MAY 24: PRIESTHOOD ORDINATION OF ALFONSO GALLEGOS 62 YEARS AGO

Alfonso Gallegos was ordained a priest in Tagaste Monastery in Suffern, New York, on May 24, 1958, after much discussion as to whether he be ordained or not, due to his visual problems: severe myopia. His first 14 years as a priest were spent in Tagaste, because they did not dare assign him a ministry outside the monastery due to his poor eyesight. Until 1972, he was appointed pastor of the parish where he had been an altar boy, San Miguel, in Watts, Los Angeles, California.

During his early years as a priest in New York, he was a student prefect, chaplain at Good Samaritan Hospital, chaplain of religious sisters, serving as a doorman and answering the phone. In these humble services, Friar Alfonso was already beginning to create a reputation of sanctity. This is what the witnesses who knew him in Tagaste, and who spoke for his cause of canonization, affirm:

“When I met him, I recognized that he was doing a good job attending the door or answering the phone. He was very attentive and polite. Later I realized that he had a visual problem of some kind. I never asked him and he never mentioned it to me. He never alluded to that. He never worried about himself, but about me. I'm sure that's the impression other people had of him. Whoever he spoke to, his main concern was the person in front of him. ”

“I think he was able to make the person of Jesus present through his love for people. He was happy and knew how to connect with people. There was truly an innocence about him that was holy."

“What impressed me most about him was his love, the way he approached people. You ended up feeling his love, his holiness. He was a holy man. He touched our souls, our hearts, with his love, compassion and understanding.”