St. Aloysius Gonzaga

St. Aloysius Gonzaga. March 9, 1568 - June 21, 1591. , Aloysius Gonzaga was born in Castiglione, Italy. He was a member of the illustrious house of Gonzaga. He was destined for the military by his father, but by the age of 9 Aloysius had decided on a religious life. A kidney disease prevented Aloysius from a full social life for a while, so he spent his time in prayer and reading of the lives of the saints., In March 1582, Aloysius became a page in Spain for the infant don Diego, Prince of Asturias. He then started thinking in earnest about joining a religious order. His family eventually moved back to Italy, where he taught catechism to the poor. His mother agreed to his request to join the Jesuits, but his father was furious. If he became a Jesuit he would renounce any right in income from the property or status in society., When he was 19 he took the three religious vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, and joined the Jesuits. In 1590 he had a vision in which the Archangel Gabriel told him that he would die within a year., In 1591, a plague broke out in Rome. The Jesuits opened a hospital for the stricken, and Aloysius volunteered to work there. On March 3, 1591, Aloysius showed the first symptoms of being infected. Aloysius had another vision that he would die on the Octave of the feast of Corpus Christi, which fell on June 21. He died just before midnight on June 21, 1591., He was beatified only fourteen years after his death by Pope Paul V, on October 19, 1605. On December 31, 1726, he was canonized. Pope Benedict XIII declared him the patron saint of young students in 1729. Purity was his notable virtue. His attributes are a lily, referring to innocence; a cross, referring to piety and sacrifice; a skull, referring to his early death; and a rosary, referring to his devotion to the Virgin Mary. St. Aloysius' feast day is celebrated on June 21, the date of his death.