 St. Aloysius Gonzaga
Name: St. Aloysius Gonzaga
Date: 21 June
Saint Aloysius, the eldest son of Ferdinand Gonzaga, Marquis of Castiglione, was born on the 9th of March, 1568. The first words he pronounced were the holy names of Jesus and Mary. Whenhe was nine years of age he made a vow of perpetual virginity, and by a special grace was alwaysexempted from temptations against purity. He received his first Communion at the hands of SaintCharles Borromeo. At an early age he resolved to leave the world, and in a vision was directed byour Blessed Lady to join the Society of Jesus. The Saint’s mother rejoiced on learning hisdetermination to become a religious, but his father for three years refused his consent. At lengthSaint Aloysius obtained permission to enter the novitiate on November 25, 1585. He pronounced his vows after two years, and studied, as was customary, philosophy andtheology. A fervent penitent at all times, he was accustomed to say that he doubted whetherwithout penance grace could continue to make headway against nature, which, when not afflictedand chastised, tends gradually to relapse into its unredeemed state, and thereby loses the habit ofsuffering. “I am a crooked piece of iron,” he said, “and have come into religion to be madestraight by the hammer of mortification and penance.” During his last year of theology a malignant fever broke out in Rome. The Saint offered himself for the service of the sick, and was accepted for the dangerous duty. Several of the religiouscontracted the fever, and Aloysius was among them. He was at the point of death but recovered,only to relapse a little later into a slow fever, which after three months his fragile health could nolonger resist. He died at the age of twenty-three, repeating the Holy Name, a little after midnightbetween the 20th and 21st of June, on the octave day of Corpus Christi. |
