St. Aloysius Gonzaga, S.J.

(1568-1591)

On March 9, 1568, Luigi Gonzaga was born into a branch of one of the most powerful families in highly-decadent Renaissance Italy.  The Gonzagas held sway through hundreds of years – through cunning, treachery and even murder.  His father, a compulsive gambler, was the marquis of Castiglione.  His mother was lady-in-waiting to the wife of Philip II of Spain.

As eldest son, Luigi was the repository of his father’s hopes for the family.  To prepare his son for the world of political intrigue and military exploit, he even dressed the four-year old boy in a tiny suit of armor to help review the family’s own paid soldiers.  In 1577, he sent eight-year-old Luigi and his brother to the Medici court in Florence to gain the polish and training to succeed in court.  But rather than being fascinated with the intrigue and (literal) backstabbing of the decadent world of the Medicis, Luigi withdrew into himself, refusing to participate in the corrupt environment.  At ten, he made a private vow never to offend God by sinning.  Next the marquis sent his two sons to relatives in Mantua.  One house had a fine private chapel, where Luigi spent time reading the lives of the saints and meditating on the Psalms.  The thought came to him that he might like to become a priest…. The marquis then took his family traveling with Maria of Austria, of the Spanish royal house.  Luigi was appointed page to the Spanish heir apparent and Knight of the Order of St. James.  Arriving in Madrid, he found a Jesuit confessor, who told Luigi that he needed his father’s permission to join the Society of Jesus.  His father flew into a rage and threatened to have Luigi flogged.  

It was a protracted battle of wills between the intransigent marquis and his equally determined son.  Years passed in this way.  Finally worn out by his son’s persistence, the father gave permission.  In November 1586, Luigi, at age 17, renounced his ancestral inheritance and left home to join the Society of Jesus.

Because of the strict religious practices that Luigi (now called Aloysius) had already adopted, the Jesuit novitiate proved surprisingly easy.  His superiors actually encouraged him to eat more regularly, pray less, relax more, and reduce his penances.  Aloysius accepted these curbs.

In the spring of 1591, plague broke out in Rome.  Aloysius was allowed to care for the sick who weren’t contagious.  But one man he tended was in fact infected, and Aloysius caught the plague.  On June 21, two priests brought him Communion.  With his eyes fixed on a crucifix, Aloysius struggled to pronounce the name of Jesus, and died.  He was 23.
Aloysius Gonzaga was beatified in 1605 and canonized in 1726. He is a patron saint of young people and of purity.  His feast day is June 21.

(from My Life with the Saints by James Martin, S.J., © 2006 Loyola Press, Chicago)

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