Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/381

ALPHONSUS Saint's life and times. This has recently been translated into English with additions and corrections (Dublin, 2 vols., royal 8vo);, Les premières Redemptoristines (Lille, 1886), and Le Père Antoine-Marie Tannoia (Paris, 1902), contain some useful information; as does , Lo Spirito di S. Alfonso Maria de Liguori, 3 ed. (Rome, 1896). The Saint's own letters are of extreme value in supplementing Tannoia. A centenary edition, Lettere di S. Alfonso Maria de'Liguori (Rome, 1887, 3 vols.), was published by, C.SS.R., director of the Roman archives of his Congregation. An English translation in five volumes is included in the 22 volumes of the American centenary edition of St. Alphonsus's ascetical works (New York). There are many editions of the Saint's Moral Theology; the best and latest is that of, C.SS.R. (Rome, 1905). The Saint's complete dogmatic works have been translated into Latin by, C.SS.R., S. Alphonsi Mariæ de Liguori Ecclesiæ Doctoris Opera Dogmatica, (New York, 1903, 2 vols., 4to). See also Author:Arthur Hassall, The Balance of Power (1715-89) (London, 1901); Author:Pietro Colletta, History of the Kingdom of Naples, 1734-1825, 2 vols., tr. by Author:Susan Horner (Edinburgh, 1858);, Die Carafa von Maddaloni (Berlin, 1851, 2 vols.); Author:Robert Matteson Johnston, The Napoleonic Empire in South Italy, 2 vols. (London, 1904). Colletta's book gives the best general picture of the time, but is marred by anti-clerical bias.

2em

Alphonsus Petrus. See.

Alphonsus Rodriguez (also ),, b. at Segovia in Spain, 25 July, 1532; d. at Majorca, 31 October, 1617. On account of the similarity of names he is often confounded with Father Rodriguez the author of "Christian Perfection", who though eminent in his holiness was never canonized. The Saint was a Jesuit lay-brother who entered the Society at the age of forty. He was the son of a wool merchant who had been reduced to poverty when Alfonso was still young. At the age of twenty-six he married Mary Suarez, a woman of his own station, and at thirty-one found himself a widower with one surviving child, the other two having died previously. From that time he began a life of prayer and mortification, although separated from the world around him. On the death of his third child his thoughts turned to a life in some religious order. Previous associations had brought him into contact with the first Jesuits who had come to Spain, Bl. Peter Faber among others, but it was apparently impossible to carry out his purpose of entering the Society, as he was without education, having only had an incomplete year at a new college begun at Alcalaá by Francis Villanueva. At the age of thirty-nine he attempted to make up this deficiency by following the course at the College of Barcelona, but without success. His austerities had also undermined his health. After considerable delay he was finally admitted into the Society of Jesus as a lay-brother, 31 January, 1571. Distinct novitiates had not as yet been established in Spain, and Alfonso began his term of probation at Valencia or Gandia—this point is a subject of dispute—and after six months was sent to the recently-founded college at Majorca, where he remained in the humble position of porter for forty-six years, exercising a marvelous influence on the sanctification not only of the members of the household, but upon a great number of people who came to the porter's lodge for advice and direction. Among the distinguished Jesuits who came under his influence was St. Peter Claver, who lived with him for some time at Majorca, and who followed his advice in asking for the missions of South America. The bodily mortifications which he imposed on himself were extreme, the scruples and mental agitation to which he was subject were of frequent occurrence, his obedience absolute, and his absorption in spiritual things even when engaged on most distracting employments, continual. It has often been said that he was the author of the well known "Little Office of the Immaculate Conception", and the claim is made by Alegambe, Southwell, and even by the Fathers de Backer in their Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus. Apart from the fact that the brother did not have the requisite education for such a task, Father Costurer says positively that the office he used was taken from an old copy printed out of Spain, and Father Colin asserts that it existed before the Saint's time. It may be admitted, however, that through him it was popularized. He left a considerable number of manuscripts after him, some of which have been published as "Obras Espirituales del B. Alonso Rodriguez" (Barcelona, 1885, 3 vols., octavo, complete edition, 8 vols. in quarto). They have no pretense to style; they are sometimes only reminiscences of domestic exhortations; the texts are often repeated; the illustrations are from every-day life; the treatment of one virtue occasionally trenches on another; but they are remarkable for the correctness and soundness of their doctrine and the profound spiritual knowledge which they reveal. They were not written with a view to publication, but put down by the Saint himself, or dictated to others, in obedience to a positive command of his superiors. He was declared Venerable in 1626. In 1633 he was chosen by the Council General of Majorca as one of the special patrons of the city and island. In 1760 Clement XIII decreed that "the virtues of the Venerable Alonso were proved to be of a heroic degree"; but the expulsion of the Society from Spain in 1773, and its suppression, delayed his beatification until 1825. His canonization took place 6 September, 1887. His remains are enshrined at Majorca.

2em

Alphonsus Tostatus. See.

Alpini,, physician and botanist, b. at Marostica, in the Kepublic of Venice, 23 November, 1553; d. at Padua, 6 February, 1617. He studied medicine at Padua from 1574 to 1578, taking his degree as doctor in the latter year. After two years spent at Campo San Pietro, he was appointed physician to the Venetian Counsul in Egypt (1580), which gave him a much desired opportunity of pursuing his chosen study of botany under conditions more favourable than he could find in Italy, and of which he took the fullest possible advantage. On his return to Venice, in 1586, he became physician to Andre Doria, Prince of Melfi, and was looked upon in Genoa, where he resided, as the first physician of his age. He returned to Padua in 1593, where he filled the chair of botany for many years. He wrote a number of medical and botanical works in Latin, the most important being "De plantis Ægypti liber" (Venice, 1592). It is said that his earlier work, "De Medicinia Ægyptiorum" (Venice, 1591) contains the first mention, by a European writer, of the coffee plant. 2em

Alsace-Lorraine, so known, and divided for State purposes into three civil districts. Lower and Upper Alsace and Lorraine include the two bishoprics of Strasburg and Metz, which are immediately subject to the Holy See. Christianity penetrated this region at an early Period, partly owing to the presence of the Roman Legions, whose duty it was to guard the boundaries of the Empire against the attacks of the German hordes, partly through Roman merchants who traded with the Germans on the right bank of the Rhine. The first Bishop of Strasburg of whose name we are historically certain is St. Amandus (commemorated 26 October), who was present at the Councils of Sardica (313) and of Cologne (316). The Lombard, Paul the Deacon, a contemporary of Charlemagne, names St. Clement I, one of St. Peter's immediate successors at Rome, as first Bishop of Metz. Prior to the French Revolution the northern part of