On the calendar of the Society of Jesus there is indicated for today the feast of a great saint, Alphonse Rodriguez, a modest porter of the College of Majorca, but a soul of unflinching generosity towards God.
He was noted for his tender, childlike devotion to the Blessed Virgin. One day the Madonna appeared to him and told him how much she loved him. Alphonse, not at all disconcerted, answered: "O good Blessed Virgin, if you loved me as much as I love you!"
The holy porter, who, considering his duty, would have been able to satisfy curiosity, made a contract with his eyes, promising to guard them always in strict modesty, that he might be better able to contemplate Mary in heaven. The purer his glance would be upon earth, he thought, and not without reason, the greater and clearer would be his vision of the Immaculate Virgin in heaven.
Do I love Mary with a tenderness just as touching, but above all, with a love just as effective as his?
O my Mother, I come to you to tell you, again and again, how much I love you; but above all I wish to show that I love you. True love manifests itself by imitation. I wish to begin to imitate your virtues, as completely as possible.
And among all your virtues, I choose today, like the good St. Alphonse Rodriguez, modesty of the eyes. There shall be nothing artificial or strained in my modesty, but something very natural and supple. Help me in my resolution and my efforts; I confide my eyes to you; guard them for me, that they may interest themselves only in invisible realities and care to use what is seen only to penetrate more clearly what is not seen.
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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)
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