints and save souls rather than impress audiences. The second chapter refutes a critis. Saint Alphonsus begins by explaining the criticism: “My critic, you say, maintains that, though sacred orators should preach in a clear and orderly manner, they should never condescend to speak in a popular style; because, according to him, such a style is unworthy of the dignity of the pulpit and degrading to the word of God.” He then proceeds to defend his position and give further useful instructions to preachers. The third chapter is the refutation of a book On Preaching by the Author of the Philosophical Dictionary, whose name is unknown. Saint Alphonsus describes this book as follows: “Moreover, on seeing the title of the work, On Preaching, one would have thought that it treated of the utility and even of the necessity there is in this world of preaching to the people in order to enlighten them, because in consequence of sin and the corruption of their nature they are enveloped in darkness, and naturally inclined, not to what is good and virtuous, as the author wishes, but to evil and to vices. Now this is not the case: the end of the work is to discredit preaching, by representing it as entirely useless for the reformation of morals.” He then proceeds to outline the author's case and then present his case. Contained here are more useful recommendations to preachers. Finally, we close with a chapter on the usefulness of missions. This has been excerpted from The Complete Works of Saint Alphonsus, which was compiled and translated by Father Eugene Grimm. (1835-1891) All is excerpted from a much larger work on Preaching, and serves as an excellent guide for anyone who enters the pulpit.

Instructions For Preachers: Getting Your Message From the Pulpit to the Pew

Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up; Is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. (I Corinthians 13:4-7)Saint Paul wrote wonderfully about charity in the 13th chapter of First Corinthians. Saint Alphonsus takes these words and gives a simple view of the Catholic way of life and an excellent introduction into the spiritual life. This is excerpted from his work, The Holy Eucharist, which has been excerpted from The Complete Works of Saint Alphonsus, which was compiled and translated by Father Eugene Grimm. (1835-1891)

Charity: A Commentary on I Corinthians 13

Four saints have given us sage advice on preaching. They all recommend a simple method that will bring about the conversion of sinners and strengthen the just in virtue. They advised shorter sermons that get to the point and teach virtue, than long drawn out sermons, which gain the applause of men, but do not touch the heart. Saint Francis de Sales revived preaching after the Protestant Revolt. In his letter to a fellow bishop, he outlines the basics on how to preach profitably. Saint Francis de Sales sayd: "As to preparation, I am in favor of making it in the evening, and in the morning of meditating within oneself on what one wishes to say to others."Saint Vincent de Paul at the same time presented his Little Method, which is outlined below. He asked the question: "What would Jesus do?" long ago. He said: "Hold fast to the simplicity which you have found to be so successful in other missions. The spirit of the world, with which this district is saturated, can neither be fought not conquered save by the spirit of Jesus Christ." He also said: "Mental prayer is the great book of the preacher." Saint John Eudes also gives some sage advice on preaching in his work on the priesthood. He says: "The end and purpose of this heavenly office is to form Christ in the hearts of the faithful that He may reign there; to dispel the darkness of hell and illumine the light of heaven in men's souls; to destroy sin and open the floodgates of grace; to destroy the tyranny of Satan on earth and reestablish the Kingdom of God." After the death of these three saints, God raised up Saint Alphonsus, whose advice caused some controversy, which he refuted. He followed Saints Francis de Sales and Vincent de Paul and their methods and ideas. Saint Alphonsus said: "It is related in the life of Saint Philip Neri that he commanded those who gave instructions to the people to speak on subjects that are useful and popular, and never enter into scholastic questions, or to seek after sublime conceptions."These works of the saints are presented without comment, so that the reader may form his own opinions. It is strongly recommended that you take notes as you go along and mark up this book, so you can find important points later. I pray that this work will help preachers to preach the Word of God, clearly and with profit to the faithful,

Instructions From the Saints on How to Preach

Hermenegild TOSF, Brother

Eudes, Saint John

De Sales, Saint Francis

de Paul, Saint Vincent

WHO can have a heart so hard that it will not melt on hearing of a most lamentable event which once happened in the world? There was a noble and holy mother who had but one only Son; and he was the most amiable that could be imagined, innocent, virtuous, beautiful, and most loving towards his mother; so much so, that he never had caused her the least displeasure, but always had showed her all respect, obedience, and affection. Hence the mother had placed on this Son all her earthly affections. Now what happened? It happened that this Son, through envy, was falsely accused by his enemies and the judge, although he knew and confessed his innocence, yet, that he might not offend his enemies, condemned him to an infamous death, precisely as they had requested him to do. And this poor mother had to suffer the affliction of seeing that amiable and beloved Son so unjustly taken from her, in the flower of his age, by a barbarous death; for he was made to die in torment, drained of his blood before her own eyes in a public place, upon an infamous cross. Devout souls, what do you say? Is this case and this unhappy mother worthy of compassion? Already you know of whom I speak. This Son so cruelly slain was our loving Redeemer, Jesus, and his mother was the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, for love of us, was willing to see him offered up to the divine justice by the barbarity of men. This great pain, then, which Mary suffered for us a pain which was more than a thousand deaths, merits our compassion and gratitude. And if we can return nothing else for so much love, at least let us for a little time today stop to consider the severity of the suffering by which Mary became queen of martyrs; for her great martyrdom exceeded in suffering that of all the martyrs being, in the first place the longest martyrdom; and in the second place, the greatest martyrdom. This comes mainly from 'The Glories of Mary' by Saint Alphonsus Ligouri with additions from the Raccolta and other pious sources at the end.

The Sorrows of Mary

Independently published

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