Brother of FSSP priest inspired to revive writings
of the “Most Zealous Doctor of the Church.”
Steve Cunningham had plenty of suggestions for publishers about which Catholic classics should be brought back into print for today’s readers. The problem was, no publishers seemed to be interested.
Cunningham’s solution: start his own company.
In late 2023, Sensus Fidelium Press began printing the works of Saint Alphonsus Liguori and other well-known Catholics. The books grew out of Sensus Fidelium, which Cunningham had started in 2012 to promote the film For Greater Glory, about the Cristeros fighting anti-Catholic persecution in early 20th-century Mexico.
Now Cunningham, who turned 45 in June, fights against the lackluster catechesis that has plagued the Church for decades. Cunningham himself had been a less-than-ideal Catholic for several years, but was motivated by tough times — and his brother, Father Michael Cunnigham, FSSP, to become more familiar with the teachings of the Church.
The Florida native and longtime South Carolina resident was taken by his brother to a conference with Tim Staples of Catholic Answers in 2011. The convert-apologist’s knowledge of the faith annoyed Cunningham, who wondered how a newcomer could know so much more about Catholicism than lifelong Catholics.
This holy annoyance spread into a greater knowledge of the faith and what is likely the publisher with the most Saint Alphonsus books available today. Cunningham told me about these books and his own life journey toward a mature understanding of the faith.
What was your early life like?
Mostly about sports. I honestly only remember one sermon before I was 30 and that was because the priest talked about former Chicago Bears’ head coach Mike Ditka. I perked up for that sermon, since we grew up playing and watching sports. Sports were my life.
My dad was a golf pro, so many of our days were spent surrounded by greenery. We played baseball in Dixie Youth Leage and then in junior high, I took to basketball. Despite my great interest, I was initially terrible at hoops. I was cut from the seventh-grade tryout, so Dad told me that if I wanted to get better, I needed to get into the informal, tougher version of hoops called “pickup” basketball.
From then to college, I played basketball whenever I could. Practice regime was 100 made shots at each of 10 different spots inside the arc and then 100 made 3-pointers from 5 different spots behind the arc, free-throws included in-between ball-handling drills. 5-6 hours a day was the norm.
I got on tiny Spartanburg Methodist College’s team after high school but had knee surgery on both legs that very summer. After a redshirt year, I wasn’t cleared to play until January of my sophomore year.
The college’s soccer coach, a great guy, told the entire school about the surgeries and how much time I was in the gym (same drills there in-between classes), so then we heard the student section “pulling a Rudy for me” by cheering enthusiastically. [Rudy Ruettiger made the Notre Dame football team in the 1970s, despite being only 5 feet, six inches tall.]
That was embarrassing as all-get-out. Not just some-get-out, but all-get-out. Even though there was so much support, things were not going well for me on the court.
Clemson University did not have a scholarship, but did ask me to walk on. However, I was popping about 7-8 Aleve before and after practice to take out the knee pain, so one day I get back to the sports bar dad owned and I couldn’t get out of the car. The knees were not letting me.
Then what did you decide to do?
I started thinking of pitching, since that was less painful. It’s harder doing drills in baseball by yourself, but I remembered hearing 7-time All-Star pitcher Billy Wagner would just launch balls by himself when he was rehabbing his arm.
I took a bag of balls and would try throwing against a wall as hard as I could for as long as I could to build up arm strength. If a good Category-4 hurricane was behind me, I think I could break 80 miles-per-hour, but I did manage to get on a Divison-2 baseball team, the University of South Carolina-Aiken.
I never missed Mass in college hoops or baseball. Coach in hoops would let me take the van to Mass on road trips or I’d get a cab. Although it was mostly punching my time card, as I don’t remember anything outside of figuring out how to get there.
Why did you leave the Church?
I never really left per se, but I just didn’t have the focus or humility to care. In high school and college, I never did any partying. Then in college I just had one drink at the sports bar my dad ran and that was because the waitress challenged me. Slammed it and walked off. After that I was hooked on hanging out and hitting the bars and house party scene up.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday you knew where I would be. Later, after college, I remember being in a bar for trivia and the topic ‘Bible’ came up and my buds would yell “He’s the Catholic guy!” Yet I was highly confident that I would not know the answer to the impending question.
Why did you come back to the Church?
I got laid off from a job I loved doing: medical device sales. I was an assistant and only made about 40k driving all over the place and hustling for new accounts and keeping patients happy. The guy that brought me into that work made 250k, so I saw that this could be good later.
I was living in Columbia, South Caolina, but my territory was 40 min eastward. I was asked to run a luncheon with a doc for a product I didn’t like and I knew the doc would give a “No” so it was a waste of time. My boss (who was and still is a friend) was not happy with that, so he let me go.
I figured that I was good enough to get my own territory and that would happen any day. Days turned into weeks…and months…and nothing. I was depressed, so naturally, started getting into politics to rant about other people being the problem.
My younger brother, Father Michael Cunningham, FSSP, challenged me by saying, with Saint Jerome: “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” That push was enough for me to read Matthew on Monday, Mark on Tuesday, Luke on Wednesday and John on Thursday.
One of the stories I was most drawn to was Mary Magdalen having demons cast out of her. I could relate to the pull of the world that was preventing me from being a truly faithful disciple of Christ. I needed my own demons (or sins, to be precise) cast out, as done in a good, thorough Confession.
Then I started reading The World’s First Love by Fulton Sheen, watching Bishop Barron’s Word on Fire videos, listening to Catholic Answers Live with converts Tim Staples, Jimmy Akin, Rosalind Moss (now Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God), and reading apologetics books.
I started going to daily Mass down the street and engaging in Eucharistic adoration a lot. Sometimes I would just sit in church, not really reading or praying, but simply being in the Presence of the Lord. My buds did not understand that at all, which is actually…well, understandable.
The Real Presence is beyond all human expectation. Who would even dare to ask for such a thing, had not God Himself instituted It? In such an overabundance of love for mankind, God continually resides with us in every tabernacle in the world. How can the human mind understand something so exceedingly generous?
That sounds like something Saint Alphonsus would say. Is that why you started printing his books at Sensus Fidelium Press?
I was selling the phone book for AT&T (seriously, the hardest sell ever) as I lived with a roommate in a tiny apartment. I was working out in the living room (which also served as my bedroom) and came across a priest on YouTube who quoted this Italian man all the time.
That man was none other than Saint Alphonsus Liguori, bishop, prolific author, founder of two religious orders and “The Most Zealous” of the Doctors of the Church. I took the priest’s advice about reading the words of Saint Alphonsus and was very impressed with what I came across.
I love hearing stories of the Hall of Famers, so Saint Alphonsus’ style resonated with me. He quotes the Church’s “Hall of Famers” (the saints) all the time. Saint Augustine, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Francis de Sales are some of Saint Alphonsus’ most frequently quoted “Hall of Famers.”
I’m one to say, “Don’t give me your opinion; what do the great ones say about it?” That’s what Saint Alphonsus does. The Old Testament, New Testament, and subsequent saints are always present in his works, so there’s an organized tapestry of orthodoxy that leaves no doubt as to why Pope John Paul II called him “the voice of the Church.”
Not to mention, my mom’s side of the family is from Naples, where Saint Alphonsus is also from. There’s an affinity — and maybe even a distant relation — starting on the southwestern Italian coast. That crossed the Atlantic, not only for me, but for my brother. He met traditional Redemptorists at the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter’s seminary and then had the glorious Saint Alphonsus Shrine in Baltimore as his first assignment after ordination.
How many Saint Alphonsus books do you have available?
Possibly the most of any other publisher today. We have Preparation for Death; Way of Salvation; The Great Means of Salvation; The Incarnation, Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ; The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ; The Holy Eucharist (which includes the Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ); and The Glories of Mary. These seven books demonstrate the thoroughly Catholic nature of Saint Alphonsus. He explains the love of God for man, the suffering that came about because of that love, the unique role of Mary, and the unparalleled importance of where we spend eternity.
If you’re already knowledgeable enough about the basics of the faith from solid catechisms, it’s possible that all you need to read (apart from the Bible) in order to live out the faith well is Saint Alphonsus. Wait until we get The True Spouse of Jesus Christ out; that is meant especially for cloistered nuns, but every Catholic will find immensely practical advice in it. Then there’s The Dignity and Duties of the Priest, which several publishers should have taken up by now.
Are you married?
I was married to my beautiful wife on the 13th of May, 2017 and now we have 4 little ones (Stephen, Therese, Veronica and baby John). I pretty much “stay in my cell” at home and rarely leave except for the gym or the parish. Just like we did when I was growing up, we now do everything as a family. If I’m manning a table at a Catholic conference or giving away free stuff in some other way, the kids want to come and it’s fun.
We have photos of the saints all over the house and the kids know who they are. The kids even know the Marian hymns for each season — in Latin, of course. My Therese never goes to sleep without asking everyone to sing the Salve Regina.
I still like sports and see the value they can bring via dedication to an objective ideal, organization, decision-making, self-denial, teamwork and perseverance, but have been inundated with the grace to see how insignificant they are compared to properly worshipping Almighty God, engaging in marriage and family life, doing penance for past sins, and bringing others into the Church.
Despite the challenges that inevitably present themselves, I’m now happier than ever — and how could it be otherwise? Doing one’s own will results in distress, while doing God’s will results in peace of mind. This is one of the many themes conveyed by Saint Alphonsus.
Thank God for his grace, Alphonsus for his books, my brother for his nudges and my mom for having laid the foundation of faith, despite my initially lukewarm response. Now I just have to keep persevering.
Saint Alphonsus, pray for us to be made worthy of heavenly citizenship.
Trent Beattie is the author of Scruples and Sainthood (Loreto Publications) and Fit for Heaven (Dynamic Catholic). He is also the editor of Saint Alphonsus Liguori for Every Day (Mediatrix Press), Finding True Happiness (Dynamic Catholic) and Apostolic Athletes (Marian Press).
