Saint Alphonse Rodriguez
Jésuite à Palma de
Majorque (+ 1617)
Comme il ignorait le
latin, il ne fut que frère-coadjuteur et pendant plus de trente ans, simple
frère portier. Il accomplissait cette tâche avec sourire et amabilité malgré
les injures de certains importuns. Il sut obéir jusqu'à l'extrême abandon de sa
volonté et ses supérieurs l'éprouvèrent souvent lui demandant des choses
parfois impossibles auxquelles il se pliait avec humilité.
À Palma de Majorque, en
1617, saint Alphonse Rodriguez. Ayant perdu son épouse, ses enfants et toute sa
fortune, il fut accepté comme religieux dans la Compagnie de Jésus et
s’acquitta pendant de nombreuses années de la fonction de portier au Collège de
la ville avec une humilité, une obéissance et une constance admirables comme
une forme de mortification.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/2108/Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez.html
Saint Alphonse Rodriguez
Frère coadjuteur de la
Compagnie de Jésus
(1531-1617)
Saint Alphonse Rodriguez,
fils d'un riche marchand drapier, naquit à Ségovie, en Espagne. Après avoir
fait ses études au collège d'Alcala, sous la direction des Pères de la
Compagnie de Jésus, il retourna à Ségovie à cause du décès de son père et dut
s'occuper de l'administration des biens familiaux. Après avoir essuyé des
revers de fortune, perdu sa femme et sa fille en l'espace de quelques mois,
Alphonse Rodriguez abandonna le soin des affaires et se retira dans une chambre
avec son fils à peine âgé de trois ans. Plein de sollicitude pour l'âme de son
enfant, il pria Dieu de l'appeler à Lui s'il devait un jour L'offenser. Le
Seigneur ravit ce petit ange à sa tendresse quelques jours après sa fervente
prière.
Durant six ans, saint
Alphonse pratiqua dans le monde toutes les vertus chrétiennes. A l'âge de
trente-sept ans, de plus en plus absorbé dans la pensée de la mort et de son
salut éternel, il ne songea plus qu'à entrer dans un Ordre religieux. Sur le
conseil d'un Père de la Compagnie de Jésus, il commença à étudier le latin,
mais le succès ne répondit pas à ses efforts. Laissant ce projet de côté, il
pensa à se retirer auprès d'un ermite de Valence, mais son confesseur l'en
dissuada.
Agé de trente-neuf ans,
Alphonse entra au noviciat de la Compagnie de Jésus, au couvent de St-Paul de
Valence où on l'admit en qualité de Frère coadjuteur. Ses premiers pas dans la
vie religieuse révélèrent le haut degré de vertu où il était déjà parvenu. Son
humilité que rien ne pouvait déconcerter, sa patience devant les exigences les
plus indiscrètes ou les reproches les moins mérités, sa scrupuleuse obéissance,
son oraison continuelle suscitaient l'admiration et l'édification de tous ses
confrères.
Après six mois de
noviciat, ses supérieurs l'envoyèrent sur l'île Majorque, au collège de la Ste
Vierge du mont Sion où il prononça ses voeux simples et solennels le même jour.
Pendant trente ans, saint Alphonse Rodriguez se sanctifiera dans le modeste
emploi de portier, accueillant toutes les personnes qui se présentaient avec le
même empressement que si c'eût été Notre-Seigneur. Le matin, au son de la
cloche, il demandait à Dieu de le garder sans péché durant le jour, ensuite il
se mettait sous la protection de la Très Sainte Vierge en récitant Ses
Litanies.
A sa prière incessante,
il joignait une mortification extraordinaire. "En toutes choses, témoigna
son supérieur, Alphonse cherchait ce qui répugnait le plus à la nature."
Ainsi, il ne voulait porter que des vêtements usés. Un crucifix et une image de
la Très Sainte Vierge sans nulle valeur artistique ornait la cellule de ce
pauvre de Jésus-Christ. Il couchait sur la dure et jeûnait souvent. Regardant
le réfectoire comme un lieu de mortification, il offrait tous les sacrifices
qu'il s'y imposait pour le soulagement et la délivrance des saintes âmes du
purgatoire. Avant de sortir de la maison, saint Alphonse Rodriguez demandait à
Notre-Seigneur de le faire mourir plutôt que de le voir consentir à aucun péché
mortel. Pendant ses visites, il observait une modestie si exemplaire, parlait
si peu et rarement, que cet empire acquis sur ses sens l'avait fait surnommer:
le frère mort.
L'obéissance de saint
Alphonse Rodriquez était aussi aveugle que parfaite, car ce bon Saint était
convaincu qu'en accomplissant les ordres de son supérieur, il exécutait ceux du
ciel même. Pour savoir jusqu'où sa sublime dépendance pouvait aller, le recteur
du collège de Majorque lui commanda un jour de s'embarquer. Saint Alphonse
partit aussitôt sans poser de question. Chemin faisant, un religieux vint lui
dire que le supérieur le redemandait. "Où alliez-vous, lui demanda le
recteur, puisque vous ignoriez le but du voyage et quel vaisseau vous deviez
prendre? – J'allais faire l'obéissance, répondit le saint portier."
Alphonse Rodriguez reçut
de Dieu le don de prophétie et celui des miracles. Après quarante-cinq années
passées dans la pratique des plus admirables vertus, affligé depuis longtemps
d'une douloureuse maladie, le saint religieux reçut le sacrement des infirmes.
Ayant communié avec ferveur, l'agonisant ferma les yeux et entra dans un
ravissement qui dura trois jours. Durant ce temps, son visage demeura tout
rayonnant d'une céleste clarté. Le 31 octobre 1617, le saint Jésuite revint à
lui, prononça distinctement le nom adorable de Jésus et Lui rendit son âme, à
l'âge de quatre-vingt-six ans.
Il fut canonisé par Sa Sainteté Léon XIII, le 8 janvier 1888.
Résumé O.D.M.
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_alphonse_rodriguez.html
Sant'Alfonso Rodríguez
Неизвестный
автор. Портрет Альфонсо Родригеса (XIX век).
Artiste
inconnu. Portrait d'Alfonso Rodriguez (XIXe siècle).
Saint ALPHONSE RODRIGUEZ,
religieux
Mémoire
Commun des religieux (p.
271).
OFFICE DES LECTURES
DEUXIÈME LECTURE
Vie admirable de saint
Alphonse Rodriguez, religieux
Je me comporte comme un
petit enfant encore au sein, qui ne sait ni ne peut s’enorgueillir.
Très souvent, je ne
m’entretiens et ne converse qu’avec Jésus et la sainte Vierge, sa très sainte
Mère, les amours de mon âme. Je leur rends compte de ce qui me concerne, car je
suis si nul, si grossier et si ignorant, que je ne suis absolument bon à rien.
Je recours donc à eux, en leur racontant ce qui m’arrive, et je les prie de me
venir en aide et de me protéger, afin que je fasse tout, suivant leur bon
plaisir et non pas autrement. Mon cœur plein d’amour pour
Dieu est extrêmement désireux de lui plaire ; et pour lui être agréable, je
suis prêt à renoncer à tout en ce monde et à moi-même. Ayant égard à mes bons
désirs, et voyant que je traite tout avec lui et avec la Sainte Vierge, que je
ne veux que ce qu’ils veulent, et que, dans mon recours à eux, je me remets
moi-même, mes intérêts et ceux du prochain entre leurs mains, Dieu fait que
tout réussit et arrive selon ses desseins. C’est avec un certain élan d’amour
que je vais trouver Jésus et Marie et converser avec eux ; ils me répondent
avec une douce suavité et me font connaître leur sainte volonté, en m’apprenant
en même temps comment l’exécuter.
Dans cette douce
familiarité que j’ai avec Jésus et la sainte Vierge, je me comporte comme un
enfant encore au sein. Celui-ci ne peut ni ne sait s’enorgueillir, parce qu’il
est un enfant ; or, avec la grâce de Dieu, mon âme en vient dans ces
entretiens, à cet état qu’elle ne saurait et ne pourrait s’enorgueillir plus
qu’un petit enfant qui n’a pas encore été sevré.
(Mémoire écrit en juin
1615. Ed. esp. dans V. Segarra, s.j., San Alonso Rodriguez. Autobiografia
o sea Memorial o Cuentas de la Consciencia, Barcelona, 1956, pp. 227-228
; tr. fr. par P. de Bénazé, 1890, pp. 281-282).
R/ Je te rends grâce de
tout mon cœur, Seigneur mon Dieu ;
* Il est grand ton amour pour moi.
V/ Tu es mon Dieu, je te
rends grâce, mon Dieu, je t’exalte.
* Il est grand …
Tu nous a montré,
Seigneur, dans la fidélité de notre frère Alphonse Rodriguez, le chemin de la
joie et de la paix ; accorde-nous d’être toujours des compagnons de Jésus empressés
à le servir, lui qui s’est fait le serviteur de tous et qui règne avec Toi et
le Saint-Esprit.
SOURCE : http://www.jesuites.com/2013/01/alphonse-rodriguez/
Sant'Alfonso Rodríguez
Saint Alonso Rodriguez
Also
known as
Alphonsus Rodriguez
Memorial
31 October
Profile
Third of eleven children in
the family of the wealthy wool merchant Diego
Rodriguez. Met Blessed Peter
Faber when he was 10; the Father Faber prepared
the boy for
his First Communion.
At age 14, Alonso was sent to study with Jesuits,
Alonso’s father died within
a year, and he returned home to learn and manage the business.
Married to
Mary Suarez at age 26. His business suffered, and two the couple’s children died in infancy;
one son survived. Widower in
his early 30’s, Alonso’s mother died soon
after. He sold the business and moved in with his sisters; they helped Alonso
raise his son, and taught their brother prayerful meditation.
When his son died,
Alonso decided to follow his call to the religious
life. He gave away what little he had left, and tried to join the Jesuits;
he did not have the education they required, and was refused. Attended the College of Barcelona,
but could not complete the work. Self-imposed austerities nearly destroyed his
health; at age 60 he was ordered to begin sleeping in a bed instead of the
chair, bench or ground he had previously used. However, at the recommendation
of Jesuit Father Luis
Santander, Alonso became a Jesuit lay-brother,
admitted on 31 January 1571 at Valencia, Spain,
and began to study alongside children.
Porter and doorkeeper at
the Jesuit college of
Montesión at Palma, Mallorca, Spain for
46 years, a duty which involved delivering packages, seeing to the lodging
of travellers,
and dispensing alms to
the poor.
From this humble post he influenced many through the years. Obsessed with the
spiritual, and given to extreme self-imposed austerities, he had a special
devotion to Saint Ursula,
and was so obedient to his superiors that when one told him to eat his plate,
he tried to cut it with a knife and fork. Friend and room-mate of Saint Peter
Claver; advised Peter to
request missionary work
in South
America. Professed his
final Jesuit vows
at the age of 54.
Reputed to heal by
fervent prayer.
The night before his death was
spent in a visionary ecstasy.
Some authors claim
he wrote the Little
Office of the Immaculate Conception, but his part was to make it more popular.
Left behind a collection of manuscripts of journal entries, random thoughts,
simple illustrations, and musings on things spiritual that are remarkable for
their simplicity, sound and correct doctine, and spiritual understanding; they
were published as Spiritual Works of Blessed Alonso Rodriguez in Barcelona in 1885.
Born
25 July 1532 at Segovia, Spain
Died
31 October 1617 at Palma, Mallorca, Spain of
natural causes
relics enshrined
at Majorca
Venerated
1626 by Pope Urban
VIII
Beatified
15 January 1825 by Pope Leo XII
Canonized
15 January 1888 by Pope Leo
XIII
Patronage
in Spain
Majorca,
city of
Majorca,
island of
Segovia
Representation
an old Jesuit with
two hearts on his breast connected by rays of light to Christ and the Virgin
Additional
Information
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of Saints, by the Monks of
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Encyclopedia
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books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
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and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
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Readings
Honour is flashed off
exploit, so we say;
And those strokes once that gashed flesh or galled shield
Should tongue that time now, trumpet now that field,
And, on the fighter, forge his glorious day.
On Christ they do and on the martyr may;
But be the war within, the brand we wield
Unseen, the heroic breast not outward-steeled,
Earth hears no hurtle then from fiercest fray.
Yet God (that hews
mountain and continent,
Earth, all, out; who, with trickling increment,
Veins violets and tall trees makes more and more)
Could crowd career with conquest while there went
Those years and years by of world without event
That in Majorca Alfonso watched the door.
– Gerard Manley Hopkins,
in honour of Saint Alphonsus
Rodriguez, laybrother of the Society of Jesus
MLA
Citation
“Saint Alonso
Rodriguez“. CatholicSaints.Info. 20 January 2024. Web. 30 October 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-alonso-rodriguez/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-alonso-rodriguez/
.jpg)
Sant'Alfonso Rodríguez
After
Anton Wierix II, Alphonse Rodriguez, circa 1552, engraving, 15 x 9.8,
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Book of Saints –
Alphonsus Rodriguez
Article
(Saint) Confessor
(October 30) (17th century) A well-to-do Spanish merchant, who, on losing his
wife and two children, joined the Society of Jesus as a lay-brother, and for
thirty years served as porter in a Jesuit College in the Island of Majorca. He
was enriched by God with many wonderful supernatural gifts, but was chiefly
remarkable for his exceeding patience and humility. He died A.D. 1617 at the
age of eighty-six, and many miracles have been wrought in favour of those who
have invoked him.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Alphonsus Rodriguez”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 28
May 2012.
Web. 30 October 2025. <http://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-alphonsus-rodriguez/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-alphonsus-rodriguez/
St. Alphonsus Rodriguez
Feastday: October 30
Birth: 1532
Death: 1617
Confessor and Jay
brother, also called Alonso. He was born in Segovia, Spain, on July 25, 1532,
the son of a wealthy merchant, and was prepared for First Communion by
Blessed Peter Favre, a friend of Alphonsus' father. While studying with the
Jesuits at Alcala, Alphonsus had to return home when his father died. In Segovia he
took over the family business,
was married, and had a son. That son died, as did two other children and
then his wife. Alphonsus sold his business and applied to the Jesuits. His lack
of education and
his poor health, undermined by his austerities, made him less than desirable as
a candidate for the religious life, but he was accepted as a lay brother by the
Jesuits on January 31, 1571. He underwent novitiate training and was sent to
Montesion College on
the island of Majorca. There he labored as a hall porter for
twenty-four years. Overlooked by some of the Jesuits in the house, Alphonsus
exerted a wondrous influence on many. Not only the young students, such
as St.
Peter Claver, but local civic tad and social leaders came to his
porter's lodge for advice tad and direction. Obedience and penance were
the hallmarks of his life, as well as his devotion to the Immaculate
Conception. He experienced many spiritual consolations, and he wrote religious
treatises, very simple in style but sound in doctrine. Alphonsus died after a
long illness on October 31, 1617, and his funeral was attended by Church and
government leaders. He was declared Venerable in 1626, and was named a patron
of Majorca in 1633. Alphonsus was beatified in
1825 and canonized in September 1888 with St. Peter Claver.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1285
New
Catholic Dictionary – Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez
Article
(Alonso Rodriguez) (1532–1617)
Confessor, born Segovia, Spain; died Majorca.
After the death of his wife (Maria Suarez) and his three children, he was
admitted into the Socicty of Jesus as a lay brother, 13
January 1571,
either at Valencia or Gandia. At the end of six months he was sent to the
college at Majorca where he remained as porter for 46 years. He exercised great
influence on the members of the household and many others who came to him for
advice and direction. He pointed out to Saint Peter Claver his future work as
apostle of the Negroes in South America. In 1626 he was declared Venerable, and
in 1633 was chosen by the Council General of Majorca as one of the special
patrons of the city and island. His beatification was
delayed until 1825,
because of the expulsion of the Society from Spain in 1773. Canonized,
1887. Relics at Majorca. Feast, 30
October.
MLA
Citation
“Saint Alphonsus
Rodriguez”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 29
July 2012.
Web. 30 October 2025. <http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-alphonsus-rodriguez/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-alphonsus-rodriguez/
Alphonsus Rodriguez, SJ
(RM)
(also known as Alonso)
Born in Segovia, Spain, July 25, 1533; died at Palma de Majorca in 1617;
beatified 1825; canonized 1888; feast formerly on October 31.
"The difference
between adversity suffered for God and prosperity is greater than that between
gold and a lump of lead."
--Saint Alphonsus.
Brother Alphonsus proves
Mother Teresa's axiom that small things done with great love is the call of the
Christian. Every day Alphonsus Rodriguez prayed to more than 20 confessors,
martyrs, and Church Fathers. He had a great veneration for Saint Ursula, and
though modern scholarship has done much to revise and alter the story of her
martyrdom, the fact remains that a liturgy might be clumsy and inaccurate and
yet represent a far more fertile and living expression of religious life than
one which has been cleaned and scoured to the point of rendering it sterile.
Surely the candor and
devotion of Saint Alphonsus is of greater value than the scientific researches
of our professors of liturgy. He was a bit mad perhaps--when he was told to eat
his plate, he took his knife and tried to cut it into pieces and swallow them.
Perhaps that sounds stupid, but it was he who was in the right for he had, on
entering the Jesuits, made his vow of obedience, and his obedience was so
perfect that he obeyed hasty or perhaps joking orders to the letter.
Alphonus was the third
child of a large family of wool merchants. When Blessed Peter Favre and another
Jesuit came to preach a mission at Segovia, they stayed with Alphonus's family
and took up the invitation for a short holiday at their country house. Young
Alphonsus, then about 10, went with them and was prepared for his First
Communion by Blessed Peter.
When he was 14, Alphonsus
was sent with his elder brother to study under the Jesuits at Alcala. Before
the year was out, their father Diego was dead and it fell to Alphonsus
interrupt his studies to manage the family business. When he was 23, his mother
retired and Alphonus inherited his father's business. Like Saint Francis of
Assisi, he sold cloth all day long, buying with one hand and selling with the
other.
He married Maria Suarez
when he was 27. Soon the business was failing due to hard economic times. Then
his little daughter died. When he was about 35, his wife died shortly after
giving birth to their only son. Two years later his mother died. The business
didn't prosper either. This succession of misfortunes forced Alphonsus to
seriously consider God's plan for his life. He began to realize that he was
meant to do something different from the numerous businessmen who led exemplary
but unheroic lives in Segovia. So he sold his business and took his son to live
with the boy's two maiden aunts, Antonia and Juliana.
From these two ladies,
Alphonsus learned to meditate for at least two hours a day. He was an assiduous
communicant. His life was austere and happy, though he still longed to devote
himself to God. So, after abandoning his business, he resumed his studies at
the point where he had broken them off. He had always taken religion seriously
so when his son died, Alphonsus decided it was finally time to become a Jesuit,
if possible, as an ordained priest.
Alphonsus was nearly 40,
barely literate, and his health tenuous. It's no wonder that the Jesuits of
Segovia unhesitatingly refused him entry. Undaunted, Alphonsus presented
himself to Father Luis Santander, SJ, at the novitiate of the Jesuits of Aragon
at Valencia. Father Santander recommended him to be ordained as soon as
possible, and requested that he learn Latin. He had given away most of his
money by now, so he became a hired servant, hoping to pay for his necessary
extra education by this and by begging. Thus, he put himself through school
with the young boys.
Happily the provincial of
the order spotted the saintliness of Alphonsus's life, and, in 1571, overruled
those who had refused him permission to join them. He was admitted as a lay
brother and six months later was sent to Palma de Majorca, where, after serving
in various capacities, he became door-keeper at Montesión College.
He was diligent in carrying
out his assignments, but every spare moment was given to prayer. Though he
achieved a marvelous habitual recollection and union with god, his spiritual
path was far from an easy one. Especially in his later years he suffered from
long periods of aridity. Yet he never despaired, knowing that in God's own time
he would be seized again in an ecstasy of love and spiritual delight.
Persevering, Brother Alphonsus professed his final vows in 1585, at the age of
54.
Many of the varied people
who were thus brought into contact with him learned to respect him and value
his advice; in particular Saint Peter Claver as a student used to consult him
frequently and received from Brother Alphonsus the impetus for his future work
among the slaves of South America.
In May 1617, the rector
of Montesión, Father Julian, was struck with rheumatic fever. Alphonsus spent
the night interceding for the priest. In the morning, Father Julian was able to
celebrate Mass.
After receiving Communion
on October 29, Alphonsus lay as if dead, but he was in ecstasy. At midnight on
October 31, the ecstasy ended and the final death pangs began. One-half hour
later the brother regained his composure, lovingly looked at his brethren, and
kissed the crucifix. Still a porter, he died in 1617, saying only one word:
Jesus.
A collection of his
notes, reflections, thoughts, which he wrote down at the request of his
superiors, along with some quotations that he borrowed from the spiritual
classics but which were mistakenly attributed to him, was frequently copied and
widely circulated during his lifetime. Many people found true spiritual
nourishment in them. There is a sonnet on Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez among
Gerard Manley Hopkins' Poems (2nd ed., 1930).
Alphonsus bears
considerable resemblance to the Carmelite Brother Lawrence, of the next
generation. He was a man of practically no education, but he had deep religious
sensibility of a mystical kind. His faith was uncomplicated and simple,
untroubled either by Protestantism or the threat of Islam. He had cultivated
the Spanish faith of his father and mother, he believed in Jesus Christ, the
Holy Church, and in the communion of saints (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley,
Encyclopedia, Walsh, Yeomans).
This Alphonsus Rodriguez
must not be confused with two Jesuit contemporaries of the same names, one a
writer of well-known religious books, the other a martyr in Paraguay. Neither
of these has been canonized, though the second is venerated as a beatus.
In art he is depicted
as an old Jesuit with two hearts on his breast, connected by rays of light to
Christ and the Virgin. Venerated at Majorca (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1030.shtml
St. Alonso Rodriguez
October 30th
On October 30, the
Catholic Church honors a man whose humble occupation gave the world only
glimpses of his extraordinary holiness. During his lifetime, Brother Alonso
Rodriguez never became a priest, published a book, or advanced professionally.
But writings discovered after his death revealed a true mystic, who attended to
a rich spiritual life while he worked as a doorkeeper and porter.
Born in Spain during
1532, Alonso married at 26 and worked as a cloth merchant, coming to religious
life only through a string of crushing tragedies. His wife and two of their
children died by the time he was 31, and his turn toward a life of prayer and
penance could not prevent the subsequent death of his third and last remaining
child -- nor the discouraging failure of his business.
Without his wife and
children, and having few prospects due to his lack of a higher education, the
Spanish layman turned his thoughts to religious life. Even there, however, he
faced difficulties. In his early years, Alonso had met one of the first
Jesuits, Bl. Peter Faber, and with his old life in ruins, he developed an
interest in joining the recently established Society of Jesus.
Alonso's lack of
education prevented him from pursuing their course of priestly ordination, and
he failed to acquire a diploma from the College of Barcelona despite attending
for two years. The Jesuit Fathers in Valencia said he was unfit to join. But
Alonso's years of prayer had not been in vain: they were answered when a
provincial of the society, sensing his dedication, admitted him as a
lay-brother.
In modern times, Jesuit
Brothers work in a wide range of fields, with few limitations apart from their
lack of priestly ordination. During the 16th and 17th centuries, however, the
lay-brothers of the Society of Jesus were known as “temporal coadjutors,” and
assisted the priests of the order by performing its more routine duties such as
cooking, construction and farming.
The Jesuits sent
Rodriguez to the college of Montesión on the island of Majorca, to work as a
porter and door-keeper. He assumed the responsibilities of receiving visitors
and guests and carrying their luggage, tracking down students or priests when
they were needed, delivering messages, and distributing alms to the poor. While
other Jesuits traveled the globe evangelizing whole nations, and undertook a
vast reform of the Catholic Church throughout Europe, Alonso carried bags and
ran errands for 46 years.
But students began to
seek him out, realizing that their doorkeeper was a man of unusual wisdom and
faith. His Jesuit superiors started to take notice as well, and asked him to
begin a private record of his life and thoughts. Rodriguez struck up a notable
friendship with one young man, Peter Claver, and advised him to volunteer for
the South American missions. Following his advice, St. Peter Claver eventually
catechized, baptized and spoke out for the rights of 300,000 slaves in South
America.
When Brother Alonso died
in 1617, his superiors examined the written records he had left behind
describing his spiritual life. What they found was the life of a saint and
mystic. His approach was simple: Christ was appearing in every person who
appeared at the door; the task was to encounter God in any task. From this
awareness, he proceeded to a life of contemplation akin to the renowned saints
of his era (such as St. Ignatius or St. Teresa of Avila), whose grand
achievements are better known.
Brother Alonso Rodriguez
was declared a saint in 1887. He is buried on the same island of Majorca where
he answered the door and carried bags for five decades.
SOURCE : https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-alonso-rodriguez-640
St. Alphonsus Rodriguez
(Also Alonso).
Born at Segovia in Spain,
25 July, 1532; died at Majorca, 31 October, 1617. On account of the
similarity of names he is often confounded with Father Rodriguez the author of
"Christian Perfection", who though eminent in his holiness was
never canonized.
The Saint was a Jesuit lay-brother who
entered the Society at
the age of forty. He was the son of a wool merchant who had been reduced
to poverty when Alfonso was still young. At the age of
twenty-six he married Mary Francisco Suárez, a woman of
his own station, and at thirty-one found himself a widower with one surviving
child, the other two having died previously. From that time he began a life
of prayer and mortification,
although separated from the world around him. On the death of his third child
his thoughts turned to a life in some religious order.
Previous associations had brought him into contact with the first Jesuits who
had come to Spain,
Bl. Peter Faber among others, but it was apparently impossible to
carry out his purpose of entering the Society,
as he was without education,
having only had an incomplete year at a new college begun at Alcalá by Francis Villanueva.
At the age of thirty-nine he attempted to make up this deficiency by following
the course at the College of Barcelona, but without success.
His austerities had also undermined his health. After considerable
delay he was finally admitted into the Society
of Jesus as a lay-brother, 31 January,
1571. Distinct novitiates had not as yet been established
in Spain,
and Alfonso began his term of probation at Valencia or
Gandia — this point is a subject of dispute — and after six months was sent to
the recently-founded college at Majorca, where he remained in
the humble position
of porter for forty-six years, exercising a marvelous influence on
the sanctification not only of the members of the household, but upon a great
number of people who came to the porter's lodge for advice and
direction. Among the distinguished Jesuits who
came under his influence was St. Peter Clavier, who lived with him for
some time at Majorca, and who followed his advice in asking for
the missions of South America. The bodily mortifications which
he imposed on himself were extreme, the scruples and mental agitation
to which he was subject were of frequent occurrence, his obedience absolute,
and his absorption in spiritual things even when engaged on
most distracting employments, continual. It has often been said that
he was the author of the well known "Little Office of
the Immaculate Conception", and the claim is made by Alegambe, Southwell,
and even by the Fathers
de Backer in their Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus.
Apart from the fact that the brother did not have the requisite education for
such a task, Father Costurer says positively that the office he used was taken
from an old copy printed out of Spain,
and Father Colin asserts that it existed before
the Saint's time. It may be admitted, however, that through him it
was popularized. He left a considerable number of manuscripts after
him, some of which have been published as "Obras Espirituales del B.
Alonso Rodriguez" (Barcelona, 1885, 3 vols., octavo, complete edition, 8
vols. in quarto). They have no pretense to style; they are sometimes only
reminiscences of domestic exhortations; the texts are often repeated; the
illustrations are from every-day life; the treatment of
one virtue occasionally trenches on another; but they are remarkable
for the correctness and soundness of their doctrine and
the profound spiritual knowledge which
they reveal. They were not written with a view to publication, but put
down by the Saint himself, or dictated to others,
in obedience to a positive command of his superiors. He was declared
Venerable in 1626. In 1633 he was chosen by the Council General of Majorca as
one of the special patrons of the city and island. In 1760 Clement
XIII decreed that "the virtues of the Venerable
Alonso were proved to be of a heroic degree"; but the expulsion
of the Society from Spain in
1773, and its suppression, delayed his beatification until
1825. His canonization took
place 6 September, 1887. His remains are enshrined at Majorca.
Sources
Goldie, Life of St.
Alfonso Rodriguez in Quarterly Series (London, 1889); Vie
admirable de Alfonse d'après les Mémoires (Paris, 1890); Sommervogel, Bibliothèque
de la C. de J., VI.
Campbell,
Thomas. "St. Alphonsus Rodriguez." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1907. 30
Oct. 2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01341a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Michael Donahue. A.M.D.G.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01341a.htm
Saints
of the Society of Jesus: Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez
Article
30
October, Confessor
Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez
was born in Segovia, in Spain. As Saint Francis Borgia, before entering the
Society he was married. But he lived in a much humbler sphere. He was a plain
man, with an ordinary education, doing a little business. On the death of his
wife and children, he was received into the Society in the rank of lay-brother.
Then began his career of forty years as porter in the college of the Society in
the Island of Majorca. Besides the virtues of humility, mortification, and so
on, conspicuous in all the saints, three things shone in Saint Alphonsus: a
wonderful simplicity, a still more wonderful obedience, and a devotion to our
blessed Lady remarkable even in a saint. Innumerable were the stories told of
him in these respects. “You will go to India, Brother,” said his Superior to
him one day. Then, knowing the Brother’s character, he dispatched some one
shortly afterward to find him. The Brother was walking in the direction of the
wharf. He was going to board the vessel first departing for the Indies.
“But suppose no ship was
going?”
“Then I would walk into
the water, and when I could go no farther I would return and tell the Father
Rector.” His fingers were hardened by the constant recital of his rosary, which
was never out of his hand. Often was he rejoiced by visions of his heavenly
Mother. One day when he was ascending a hill tired and out of breath, Our Lady
took him by the hand and wiped his face. “O my dear Mother,” he exclaimed, “if
you only loved me as I love you!”
“You are wrong,
Alphonsus,” she replied, tapping him on the cheek; “I love you more than you
love me.” O the divine simplicity of the saints! “Come, Brother Thomas, look at
the jackass flying through the air;” and when they had laughed at him, the
great Saint Thomas Aquinas replied, “I thought it was more easy for a donkey to
have wings than for a religious to tell a lie.” Saint Alphonsus died in the
year 1617, at the advanced age of eighty-six years, over forty-five of which
had been passed in the Society, and was canonized in the year 1888 by Pope Leo
XIII at the same time with his pupil in the spiritual life, Saint Peter Claver,
and Saint John Berchmans, and the seven founders of the order of the Servites
of Mary.
MLA
Citation
Father D
A Merrick, SJ.
“Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez”. Saints
of the Society of Jesus, 1891. CatholicSaints.Info.
29 December 2018. Web. 30 October 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-society-of-jesus-saint-alphonsus-rodriguez/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-society-of-jesus-saint-alphonsus-rodriguez/
Feast
of Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez, by Father Pierre Médaille
This Saint is a model of
humility. He left the world after the death of his daughter, his son and
finally his wife enabled him to enter the Society of Jesus, when he was
approaching his fortieth year. Finding that he could not master the studies
required for the priesthood, his superiors admitted him for the edification of
his holy example and for the benefit of his prayers. He exercised the office of
Porter in the College of the Jesuits in the town of Palma, in Majorca, for
nearly forty years. During all this time he never left the island nor even the
town. No one was like him in this. Non est inventus similis illi.
He was a model of prayer.
All his spare time was spent in prayer. The sadness of his countenance was the
effect of his prolonged meditations on the Passion. While waiting to be summoned
to the door by visitors to the Fathers, or by the numerous students, he
remained with his eyes fixed on the Crucifix or the Tabernacle, bathed in
tears. His Rosary was ever in his hand, and it was proved at the process of his
canonization that the skin of the thumb and index finger of the right hand had
become hardened and thickened by the constant handling of the beads. In this
also none was like him. Non est inventus similis illi.
He was a model of zeal.
Unable to preach the good tidings of the gospel to the negro slaves exposed for
sale at Carthagena, he obtained leave to speak frequently with Saint Peter
Claver, then a student at the College, and set his heart on fire with the love
of those most abandoned of human beings. The future Saint Peter Claver used to
call Saint Alphonsus his “master.” When dying he would have his portrait hung
up by his bed. For Alphonsus had taught him the nature of perfect zeal. Who has
ever worked greater wonders by his pious conversations? Non est inventus
similis illi.
– from Meditations
on the Gospels for Every Day in the Year
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/feast-of-saint-alphonsus-rodriguez-by-father-pierre-medaille/
St Alphonsus Rodriguez,
Religious, SJ (Memorial)
Alphonsus Rodriguez was
born in Segovia, Spain, on 25 July 1533. He was the son of a wool merchant, who
failed in his business and which he handed over to his son who was still a
young man of 23. At the age of 26 Alphonsus married Maria Suarez. Five years
later, his wife and two of his three children had died. When his third child
also died, he developed a desire to enter religious life. He had met some of
the first Jesuits to come to Spain, including Blessed Peter Faber, but his lack
of education was a major obstacle to his joining the Society. His penitential
practices had also undermined his health. Eventually, on 31 January 1571, at
the age of 38 he was accepted into the Jesuit novitiate as a brother.
After just six months he
was assigned to the College of Montesion in Palma de Mallorca where he served
as porter or doorkeeper until the end of his life 46 years later. Over this
long period he exerted an extraordinary spiritual influence not only on his
community but on the students and all those who came to the porter’s lodge for
advice and direction.
He was already 72 when a
young Jesus, Peter Claver, came to the college, filled with a desire to do
something for God but uncertain how to do so. The two became friends and often
discussed prayer and the spiritual life. The elderly Brother mentor encouraged
the student to go to the American missions. Peter would become famous as the
apostle to the thousands of slaves brought over from Africa and who landed in
Cartagena.
Alphonsus practised very
severe penances and suffered sometimes from scruples. His obedience was total
and at all times he was steeped in prayer. He left behind quite an amount of
writing, some of it simply notes from spiritual talks given to the community.
He had no intention of making them public and some were written in obedience to
superiors.
He died on 31 October
1617 aged 84 at Palma, Mallorca and was declared Venerable in 1626. In 1633 he
was chosen by the Council General of Majorca as one of the special patrons of
the city and island.
In 1760 Pope Clement XIII
decreed that “the virtues of the Venerable Alonso were proved to be of a heroic
degree” but the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain in 1773 and their
suppression, delayed his beatification until 1825. He was canonised by Pope Leo
XIII on 6 September, 1887.
His remains are enshrined
at Majorca.
Alphonsus is remembered
for his fidelity, kindness, spiritual struggles, and widespread influence as a
counsellor to the students and others who sought his advice. He features in a
poem by the Jesuit poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, who recalled his outstanding
holiness in a singularly unspectacular and humdrum life:
Yet God (that hews
mountain and continent,
Earth, all, out; who,
with trickling increment,
Veins violets and tall
trees makes more and more)
Could crowd career with
conquest while there went
Those years and years by
of world without event
That in Majorca Alfonso
watched the door.
SOURCE : http://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/F1031S/
St. Alphonsus Rodriguez
St. Alphonsus Rodriguez,
SJ (1533–1617)
By Bert Ghezzi From Voices of the Saints
Some saints attack the
world head-on, like St. Peter Claver, the friend and disciple of St. Alphonsus
Rodriguez. Others like Alphonsus himself fight personal battles against
failure, loss, temptation, and disease. We tend to admire more activist
champions such as Peter Claver, who worked among slaves for forty years. But
why should we think any the less of saints such as Alphonsus, who was more like
us in his ordinariness and suffering? And who showed us how to be faithful in
long lasting spiritual and personal struggles? Alphonsus’s early years in
Segovia, Spain, are a story of tragedies. When he was fourteen, his father died
and he left school to help his mother run the family business. At twenty-three
he married, but his wife died in childbirth three years later. Within a few
years his mother and son also died. On top of this, his business was failing,
so he sold it. Recognizing a late vocation to religious life, he applied for
admission to the Jesuits at Segovia, but was refused because he was not
educated. Undaunted, Alphonsus returned to Latin school, humbly bearing the
ridicule of his adolescent classmates. Finally, in 1571, the Jesuit provincial
accepted him as a lay brother. He was sent to Montesione College on Majorca,
where he served as doorkeeper for forty-five years. His post allowed him to
minister to many visitors. And he became the spiritual adviser to many
students. He exerted wide-reaching influence, most notably in guiding St. Peter
Claver into his mission to the slaves. Alphonsus adhered to a few simple
spiritual guidelines that navigated him through his troubles and trials. For
example, a method for finding joy in hardship: Another exercise is very
valuable for the imitation of Christ—for love of him, taking the sweet for the
bitter and the bitter for sweet. So, I put myself in spirit before our
crucified Lord, looking at him full of sorrow, shedding his blood and bearing great
bodily hardships for me. As love is paid for in love, I must imitate him,
sharing in spirit all his sufferings. I must consider how much I owe him and
what he has done for me. Putting these sufferings between God and my soul, I
must say, “What does it matter, my God, that I should endure for your love
these small hardships? For you, Lord, endured so many great hardships for me.”
Amid the hardship and trial itself, I stimulate my heart with this exercise.
Thus, I encourage myself to endure for love of the Lord who is before me, until
I make what is bitter sweet. In this way learning from Christ our Lord, I take
and convert the sweet into bitter, renouncing myself and all earthly and carnal
pleasures, delights and honors of this life, so that my whole heart is centered
solely on God. In his old age, Alphonsus experienced no relief from his trials.
The more he mortified himself, the more he seemed to be subject to spiritual
dryness, vigorous temptations, and even diabolical assaults. In 1617 his body
was ravaged with disease and he died at midnight, October 30. Yet God (that
hews mountain and continent, Earth, all, out; who, with trickling increment,
Veins violets and tall trees makes more and more) Could crowd career with
conquest while there went Those years and years by without event That in
Majorca Alfonso watched the door.
—Gerard Manley Hopkins
Excerpt from Voices of the Saints by Bert Ghezzi. –
See more at: http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-voices/16th-and-17th-century-ignatian-voices/st-alphonsus-rodriguez-sj/#sthash.9XdS48tz.dpuf
St. Alphonsus Rodriguez
Catholic Church, Woodstock, Maryland
St. Alphonsus Rodrigues .
. . was an apostle, disciple, gatekeeper or receptionist and friend to
all.
Here is the story of his
life.
A Biographical Sketch of
St. Alphonsus Rodriguez
Compiled by Joyce Utmar
Born: July 25, 1533 Died: Oct 31, 1617 Beatified: May 29, 1825 Canonized: Jan
15, 1888 (1532-1617)
Confessor and Lay Brother / Jesuit Coadjutor
LIFE IN SEGOVIA
Saint Alphonsus
Rodriguez, also called St. Alonso, was born in Segovia, Spain, on July 25,
1532, one of 11 children of a wool and cloth merchant. He was prepared for
First Communion by the pioneer Jesuit, Blessed Peter Favre, who was a friend of
Alphonsus' father and lived with the family for a time. He and his brother were
also prepared to attend a new college started at Alcalá by Francis Villanueva.
He was sent to study at that Jesuit college at Alcala when he was about twelve,
but did not complete his studies because of his father's sudden death.
Alphonsus had to return home when his father died before completing even a year
of study. In Segovia he took over the family business.
At the age of twenty-six he married Mary Francisco Suárez and had two daughters
and a son. However, because of his lack of aptitude, rising export taxes or
economic depression, the business went bankrupt. His daughters died, then his
wife and mother. After that time he began a life of prayer, meditation and
severe penances. When his son died a few years later, he began to think he had
a vocation.
STUDIES FOR ENTERING THE
JESUIT ORDER
Alphonsus sold his
business and applied to the Jesuits, the order he knew best. His lack of
education and poor health, undermined by his austere penances, made him less
than desirable for the priesthood. The Jesuits said they couldn't take him. He
was too old at 35, was not well, and did not have enough education to qualify
for priestly studies. On the advice of a Jesuit friend, however, he did not give
up. He started to study Latin in a class with little boys. Then after two years
of further education at the College of Barcelona, he reapplied to the Society
as a brother and was rejected again because of his age and health. But the
Jesuit Provincial overrode the decision and granted Alphonsus permission to
enter saying that "if Alphonsus were not fit to be a priest or a brother,
he could, nevertheless, enter to become a saint." Finally he was admitted
into the Society of Jesus at age 40 as a lay-brother on January 31, 1571.
LIFE WITH JESUITS
After a six month
novitiate on the mainland he was assigned to the Jesuit College of Montesione
(or "Mount Zion") on the Spanish island of Palma de Majorca. Here, as
"hall porter" or door keeper he spent the last 46 years of his life.
He made his final vows there in 1585 at the age of 54.
As doorkeeper, his duties were to receive visitors who came to the college,
search out the fathers or students who were wanted in the parlor, deliver
messages, run errands, console the sick at heart who, having no one to turn to,
came to him, give advice to the troubled, and distribute alms to the needy.
His saintly behavior led many to hold him in high regard and many people began
to ask for his spiritual advice. St. Alfonso had a special gift for spiritual
conversation. His superior said that no spiritual reading produced as much
spiritual good as contact with the lay brother. He always responded to every
request in his large correspondence. His fame spread and he became known as the
Doctor of Majorca.
In his memoirs, Alphonsus tells that each time the bell rang, he looked at the
door and envisioned that it was God who was standing outside seeking
admittance. On the way to the door, hewould say: "I'm coming, Lord!"
Every visitor that came to Montesion was greeted with the same happy smile with
which he would have greeted God. For fifteen years, Brother Alphonsus was in
charge of the porter's lodge, a lowly job he did with humility and holiness. He
was loved by all who came to him for advice and encouragement and asked his
prayers, which he most willingly said.
SPIRITUALITY
He had a deep devotion to
Our Lady, especially as the Immaculate Conception and would copy the entire
little office of the Blessed Virgin for private recitation for those who asked.
The rosary was always in his hand. The young Peter Claver came to the college
in 1605 when Alphonsus was 72. They became great friends, often meeting on the
college grounds to discuss prayer and the pursuit of holiness. It was Brother
Alphonsus who urged Peter to go to the South America as a missionary. Not only
young students, such as St. Peter Claver, but local civic and social leaders
came to his porter's lodge for advice and direction. Obedience and penance were
the hallmarks of his life.
WRITINGS
He left behind a large
number of manuscripts, some of which have been published as "Obras
Espirituales del B. Alonso Rodriguez" or "Spiritual Works of Brother
Alphonus Rodriguez" in 8 volumes published in Barcelona in 1885. They are
simple in style with examples taken from every-day life, sometimes repetitive,
but remarkable for the correctness and soundness of their doctrine and the
profound spiritual knowledge which they reveal.
The quality and depth of the prayer life of Brother Alphonsus was known to only
a few during his lifetime. It was only after his death, when his memoirs and
spiritual notes were discovered, that it was learned how the humble brother had
remarkable mystical experiences, including ecstacies, and visions of Our Lord,
Our Lady, and the saints.
EXAMPLES OF OBEDIENCE
In 1591 when he was 60
years old he received an order to sleep in a bed. Before then he had contented
himself with a few hours of sleep on a table or in a chair. His obedience was
most outstanding. When he was over 70 and failing, just to test him, his rector
ordered him to go to the West Indies. At once Alphonsus set out to find a ship,
but he was stopped at the College gate and sent back to the rector, who
explained to him the reason for his command: to see what his reaction would be.
ILLNESS & DEATH
Brother Alphonsus became
very feeble when he reached his eighties and in his last months, his memory
began to fail. He was not even able to remember his favourite prayers. For
three days before his death, after his last Communion, St. Alfonsus remained in
ecstasy. "What happiness!" exclaimed an eyewitness. It was just a
fragment of his internal joy. Witnesses decided to call for a painter to draw a
faithful picture of him. The painting is "A vision of St. Alfonso Rodriguez"
by Zurbanan. On his death-bed, Brother Alphonsus opened his eyes wide and
looked at all his Jesuit brethren surrounding him. Then he lowered his eyes to
the crucifix in his thin hands, kissed it, and said, "Jesus!" and
with that went to God. Alphonsus died after a long illness on October 31, 1617,
and his funeral was attended by Church and government leaders.
CANONIZATION
He was declared Venerable
in 1626. In 1633 he was chosen by the Council General of Majorca as one of the
special patrons of the city and island. In 1760 Clement XIII decreed that
"the virtues of the Venerable Alonso were proved to be of a heroic degree";
but the expulsion of the Society from Spain in 1773, and its suppression,
delayed his beatification until 1825. He was canonized with St. Peter Claver on
September 6, 1887. 1888? His remains are enshrined at Majorca and his Feast Day
is October 30 or 31.
Comments of Prof. Plinio Corra de Oliveira: three very important points.
First, in an extremely humble position, St. Alfonsus did enormous good for the
island of Majorca, Spain and the entire world. That old doorkeeper, amiable and
hospitable, was always accessible to everyone.
Second, the way St. Alfonsus was called to contemplate and serve Our Lord is
magnificent.
Third, it is interesting to note that St. Alfonso had a special gift for
conversation, a way to communicate the love of God, the Holy Church, and the
Catholic cause that overflows from the heart can be a grace and a means for
persons to sanctify themselves.
Sources
1
www.newadvent.org/cathen/01341a.htm
2 www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1285
3 www.stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/id184.htm
4 www.jesuit.org.sg/.../alphonsus.rodriguez.html
5 www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/SODimages4/200_...
6 www.daughtersofstpaul.com/saintday/m10.html#top
7 http://magnificat.ca/cal/engl/10-30.htm
8 www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1184
Brother Alphonsus was
canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1888, the same day that his friend Peter Claver
was raised to the honors of the altar. Alphonsus' feast is celebrated on
October 31.
SOURCE : https://web.archive.org/web/20190812110842/http://www.maryland-us.com/saint_alphonsus.htm
Sant' Alfonso Rodriguez Vedovo,
Religioso gesuita
31
ottobre
Segovia, Spagna, 25
luglio 1533 - Palma di Maiorca, 30 ottobre 1617
Alfonso era un mercante,
nato a Segovia, in Spagna, nel 1533. Si era sposato e aveva avuto due figli ma
fu sconvolto dalla perdita della moglie e dei beni. A 35 anni tornò a scuola,
proseguendo faticosamente gli studi interrotti in gioventù. Si presentò, quasi
vecchio, come novizio in un convento della Compagnia di Gesù. Venne accolto, ma
volle restare fratello coadiutore, addetto al servizio materiale della
comunità. Divenne così portinaio nel convento dell'isola di Maiorca, da dove
passavano i missionari diretti in America. Per tutti l'incontro con il santo
portinaio era un'esperienza illuminante e a volte decisiva, come nel caso di
san Pietro Claver, l'«apostolo degli schiavi». I suoi scritti furono raccolti
dopo la morte, avvenuta il 31 ottobre del 1617. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Alfonso =
valoroso e nobile, dal gotico
Martirologio Romano:
Nell’isola di Palma di Maiorca, sant’Alfonso Rodríguez, che, perduti la moglie,
i figli e tutti i suoi beni, fu accolto come religioso nella Compagnia di Gesù,
dove svolse per molti anni la mansione di portinaio nel Collegio, divenendo un
esempio di umiltà, obbedienza e costanza nel sacrificio.
Alfonso Rodriguez che la
Chiesa ci fa festeggiare il 31 ottobre, nacque in Spagna, a Segovia nel 1531.
Morì nel 1617, a Palma di Maiorca. E’ il patrono dei portieri e degli uscieri e
patrono di Palma di Maiorca. Coltivò fin da giovane il desiderio di consacrarsi
a Dio e di diventare sacerdote finchè entrò nella Compagnia di Gesù in Spagna.
Veniva da una famiglia di mercanti di lana e tessitori di stoffe ed era molto
applicato allo studio che seguiva con profitto nel collegio dei gesuiti di
Alcalà. A ventitrè anni però, in seguito alla morte prematura del padre,
Alfonso fu costretto a ritornare nella sua famiglia per dirigere la piccola
impresa familiare ereditata dal padre. Gli affari però non andavano bene e non
interessavano affatto il giovane Alfonso, che nel frattempo si era sposato e
aveva avuto due bambini. Un’esperienza che gli procurò nuove sofferenze perché,
pochi anni dopo, Alfonso perse drammaticamente anche la moglie. Un giorno Alfonso,
provato dalle traversie della vita e dalla sofferenza, cedette tutti i suoi
beni al fratello e si trasferì a Valencia, per entrare nuovamente nella
Compagnia di Gesù.
I padri gesuiti lo accolsero e qualche anno dopo lo inviarono nel Collegio di
Monte Sion di Palma di Maiorca dove Alfonso rimase per tutto il resto della sua
vita. A Palma di Maiorca svolse, per oltre trent’anni, il compito di portinaio
trovando in questa professione la pace dell’anima e anche la via che lo
condusse alle vette della santità.
E come i custodi e gli uscieri vigilano sulle case e sui palazzi delle famiglie
che vi abitano, così Alfonso Rodriguez vegliava sul Collegio e su quanti si
affacciavano alla porta dei gesuiti in cerca di un aiuto, un consiglio, una
preghiera. Per tutti aveva parole di incoraggiamento e di stimolo alla
conversione del cuore e all’amore fraterno.
Uomo semplice e umile, straordinariamente servizievole, tanto rigido con se
stesso quanto caritatevole con gli altri, trovò nel suo ufficio quotidiano
l’occasione opportuna per esercitare un apostolato continuo ed efficace. A
rendere più efficace il suo apostolato contribuivano anche i numerosi carismi
dei quali il Signore lo aveva dotato, primo fra tutti quello delle visioni e
poi della preveggenza e dei miracoli.
All’umile portinaio Dio aveva anche donato una intensa esperienza mistica che
contribuì a svolgere con profitto, insieme a quello di portinaio, il compito
anche di padre spirituale dei novizi che si rivolgevano a lui con sempre
maggiore frequenza per essere illuminati sulle vie di Dio.
Tra i novizi ci fu anche Pietro Claver, il santo apostolo delle Indie che tanto
stimava Alfonso Rodriguez per la sua santità, e al quale lo stesso Alfonso
profetizzò la sua futura missione. Grande era la devozione che Alfonso nutriva
per la Santissima Vergine che pregava soprattutto con il Rosario; grazie
all’intercessione della Madre di Dio, infatti, si compirono eventi
straordinari.
Ha scritto diversi insegnamenti di carattere ascetico e mistico tra i
quali le famose “ Memorie ” redatte per ordine dei suoi superiori, splendida
manifestazione della santità e della sapienza interiore di una creatura
straordinariamente plasmata da Dio. Il santo portinaio gesuita aveva una
particolare riverenza per il suo angelo custode e ogni giorno, mattina e sera,
sia nell’alzarsi da letto che nel coricarsi si raccomandava sempre alla celeste
protezione che talvolta sperimentò in un modo anche sensibile.
Una sera fratel Alfonso con la mente rivolta a Dio, come era suo costume
abituale, stava salendo per una scala interna del convento, quando da una
finestra che dava nel cortile della cisterna sentì emanare un alito pestifero.
Era il demonio che in tal modo voleva soffocarlo. Il santo gesuita svenne e
sarebbe caduto per tutte le s cale se non fosse stato materialmente sorretto
dal suo angelo custode che immediatamente purificò l’aria e lo accompagnò sano
e salvo nella sua stanza.
Fratel Rodriguez ricavò da questo episodio uno scritto che poi fu stampato
postumo insieme ad altri suoi documenti, in cui dichiarava quale effetto
nefasto produca nell’anima il peccato.
Così scrisse: “ siccome quando taluno di repente venisse sorpreso da un soffio
di aria pestilenziale, questa potrebbe con tal violenza colpirlo, da
soffocargli in un momento tutta la virtù naturale, e la vita, opprimendolo ed
uccidendolo subito,così l’anima perdendo l’amicizia e grazia di Dio viene
infetta da quella corruzione pestifera e mortale del peccato, colla quale resta
subitamente senza vita e spirito, e sepolta in eterna morte”.
Autore: Don Marcello Stanzione
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/75650
Alfonso Rodriguez
(1533-1617)
Beatificazione:
- 15 gennaio 1825
- Papa Leone XII
Celebrazione
Canonizzazione:
- 15 gennaio 1888
- Papa Leone XIII
- Basilica Vaticana
Celebrazione
Memoria Liturgica:
- 31 ottobre
L'Osservatore Romano
Perduti la moglie, i
figli e tutti i suoi beni, fu accolto come religioso nella Compagnia di Gesù,
dove svolse per molti anni la mansione di portinaio nel Collegio, divenendo un
esempio di umiltà, obbedienza e costanza nel sacrificio.
“O Signore se io sapessi
e lo potessi fare, vi servirei ed amerei come tutte le creature del cielo e
della terra messe insieme”
Alfonso Rodríguez nasce
a Segovia il 25 luglio 1533. Viene educato da Pietro Fabro (Favre), primo
compagno di sant’Ignazio, beatificato da papa Francesco nel 2013. Avviato negli
studi presso il collegio di padri Gesuiti ad Alcalà, dopo un anno è costretto a
rientrare a casa per succedere al padre nell’attività. Sposatosi nel 1560,
rimase vedovo dopo circa 15 anni e, perduti anche in figli, decide di
riprendere gli studi, seppur trentanovenne. Tenuto conto della difficoltà,
decide di lasciare, chiedendo però di entrare come “fratello coadiutore” tra i
gesuiti. Era il 31 gennaio 1371. Dopo sei mesi di Noviziato, viene mandato
presso un Collegio a Palma de Majorca, dove rimane fino alla morte.
Coltiva un’intensa vita
spirituale che lo porta a donarsi sempre più e sempre meglio al suo Signore: “O
Signore – scrive – se io sapessi e lo potessi fare, vi servirei ed amerei come
tutte le creature del cielo e della terra messe insieme”. Sarà proprio questo
sincero dialogo con il Signore, che traspare dal suo parlare e agire, che
attrarrà molti ad accostarsi a lui per consigli spirituali: tra i suoi “figli”,
segnaliamo Pietro Claver, il quale sarà successivamente proclamato santo. La
sua vita fu costellata di visioni e miracoli, scrisse varie opere spirituali
tanto da essere annoverato tra i grandi mistici della Spagna. Già in vita era
venerato come Santo.
Morì il 30 ottobre 1617 e
ai suoi funerali parteciparono anche i viceré di Spagna e l’intera nobiltà
della città.
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/alfonso-rodriguez.html
Sant'Alfonso Rodríguez
Talla
del jesuita San Alonso Rodríguez Gómez, jesuita laico de Mallorca
Statue
of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez in the church of Mount Sion, Palma
de Mallorca, Balearic Islands
Rodríguez, Alonso.
Valladolid, c. 15.IV.1538 – Sevilla, 21.II.1616. Jesuita (SI), escritor.
Biografía
Dentro de la Compañía de
Jesús, varios religiosos respondieron al nombre de Alonso Rodríguez. Por una
parte, aquel Alonso Rodríguez (1533-1617) que destacó en el terreno de la
mística, en Mallorca, aunque nacido en Segovia y fue hermano portero en el
Colegio de Montesión de Palma, canonizado después por León XIII en 1888. En
segundo lugar, Alonso Rodríguez Olmedo (1599-1628), el misionero mártir que
murió en Brasil. En tercer lugar, el escritor vallisoletano Alonso Rodríguez,
objeto de esta biografía.
Diversas confusiones se
extendían respecto al año de su nacimiento, si se leen las páginas escritas por
Nieremberg, Troncoso o Sommervogel, situándolo erróneamente en 1526 y 1537, o
hablando de su beatificación por León XII en 1825.
Sus padres, el doctor
Rodríguez y María Gayo, “de suficiencia de bienes”, completaban el número de
sus descendientes con dos hijas que profesaron monjas y cuatro hijos, uno de
ellos fraile y otro beneficiado.
Pudo ser su casa natal la
célebre plaza vallisoletana del Ochavo, donde hoy es recordado con una placa.
Antes de entrar en la Compañía de Jesús, había obtenido el bachillerato de
Artes en su ciudad natal y había comenzado a estudiar Teología en Salamanca. Allí
pudo decidir su vocación como jesuita, gracias a la palabra del padre Juan
Ramírez, según escribió Nieremberg, aunque antes había hecho voto de religioso.
Luis de Valdivia indicó que fue más decisivo en su vocación el padre Madrid.
Recibido en el Colegio de Salamanca en 1557 por su rector Bartolomé Hernández,
repartió el noviciado en la ciudad del Tormes, para continuar su probación en
el de Simancas, el primero de los de la Compañía en España. Pronunció los votos
del bienio, por los cuales dejaba de ser novicio y en Salamanca continuó su
formación teológica. En aquellos momentos, jesuitas como el padre Alcaraz
—según testimonio de Luis de Valdivia— intentaban contrarrestar las enseñanzas
que profesores dominicos realizaban en contra de la inmaculada concepción de la
Virgen María.
Permaneció en el Colegio
salmantino hasta 1566, habiendo ejercido como maestro de novicios. Fue entonces
donde pudo conocer a futuros ilustres de la Compañía, como el prestigioso
Francisco Suárez, aunque éste pronto salió hacia Medina del Campo para comenzar
su tiempo de probación, pues allí se había establecido el noviciado de
Castilla. Quizás se pudo encontrar otra vez con Suárez en 1564, cuando regresó
éste a Salamanca. Después de haberse ocupado de la formación de los novicios,
Rodríguez pudo dedicarse especialmente al ministerio de la confesión,
convirtiéndose en un experto en casos de conciencia, ocupación que confirman
los catálogos de 1565 y 1566.
Continuó con los trabajos
de formación cuando fue destinado al Colegio de Monterrey en 1567, aunque
también allí destacó en la lectura de casos de conciencia, siendo sus lecciones
copiadas por sus discípulos y difundidas por ellos. Profesó solemnemente de
cuatro votos el 26 de noviembre de 1570. Antonio Pérez Goyena negó que, en aquel
tiempo, Rodríguez fuese maestro de novicios (según había apuntado Montaner en
su Diccionario) o rector (según había confirmado Elías Reyero en un opúsculo
sobre Alonso Rodríguez).
Luis de Valdivia, sin
embargo, traía el testimonio de Diego García cuando indicaba que Alonso
Rodríguez, en el momento de la profesión, era vicerrector de Monterrey. Otra
cosa ocurrió a partir de entonces, pues en 1575 —según confirmaba al padre
Mercuriano, superior general de la Compañía—, el peso de gobierno del colegio le
estaba pesando notablemente, siendo sustituido un año después por el padre
Pedro Guerra. Hasta 1579, permaneció en Monterrey, y allí se continuó
distinguiendo como profesor de Teología Moral, aunque también por sus
ministerios más públicos, especialmente la predicación y las misiones populares
en lugares comarcanos, a pesar de no ser el padre Rodríguez un jesuita
excesivamente público.
Apuntan algunas de sus
semblanzas que sus contemporáneos le conocían como el “oráculo del siglo”.
Sus superiores lo enviaron
en 1579 a su ciudad natal, pasando breve tiempo en Villagarcía. En Valladolid
continuó con sus lecciones de casos de conciencia, en la naciente Casa Profesa,
convirtiéndose en hombre de consejo para gentes de gobierno de la Iglesia.
No debió permanecer en
esa casa más de seis años y medio, aunque cuenta el padre Millán que ejercitó
allí el cargo de resolutor de casos de conciencia. Por aquellos años, Francisco
Suárez había regresado también a la ciudad del Pisuerga donde permaneció hasta
1580, comentando la primera parte de la Summa Teologica de santo
Tomás.
Una carta del entonces
provincial, Pedro Villalba, confirmaba que en 1585 Alonso Rodríguez salió hacia
Andalucía, con el encargo del general de la Compañía de encargarse de la
formación y probación de los futuros jesuitas. El primer destino fue el Colegio
cordobés de Montilla, donde llegó a ser rector, maestro de novicios por espacio
de doce años e instructor de tercera probación. Sin embargo, antes de eso, este
nuevo envío de la “obediencia” —como se decía en el contexto de la Compañía—
supuso una importante pérdida para la provincia de Castilla. Pedro de Villalba
lo expresaba claramente: “hará notable falta en esa provincia: allende que es
muy buen letrado, es religiosísimo y nacido para criar sujetos en espíritu y
devoción; y de esto no teníamos menos necesidad en esta Provincia [de Castilla]
que en la de Andalucía”.
A esta queja, respondió
en 1587 el provincial de Andalucía, Gil González Dávila, mostrando su
agradecimiento al general Aquaviva: “no veo cosa en que Vuesa Paternidad haya
hecho mayor regalo a esta provincia”.
De esta manera, de los
buenos formadores dependía el futuro y el crecimiento de los domicilios de la
misma. En la labor de probación de los futuros profesos —en la llamada tercera
probación— le acompañaba el padre Gaspar de Vegas.
Fue designado en la congregación
provincial de Andalucía para asistir a la congregación general V, la primera
convocada sin que hubiese fallecido el entonces prepósito general, Claudio
Aquaviva. Acompañado del padre Francisco Arias, los congregantes apoyaban en su
gobierno al superior napolitano después de que un grupo de jesuitas españoles
hiciesen público su desacuerdo con el gobierno de la Compañía.
Sus ideas las plasmaron
en memoriales, por lo que se les empezó a conocer como los “memorialistas”. En
aquel momento, Alonso Rodríguez presentó también un memorial aunque de signo
bien distinto, que reprodujo en una parte de su “Ejercicio de perfección”.
Páginas que puso bajo el
título de Del fin é instituto de la Compañía de Jesús, y de algunos medios
que nos ayudarán á conseguirle, muy provechosos para todos.
Una vez hubo regresado de
Roma, Alonso Rodríguez continuó viviendo en el Colegio de Montilla y no en el
de Córdoba, donde Nieremberg lo situó a partir de esta fecha. Precisamente, en
Montilla firmó las Pláticas espirituales. Allí pudo permanecer hasta 1597,
pues un año después, Claudio Aquaviva le nombró, junto con otros tres jesuitas,
inspector de la provincia de Andalucía, con competencia en determinados
domicilios para examinar la disciplina religiosa que en ella existía, informando
de todo ello a su provincial y, por supuesto, al general. La documentación de
la Compañía le situaba en 1599 en el Colegio de Córdoba, avanzando mucho en el
orden que dio a las páginas que compondrían los tres tomos de su obra
principal, destacando además como confesor y director de ejercicios
espirituales. Su camino habría de continuar hacia Sevilla, en 1607, donde
ejerció como prefecto de cosas espirituales y maestro de novicios.
Fue su última morada y en
esa ciudad, culminó los libros que le habrían de dar tanto renombre en el
panorama barroco y católico del siglo XVII.
Viviendo junto al
Guadalquivir, conoció la primera edición del citado Ejercicio de
Perfección. Murió en la capital hispalense, en febrero de 1616, tras dos años
de una intensa enfermedad que le impedía celebrar la misa, demostrando el
pueblo sevillano en su funeral la popularidad que acumuló Alonso Rodríguez: “no
faltó a su muerte y entierro —escribía su contemporáneo Francisco Millán— el
clamor y aclamación de grande muchedumbre del pueblo, un grande número de
religiosos de San Francisco y otra mucha gente de todos estados que a voces
decían era muerto el Santo”. El modelo de santidad que se intentó transmitir de
él era el del religioso apartado de los contagios del mundo hasta límites
exagerados, indicando que solamente salía del colegio una vez al año y era
cuando tenía que visitar a los marqueses de Priego, en Córdoba, que eran los
patronos de la casa de Montilla, los cuales la habían fundado en 1558. Vida
aislada incluso para los propios moradores de la casa, pues subrayaban que
incluso desde su celda gobernaba el colegio, recibiendo del ministro y
procurador del mismo, el estado de lo espiritual y lo temporal de la casa. El
historiador Pedro de Guzmán, contemporáneo suyo, afirmaba que era “encogido con
los de fuera y retirarse mucho de tratarlos”, faltándole “talento e
inclinación” para desarrollar contactos sociales, según ya había confirmado
antes su consultor en Monterrey, Baltasar Cuadrado.
Sin duda, su aportación
más destacada en el campo de la literatura espiritual aunque no la única, fue
su obra citada Ejercicio de perfección y virtudes cristianas.
Se basaba esta obra,
publicada en 1609, en las pláticas semanales que había realizado a la comunidad
entre 1589 y 1595. Habitualmente, se imprimió en tres volúmenes. En los dos
primeros abarcaba aspectos de la vida cristiana, igualmente aplicables a los
seglares, mientras que en la tercera parte, Alonso Rodríguez no solamente se
limitó a los votos clásicos de la vida religiosa, sino que ofrecía su análisis
de la vocación de un jesuita. Además de a la Sagrada Escritura, a los escritos
de los doctores de la Iglesia (entre ellos los “devotos” de Tomás de Aquino),
recurrió en numerosas ocasiones a la Compañía de Jesús, a través de Pedro de
Ribadeneira, así como a las conocidas Pláticas que el entonces provincial de
Andalucía, Gil González Dávila, realizaba por aquellos colegios. No utilizó ni
a los autores clásicos, ni a Erasmo de Rotterdam, ni a sus contemporáneos, los
místicos españoles.
Esa fuente principal del
padre González Dávila, no solamente la destaca Antonio Astrain sino también
Antonio Pérez Goyena. Tanto Rodríguez como González Dávila desarrollaron los
mismos temas y acudieron a idénticas fuentes para tratarlos. Además, esta obra
del padre Rodríguez fue compuesta con la experiencia de las pláticas que daba a
los novicios andaluces en el Colegio de Montilla, entre 1585 y 1595, en los
años que fue maestro de novicios. Precisamente, Alonso Rodríguez vivía en esta
última casa cuando el provincial Dávila dio las pláticas en el mismo, en marzo
de 1588, acerca de las Reglas 42 y 43 de la Compañía, que versaban sobre la
unión y la caridad. No existía deseo de mérito personal, como se apreció cuando
acudió a aquellas pláticas en una primera redacción, sino más bien eficacia en
el ministerio. Era corriente en aquellos momentos que el padre Rodríguez no
pusiese cuidado en citar las fuentes. Sin embargo, para Camilo Abad, uno de los
méritos del autor vallisoletano fue el de saber fundir los materiales,
distribuirlos y armonizarlos, dándoles vida propia con su propio estilo.
Alonso Rodríguez destacó
por la importancia otorgada en sus páginas al esfuerzo personal. En ellas
resaltó por un rico estilo, en el que se incluían anécdotas, todo ello más
propio de un tono pasional para una predicación que de una reflexión teológica.
No se debe olvidar que en él existía un carácter práctico y una forma
conversacional, mostrándose muy poco polemista. Un claro reflejo de su
personalidad hacia la Compañía, pues Alonso Rodríguez fue un hombre de
formación dentro del Instituto.
Según Antonio Pérez
Goyena, las cualidades de la obra de Alonso Rodríguez se reparten en cinco
puntos.
El autor se distingue por
su claridad expositiva, con fácil entendimiento para los lectores; la riqueza
de comparaciones que empleó; la de ejemplos que ilustraban los argumentos que
se iban desarrollando, lo que permitía una matización amena; la variedad de
lectores que podían acceder a su texto, con un diálogo entre ellos y el autor; la
sencillez de un castellano puro, “tan natural como gracioso”, aunque dado en
ocasiones a las repeticiones. Como sombrías considera que al citar, Alonso
Rodríguez llegaba a desconcertar, atendiendo en ocasiones a referencias.
Uriarte detalló aquellas notas de las que no pudo encontrar su origen.
Páginas, igualmente,
difundidas y presentes en conventos, palacios y clausuras, como lo fueron las
conocidas Meditaciones de Luis de La Puente, aunque en estos tratados
de perfección fue más habitual la obra de Alonso Rodríguez. Fue traducida a
distintas lenguas (francés, italiano, latín, alemán, holandés y al
inglés: The Practice of Christian and Religions Perfection, la
primera de ellas en 1697-1699). Sommervogel contaba treinta reimpresiones,
además de ocho compendios, extractos y tomos sueltos. La última de las
ediciones citada por Uriarte fue la madrileña del Apostolado de la Prensa, en
1898, llegando a las cuarenta y dos ediciones y doce de compendios. En esta
misma editorial se publicó en 1907 una nueva edición en seis tomos en octava.
La edición de 1727, impulsada por el arzobispo de Sevilla Luis Salcedo Azcona
para entregársela a las monjas de su jurisdicción, fue especialmente destacada
pues el prelado pidió al padre Antonio de Solís que tradujese aquellos textos
que Alonso Rodríguez había dejado sin hacer. Francisco de Borja Medina destaca
que también el arzobispo sevillano había pedido que tanto Solís como Gaspar
Troncoso debían preparar esta edición para entregársela gratuitamente a los
devotos que lo deseasen. A ella se añadió una Breve noticia del Venerable
autor de estas obras, escrita por el mismo Gaspar Troncoso. En opinión de
Donnelly, ha sido el libro más traducido en la historia de la Compañía de
Jesús, después de los Ejercicios Espirituales. El padre Leturia insiste
que se convirtió en el libro de lectura habitual de muchos seminarios, desde el
momento de su impresión, asumiéndole órdenes religiosas que no tenían nada que
ver con la Compañía de Jesús. El entusiasmo demostrado hacia estas páginas llevó
al papa Pío XI, en 1924, a relacionarle en la historia de la espiritualidad con
los santos Bernardo de Claraval y Buenaventura.
Un éxito de difusión que
no tuvo, por ejemplo, su “maestro” y provincial, Gil González Dávila.
Insiste Camilo Abad que
mientras los tratados de Rodríguez parecían hallarse deslabazados, no
existiendo un argumento central que los uniese, La Puente había procurado un
esquema central. Ambos autores plasmaron el mundo en el que vivieron, así como
el auditorio que habitualmente les escuchaba. Rodríguez era el maestro de
novicios, La Puente vivía entre estudiantes y profesores de Teología; el
primero era más práctico, el segundo se mostraba más teórico; significaba el
descenso a las aplicaciones prácticas frente al mundo de las ideas. Con todo,
las páginas de Alonso Rodríguez se convirtieron en el texto oficial de los
noviciados y de aquellos centros que se dedicaban a la formación espiritual,
incluidos los seminarios que lentamente se iban fundando tras el Concilio de
Trento.
En la sacristía del
antiguo Colegio de San Ignacio de Valladolid (hoy iglesia parroquial de San
Miguel y San Julián), se conserva un retrato suyo, mientras que en su relicario
se custodia una carta autógrafa de este jesuita, dirigida a su hermana que
vivía en Segovia y fechada el 14 de marzo de 1609. Se recordaba precisamente,
al pie del citado retrato que Alonso Rodríguez había entregado a la imprenta,
“tres admirables tomos de la perfección cristiana y religiosa, traducidos en
cuantas lenguas conoce la cristiandad por la excelencia de su doctrina”. Una
fidelidad física que no se atribuía a la estampa que fue incluida en la citada
edición de 1727. Como indica el padre Solís no respondía a los rasgos físicos
del retrato que se conservaba en la Casa Profesa de Sevilla, la casa donde
murió.
Obras
Ejercicio de perfección y
virtudes cristianas, Sevilla, Matías Clavijo, 1609 (Sevilla, Matías Clavijo,
1611-1612
Barcelona, Sebastián
Cormellas, 1613
Sevilla, Matías Clavijo,
1615-1616
Pláticas de la doctrina
cristiana, Sevilla, 1610
El Acto de Contrición.
Para alcanzar perdón de los pecados ó El mayor mal de los males, Sevilla,
1615
Noticias de algunos casos
de edificación notados en el P. Suárez. Aduce el P. Sartolo un fragmento en el Doctor
Eximio, libro IV, capítulo XV, Salamanca 1693 (Coimbra, 1731).
Bibliografía
J. E. Nieremberg, Vidas
ejemplares y venerables memorias de algunos Claros Varones de la Compañía de
Iesvs de los quales es este tomo qvarto, Madrid, por Alonso de Paredes, 1647,
págs. 671-673
G. Troncoso, “Breve
noticia del venerable autor de estas obras”, en A. Rodríguez, Ejercicios
de Perfección y Virtudes Cristianas, Sevilla, 1727
M. Sangrador y
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Autor/es
Javier Burrieza Sánchez
SOURCE : https://historia-hispanica.rah.es/biografias/38034-alonso-rodriguez
Den hellige Alfons Rodríguez
av Mallorca (1533-1617)
Minnedag:
30. oktober
Den hellige Alfons
Rodríguez (Alfonso, Alonso; lat: Alphonsus) ble født den 25. juli 1533 i
Segovia i Spania. Han var tredje barn og andre sønn i den suksessrike og
velstående ullhandleren Diégo Rodríguez' store familie på elleve barn. Da han
var rundt ti år gammel, bodde den hellige Peter Favre og en annen
jesuitt i farens hus mens de prekte en misjon i byen. Etterpå aksepterte de
tilbudet om et par feriedager ved familiens landsted, og Alfons ble med dem og
ble forberedt til sin første kommunion av Peter Favre, som var en av den
hellige Ignatius
av Loyolas opprinnelige ledsagere. Da Alfons var 14 år, ble han og en eldre
bror sendt for å få sin utdannelse hos jesuittene i Alcalá. Men før det første
året var gått, døde faren, og det ble bestemt at Alfons skulle vende tilbake
til Segovia for å hjelpe moren med å drive familiens forretning.
Da han var 23 år gammel,
trakk moren seg tilbake og overlot eneansvaret til Alfons, og tre år senere
giftet han seg med María Suárez. Forretningen ble ingen suksess, enten på grunn
av Alfons' mangel på dyktighet, eller mer trolig fordi det var dårlige tider
for tekstilindustrien i Spania på grunn av tyngende skatter, og Marías medgift
var heller ikke tilstrekkelig til å forbedre situasjonen. Den ekteskapelige
lykke skulle heller ikke vare lenge, for snart døde sønnen Gaspar, deretter
døde deres lille datter María, og etter å ha født sønnen Alfons ble María
liggende syk lenge, og til slutt døde hun etter fem års ekteskap. To år senere
døde også Alfons' mor.
Han begynte da å tenke
over hva Gud ønsket av ham. Han var allerede from og ærlig, men kanskje han skulle
gjøre noe mer enn de mange kjøpmennene som levde eksemplariske, men uheroiske
liv i Segovia. Han solgte forretningen og trakk seg tilbake sammen med sin unge
sønn for å bo sammen med sine to ugifte søstre Antonia og Juliana. Disse to
fromme kvinnene lærte ham mer systematiske måter å be på, og de introduserte
ham for vanen med daglig meditasjon. Snart mediterte han to timer hver morgen
og kveld over rosenkransens mysterier. Han begynte å gå til skriftemål og
kommunion hver uke og levde et liv av betydelig strenghet.
Da hans siste sønn Alfons
døde noen år senere, bestemte han seg for å slutte seg til jesuittene (Societas
Iesu – SJ). Han søkte opptakelse i deres hus i Segovia, men de avviste
ham, delvis på grunn av alderen (han var rundt 35 år) og hans svake helse og
delvis fordi han manglet tilstrekkelig utdannelse til å gjennomføre
prestestudier. Han ble nok skuffet, men ikke avskrekket, og i 1568 dro han for
å snakke med sin gamle venn, jesuittpateren Louis Santander i Valencia. Han ga
ham det råd å bli ordinert så fort som mulig, og første skritt var å lære
latin, og dermed gjorde han som den hellige Ignatius av Loyola og begynte på
latinundervisning sammen med skolegutter. Han ble også møtt med den samme
latterliggjøring og ydmykelse. Han hadde gitt nesten alle pengene sine til
søstrene og de fattige før han forlot Segovia, så han måtte ta arbeid som
tjener og supplere med tigging for å forsørge seg. Han tenkte på å bli eremitt,
men avgjorde at dette var en fristelse til å oppgi sitt sanne kall, så han
prøvde hos jesuittene igjen.
Provinsialen overprøvde
sine rådgivere og ga Alfons tillatelse til å bli opptatt hos jesuittene
som Coadjutor temporale eller legbror. Provinsialen skal ha sagt at
om Alfons ikke passet til å bli prest eller legbror, kunne han uansett tre inn
for å bli en helgen. Den 31. januar 1571 trådte Alfons inn i jesuittordenen.
Novisiatet ble muligens gjennomført i Valencia. Etter seks måneder ble han
sendt til kollegiet Montesión i Palma, hovedstaden på Mallorca. Han kom dit i
august, og der levde han de resterende 46 år av sitt liv. Den gangen var ikke
Balearene noe ferieparadis, men en utpost mot den islamske trusselen og
samtidig avgangshavn for misjonærene til Amerika, mange av dem jesuitter. Han
avla de tre løftene den 5. april 1573, og han hadde ulike stillinger ved
kollegiet til 1579, da han ble utnevnt til kollegiets portner.
Som portner var hans
oppgave å motta de besøkende som kom til kollegiet, lete opp patrene eller
studentene som var ønsket i samtalerommene, levere beskjeder, gå ærender og
dele ut almisser. I tillegg trøstet han og ga råd til dem som kom til ham når
de ikke hadde noen andre å gå til. I sine memoarer forteller han at han hver
gang dørklokken ringte, så for seg at det var Gud selv som ringte på, og på vei
til døren sa han alltid: «Jeg kommer, Herre!» Han hadde stillingen som portner
i femten år, men da han var 61, gjorde hans helse at hans foresatte befridde
ham for de lange timene ved porten og utnevnte ham i stedet til assistent for
den nye portneren.
All fritiden tilbrakte
han i bønn, men hans åndelige liv var ikke enkelt, siden han opplevde lange
perioder med åndelig tørke og voldsomme fristelser. I disse periodene holdt han
fast ved et regelmessig program med bønn og åndelige øvelser, i tillit til at
Gud til slutt ville belønne hans utholdenhet med en form for åndelig trøst. Han
ble beundret for sin ydmykhet og tjenestevillighet, men fremfor alt for sin
absolutte lydighet mot sine overordnede, som bunnet i hans overbevisning om at
Gud her på jorden taler og handler gjennom menneskene. En gang nektet han å
slippe inn selveste visekongen da hans superior hadde sagt til ham at han ville
være uforstyrret.
Han fikk tillatelse til å
avlegge sine endelige løfter i 1585, 54 år gammel, og han pleide å fornye dem
hver dag i messen. I bønn, ydmykhet, lydighet og selvtukt var han et forbilde
for sine medbrødre og han fikk stor innflytelse som rådgiver for prester og
legfolk. Blant dem han rådga var den hellige Peter Claver,
som var student ved kollegiet mellom 1605 og 1608 og kom under Alfons'
veiledning i tre år. Han har i det minste noe av æren for at Peter begynte på
sitt arbeid i Amerika og ble kjent som «negrenes apostel».
Alfons hadde en dyp
hengivenhet for Marias uplettede unnfangelse, og det ble lenge trodd at han
hadde skrevet det lille officiet for denne festen. Det er riktig at han gjorde
alt han kunne for å utbre officiet, men han var ikke forfatteren. Han fikk også
æren for en velkjent åndelig avhandling, «Å praktisere perfeksjon og kristne
dyder», men den ble skrevet av en annen jesuitt ved samme navn, som ikke er
helligkåret (ikke den hellige martyren Alfons Rodríguez av
Paraguay). Men den benådede mystikeren skrev også selv noen få
asketisk-mystiske skrifter etter ordre fra sine overordnede, mest kjent er
«Memorias».
Mot slutten av livet led
han av dårlig helse og betydelige fysiske smerter. Fra 1615 kunne han ikke
lenger assistere portneren, og han ble stort sett sengeliggende og sto opp bare
nå og da for å gå til messe. I mai 1617 ble rektoren i Montesión, pater Julian,
syk med giktfeber, og han ba om Alfons' bønner. Alfons tilbrakte hele natten med
å be for rektoren, som om morgenen var i stand til å feire messen. I oktober
1617 følte Alfons at han ikke hadde lenge igjen, og etter å ha mottatt
kommunionen den 29., hadde han fred i legeme og sjel. Like etter midnatt den
31. oktober, etter en kort dødskval, kysset han krusifikset, uttalte Det
hellige navn med høy røst og døde. Hans begravelse ble fulgt av høy og lav,
blant annet av biskopen og visekongen.
Han ble erklært Venerabilis («Ærverdig»)
i 1626, og hans ry for hellighet var så stort at han i 1633 ble erklært som
beskytter for Mallorca. Jesuittenes utvisning fra Spania og oppløsningen av
ordenen gjorde at hans saligkåringssak ble forsinket. Han ble saligkåret den 5.
juni 1825 (dokumentet (Breve) var datert den 20. mai) av pave Leo XII (1823-29)
og helligkåret den 15. januar 1888 (helligkåringsbullen var datert den 22.
januar) av pave Leo XIII (1878-1903). Han ble helligkåret sammen med blant
andre Peter Claver. Hans minnedag er 30. oktober, mens hans medbrødre i
jesuittordenen minnes ham på dødsdagen 31. oktober. Hans navn står i
Martyrologium Romanum. Hans relikvier er skrinlagt i Palma.
Kilder:
Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Bentley, Butler, Butler (X),
Benedictines, Bunson, Tylenda, Engelhart, Schauber/Schindler, Gorys, Index99,
KIR, CE, CSO, Patron Saints SQPN, Infocatho, Bautz, Heiligenlexikon -
Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden -
Sist oppdatert: 2005-07-15 17:33
Linken er kopiert til
utklippstavlen!
SOURCE : https://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/arodrigu
Le frère Alphonse
Rodriguez : le père de famille devenu « le saint portier », Par le frère Wenceslao
Soto, SJ, 30 Oct 2020 : https://www.jesuits.global/fr/2020/10/30/le-frere-alphonse-rodriguez-le-pere-de-famille-devenu-le-saint-portier/
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