Mary and Alphonsus Liguori smiled at each other as the saint was dying

Saint Alphonsus Liguori is the author of The Glories of Mary, published in 1750, which was a bestseller right from the time of its release (1000 partial editions, including 16 in Italy, sold during his lifetime). The book presents the person and life of the Virgin Mary, explains Marian spirituality, and includes prayers of the saints and some popular devotions. Its author ends each chapter with an edifying "example", generally the account of an apparition or a miracle - about 40 in all. The intention is to show the role of the Virgin in the Church and among the faithful, without providing a historical criticism of the facts recounted. 

On July 31, 1787, at about 6 p.m., St. Alphonsus was dying. He was holding an image of the Virgin Mary (still preserved at the church of the Redemptorists in Paris), when, according to witnesses, "suddenly his face became ablaze and resplendent, as he spoke softly and smiled at the Madonna. An hour later, before the eyes of three other members of the Society, the same 'encounter' occurred again."

St. Alphonsus Liguori’s biographer Théodule Rey-Mermet cssr, in Le Saint du siècle des Lumières, quoted in Dictionnaire des apparitions, by Fr. Laurentin, Fayard, 2007.