When St. Alphonsus rebuked a man during Mass.

 

When St. Alphonsus rebuked a man during Mass who would not kneel to his God.

An excerpt from one of his biographers:

Alphonsus like all the saints was meek and patient under personal wrong, but he keenly resented an injury inflicted on souls, or an affront offered to God. In this latter case he found it difficult to control his indignation. Father de Robertis who accompanied him during his stay in Naples relates one striking instance of this.

On July 17, 1748, the servant of God was saying mass in the church of the Oratory, when on turning round to give communion he perceived a gentleman in the choir sitting in a lounging attitude with his legs crossed. “Ecce Angus Dei, Behold the Lamb of God,” said the saint fixing his glance on the offender. The man never moved. “Have you lost the use of your limbs,” exclaimed Alphonsus indignantly, “that you will not kneel before your God?”

The individual thus addressed knelt down in confusion, but he expressed his anger by coughing and making a thousand gestures of impatience up to the end of the mass. Alphonsus had not left the altar when the offended worshiper rushed into the sacristy, to demand the name of the insolent priest who had dared to reprove him. Doubtless he took his opponent for a man out of the woods and was anxious to give him a lesson in manners. But when he was told that the celebrant was Alphonsus de Liguori, he retired without waiting for an interview.

Life of St. Alphonus de Liguori, by Austin Berthe, Volume One, p. 335.

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