There are many wonderful stories attatched to Alvarez, which include:
Angels are reported to have helped built Escalaceli, moving stone and wooden building materials to the site during the night, placing them where workmen could easily get them during the day.
Once when the entire food stocks for the house consisted of a single head of lettuce, he gathered all the brothers at table, gave thanks for the meal, and sent the porter to the door; the porter found a stanger leading a mule loaded with food. After unloading the mule, the stranger and the animal disappeared.
Alvarez once found a beggar dying alone in the street. He wrapped the poor man in his own cloak, and carried him back to Escalaceli. When he arrived at the house and unwrapped the cloak, instead of man, he found a crucifix. It still hangs in Escalaceli.
A bell in the chapel with Alvarez’s relics rings by itself just before the death of anyone in the house.
Attempts were made to move Alvarez’s relics to Cordova, but each try led to violent storms that kept the travellers bottled up until they gave up their task, leave the bones where they are.
He died on c.1430 at Escalaceli near Cordova, Spain of natural causes, and buried there.
Go here to read the rest.
Had to look up Escalaceli. Proper spelling, modern, is “Escala Coeli”, which, at a guess, means “Heaven’s Ladder”.In any case, as a result, I am now receiving pop-up ads in Spanish!
Six centuries later Blessed Alvarez is not yet canonized. He died in 1430. Beatification date: September 22, 1741 by Pope Benedict XIV. Obviously some of his many miracles must have been substantiated. Why does it take so long for some of these blesseds to become saints?
Each Sainthood process is a world unto itself and the path to canonization can be quite convoluted.