Two remarkable incidents occurred in the life of St. Alphonsus at the time of the death of Pope Clement XIV and the Conclave that followed. His experiences are relevant for us today. This article incorporates the information found in Chapter fifty-five of the wonderful biography of St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Life of St. Alphonsus Liguori, available from Slaying Dragons Press.

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First, God granted St. Alphonsus the gift of bilocation, so well-known in the lives of Saints like Padre Pio. During an ecstasy that lasted nearly two days, St. Alphonsus accompanied the Holy Father and helped him as he prepared for his death.

Second, St. Alphonsus was requested by a Cardinal to write a letter detailing the needs of the Church and the qualities required in a new Pope. This letter was to be presented to the Papal Conclave as it sought to elect a new Supreme Pontiff.

Among the many things which St. Alphonsus outlined was the need for prayer. “It is necessary to pray, and to pray much,” he wrote, “for in order to raise the Church from the remissness and confusion which, alas! are but too prevalent, prudence and human wisdom are insufficient; nothing short of the powerful arm of God will suffice.”

Further, he stated, “We must then pray to Jesus Christ to give His Church a head containing something more than knowledge and human prudence; to give her, in short, a pontiff who through the spirit of God may be filled with zeal for His glory, and totally detached from all parties so as to be able to resist the suggestions of human respect. If we have the misfortune to have a pope who has not God’s glory in view, we shall receive but little aid from heaven, and things will become worse.”

Again, he emphasized the necessity of prayer, writing, “Prayer is the sole remedy for such great misfortunes. Hence I have not only enjoined on my little congregation to pray with more than ordinary fervor for the election of a Supreme Pontiff, I have also ordered all the regular and secular clergy of my diocese to say during Mass the Collect, Pro eligendo Summo Pontifice. I pray frequently during the day about this election.”

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First, God granted St. Alphonsus the gift of bilocation, so well-known in the lives of Saints like Padre Pio. During an ecstasy that lasted nearly two days, St. Alphonsus accompanied the Holy Father and helped him as he prepared for his death.

Close to the time of his passing from this world, troubles accumulated upon the unfortunate pontiff, Pope Clement XIV, who had made the decision to suppress the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). “Pray for the Pope,” wrote St. Alphonsus, “he is overwhelmed with sadness, and not causelessly, for there seems not to be a shadow of peace for the Church. Pray for the Pope; God alone knows how I feel his afflictions. I have heard that he wishes for death, so great is his distress at the trials which afflict the Church. I pray that God may come to his aid.” In another letter of the Saint, we find this passage: “I hear from various quarters that the Pope is in sorrow, that he is shut up and does no business. Let us beseech God to deliver him from this profound melancholy.” 

On the morning of September 21, 1774, St. Alphonsus, immediately after Mass, threw himself into his arm-chair, in which he remained all that day and all the following night perfectly motionless, and without articulating a single word. The servants not knowing what this portended, remained all night at the door without daring to enter. Later in the day, he appeared to awake, and rang the bell to announce that he was about to celebrate Mass. At this signal, his whole household surrounded him, and St. Alphonsus, with an air of surprise, asked what was the matter. “You have neither eaten nor spoken for two days,” they replied, “and you ceased to give any signs of life.” “That is true,” said he, “but you do not know that I have been with the Pope who has just died.” Tidings soon reached the town that Clement XIV had passed to a better life, September 22, at eight in the morning, the very moment in which Alphonsus had come to himself. The advocate of the cause of St. Alphonsus ably demonstrated that this prolonged repose, or apparent stupor, was a continual ecstacy, “an admirable favor which God accorded to our saint and to the dying pontiff.”

Second, St. Alphonsus was selected by a Cardinal to write a letter detailing the needs of the Church and the qualities of a new Pope. This letter was to be presented to the Papal Conclave as it sought to elect a new Supreme Pontiff.

Cardinal Castelli aware of the high reputation of Alphonsus for sanctity and the veneration with which the sacred college regarded him, asked him to write a long letter on the abuses which ought to be rectified in the various orders of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The cardinal wished this memorial to be presented to the Conclave; hoping that it would be of use in causing a pope to be elected capable of remedying all the ills of the Church. Such a request covered the humble prelate with confusion, but, urged by the friends who were commissioned to use their influence with him, he invoked the light of the Holy Ghost, and complied, in the following form: 

The Letter of St. Alphonsus to the Conclave

“Most Reverend Cardinal: You ask my sentiments on the present state of the Church and the election of a pope, but what sentiments can a miserable creature such as I am express? All I can say is that it is necessary to pray, and to pray much; for in order to raise the Church from the remissness and confusion which, alas! are but too prevalent, prudence and human wisdom are insufficient; nothing short of the powerful arm of God will suffice. Few bishops have true zeal for the salvation of souls. Most religious communities are relaxed; observances are neglected and rules despised. 

“The situation of the secular clergy is still worse; therefore an absolute reform is necessary among ecclesiastics that they may afterwards be able to reform the conduct of the laity; we must then pray to Jesus Christ to give His Church a head containing something more than knowledge and human prudence; to give her, in short, a pontiff who through the spirit of God may be filled with zeal for His glory, and totally detached from all parties so as to be able to resist the suggestions of human respect. If we have the misfortune to have a pope who has not God’s glory in view, we shall receive but little aid from heaven, and things will become worse.

“Prayer is the sole remedy for such great misfortunes. Hence I have not only enjoined on my little congregation to pray with more than ordinary fervor for the election of a Supreme Pontiff, I have also ordered all the regular and secular clergy of my diocese to say during mass the Collect, Pro eligendo Summo Pontifice. I pray frequently during the day about this election, but what can my poor prayers avail? Nevertheless, I put all my trust in the merits of Jesus Christ and of the Blessed Virgin, and I hope that God will comfort me, by permitting me to see the Church relieved before my death, which my age and infirmities admonish me cannot be far distant. 

“I desire also to see all reigning disorders reformed, and a thousand ideas on this subject come into my head, which I should ardently wish to communicate to you, if the knowledge of what I am did not take away all boldness, by convincing me that it is not for me to pretend to reform the world. I desire that the future pope, when he has vacancies to supply in the Sacred College, would select only the best informed and most zealous among those proposed, and that he would request all princes not to present any but men of well known learning and piety as candidates for the cardinalate. 

“I wish also that he should exercise unalterable firmness in refusing livings to those who are already sufficiently provided for, repress luxury in prelates, and fix the number of their servants. This would help to put a stop to the slander and detraction of our enemies. He should also endeavor never to confer benefices on any but those who have merited well by their labors for the Church. 

“I should wish him to be very strict in choosing bishops, and to obtain information at all hands about those proposed for this high and important office, and be certain as to the goodness of their character and doctrine, which are indispensable qualities in ruling over a diocese. It is on these chief pastors that the good of religion and the salvation of souls chiefly depend. I should like him to require metropolitans and others to inform him in secret as to any bishops who are careless about the welfare of their flocks; also to threaten with suspension or the supervision of a vicar apostolic, both negligent bishops and those who are non-resident, as well as those who scandalize the world by the luxury of their attendants and the excessive expense of their equipage, festivities, &c. In some cases it does not do to be afraid of putting these threats into execution; corrections purify the Church from the corruptions that sully her, and restrain other bishops through fear of public blame, which admonishes them of their back-slidings, and causes them to return to a sense of their duty, to the great advantage of their flocks.

“In fine, why should the future pope be too lenient in granting favors injurious to the maintainance of discipline, such for instance, as permitting nuns to leave their enclosure without any real necessity? He should not readily consent to the secularization of religious, on account of the evils which result from it; and above all he should recall all religious to the primitive observance of the rules of their institute, at least on all important points. 

“I will not try your patience any longer; I can do nothing further, save to beseech God to give us a pontiff full of His own spirit. Accept the sentiments of profound respect with which I have the honor to remain,” here ends the account of the letter.

The Pope who succeeded Clement XIV was a tremendous admirer of St. Alphonsus Liguori. The Holy Father, Pope Pius VI, gave significant support to the work of St. Alphonsus’ Order of Redemptorists and corresponded with the Saint on many occasions. However, the Holy Father was eventually caught in the middle of a plot which sought to destroy the Order, and he became an instrument of the Saint’s final purification and sanctification. To read about that fascinating story, get a copy of The Life of St. Alphonsus Liguori, from Slaying Dragons Press.