Oct. 30, Saturday, 30th Week in Ordinary Time
Second from left, The Vision of San Alfonso, Zurbaran, 1630.
ST. ALFONSO RODRIGUEZ OF MALLORCA (Spain, 1533-1617), Father and Widower, Jesuit Brother
He is often confused today with a later saint who has a near-identical name, St. Alonso Rodriguez, one of three Jesuit martyrs canonized in 1987 for their work as pioneering missionaries in Paraguay and Argentina (they lived at around the same time as today's saint). Alfonso inherited a family textile business in Segovia at age 23, and within the next three years, his mother, wife and daughter died, leaving him along with a young son. In the years that followed, he learned the discipline of prayer and meditation. When his son also died, Alfonso, at 35, sought to join the Jesuit order, and was twice rejected for lack of education. Finally, in 1571, he was admitted to the novitiate as a brother at a Jesuit college in Palma de Mallorca, where he became the doorkeeper for the rest of his life (45 years). He is one of a great line of 'doorkeeper saints' that include Conrad of Parzham, Padre Pio and Andre Bessette, who in addition to doing a whole range of menial duties, were also dispensers of charity and spiritual counsel, as well as exemplars of prayerful, meditative life. Alfonso quickly gained fame for his holiness and bringing comfort to those who came to him for advice. He was 72 when the future saint Pedro Claver came to the college as a seminarian. The became great friends, and it was he who encouraged the future 'apostle to the slaves' to serve in Latin America. After Alfonso died, his memoirs and spiritual notes revealed the depth of his interior life - he had been favored by God with mystical ecstasies and visions of our Lord, our Lady and many saints. He was declared Venerable in 1760, but his beatification was delayed until 1825 because the Jesuits underwent decades of suppression in Spain. He was canonized in 1877.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/103010.shtml
OR today.
Illustrations: 20th-cent Syriac icon of The communion of the Apostles; and poster for the Italian Catholic Action Youth rally today.
The Pope to participants of a symposium on Romano Guardini:
'The Christian looks at the world with truth'
Page 1 also has: An essay on the 'feast of dedication and renewal of the Church' observed by the Western Syrian Catholic tradition next Sunday as the start of their liturgical year. And in international news- European Union leaders at Brussels summit agree on a common fund but not on an amendment to the Lisbon Treaty; UN alarm over a possible resumption of civil war in Lebanon as Iran-backed Hezbollah receives new arms shipments; and the remarkable presence of women traders in the finance markets of the Arab Emirates. In the inside pages, an emphasis on the Italian Church on the occasion of the publication of its pastoral plan for 2010-2020, on the theme 'Educating for the good life according to the Gospel': the rally by Italian Catholic Action youth today at St. Peter's Square with the Pope; and an essay by Mons. Mariano Crociata, secretary-general of the Italian bishops' conference, on the significance of the decade's pastoral theme.
THE POPE'S DAY
The Holy Father met today with
- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops (weekly meeting)
- Mons. Luis Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
- Italian Catholic Action youth at a rally in St. Peter's Square. Instead of a regular address,
he answered a couple of questions from the assembly.