Our Patron Saint - St. Aloysius Gonzaga
Due to his short lifespan, the life of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga deals mainly with his childhood and seminarial life.
St. Aloysius Gonzaga was born Luigi Gonzaga, on March 9th 1568. From the earliest age, the young saint was given to prayer, including the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the seven Penitential Psalms and other devotions.
Being eldest son, Aloysius was expected to carry on the family name, and would fulfill this by his father's wish for him to become a soldier. The hand of God would not allow this fate.
In 1577, his father took Luigi and his brother to Florence to study and improve their Latin and Italian. As it would happen, Gonzaga would develop an affinity for study of the saints even more than his regular studies. In 1579, his father moved the brothers into the court of the Duke of Mantua. There the Saint decided to renounce his claim to his father's title and place, passing it to his brother. The Saint then suffered a disease that allowed him to stay out of the public eye, withdrawn in prayer and study of the Saints.
At this time Aloysius read of the Jesuit missionaries in India, and he resolved to join the Society of Jesus. He began this direction in life by instructing the boys of Castiglione in the catechism. At Casale-Monferat, where he spent winters, he assumed the discipline of a monk, fasting three days a week, scourging himself, and praying at midnight on the stone floor of his unheated room.
Over the next two years, Aloysius would fight with his father, mother, regals and delegates over his impending Jesuit vocation. They disagreed with it on the grounds he should follow in his father's stead. Finally, they relented after most of the family title and responsibilities fell to his younger brother, thus allowing Aloysius to enter his novitiate in November, 1585.
In the third year of study, he came to the revelation he would not live long. The plague struck in 1591, and he was sent to aid the ill in the Jesuit hospital of Rome. He performed the lowliest of duties, but contracted the disease in time.
Aloysius' health was so poor that he received Holy Viaticum and Extreme Unction on several occasions. Aloysius died on the Octave of Corpus Christi, June 21st, 1591. Saint Aloysius Gonzaga is known as the Patron of Catholic youth. He was canonized in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII and we celebrate his feast day on June 21st.