St. Alphonsus Rodriguez

Biography

St. Alphonsus Rodriguez (1532–1617) was born in Segovia, Spain, the son of a wool merchant. As a boy he met Blessed Peter Faber, one of the first Jesuits, who stayed in his family's home. Alphonsus took over the family business as a young man, married, and had children, but within a few years the business failed and he lost his wife and children to death. In his grief he turned to prayer and penance and sought to enter religious life. Considered too old and too poorly educated to become a priest, he was finally admitted to the Society of Jesus as a lay brother in 1571, at nearly forty. He was sent to the Jesuit college of Montesión in Palma de Mallorca, where for more than forty years he served as porter, answering the door, welcoming visitors, and running errands. He received each knock as if Christ himself were at the door. His prayer, humility, and wise counsel drew many people to him. Among them was the young student Peter Claver, whom Alphonsus encouraged to go as a missionary to the Americas. He died on October 31, 1617, and was canonized in 1888 by Pope Leo XIII together with St. Peter Claver. The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote a sonnet in his honor.

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