St. Alphonsus Rodríguez, Jesuit Lay Brother (25 July 1532 - 31 Oct 1617)
A LIFE FILLED WITH TRAJEDY
This Spanish Saint, a native of Segovia, came from a good Catholic family. When he was quite young, Fr. Peter Faber (one of the original Jesuits) visited and preached in his hometown. His family provided hospitality and Fr. Faber prepared young Alphonsus for his First Holy Communion. Surely, this was a great grace that impacted him all his life. He was only 14 when his father died and he left school in order to help his mother run the business.
He then completely took over the family business of buying and selling wool when he was twenty-three. Three years later, he got married and God sent him and his wife, Mary, three children. But many sufferings now came to Alphonsus. Business began to be bad, his little daughter died and then another child and then his wife too. Much misery had struck him in his young life. Now this business man began to think of what God might have in mind for him. He had always been a devout Catholic, but from then on, he prayed, did penance, and received the Sacraments more frequently and more devoutly than ever before.
STUDYING FOR THE RELIGIOUS LIFE
When he was nearly forty, Alphonsus' son died, too, and despite his great sorrow, he thanked God for having taken the boy out of the danger of sinning. Alphonsus soon abandoned the failing business and asked to be admitted into the Society of Jesus, but he was told he must study first. So he went back to school in Barcelona, this man of forty, with youths who made fun of him. He had to beg for his food, for he had given his money away as alms to the poor. At last, on 31 Jan 1571, he was accepted as a lay-brother and was first sent to Valencia (home of our patron, St. Vincent Ferrer!). Later he was made the door-keeper (porter) at the newly founded Jesuit college at Majorca. The provincial is recorded as having stated that if Alphonsus was too uneducated to be a priest and too unqualified to be a lay brother, then at least he could enter to become a saint. What prophetic words!
PORTER FOR THE JESUITS
As porter his duties were quite simple. He received visitors, carried bags, delivered messages, ran errands and distributed alms to the needy. He also began to comfort the sorrowful who had no one else to turn to and to give counsel to the troubled. He would say that each time the bell rang he raced to the door imagining that it was Christ Himself who sought admittance. He would then treat them as he would his Lord! St. Peter Claver is one who sought his advice and comforting words. St. Alphonsus advised him to go to South America and be a great missionary.
HEROIC VIRTUES
He was filled with such knowledge that the other Jesuits wanted to hear him preach. But as he was not a priest he could not. Thus, they would ask him to preach to them during mealtimes in the dining hall. Local townspeople got wind of his great oratory skill and demanded that his superior send him to the town squares to instruct them as well.
"That brother is not a man - he is an angel!" his superior said of him years later. Priests who knew him for forty years never heard him say or do anything which could be criticized. His kindness and obedience were known to all. Once, all the chairs in the house, even the ones from the bedrooms, had been used for a Forty Hours devotion (to the Blessed Sacrament). By mistake, his chair was not returned until the following year. Yet, because of his humility, Alphonsus never mentioned the fact to anyone. When he was over seventy and sick, the Superior tested his obedience by saying, "You are to go to the missions in the Indies." St. Alphonsus went straight to the college gate to go find out when the next ship was sailing - only to be told to go back by his Superior!
In his masterpiece, The Secret of the Rosary, St. Louis de Montfort writes: "The well-known Jesuit, Brother Alphonsus Rodriguez, used to say his Rosary with such fervor that he often saw a red rose come out of his mouth at each Our Father and a white rose at each Hail Mary. The red and white roses were equal in beauty and fragrance, the only difference being in the color" (paragraph No. 25 under the Seventh Rose).
DEATH AND POSTHUMOUS VENERATION
During his long life, the Saint had to conquer very strong temptations, besides physical pains. He suffered terribly from memory loss in his old age. It got to a point where he could not even recite the basic prayers he had memorized as a child. Even as he lay dying, he spent a half hour in terrible agony. Then, just before he died, he was filled with peace and joy. He kissed his crucifix, looked lovingly at his brothers, and died with the Holy Name of Jesus upon his lips.
After he died, his superiors examined the writings he left behind (notes describing his spiritual life). This convinced them that he was a saint and mystic. His goal was simple: to encounter Christ in every person he met and to serve God in every task he was given. This lead him to a life of contemplation similar to that of St. Teresa, St. Ignatius and St. John of the Cross (all of whom are far better known).
Today he is one of the patron saints of Majorca. His remains are located at a shrine there, on the same island where he carried bags while his fellow Jesuits traveled to extravagant lands and evangelized the world. The suppression of the Jesuits delayed his beatification, but eventually he was canonized in 1888. Although he suffered greatly, St. Alphonsus never lost his hope and constantly inspired it in others.
Saints become saints because they are humble. Our Lord said that no one can enter heaven unless they are humble. Let us make an act of humility each day in order to grow in this virtue and strengthen it. St. Alphonsus Rodríguez, help me to be humble!
Note: This saint should not be confused with Fr. Alonso Rodríguez, another Jesuit but a priest and not canonized, who wrote the "Exercicio de perfeccion y virtudes cristianas" in three volumes. The two were both Spaniards living at the same time, though Fr. Alonso Rodríguez died in 1616 in Seville.