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Finding Peace in the Storm
Alphonsus vowed never to waste a moment of his
time, and he fulfilled this promise to a heroic degree. “I
never remember,” said one of his companions, “to have
seen Alphonsus waste a moment when he lived with us.
He was always preaching, or hearing confessions, or at
prayer or study.” Alphonsus wrote more than a hundred
books. He died in 1787 and was declared a Doctor of
the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871.
Alphonsus was filled with a great zeal for souls. His
eloquent sermons, wise teachings, and kindness as a confessor
won many souls for Christ. “In God you possess
the most exalted and supreme Lord,” he wrote in his
book How to Pray at All Times (1753), “but also a Friend
who loves you with the greatest possible love. He is not
offended — on the contrary He is pleased — when you treat
Him with that confidence, freedom, and tenderness with
which a child treats its mother.” Through his inspiring
words and instructive teaching, St. Alphonsus’s enduring
works continue to show souls how to develop such
friendship with God.
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