Saturday August 1 is the feast day of Saint Alphonsus Liguori. The Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, and theologian. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, or the Redemptorists in 1732, inspiring Gerard Majella to become a Redemptorist Brother.

St Alphonsus suffered from scruples for much of his adult life and felt guilty about the most minor issues relating to sin. But he viewed scruples not as a curse but as a blessing and said, “Scruples are useful in the beginning of conversion … they cleanse the soul, and at the same time make it careful.”

Apart from being a gifted musician, he wrote sermons, books, and articles to encourage devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was canonised by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839 and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. He is the patron saint of confessors.

If not for St Alphonsus and Gerard Majella, The Majellan would not exist.

Happy feast day to one and all!