Blessed Simon de Roxas

Our young professed friar occupied all the offices of his Order in succession and fulfilled them with prudence and discretion, to general satisfaction. Based on his reputation, the Que en of Spa in, Elizabet h, wife of Philip II, chose him as her confessor. In accepting this charge, Simon did not renounce any of his labors; he continued to proclaim the word of God, and, to honor the Blessed Virgin in a very special way, he established a Confraternity whose members pledged to perform some devotional practice in her honor each day. His reputation only grew with the years, and Philip II, departing to take possession of the throne of Portugal, entrusted him with hi s two sons, Don Carlos and D on Ferdina nd. Honors in no way weakened the humility of the servant of God. He exercised the holy ministry as much as the offices he had to fulfill allowed him, and he devoted to prayer and meditation all the time he could steal from his occupations.

An epidemic having broken out, the Blessed Simon devoted himself entirely to the service of those struck by the plague. He replied to the King, who forbade him from visiting hospitals and prisons for fear that he might bring the contagion into the palace: "I prefer the service of the poor to that of the court." His Order owed him the establishment of a new monastery in Madrid. Warned of his approaching end, he announced it to his religious, and, after having celebrated the Holy Mass with extraordinary devotion, he expired the following night, at the age of seventy-two (September 28, 1624). All the religious Orders of Madrid attended his funeral and celebrated a solemn service for him in the churches of their monasteries. The canonization process began shortly after his death; more than one hundred witnesses were heard and testified to the virtues or miracles of the servant of God. Pope Clement XIII inscribed him i n the catalo gue of the Blessed on May 13, 1776.

Taken from the Supplem ent by Charles Butle r, by M. l'abbé Tr esvaux