Saint Alphonsus Liguori’s Feast Day Celebrated on August 1

The Catholic Church commemorates Saint Alphonsus Liguori on August 1, marking his liturgical feast day worldwide. Born on 27 September 1696 in Naples to a noble family, he earned doctorates in civil and canon law by age 16 and practiced as a brilliant lawyer before a disillusioning court loss in 1723 led him to abandon the profession and pursue the priesthood.

Ordained in 1726, Liguori devoted himself to preaching to the poor, teaching catechism, and composing music such as the popular carol “Tu scendi dalle stelle.” In 1732 he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists) to evangelize the most abandoned. He was appointed bishop of Sant’Agata de’ Goti in 1762, where he combined doctrinal firmness with charitable action. His major theological work, *Moral Theology* (1748), became a standard reference for confessors. He died on 1 August 1787, was canonized in 1839, declared a Doctor of the Church in 1871, and is the patron of confessors and moral theologians.

The feast day is observed with special prayers, liturgies, and remembrance of his legacy in Italy and among Redemptorist communities worldwide.