Around the year 1350, Alvarez of Cordova was born in either Spain or Portugal. He entered the Dominican order in Cordova in 1368, and he was quickly renowned for his powerful preaching across Spain and Italy. In the mountains near Cordova he founded a Dominican house named “Escalaceli” or “Ladder of Heaven”, and Fr. Alvarez spent his days preaching, teaching, and praying. One day he found a beggar dying in the street, and Blessed Alvarez wrapped the beggar in his cloak and carried him back to Escalaceli. When he arrived and unwrapped the cloak, he found a crucifix instead of the beggar, and the crucifix still hangs in Escalaceli. Blessed Alvarez died in 1430 of natural causes.
CHALLENGE
In the gardens of Escalaceli, Blessed Alvarez set up a series of chapels with images of the Holy Lands and Christ’s Passion. This is the first known effort to replicate the Via Dolorosa outside of Jerusalem in what is now known as the Stations of the Cross. Today, meditate on The Way of the Cross by St. Alphonsus de Liguori.
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