Venerable Alfred Pampalon, C.Ss.R.
Also known as Alfred Pampalon
Life
Alfred Pampalon was born on 24 November 1867 in Lévis, Quebec, the seventh of fifteen children in a devout Catholic family. From childhood he was marked by an unusual love of prayer and Marian devotion, often slipping away to a small shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes his father had built in the family garden.
At eighteen, after surviving a severe bout of pneumonia, he entered the novitiate of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) in Saint-Trond, Belgium, taking the name Brother Alfred. He professed his vows on 8 September 1887 and was ordained a priest on 4 October 1892 in Beauplateau. His brief priestly ministry took him through several Belgian parishes as a confessor and preacher of the Mother of Perpetual Help.
His health, never strong, gave way to tuberculosis, and he was sent home to Quebec in 1895 to die at the Redemptorist monastery in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. He spent his last months in heroic patience, offering his suffering as reparation for sinners. He died on 30 September 1896 in the shadow of the great basilica.
Almost immediately after his death, Quebec families struggling with addictions — to alcohol above all, but later to drugs and gambling — began to pray to him and to report dramatic answers. His tomb at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré has become a pilgrimage site for those seeking freedom from compulsive sin.
His cause for beatification was officially opened on 28 April 1920 by Cardinal Begin of Quebec. Pope John Paul II declared him Venerable on 14 May 1991 in recognition of his heroic virtues; a miracle is awaited for beatification.
Patronage
- those battling alcohol and drug addiction
- compulsive gamblers and their families
- the chronically ill
- priests in poor health
- Quebec
Suggested prayer
Dear Father Alfred, listen to my cry and come to my aid. Obtain for me the favours I desire. You are well known as the protector of people who are suffering in body, mind and spirit.
You show special compassion for alcoholics and drug addicts. You have freed so many people from their dependencies. Free me also, I beg you, dear Father Alfred, and free those people I recommend to you, especially members of my family.
I come to you with confidence. I pray for myself and for all those who are dear to me. Come also to the assistance of the Church and of the whole world. Amen
Sources
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