Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

Aloysius, in Italian Luigi, was born on March 9, 1568, at Castiglione delle Stiviere in Lombardy, the eldest son of the Marquis Ferrante Gonzaga. His father hoped he would be a soldier and prepared him for life at court, sending him as a page to Florence and to the court of King Philip II in Spain. Instead the boy grew in prayer, and at twelve he received his First Communion from Saint Charles Borromeo.

After long resistance from his father, Aloysius gave up his inheritance to his younger brother and entered the Jesuit novitiate in Rome in 1585. In 1591 a plague struck the city, and he went out to carry the sick to the hospital and care for them. He caught the disease and died on June 21, 1591, at twenty-three, guided by his spiritual director, Saint Robert Bellarmine. He was canonized in 1726.

Aloysius is the patron of youth and students, and Jesuit schools around the world celebrate his feast. A traditional devotion, the Six Sundays of Saint Aloysius, prepares for his feast with prayer and Communion.

In Latin America, Luis Gonzaga is a common baptismal name, and many schools and parishes bear his name. Pope John Paul II named him patron of people living with AIDS and their caregivers.