Blessed Gennaro Maria Sarnelli

Blessed Gennaro Maria Sarnelli (1702–1743), a founding force in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), combined sanctity with activism in the social and political life of his time. He advocated tirelessly for solutions to the social evils of prostitution, campaigning for safe alternatives for the many women and children at risk. By means of his extensive writings, spiritual direction, and social and political practice, he acted as a moral conscience to hundreds of thousands around him.

Like his contemporary St. Alphonsus Liguori, he was born in Naples, trained as a lawyer, and had a deep concern for the common people. Both men sought to bring the Gospel to the poor of the Italian countryside whose spiritual care had been virtually abandoned. This book contains four articles on Sarnelli’s life and ministry followed by translations of the majority of his letters and other selected writings expressing his personal spirituality and leadership in the life and practice of faith.