Sant'Alfonso Rodriguez, Saint of the day for 30 October

Saint of the day for October 30th
(1533 - October 30, 1617)

The story of Saint Alfonso Rodriguez

Tragedy and defiance plague today's saint in the early years of his life, but Alphonsus Rodriguez found happiness and contentment through simple service and prayer.

Born in Spain in 1533, Alfonso inherited the family textile company at the age of 23. Within three years, his wife, daughter and mother died; meanwhile, business was bad. Alfonso took a step back and re-evaluated his life. He sold the business and with his young son moved to his sister's house. There he learned the discipline of prayer and meditation.

On the death of his son years later, Alfonso, now nearly forty, tried to join the Jesuits. He wasn't helped by his poor education. He applied twice before he was admitted. For 45 years he served as a janitor at the Jesuit college in Mallorca. When he was not in his place, he was almost always in prayer, although he often encountered difficulties and temptations.

His holiness and prayer attracted many to him, including St. Peter Claver, then a Jesuit seminarian. Alfonso's life as a janitor may have been mundane, but centuries later he attracted the attention of Jesuit poet and fellow Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins, who made him the subject of one of his poems.

Alfonso died in 1617. He is the patron saint of Mallorca.

Reflection

We like to think that God rewards good, even in this life. But Alfonso knew loss of business, painful grief and times when God seemed very distant. None of his suffering forced him to withdraw into a shell of self-pity or bitterness. Rather, he contacted others who were living in pain, including enslaved Africans. Among the many notables at his funeral were the sick and the poor whose lives he had touched. May they find such a friend in us!