Saint
Alonso Rodriguez
Born: 25th July 1532, Segovia, Spain
Died: 30th October 1617, Majorca
Feast Day: 30th October
Patron Saint: Majorca City, Majorca Island, Native Traditions
Shrine: Majorca
Writings: Spiritual Works for Blessed Alonso
Rodriguez
Also known as: Alphonsus Rodriguez
Venerated:
1626 by
Pope Urban VII
Beatified:
1825 by
Pope Leo XII
Canonised: 6th September
1887 by Pope Leo XIII
Saint Alonso was born in Spain in 1532, the third of eleven
children born to a wealthy wool merchant family. He was prepared for his first communion at 10
and went to study at a Jesuit school at 14.
However, his father died during that first year, so he returned home to
help his mother with the business. Alonso
married at 26, but by the time he was 31, his wife and two of his three children
had died. He moved in with his sisters who
helped him raise his last child and Alonso prayerful meditation. By this time, his business had failed, and his
child died.
With his life in ruins he showed interest in joining the newly
established Society of Jesus. However, Alonso was not an educated man and despite
two years at college he failed to get a diploma and therefore was unfit to join
the Jesuits. Alonso’s years of prayer did
not go completely unanswered and sensing his dedication a provincial of the
Society, Father Luis Santander admitted Alonso as a lay-brother on 31st
January 1571 at Valencia Spain.
At this time lay-brothers were known as “temporal coadjutors” who
assisted in the monastery with the more routine duties such as cooking and
farming. Alonso was sent to the college
of Montesion in Majorca to work as a porter and doorkeeper. He welcomed guests, carried their luggage,
tracked down students or priests as required and distributed alms to the poor. He ran errands for 46 years.
Students however, realised that their doorkeeper was a man of
wisdom and faith and started seeking him out.
The Jesuit Superiors started to notice as well and asked him to keep a
record of his life and thoughts. Alonso became
particularly friendly with Peter Claver and suggested he volunteer for the
South American missions – he become known for baptising and speaking out for
the rights of 300,000 slaves in South America.
Alonso experienced trials all his life and there was no relief
from spiritual trials either. The humbler
he became and the more penance he practised, the more he seemed to experience
spiritual dryness, temptations, and assault from the devil. They threw him down the stairs twice. In 1591
when he was 60, he was ordered to start sleeping in a bed because of his
health, instead of in a chair or on a table.
Alonso died in 1617, and the brothers examined the written records kept
by him and realised that he was no ordinary man – he was a mystic who had lived
the life of a saint. His approach was
simple: Christ was appearing in every person who he met, and to encounter God
in every task. He was buried in Majorca
where he had served for nearly five decades.
A quote from Alonso “In failure, I saw the majesty of God. I recognized the
wickedness of my life. I had not been concerned about God, and in that state, I
was on the verge of my eternal perdition. I saw the sublime grandeur of God
from the dust of my misery. I imagined myself as a second David, and the Miserere (have mercy) was
the expression of the state of my soul.”
https://aleteia.org/daily-prayer/thursday-october-31/
https://pilgrimcenterofhope.org/saint-of-the-week-nov-16-2011-st-alonso-rodriguez/
https://www.combonimissionaries.org/ordinary-saints-for-ordinary-time-st-alonso-rodriguez-and-companions/
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-alonso-rodriguez/
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-alonso-rodriguez-640
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