The Basics: Born July 25, 1532, in Spain; died October 31, 1617, in Spain; canonized January 15, 1888, by Leo XII; feast day, October 31. husband, father.
The Story: Alphonsus felt the call to a priestly vocation, but family duties came first. His father died when the boy was fourteen, and so he 
ended his education and went to work in the family business helping his mother. As time went on, he fell and love and was married. But by the time Alphonsus was thirty-eight, his world had been rocked by the deaths of his wife, his mother, and his son. The family business was on the rocks. He tried to pursue becoming a priest, but given his lack of formal learning, that didn’t work out either. What to do?
It would have been perhaps understandable if Alphonsus had turned his face away from God in bitterness. But instead, he turned his face toward the Lord. He became a doorkeeper at a Jesuit school on Majorca. There, he would spend the remainder of his life, a life publicly filled with welcome for those who came to school but in private given to spiritual assaults.
Alphonsus’s Wisdom: “O my Jesus!” (his final words)
What We Can Learn from Alphonsus: Losing the people and stature we love is extremely difficult. Often, it can’t be born without the Lord. Turn to Him to find comfort.
To Learn More About Alphonsus: Check out an article about him in Woodstock Letters from 1958.
To Learn More About Other Saints and Blesseds: Consider buying my book, Sisterhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration. I’m currently at work on Brotherhood of Saints, to be released in fall 2020; if there’s a male saint or blessed you’d like to see there, please email me!
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