Day 56 -- Saint Alonso Rodriguez

There were a few saints I read about today that I thought about writing, but the one thing that drew me to want to write about Saint Alonso Rodriguez was that he worked for 46 years as a porter and doorkeeper at the Jesuit college in Mallorca, Spain. Mallorca is where my beloved Cursillo was born.

One could say that Alonso had a late vocation to religious life, but then God calls us and accepts us when we are ready, which is something I am trying to remember and believe. I have to live my life and no one else's. There is a prayer I try to read every day and it says: "What is excellent for someone else may well not be good for me."

At age 26 he married Mary Suarez and he tried to run the family woolen business after his dad died, but the business suffered and only 1 of their 3 children survived past infancy. Then his wife died then his mother. He sold the business and moved in with his sisters and they helped raise his son.

Soon his son also died and it was then that he decided to follow his call to religious life. He tried to join the Jesuits, but since he did not have the education they required he was refused. He attended the College of Barcelona, but could not complete the work. He performed many self-sacrifices and at age 60 he was ordered to sleep in a bed instead of a chair, bench or floor like he was. Then at the recommendation of Jesuit Father Luis Santander, Alonso became a Jesuit lay brother and began his studies on January 31, 1571. He was friend and roommate of Saint Peter Claver and it was Alonso who advised Peter to request missionary work in South America. Alonso took his final vows at the age of 54.

He had some writings of random thoughts, journal entries, illustrations, and other spiritual reflections that they were published under the tile of Spiritual Works of Blessed Alonso Rodriguez in Barcelona in 1885. He died on October 31, 1617 at age 85 in Mallora of natural causes and it is on this island where his relics remain. He is the patron saint of the island. I would love to one day visit there and see the hometown of Cursillo founder, Eduardo Bonnin. He was canonized in September 1888 along with Saint Peter Claver.

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.