Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

Feast Day: 21 June

• Luigi Gonzaga was born into a noble Italian family on March 9th, 1568, in northern Italy.

• He was expected from an early age to serve as a aristocrat or military officer. However, at the age of nine, he developed kidney cancer, leading to poor health throughout his childhood. During this time, he developed many personal devotions and prayers, and he quietly made a vow of chastity.

• Luigi became interested in joining the Jesuits, and was determined to make that his goal. Charles Borromeo -- a man who would be a great saint in his own right, and the patron saint of seminarians -- served as his spiritual director. Charles also gave Luigi his First Holy Communion.

• He developed a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and he frequently conducted acts of self-mortification, and is often pictured holding a Crucifix because of his devotion to the Lord.

• Eventually revealing his desire to join the Jesuits, his family protested. The young Luigi is remembered here as courageously responding, “I was born for greater things.” He lived out his vocation to serve as a Jesuit despite his own family’s wishes.

• At the age of 23, as a Jesuit Novice, he passed away from the Plague. During the months prior to his death, he spent his time caring for the poor and sick in Italy who suffered from the illness. It is believed that it was from these infirm that he received his fatal sickness. Luigi received Last Rites from Robert Bellarmine (the eventual patron saint of catechists and religious education). He died a humble servant of the Lord.

• St Aloysius Gonzaga (the name Aloysius being the latinized version of his birth name, Luigi) was canonized a saint in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII.

• He is the patron saint of students and young men, and he truly lived and died in accordance with the motto, “Men for Others”, which is the motto of Gonzaga College High School, in Washington, D.C.

St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Pray for Us!