#redemptorists

Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer might be called the second founder of the Redemptorists, as it was he who carried the congregation of Saint Alphonsus Liguori to the people north of the Alps.

John, the name given him at baptism, was born in Moravia into a poor family, the ninth of 12 children.

Although he longed to be a priest, there was no money for studies, and he was apprenticed to a baker.

However, God guided the young man’s fortunes. He found work in the bakery of a monastery where he was allowed to attend classes in its Latin school.

After the abbot there died, John tried the life of a hermit, but when Emperor Joseph II abolished hermitages, John again returned to Vienna and to baking.

One day, after serving Mass at the Cathedral of St. Stephen, he called a carriage for two ladies waiting there in the rain.

In their conversation, they learned that he could not pursue his priestly studies because of a lack of funds.

They generously offered to support both John and his friend Thaddeus in their seminary studies.

The two went to Rome, where they were drawn to Saint Alphonsus’ vision of religious life and to the Redemptorists. The two young men were ordained together in 1785.

Newly professed at age 34, Clement Mary Hofbauer, as he was now called, and Thaddeus were sent back to Vienna.

But the religious difficulties there caused them to leave and continue north to Warsaw, Poland.

There, they encountered numerous German-speaking Catholics who had been left priestless by the suppression of the Jesuits.

At first, they had to live in great poverty and preach outdoor sermons. Eventually, they were given the Church of St. Benno.

For the next nine years, they preached five sermons a day, two in German and three in Polish, converting many to the faith.

They were active in social work among the poor, founding an orphanage and then a school for boys.

Drawing candidates to the congregation, they were able to send missionaries to Poland, Germany, and Switzerland.

All of these foundations eventually had to be abandoned because of the political and religious tensions of the times.

After 20 years of difficult work, Clement Mary Hofbauer himself was imprisoned and expelled from the country.

Only after another arrest was he able to reach Vienna, where he was to live and work the final 12 years of his life.

He quickly became the “Apostle of Vienna,” hearing the confessions of the rich and the poor, visiting the sick, acting as a counselor to the powerful, and sharing his holiness with all in the city.

His crowning work was the establishment of a Catholic college in his beloved city.

Persecution followed Clement Mary Hofbauer, and there were those in authority who were able for a while to stop him from preaching.

An attempt was made at the highest levels to have him banished. But his holiness and fame protected him and prompted the growth of the Redemptorists.

Due to his efforts, the congregation was firmly established north of the Alps by the time of his death in 1820.

Clement Mary Hofbauer was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on 29 January 1888 and was canonized by Pope Pius X on 20 May 1909.

He was declared the patron saint of Vienna by Pope Pius X in 1914 for his role in laying the foundation for the Redemptorist Order there and throughout northern Europe.

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT GERARD MAJELLA The Patron of Expectant Mothers and Childbirth Feast Day: October 16

"I would give my life a thousand times that God might not be offended."

Gerard was born the son of a tailor on April 6, 1726. He grew up about fifty miles south of Naples in Muro Lucano, Italy in a large, poor family. When Gerard was only 12, his father Dominic Majella entered eternal rest.

Upon the death of his father, his mother, beholden to poverty, sent Gerard away to live with his uncle. Gerard thereafter became an apprentice to a tailor. This tailor treated him well; however, the foreman treated him poorly. After serving as a sewing apprentice for a couple years, he instead became a servant in the household of the bishop of Lacedonia, who was a cantankerous master.

Upon the death of the bishop in 1745, he returned home. At the age of 21, he became a journeyman. He split his earnings for his mother and the poor, and made offerings for the holy souls in purgatory. Afterwards, he opened his own tailor shop.

At a young age, Gerard tried to join the local Capuchins, but he was turned down twice due to his youth and poor health. He also tried to become a hermit, but that too was not God's will for him. He then entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1749 and professed of perpetual vows under the Redemptorist's founder, Alphonsus Liguori, in 1751.

He served as tailor and infirmarian and became known for his extraordinary supernatural gifts of bilocation, prophecy, ecstasies, visions, and infused knowledge. Though not ordained to the holy order of priest, his spiritual direction and advice were sought by many among the clergy and communities of nuns, to which he also gave conferences. He was most successful in converting sinners, and was widely known for his sanctity and charity.

In 1754, he was calumniated and accused of lechery by a woman named Neria Caggiano. Caggiano later admitted her charge was a lie. Even before she admitted to her falsehood, Gerard did not deny her charges. As these charges were still up in the air, his superiors became suspicious, so they put him under surveillance and excluded him from communion for months until the girl admitted that she had lied.

When asked by Alphonsus why he had kept silent in such circumstances, Gerard replied that he thought such patience was required in the face of unjust accusations.

As Gerard bore this calumny with such humility and patience, Alphonsus said, "Brother Gerard is a saint."

Gerard was sent to Naples soon after, but when the house was inundated by visitors wanting to see him, he was sent to Caposele a few months later. He served as the porter there and ministered to the poor of the town. Gerard spent the last few months of his life raising funds for new buildings at Caposele.

Just prior to his death, Gerard visited his friends, the Pirofalo family. One of the daughters ran and called after him as he left the home, as he dropped his handkerchief.

Speaking through the gift of prophecy, he replied, 'Keep it. It will be useful to you someday.'

Years down the road, when this young women was in danger of childbirth, she recalled these words of Gerard, and requested the handkerchief. The handkerchief was applied to her, thus a miracle: her pain immediately ceased and she gave birth to a healthy child.

Gerard died of tuberculosis on October 16, 1755 at the age of 29 in Caposele. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on January 29, 1893, and was canonized on December 11, 1904 by Pope St. Pius X.

While we await the results of St Mary Magdalene vs. St Dymphna, here's another poll for all of you!

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In one of the letters by the American saint Bl. Francis Xavier Seelos, CSsR we find not only a daily plan for the spiritual life, but an interesting method for contemplating the Cross during the workday:

"In the morning, get up at five o'clock; in the evening to bed at ten. Daily, if possible, attend Mass, and in the afternoon a visit to the Blessed Sacrament if there is some free time at your disposal. Every day try to say five decades of the Rosary. 

“During your work see in your mind one or the other of the Stations of the Cross and then, in spirit, make personal applications about the mystery meditated upon. At the beginning take one Station to which you ordinarily have a great devotion and gradually you will be in condition to visit, one by one, all the fourteen Stations in a spirit of contemplation during your work and to make practical applications in your heart." 

Quote of the Day – 15 March – The Memorial of St Clement Mary Hofbauer C.Ss.R.(1751-1820)

St Clement was unrelenting in pursuing souls cut off from the life of grace, especially those facing imminent death. A nun entered the church one day and found Father Hofbauer kneeling before the altar. Unobserved by the saint, she saw his cheeks wet with tears as he pleaded for the conversion of some sinner outside the fold.

“Lord, give me this soul, for if Thou refuse, I shall go to Thy Mother!”

The nun was so deeply affected by this scene that she immediately knelt before an image of the Blessed Virgin and united her own prayers to those of Hofbauer’s.

St. Alphonsus Liguori is a Doctor of the Church who is widely known for his contribution to moral theology and his great kindness.

He was born on 27 September 1696 in Naples to a well-respected family and was the oldest of 7 children.

His father was Don Joseph de' Liguori, a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys, and his mother came from Spanish descent.

He was very intelligent, even as a young boy. As a boy of great aptitude, he picked up many things very quickly.

St. Alphonsus did not attend school; rather, he was taught by tutors at home where his father kept a watchful eye.

Moreover, he practiced the harpsichord for 3 hours a day at the heed of his father and soon became a virtuoso at the age of 13.

For recreation, he was an equestrian, fencer, and card player. As grew into a young man, he developed an inclination for opera. He was much more interested in listening to the music than watching the performance.

St. Alphonsus would often take his spectacles off, which aided his myopic eyes, in order to merely listen.

While theatre in Naples was in a relatively good state, the young saint developed an ascetic aversion to perhaps what he viewed as gaudy displays.

He had strongly refused participation in a parlor play.

At the age of 16, he became a doctor of civil law on 21 January 1713, though by law, 20 was the set age.

After studying for the bar, he practiced law at the age of 19 in the courts. It is said that in his 8 years as a lawyer, he never lost a case.

He resigned from a brilliant career as a lawyer in 1723 when he lost a case because he overlooked a small but important piece of evidence.

His resignation, however, proved profitable for the Church. He entered the seminary and was ordained three years later in 1726.

He soon became a sought-after preacher and confessor in Naples. His sermons were simple and well organized that they appealed to all people, both learned and unlearned. 

However, his time as a diocesan priest was short-lived. In November 1732, he went to Scala and founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists.

He was a great moral theologian and his famous book, “Moral Theology,” was published in 1748.

Thirty years later, he was appointed bishop, and he retired in 1775.

He died on 1 August 1787.

He was beatified by Pope Pius VII on 15 September 1816 and was canonized by Pope Gregory XVI on 26 May 1839.

He was named the patron of confessors and moral theologians by Pope Pius XII on 26 April 1950, who subsequently wrote of him in the encyclical Haurietis aquas.

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Haurietis aquas is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII on the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.