Liguori, Alfonzo jMaria de, a Roman Catholic bishop, and founder of the Order of Eedemptorists, was born Sept. 27, 1G90, at Naples. He was descended from a noble family, and the son of a royal officer; from his mother, who was a fervid Catholic, he imbibed in early childhood a glowing devotedness to the Church of Rome. Educated in an institution of the priests of the Oratory, he made such rapid progress that he obtained in the six- teenth year of his life the degree of LL.D. In accord- ance with the wish of his parents he became a lawj'er, but the loss of an important lawsuit so mortified him that he resolved to enter the priesthood. He overcame the violent opposition of his father, and took orders in 1725. Soon after he entered the Congregation of the Propaganda at Naples, and began to labor with great zeal for the religious awakening of the lowest classes in Naples and the neighboring provinces. In order to en- large the sphere of his labors he concluded to establish a new religious congregation. The first house of the new congregation was established with the assistance of twelve companions at Scala ; the chief task of the mem- bers was declared to be " to devote themselves to the service of the poorest and most abandoned souls." Three years later the second house was established at Cionani, in the diocese of Salerno. The rule of the new congre- gation, which Liguori had drawn up with the assist- ance of several prominent men, was confirmed by a brief of pope Benedict XIV, dated Feb. 22, 1749, and Ligu- ori was elected superior general for his lifetime. The archbishopric of Palermo, which king Charles III of Naples offered to him, Liguori declined, but in 17G2 he had, at the request of pope Clement XIII, to accept the bishopric of Sta. Agata de' Goti. A general chapter of the congregation unanimously declared that no new su- perior general should be elected in place of Liguori, but that the latter should appoint a vicar general to preside over the congregation in his place. The feeble state of his health repeatedly induced him to ask the pope to accept his resignation, but his Mish was not granted until 1775. He retired to the house of his con- gregation at Nocera de' Pagani, where he spent the remainder of his life in composing theological and, in particular, ascetical works. In consequence of the in- trigues of several prominent members of his order, and the government of Naples, which, against his will, caused iha rules of his order to be changed, he was compelled to resign its supreme management. He died August 1, 1787. In 179G he received from Pius VI the title " Ven- erable," in 1816 he was beatified, and on May 26, 1839, was canonized by pope Gregory XVI. In 1871 Pius IX conferred upon him the title and rank of a " Doctor EcclesiiE." Liguori was a very prolific writer, the best known among his works being the Theologia Moralis (Naples, 3 vols.):^ — Homo Ap)ostolicus (V^enice, 1782, 3 vols.) : — Imtitutio Catechetica (Bassano, 1768) : — P?-axis Confessarii. Complete editions of his works have been published at Paris (1835 sq., in IG vols.), at Monza (70 vols.), and other places, llis works have been trans- lated into French and (Jerman, and, in great part, into English, Spanish, Polish, and other European language?. The principles of casuistry explained b)' Liguori have been received with much favor by the Ultramontane school of the Roman Cathohc theologians, and his moral theology, which is a modification of the so-called " prob- abilistic system" of the age immediately before his own, is largely used in the direction of consciences. Few writers in modern times have gone so far in the defence of the extremest ultra-papal theories and practices as
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Liguori, antl, while his honesty and zeal are undoubted, he stands forth in the recent history of the Koman Churcli as a representative of the very worst tendencies of casuists. In the ordinary concerns of life, where there is no suspicion and no warnintf, he elaborate]}' teaches how falsehood and trickery between man and man may be most advantageously practiced, and how far cheating and stealing on the part of tradesmen and servants may be venially carried on, and without incur- ring rriortal sin. See Connelly, Reasons for abjui-ing A llerjiance to the See of Rome (Lond, 1852) ; Lond. Qii. Rev. 185G, p. 39G ; Chriitidn Remvmhr. 185-1 (Jan.), p. 38 ; 1855 (Oct.), p. 407. Biographies of Liguori have been written by Giatini ( T7?« del heuto A Ifons. Liyuori, Rome, 1815), Jeancard (Tie du C. A. Liguori,\jO\iva.m, 1829), Klotts (Aix-la-Chapelle, 1835), Schick (Schaffhausen, 1853), and others. In English we have a very good bi- ographical Z(/e of St. A.M. de Liguori (London, 1848, 2 vols. 8vo). For an account of the religious order found- ed by Liguori, see Eedejiptokists. (A. J. S.)
Liguoriaus. See Eedemptorists.
Li'Sure (D'4-;?> le'shem, supposed to be from an old root preserved in the Arab., and signifying to taste) oc- curs but twice (Exod. xxviii, 19 ; xxxix, 12) as the name of the first stone in the third row on the high-priest's breastplate, where the Sept. renders \iyvpiov (apparently alhiduig to the above derivation), and is followed by the Vulg. ligurius, as well as the A.V. So also Josephus (\Vur, V, 5, 7). " The word ligure is unknown in mod- ern mmeralogy. Phillips (^Mineralogy, p. 87) mentions ligurite, the fragments of which are mieven and transpa- rent, with a vitreous lustre. It occurs in a sort of talcose rock in the banks of a river in the Apennines" (Smith). The classical ligure (or XvyKovpiot^) was thought to be a species of amber (see Moore, A nc. Min. p. lOG), al- though ancient authors speak uncertainly respecting it (Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxvii, 11,13; Theophrastus, De lapid. c. 50), and assign a false derivation to the name (see Gesenius, Thesaur. Ileb. p. 7G3). The Hebrew word has been thought to designate the same stone as the jacinth (Braunius, Be vestitu sacerd. ii, 14), although others ail- here to the opal as corresponding better with the ancient ligure (KosenmiiUer, Sch. in Exod. xxviii, 19). "Dr. Woodward and some old commentators have supposed that it was some kind of helemnite, because, as these fos- sils contain bituminous particles, they have thought that they have been able to detect, upon heating or rub- bing pieces of them, the absurd origin which Theophras- tus {Frag, ii, 28, 31 ; xv, 2, edit. Schneider) and Pliny (ff.X. xxxvii, iii) ascribe to the Ignajrium. As to the belief that amber is denoted by this word, Theophrastus, in the passage cited above, has given a detailecl descrip- tion of the stone, and clearly distinguishes it from elec- tron, or amber. Amber, moreover, is too soft for engrav- ing upon, while the Ignn/riiim was a hard stone, out of wliiih seals were made" (Smith). See Gem. Beckmann {//isl. /iirent. i, 87, Bohn) believes, with Brann, Epiplia- nius, and J. de Laet, that the description of the Ignajr- ium agrees well with the liyacinth-stone of modern min- eralogists, especially that species which is described as iK'ing of an orange-j'ellow color, passing on into a red- dish-brown (see iiosenm idler, Bibl. Alterth. IV, i, 28). The liyncinth is a variety of crj-stullized zircon, contain- ing also iron, which usually gives it a reddish or brown color. It generally occnrs in fiiur-sided prisms, termi- nated by four rhombic planes. It is diaphanous, glossy, and hard. It occurs in the beds of rivers, the best being lirought from the West Indies, but is now little esteemed as a gem, although the ancients used it for engraving. " With this supposition (that the h/nryriiim is identical witli the jacinth or hyacinth) IliU (Xotes on Theophras- tus on Stones, § 50, p. IGG) and Rosenmidler {Mineral, of Bible, ]). 30 ; Bib. Cab.) agree. It must be confessed, however, that this opinion is far from satisfactory; for Theophrastus, speaking of tlie properties of the Ignajr- iuvi, says that it attracts not only light particles of