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.
Il fut canonisé par Sa Sainteté Léon XIII, le 8 janvier 1888.
Résumé O.D.M.
.jpg)
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
31 octobre
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.
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.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01341a.htm
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.
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1030.shtml
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 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.
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
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
Sant' Alfonso Rodriguez
Vedovo, Religioso gesuita
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
