St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori
ARMS: Parted per fess Azure and Or a lion rampant counterchanged debruised by a fess Argent.
SOURCE/NOTES & CREDITS: Arms blazon from Don Pier Felice degli Uberti. Background illustration: none. Blazon reworked by J.H. Gaylor and text adapted by D.Q. Wedvick from the Wikipedia internet article.
Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori, born on 27 September 1687, is a Saint and Doctor of the Church serving as a sometime bishop, Diocesan Ordinary of Sant’Agata dei Goti from 1762 to 1775). Though the first born of seven in a family of the Neapolitan nobility, we could not locate his arms anywhere till we asked our Italian friend, Don Pier Felice degli Uberti. He was kind enough to oblige us promptly with the desired, hard to find blazon, for which we thank him heartily. Starting out as a lawyer, Alphonsus changed his profession and studied to become a priest and was Ordained at the age of 30 in 1726. He acted in a missionary capacity to the poor of the Kingdom of Naples for some 40+ years and founded the Redemptorists ( Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer), a influential Catholic religious order. He was a theologian and prolific author, writing 111 works on spirituality and theology. Some of his best known and loved books are: “The Glories of Mary”, “The Great Means of Prayer”, “Visits to the Most Holy Sacrament” and “Moral Theology”. He is still one of the most widely read of Catholic authors with 21,500 editions of his works in 72 languages ! St. Alphonsus died on 1 August 1787, age 89, was Beatified by Pope Pius VII on 15 September 1816, Canonized on 26 May 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1871 by Blessed Pope Pius IX. dqw 20100508
The artwork is a rendering by John Hamilton Gaylor.
Wedvick Armorial, 046g, Liguori,
2008 0511
dqw266@gmail.com
