Biography of St. Alphonsus St. Alphonsus - Moral theologian and
founder of the Redemptionists St. Alphonsus was born of noble
parents, near Naples, in 1696. His spiritual training was
entrusted to the Fathers of the Oratory in that city, and from
his boyhood Alphonsus was known as a most devout Brother of the
Little Oratory. At the early age of sixteen he was made doctor
in law, and he threw himself into this career with ardor and
success. A mistake, by which he lost an important cause, showed
him the vanity of human fame, and determined him to labor only
for the glory of God. He entered the priesthood, devoting
himself to the most neglected souls; and to carry on this work
he founded later the missionary Congregation of the Most Holy
Redeemer. At the age of sixty-six he became Bishop of St.
Agatha, and undertook the reform of his diocese with the zeal of
a Saint. He made a vow never to lose time, and, though his
number of books, filled with such science, unction, and wisdom
that he has been declared one of t