We Redemptorists may be tempted to sing the praises  of  our holy Founder by listing his great  achievements. St Alphonsus has been honoured by the Church with the titles of Doctor of the Church, Doctor of Prayer, the Most Zealous Doctor, the Patron of Confessors and Moralists. He wrote 111 books.  He is the founder of a Religious Congregation and a Bishop. He was one of the greatest preacher of missions in the history of the Church. He was a painter and musician whose hymns are still sung in Italy today. He composed a Christmas hymn “Tu Scendi dalle  Stelle” in which  he sang of Jesus who descended from the stars the live us as a man to redeem us.  The great composer Giuseppe Verdi commented after the Christmas vigil in Palazzo Doria in Genoa in 1890: “Without this pastorale of Saint Alphonsus, Christmas would not be Christmas”

Did all these achievements make Alphonsus a saint?  Alphonsus would be the first to say “NO”. In his classical work “The Practice of the Love of Jesus” St Alphonsus  quoted St Francis de Sales who said: “Some people think that perfection can be found in an austere life; others make it a matter of much prayer, or of frequenting the Sacraments, or of acts of charity. They are all mistaken. Perfection consists in loving God with our whole heart.”

If our achievements, however brilliant make us holy, then St Alphonsus would not have chosen as the motto of the Redemptorist Congregation:  “With him there is plentiful redemption”. It should rather read: “With me there is plentiful achievements.”

In our success orientated culture, we measure our self worth by our own achievements.   O I have accumulated so many degrees, I am a good psychologist, a good scripture scholar, a master of many languages, a talented communicator, I have great organizational  skills. But without love our achievements count for absolutely nothing! (1Cor 13:1-4)

St Alphonsus is a saint because he had first experienced the  merciful love of his Jesus and he craved to return this love by working for the salvation of his fellow men and women. In  “The Practice of the Love of Jesus” he quoted   St John Chrysostom who tells us: “When the love of God has taken possession of a soul it produces an insatiable desire to work for the beloved.”   (Heart Calls to Heart p 37)  St Alphonsus is deservedly called The Most Zealous Doctor.

St Alphonsus was a man who loved Jesus with a passionate love which filled him with a burning desire to return this love by continuing the mission of Jesus to bring the Good News of  plentiful redemption to the world. Desire, fuelled by his faith experience of being loved by his Jesus was the mighty driving force  behind all his immense pastoral activities.

If desire fails, everything comes to a halt. Karen Carpenter died from anorexia. Without the desire for food the body dies. But we can suffer from  spiritual anorexia, in which our heart no longer desires God and our spirit dies. St Augustine tells us that the essence of prayer is the desire for God which springs from faith, hope and love. St Alphonsus constantly fanned into a blazing flame his love and desire for Jesus through a life of deep and fervent prayer. Alphonsus is deservedly called The  Doctor of Prayer.

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The  Be-Loved Prayer Ministry

The Be-Loved Prayer Group believes that prayer is the  “one thing necessary” ( Lk 10:42 ) for personal growth as Christians and for the fruitfulness of all our ministries.  Without prayer we are Christians at risk, Novo Millennio Ineunte 34)   and all our efforts to evangelize are futile, for unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain who build it (Ps 127:1 ).

Since prayer cannot be taken for granted, but must be learnt anew from the Divine Master ( Novo Millennio Ineunte 32 ) the  Be-loved Prayer Group teaches  a method of prayer according to St Alphonsus whom the Church honours with the title Doctor of Prayer.  Some aspects of prayer contained in this method are gathered from the wisdom of Catholic Tradition and the Holy Scriptures, inspired by the Holy Spirit. 

 

The Be-Loved Prayer Group directs people to contemplate the merciful love of the Father revealed through his Word Incarnate,  Jesus. Hence we place the utmost importance on the contemplation of the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures which has power to transform us from  into the image of the Lord from one degree of glory to and another for this work of the Lord who is a Spirit. ( 2Cor 3:18 )

 

Come and experience being loved by the Lord, so that you may become like the BE-LOVED DISCIPLE OF JESUS. ( Jn 13:23)

Our Patrons:

Mary the Beloved Mother of Jesus

John the Beloved Disciple of Jesus

St Alphonsus Doctor of Prayer.

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The Clock, The Hail Mary St Alphonsus The MRT And I.

On my visit to Pagani I saw the clock which whenever it chimed, reminded St Alphonsus to say a Hail Mary. This was one of the many practical ways St Alphonsus expressed his love and devotion to Mother Mary.  Today, we hardly hear the chime of a clock, as the old grandfather clocks have been replaced by digital watches and clocks.

 

However I would like to share my own practice of saying the Hail Mary through a simple story of a little act of kindness shown me on the MRT. A reader complained in the Straits Times that young Singaporeans are an uncivilised and uncaring lot of people. This reader lamented that some people occupying the seats on the MRT reserved for people with special needs, pretend to be asleep whenever they see an elderly person approaching. This is contrary to my experience.

 

On one occasion, a lady in her mid thirties, kindly offered me her seat. Well I am not exactly decrepit. But it would have been ungracious to reject her kind offer. Thanking her for her kindness, I accepted the seat which was not even one  reserved for people with special needs.  And I wondered how I could repay her for her kind deed. Then it occurred to me that I could say a Hail Mary for her. After saying the Hail Mary I felt certain that I would meet her again, in the next life. Why this certainty? Because I entrusted her to holy Mary our life, our sweetness and our hope.

 

I have experienced the kindness of young people again and again who offered me their seats on the MRT. And I have always said the Hail Mary for them, and not only for them but for all the people on the train, fellow travellers to our earthly and heavenly destinations.

 

I ask all who read this simple faith sharing to say a Hail Mary for me as I would say a Hail Mary for you. 

                                                                   

See you again on the other side of the River.