Saint of the Month - June 2013: Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

St. Aloysius Gonzaga

Patron Saint of the Youth

Feast: June 21st

Born on March 9, 1568, this month’s featured Saint – Aloysius Gonzaga – was a youth descended from a line of illustrious nobles from both his father’s ancestry and his mother’s. He was the eldest of seven children, who from the tender age of four, was groomed to be both a courtesan and a soldier in the royal houses of Renaissance Italy. He stood to inherit his father’s title of Marquis, as well as enormous wealth and prestige... but as the boy grew, it was apparent that God had another path chosen for him.

At the age of eight, Aloysius was sent with one of his brothers to the court of Grand Duke Francesco de’ Medici, to serve as a page and to also be educated and trained in the social etiquette of life in court. Shortly after his arrival with the Medici’s, he fell ill with a form of kidney disease, which intermittently plagued him for the rest of his life. His higher education afforded him the ability to read so the boy providentially occupied his periods of incapacity by reading the lives of various Saints, who collectively sparked in him a desire for prayer and spirituality. This worthy past time made a deep impression on Aloysius and he reportedly made a personal vow of chastity at the age of nine.

The next tenure for the Gonzaga brothers was in the court of the Duke of Mantua where they were sent to serve in November, 1579. The precocious Aloysius, who was resolute in his practice of piety and purity, was not happy in Mantua given the careless life-style of this particular court; he returned to his hometown of Castiglione where he was fortunate to come under the influence of Cardinal Charles Borromeo (also a Canonized Saint, d. 1584).  It was from the hands of this holy prelate that Aloysius received his First Holy Communion in July, 1580.

In the next four years - between 1580 and 1584 - the Gonzagas spent several time in Madrid, Spain, in the service of the Holy Roman Emperor before returning to Italy. During this period, Aloysius continued his high standard of moral living and was even practicing various forms of self-mortification such as a strict fasting regimen.  When able to, he shared his faith by catechizing the poor and by visiting monasteries of various orders in anticipation of entering religious life.  In the end, he decided to join the Jesuits since it was his goal to become a missionary, but his father (not surprisingly) strongly opposed his vocation.

After unsuccessfully trying to dissuade him, Aloysius’ family reluctantly consented to his desire, and the pious youth entered the Jesuit novitiate in Rome on November 25, 1585. By joining a religious order, he was well-aware that he was effectively renouncing his inheritance and the worldly honor that it entailed… but Aloysius could not have been happier. He was noted for being a model religious with a caring, self-sacrificing spirit. In fact, his superiors had to reel him in a little by limiting his voluntary penances for the sake of his precarious health.

It was sometime in 1590 that Aloysius was forewarned by St. Gabriel the Archangel that he would soon die. His chronic kidney condition was causing him serious health issues along with migraines that often robbed him of sleep… in addition, the black plague broke out in Rome in 1591 and Aloysius had generously volunteered to nurse the stricken in a hospital administered by the Jesuits. It was there he contracted the dreaded plague from one of the victims, and although the disease didn’t outright kill him, the effects of it combined with his existing health problems left him severely weakened. His death occurred on the day he predicted - June 21, 1591 - after he was consoled and prepared by a second heavenly vision; Aloysius was only 23-years-old.

The Saint's ornate tomb-shrine in the Jesuit

Church of St. Ignatius in Rome, Italy

  

The exceeding virtue and heroism of the young Jesuit was not forgotten by his companions and the populace of Rome.  Aloysius was already revered as a Saint in his lifetime so it wasn't surprising that his tomb immediately became a place of pilgrimage where many graces were received through his intercession.  Even the great St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi (d. 1607), from her Carmelite convent in Florence, claimed to have witnessed a vision of Aloysius entering into eternal glory after his death.

The holy young man was eventually Canonized on December 31, 1726, by Pope Benedict XIII.   He is considered a Patron Saint of the Youth and his Feast Day is commemorated each year on June 21^st.  May St. Aloysius come to the spiritual aid of our modern young people!

A Reflection

"It is better to be the child of God than king of the whole world."  ~ Words of St. Aloysius

A Short Prayer

Dear Lord, through the intercession of your faithful servant, St. Aloysius, we ask for the grace to love you above all earthly treasures and honors.  Amen.