Saint of the Day: St. Aloysius Gonzaga


Today is the Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, confessor.

St. Aloysius had a great desire to serve and know God as a young boy but his family life was not always aligned with his desire. He was born into a noble Italian family and his father was a compulsive gambler. He grew up in a castle and was trained from a very young age to be a soldier and courtier. Despite the exigencies of his family, he taught catechism to poor boys.

He encountered many holy people in his lifetime, receiving first Communion from St. Charles Borromeo and studying under St. Robert Bellarmine. As a teen, he suffered from kidney disease which he considered a blessing as it left him with time for prayer.

At 18 he signed away his legal claim to his title and his family's lands, and entered the Jesuits. He died shortly thereafter of the plague at the age of 23, having devotedly cared for plague victims in Rome in the outbreak of 1591.

He was canonized in 1726.

Patron

AIDS care-givers; AIDS patients; Catholic youth; Jesuit students; relief from pestilence; sore eyes; teenage children; teenagers; young people; youth.


Quote

"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."

Prayer of Self-Commendation to Mary

O Holy Mary, my Lady, into your blessed trust and safe keeping and into the depths of your mercy, I commend my soul and body this day, every day of my life, and at the hour of my death. To you I entrust all my hopes and consolations, all my trials and miseries, my life and the end of my life. By your most holy intercession and by your merits, may all my actions be directed and disposed according to your will and the Will of your divine Son. Amen.

~ Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

Comments

Blog Archive

Show more

Popular posts from this blog

The Spirituality and Miracles of St. Clare of Assisi

Saint Michael de Sanctis: Patron of Cancer Patients

Saint Gerard of Brogne: Patron of Abbots