Need Info on St. Alphonsus

[littleladysadie]

Dear Friends,

Ok, first of all, I’m 90% sure I’m not crazy. Yesterday after Mass I bought a beautiful statue made of Olive Wood from the Holy Land. As soon as I saw it, I recognized St. Alphonsus, and when I asked the woman selling the statues who it was, she agreed that it was St. Alphonsus. It was a man holding the Child Jesus, who I believe to be wearing a Franciscan habit.

Now, rewind a bit. I LOVE St. Alphonsus. I remember when I first found out about him, from a lovely holy card, I researched him. I remember reading that he was a Franciscan, a very meek Franciscan, with a lot of wisdom. He was my “new favorite saint”.

So, when I brought my statue to our parish priest to have it blessed, he looked very puzzled when I told him who it was. “Liguori?” he asked… and I responded that I wasn’t sure. So I came home and researched St. Alphonsus on google… I can’t find the St. Alphonsus Franciscan I knew! All that I can find is St. Alphonsus Liguori who was the founder of an order… can somebody please tell me how I got this wrong? Are there two Alphonsus’, do I have the wrong name, or is St. Alphonsus Liguori shown holding the child Jesus and a book in a religious garb of some kind?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated,
Sadie
seekingavocation.blogspot.com/

 

[JohnDamian]

There are Two Saint Alphonusus’

St. Alphonsus Marie Liguori - Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation. He would be shown in a repemptorist Habit : a black one

St. Alphonsus Rodriguez - Confessor a Jesuit, so I would presume him to wear the Black Jesuit Cassock steryotypically, although there was no official habit

There is One Saint Alonso

St. Matthew Alonso Leziniana - Dominican Martyr Probably depicted in a Black Habit, atypical of Dominicans

There is One Saint Alfonso

St. Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo - Bishop - (Probably depicted wearing the attire of a Bishop.

I could not find any Saint called Alphonsus, or with a name similar to that who was a Fransiscan, are you sure that the habit is truly a fransiscan one? Furthermore; perhaps the person making the statue made a mistake

I would assume if it is talking about a man of great wisdom that it would be Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, as he is one of 33 Doctors (teachers) of the Church.

 

[littleladysadie]

Thank you for the info! I may be wrong about him being a Franciscan, and about the nature of his religious garb, but which St. Alphonsus is depicted holding the child Jesus? I know that this statue is very similar to the holy card I saw, both have St. Alphonsus holding the child Jesus.

 

[JohnDamian]

Thank you for the info! I may be wrong about him being a Franciscan, and about the nature of his religious garb, but which St. Alphonsus is depicted holding the child Jesus? I know that this statue is very similar to the holy card I saw, both have St. Alphonsus holding the child Jesus.

I coulden’t find any images of St Alphonsus holding a child - however whilst searching I did find an image erroniously attributed to him; holding jesus wearing a brown habit with white flowers at the bottom; but it appears that was in fact an image of St. Anthony of Padua - who is almost always depicted holding Jesus as a child… Not only is he a Fransiscan, but also renowned for humility and a great and wise speaker… So perhaps it is St. Anthony of Padua?

What a mystery

 

[CatholicCajun]

I have never seen a statue of St. Alphonsus holding the Child Jesus, however, could your statue be St. Anthony? St. Francis? St. Joseph?

 

[littleladysadie]

gapes YES!!! It is St. Anthony of Padua! Thank you so much, you are awesome! I looked at the pictures of St. Anthony of Padua and they are exactly the same person… I remember now that the holy card I had did not say Alphonsus at all… but Antony. The reason I had looked him up was because I didn’t recognize the name Antony as a form of Anthony.

Now… why did I and the woman who sold him to me think he was St. Alphonsus? Who knows . God does work in strange ways. I am glad that there actually is a saint that fits the profile I had in my mind. It would have been kind of strange to have a friend who didn’t exist .

God bless, and thank you so much!
Sadie
seekingavocation.blogspot.com/

 

[Shin]

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori is a great saint, he has written many good books that are translated into English. St. Anthony of Padua is a saint for finding things we need to find.

‘Everything in the stable is painful: everything is painful to the sight, for one sees nothing but rugged and dark rocks; everything is painful to the hearing, for he hears only the cries of brute beasts; everything is painful to the smell, from the stench of the litter that is scattered around; and everything is painful to the touch, for his cradle is only a narrow manger, and his bed only a handful of straw. Look on this Infant God, how lie lies bound up in swaddling-clothes, so that he cannot stir: “God endures,” said St. Zeno, “to be bound in swaddling-clothes, because he had come to pay the debts of the whole world.”’

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

 

[ready]

Your statue is the Franciscan saint, St. Anthony of Padua - not St. Alphonsus (who isn’t Franciscan). St Anthony of Padua typically is portrayed as holding the child Jesus who is sitting on a book.