Alphonsus de Orozco (1500-1591) experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary in a dream in 1542. She spoke but one word to him: “Write.”
Over the next 50 years this instruction served to make him the most prolific and widely read Spanish spiritual author of his day. Yet his writings were only part of his witness to sanctity.
Alphonsus, or Alonso, was born in the province of Toledo, where his father was governor of the castle of Oropesa. The boy was sent to study at Talavera de la Reina, and afterwards became a choirboy in Toledo cathedral, an experience that inculcated a lifelong love of music.
