All Hallow’s Eve: Eve of the Feast of All Hallows, that is, All Saints Day. Halloween is a day on which many quaint customs are revived. It is popular in the United States and Scotland and in the US has become the second largest secular holiday of the year.
St Ampliatus St Antoninus of Milan St Apelles of Eraclea Sintica St Arnulf of Novalesa St Begu of Hackness Bl Christopher of Romagna Bl Dominic Collins St Epimachus of Melusio St Erth of Cornwall St Foillan of Fosses Bl Irene Stefani St Jesús Miquel Girbau Bl Leon Nowakowski St Lucilla of Rome Bl Maria de Requesens Bl Modesta Moro Briz St Narcissus St Notburga of Cologne St Quentin Bl Pilar Isabel Sánchez Suárez St Stachys of Constantinople Blessed Thomas Bellacci TOSF (1370-1447)Lay Friar
Thought for the Day – 31 October – The Memorial of St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)
Tragedy and challenge beset today’s saint early in life but Alphonsus Rodriguez found happiness and contentment, through simple service and prayer.
Born in Spain in 1533, Alphonsus inherited the family textile business at 23. Within the space of three years, his wife, daughter and mother died. Meanwhile, business was poor. Alphonsus stepped back and reassessed his life . He sold the business and, with his young son, moved into his sister’s home. There he learned the discipline of prayer and meditation.
At the death of his son years later, Alphonsus, almost 40 by then, sought to join the Jesuits. He was not helped by his poor education. He applied twice before being admitted. For 45 years he served as doorkeeper at the Jesuits’ college in Majorca. When not at his post, he was almost always at prayer, though he often encountered difficulties and temptations.
His holiness and prayerfulness attracted many to him, including Saint Peter Claver, then a Jesuit seminarian. Alphonsus died in 1617. He is the patron saint of Majorca.
We like to think that God rewards the good, even in this life. But Alphonsus knew business losses, painful bereavement and periods when God seemed very distant. None of his suffering made him withdraw into a shell of self-pity or bitterness. Rather, he reached out to others who lived with pain, including enslaved Africans. Among the many notables at his funeral were the sick and poor people whose lives he had touched. May they find such a friend in us!
Alphonsus’ life as doorkeeper may have been humdrum but centuries later he caught the attention of poet and fellow-Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins, who made him the subject of one of his most famous poems.
Honour is flashed off exploit, so we say And those strokes once that gashed flesh or galled shield Should tongue that time now, trumpet now that field And, on the fighter, forge his glorious day. On Christ they do and on the martyr may But be the war within, the brand we wield Unseen, the heroic breast not outward-steeled, Earth hears no hurtle then from fiercest fray.
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.
Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (1844-1889), in honour of Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)
Quote/s of the Day – 31 October – The Memorial of St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)
“You must strive, with all possible care, to please God, in such a manner, as neither to do, nor behold anything, without first consulting Him and in everything, to seek Him alone and His glory.”
“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 honours of this life, so that my whole heart is centred solely on God.”
Our Morning Offering – 31 October – The Memorial of St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)
This is my Joy, to Follow my Saviour By St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)
Jesus, love of my soul,
centre of my heart!
Why am I not more eager to endure pains
and tribulations for love of You,
when You, my God,
have suffered so many for me?
Come, then, every sort of trial in the world,
for this is my delight, to suffer for Jesus.
This is my joy, to follow my Saviour
and to find my consolation
with my Consoler on the Cross.
This is my happiness,
this my pleasure:
to live with Jesus,
to walk with Jesus,
to converse with Jesus,
to suffer with and for Him,
this is my treasure.
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 25 August – 21st Sunday of the Year in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 13:22–30
“The Narrow Door”
“In the difficulties which are placed before me, why should I not act like a donkey? When one speaks ill of him – the donkey says nothing. When he is mistreated – he says nothing. When he is forgotten – he says nothing. When no food is given him – he says nothing. When he is made to advance – he says nothing. When he is despised – he says nothing. When he is overburdened – he says nothing. The true servant of God must do likewise and say with David: “Before Thee I have become like a beast of burden.”
St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)
“All, can enter eternal life but for everyone, the door is narrow. They are not privileged. The path to the eternal life is open to all but it is narrow because it’s demanding, asks for commitment, abnegation and the mortification of selfishness.”
“To pass through the narrow gate, means we must commit ourselves to being small, that is humble of heart like Jesus, like Mary, His and our mother.”
“True friendship with Jesus is expressed in how one lives, in the goodness of one’s heart, in one’s humility, kindness and mercy, in one’s love for justice and truth, in one’s sincere commitment to peace and reconciliation. This, we might say, is the ‘identity card’ that qualifies us as true ‘friends,’ it is the ‘passport’ that will let us enter eternal life.”
Pope Benedict XVI
Angelus, 26 August 2007
“The whole of our life must pass through the narrow door which is Christ.”
Thought for the Day – 31 October – The Memorial of St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)
The story of this humble Jesuit brother illustrates that status and achievements count for nothing for those who accept the responsibility assigned them with the conviction that it is God’s will. Rodriguez set himself free of ego, he found meaning and fulfilment in the lowliest tasks accorded him and was zealous enough to give more than was demanded, in the spirit of the Ignatian Magis.
Early biographies describe Rodriguez as a superhero who spiritually survived a rather humdrum, tedious job for 46 years. They tended to overlook the tenacity and uncompromising dedication of the unassuming brother who would inspire generations of Jesuits in the art of religious hospitality. He was a multi-tasker, blending ‘spiritual conversation’ with business while always attending courteously to visitors. He quietly counselled students and reached out to the poor who hang around outside the door. Rodriguez made sure his job was never humdrum and tedious!
He displayed unconditional discipleship to Jesus Christ. He was a brother and companion, serving all as he would Christ personified. “I’m coming Lord,” he would cry when someone knocked. He had personalised his spirituality and this is what gave depth, appeal and credibility to his convictions. The rosary entwining his fingers may not always have been used to pray the mysteries but to murmur aspirations that connected him with the divinity present everywhere. He was a contemplative in action and spent most of his spare-time in prayer. He was a mystic, as his autobiography penned under obedience would reveal, favoured by God with remarkable mystical graces, ecstasies and visions of our Lord, our Lady and the saints.
At the age of 72, Rodriguez would counsel and motivate St Peter Claver (1580-1654), a young student of theology in Palma, to volunteer for “the missions” in the New World. In true Ignatian spirit Rodriguez looked beyond the boundaries of his world with the universal good of the Society of Jesus at heart – a typical Jesuit charism. Claver achieved sainthood through his indefatigable service to African slaves in Colombia.
Rodriguez is the patron of Jesuit brothers. The lay-brother of the olden days, who performed routine duties such as cooking, construction and farming, has vanished. Today the Jesuit brother can hardly be distinguished from the priest, because of his professional competence in many fields. In the spirit of Alphonsus Rodriguez, brothers sacramentalise their work and bear witness to God’s compassionate love.
(Excerpt on the 400th anniversary of St Alphonsus death, 2017 – Hedwig Lewis SJ is the author of “Profiles in Holiness, Brief Biographies of Jesuit Saints” and “Jesuit Saints without Paint”)
The Memorial of St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)
“In the difficulties which are placed before me, why should I not act like a donkey? When one speaks ill of him – the donkey says nothing. When he is mistreated – he says nothing. When he is forgotten – he says nothing. When no food is given him – he says nothing. When he is made to advance – he says nothing. When he is despised – he says nothing. When he is overburdened – he says nothing. The true servant of God must do likewise and say with David: “Before Thee I have become like a beast of burden.”
St Alphonsus Rodriguez (1532-1617)
Honour is flashed off exploit, so we say; And those strokes once that gashed flesh or galled shield Should tongue that time now, trumpet now that field, And, on the fighter, forge his glorious day. On Christ they do and on the martyr may; But be the war within, the brand we wield Unseen, the heroic breast not outward-steeled, Earth hears no hurtle then from fiercest fray.
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.
Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (1844-1889),
in honour of Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)
One Minute Reflection – 31 October – Today’s Gospel: Luke 13:22–30 – Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time, Year B and the Memorial of St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)
“Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be able…”…Luke 13:24.
REFLECTION – “Strive to enter in by the narrow door.” This reply may seem perhaps to wander from the scope of the question. The man wanted to learn whether there would be few who are saved but He explained to him the way whereby he might be saved himself. He said, “Strive to enter in by the narrow door.” What do we answer to this objection? … It was a necessary and valuable thing to know how a man may obtain salvation. He is purposely silent to the useless question. He proceeds to speak of what was essential, namely, of the knowledge necessary for the performance of those duties by which people can enter the narrow door.
I now consider it my duty to mention why the door to life is narrow. Whoever would enter must first, before everything else, possess an upright and uncorrupted faith and then a spotless morality, in which there is no possibility of blame, according to the measure of human righteousness. One who has attained to this in mind and spiritual strength will enter easily by the narrow door and run along the narrow way.
“Wide is the door and broad the way that brings down many to destruction.” What are we to understand by its broadness? It means an unrestrained tendency toward carnal lust and a shameful and pleasure-loving life. It is luxurious feasts, parties, banquets and unrestricted inclinations to everything that is condemned by the law and displeasing to God. A stubborn mind will not bow to the yoke of the law. This life is cursed and relaxed in all carelessness. Thrusting from it the divine law and completely unmindful of the sacred commandments, wealth, vices, scorn, pride and the empty imagination of earthly pride spring from it. Those who would enter in by the narrow door must withdraw from all these things, be with Christ and keep the festival with him.”…St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father & Doctor (Commentary on Luke, Homily 9
PRAYER – Shed Your clear light on our hearts, Lord, so that walking continually in the way of Your commandments, we may never be deceived or misled. Grant that the prayers of our Blessed Mother and St Alphonsus Rodriguez, who always held Your Light up for others to see by, give us strength. Through Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 31 October – The Memorial of St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)
A Prayer to Seek the Consolation of the Cross By St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)
Jesus, love of my soul,
centre of my heart!
Why am I not more eager to endure pains
and tribulations for love of You,
when You, my God,
have suffered so many for me?
Come, then, every sort of trial in the world,
for this is my delight, to suffer for Jesus.
This is my joy, to follow my Saviour
and to find my consolation
with my Consoler on the Cross.
This is my happiness,
this my pleasure:
to live with Jesus,
to walk with Jesus,
to converse with Jesus,
to suffer with and for Him,
this is my treasure.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 31 October – St Alphonsus Rodríguez, SJ (1532-1617), (Spanish: Alonso) was a Spanish Jesuit lay brother, Doorkeeper, Mystic, Visionary, Apostle of Charity and of Prayer, Spiritual Adviser – born 25 July 1532 at Segovia, Spain died on 31 October 1617 at Palma, Mallorca, Spain of natural causes. Patronages – Jesuit College, Palma, Majorca, Spain.
Alphonsus Rodríguez was the son of a wool merchant. When St Peter Faber SJ (1506-1546), one of the original Jesuits, visited the city to preach, the Rodríguez family provided hospitality to the Jesuit. Faber prepared the young Alphonsus for his First Communion. When he was 14, his father died and Alphonsus left school to help his mother run the family business. At the age of 26 he married María Suarez, a woman of his own station, with whom he had three children. At the age of 31 he found himself a widower with one surviving child, the other two having died. From that time on, he began a life of prayer and mortification, 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, Saint 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 an incomplete year at a new college begun at Alcalá by Francis Villanueva (1509-1557). At the age of 39 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 on 31 January 1571, at the age of 40. Itis believed that the provincial said that if Alphonsus was not qualified to become a brother or a priest, he could enter to become a saint.
Distinct novitiates for seminarians and lay brothers had not yet been established in Spain and Alphonsus 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 on Majorca, where he remained in the humble position of porter for 46 years, exercising a marvellous influence, not only on the members of the household but upon a great number of people, who came to the porter’s lodge for advice and direction. As doorkeeper, his duties were to receive visitors who came to the college, search out the fathers or students who were wanted in the parlour, deliver messages, run errands, console the sick at heart who, having no one to turn to, came to him, give advice to the troubled and distribute alms to the needy. Alphonsus tells that each time the bell rang, he looked at the door and envisioned that it was God who was standing outside seeking admittance.
Among the distinguished Jesuits who came under his influence was St Peter Claver (1580-1654), who lived with him for some time at Majorca and who followed his advice in asking for the missions of South America. He made his final vows in 1585 at the age of 54.
St Alphonsus with St Peter Claver
Alphonsus Rodriguez 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 Society from Spain in 1773 and its suppression, delayed his beatification until 1825. His Canonisation took place in September 1888. His remains are enshrined at Majorca.
Statue of St Alphonsus Rodriguez in the Church of the Cave of Saint Ignatius, Manresa
Our Morning Offering – 23 July – Monday of the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time B
A Prayer to Seek the Consolation of the Cross By St Alphonsus Rodriguez S.J. (1532-1617)
Jesus, love of my soul,
centre of my heart!
Why am I not more eager to endure pains
and tribulations for love of You,
when You, my God,
have suffered so many for me?
Come, then, every sort of trial in the world,
for this is my delight, to suffer for Jesus.
This is my joy, to follow my Saviour
and to find my consolation
with my Consoler on the Cross.
This is my happiness,
this my pleasure:
to live with Jesus,
to walk with Jesus,
to converse with Jesus,
to suffer with and for Him,
this is my treasure.
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 20 June – Wednesday Eleventh Week of Ord Time Year B – Today’s Gospel Matthew 6:1-6.16-18
“Speaking of: Humility”
“God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble”
James 4:6
“Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues, hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist, there cannot be any other virtue, except in mere appearance.”
“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”
St Augustine (354-430) Doctor of Grace
“As patience leads to peace and study to science, so are humiliations, the path that leads to humility.”
St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Mellifluous Doctor
“In the difficulties which are placed before me, why should I not act like a donkey? When one speaks ill of him – the donkey says nothing. When he is mistreated – he says nothing. When he is forgotten – he says nothing. When no food is given him – he says nothing. When he is made to advance – he says nothing. When he is despised – he says nothing. When he is overburdened – he says nothing. The true servant of God must do likewise and say with David: “Before Thee I have become like a beast of burden.”
St Alphonsus Rodriguez (1532-1617)
“True humility scarcely ever utters words of humility.”
“Humility consists in not esteeming ourselves above other men and in not seeking to be esteemed above them.”
“Humility makes our lives acceptable to God, meekness makes us acceptable to men.”
“If, when stung by slander or ill-nature, we wax proud and swell with anger, it is a proof that our gentleness and humility are unreal and mere artificial show.”
“The highest point of humility consists in not merely acknowledging one’s abjection but in taking pleasure therein, not from any want of breadth or courage but to give the more glory to God’s Divine Majesty and to esteem one’s neighbour, more highly than one’s self.”
St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Doctor of Charity
“The truly humble reject all praise for themselves and refer it all to God.”
St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor
Our Morning Offering – 16 February – The First Friday of Lent 2018
A Prayer to Seek the Consolation of the Cross By St Alphonsus Rodriguez S.J. (1532-1617)
Jesus, love of my soul,
centre of my heart!
Why am I not more eager to endure pains
and tribulations for love of You,
when You, my God,
have suffered so many for me?
Come, then, every sort of trial in the world,
for this is my delight, to suffer for Jesus.
This is my joy, to follow my Saviour
and to find my consolation
with my Consoler on the Cross.
This is my happiness,
this my pleasure:
to live with Jesus,
to walk with Jesus,
to converse with Jesus,
to suffer with and for Him,
this is my treasure.
Amen
A Prayer to Seek the Consolation of the Cross
by Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez S.J.
Jesus, love of my soul, centre of my heart!
Why am I not more eager to endure pains
and tribulations for love of You,
when You, my God, have suffered so many for me?
Come, then, every sort of trial in the world,
for this is my delight, to suffer for Jesus.
This is my joy, to follow my Saviour
and to find my consolation
with my Consoler on the Cross.
This is my happiness,
this my pleasure:
to live with Jesus,
to walk with Jesus,
to converse with Jesus,
to suffer with and for Him,
this is my treasure, amen.
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