Rev. Fr. Edwin Mercado will celebrate a high mass at 6 p.m. this Sunday at the St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori Parish in Magallanes Village, Makati City in observance of the feast day of St. Alphonsus, founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, also known as the Redemptorists.

Masses will also be held at 7 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Known as the patron of confessors and moralists, St. Alphonsus is one of the most popular Italian saints. He wrote several books, sermons, and religious texts to help encourage devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Virgin Mary. He is considered the most widely read Catholic author.

Born in 1696, he was ordained priest in 1726 and was appointed bishop of St. Agatha in 1756. He founded the Redemptorists in 1732. St. Alphonsus died in 1787.

Because of his immense contribution to the Church, he was declared Doctor of the Universal Church. (Christina I. Hermoso)