Biography of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

Also known as
• Aluigi Gonzaga
• Lewis Gonzaga
• Luigi Gonzaga

Profile
Born to the Italian nobility who grew up in a castle, the son of Ferdinand Gonzaga, a prince in the Holy Roman Emperor and a compulsive gambler. Cousin of Saint Rudolph Acquaviva. Trained from age four as a soldier and courtier. Served as a page in the Spanish court. He suffered from kidney disease, which he considered a blessing as it left him bed-ridden with time for prayer. While still a boy himself, he taught catechism to poor boys. He received his First Communion from Saint Charles Borromeo. At age 18, Aloysius signed away his legal claim to his family's lands and title to his brother and became a Jesuit novice. Spiritual student of Saint Robert Bellarmine. Tended plague victims in Rome, Italy in the outbreak of 1591 during which he caught the disease that killed him at age 23.

Born
9 March 1568 in the family castle of Castiglione delle Stivieri in Montua, Lombardy, Italy

Died
• 20-21 June 1591 at Rome, Italy of plague, fever, and desire to see God
• relics entombed under the altar of Saint Ignatius Church, Rome

Beatified
• 19 October 1605 Pope Paul V (cultus confirmed)
• 1621 by Pope Gregory XV

Canonized
31 December 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII

Patronage
• against sore eyes
• AIDS caregivers
• AIDS patients
• for bodily purity
• Catholic youth
• Jesuit students
• for relief from pestilence
• teenage children, teenagers
• young people
• Castiglione delle Stiviere, Italy
• Valmonte, Italy

Representation
• skull
• lilies
• young man in a surplice with a lily and crucifix

Storefront
medals and pendants

Readings
There is no more evident sign that anyone is a saint and of the number of the elect, than to see him leading a good life and at the same time a prey to desolation, suffering, and trials. - Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

He who wishes to love God does not truly love Him if he has not an ardent and constant desire to suffer for His sake. - Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

O, Holy Mary! My Mother; into thy blessed trust and special custody, and into the bosom of thy mercy, I this day, and every day, and in the hour of my death, commend my soul and body. To thee, I commit all my anxieties and sorrows, my life and the end of my life, that by they most holy intercession, and by thy merits, all my actions may be directed and governed by thy will and that of thy Son. - Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

May the comfort and grace of the Holy Spirit be yours forever, most honoured lady. Your letter found me lingering still in this region of the dead, but now I must rouse myself to make my way on to heaven at last, and to praise God forever in the land of the living; indeed I had hoped that before this time my journey there would have been over. If charity, as Saint Paul says, means "to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who are glad," then, dearest mother, you shall rejoice exceedingly that God in his grace and his love for you is showing me the path to true happiness, and assuring me that I shall never lose him. Take care above all things, most honoured lady, not to insult God's boundless loving-kindness; you would certainly do this if you mourned as dead one living face to face with God, one whose prayers can bring you in your troubles more powerful aid than they ever could on earth. And our parting will not be for long; we shall see each other again in heaven; we shall be united with our Savior; there we shall praise him with heart and soul, sing of his mercies forever, and enjoy eternal happiness. - from a letter to his mother by Saint Aloysius Gonzaga