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Road to Purity
On June 21, we celebrated the feast of St. Aloysius "Luigi" Gonzaga, who hailed from wealth, aristocracy and status. The purpose of this post is to ponder his path to perfection.
1. Why would Luigi turn his back on immense earthly treasures for a life of tribulation, desolation and suffering?
2. How did he use 23 earthly years to grow in holiness, ultimately giving up his life to love plague victims?
3. What are the virtues that we can learn from this young, determined saint?
4. How often do we ask for his patronage, so we can meet him in heaven someday, God-willing?
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Quotes from St Aloysius Gonzaga
"In the twilight of our lives, we shall be judged according to our love.
All evangelical perfection is attained by the continual exercise of prayer.
He who is not a man of prayer, will never attain great acts of holiness, nor triumph over himself.
He who truly desires to love God only, will grow ardent with a constant desire to suffer for His sake.
There is no surer sign that one is chosen than to see that he fears God, while at the same time being tried with tribulations and desolation in this world.
When God takes away what He once lent us, it is to store our treasure elsewhere more safely; and then bestow on us, those very blessings that we ourselves would most choose to have.
It is better to be a child of God, than king of the whole world.
Suffering is never worthless."
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Timeline.
1568--Aloysius Gonzaga was born the eldest of 8 children in Castiglione, Italy. He was raised in his family's castle in Mantua, northern Italy on the Mincio River. Luigi was the son of a Marquis. His mother was the daughter of a Baron. She was also lady-in-waiting to Spain's Queen Isabella, wife of King Philip II. Since Luigi was to inherit all titles, estates and further the aristocracy; Luigi's father the Marquis, exposed him to a life of politics and soldiering.
1572--Around age 4, little Luigi received small weaponry and bivouacked with his father during military training missions.
1573--At age 5, they sojourned at a military camp. It pleased his father to see his son "play" march at the head of a platoon. It displeased his mother to see her son, unknowingly, repeat the militia's raw and limited vocabulary.
1576--At age 8, Luigi and his little brother Rodolfo, were sent south. They resided at the Florentine Medici court for education, culture and service. While there, Luigi developed kidney disease which plagued him all his life. While ill, he read books about saints and prayed. He recited the Little Office of Our Lady, the penitential psalms, and other devotions with his little knees on the cold, hard floor. Despite his 18-month illness, he never missed his daily prayers. Initially, his short, compressed life mirrors his patron; St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Prophetically, Luigi would become a Jesuit.
1579--The boys returned north but resided with the Duke of Mantua, 232 miles from Austria. (Mantua later became Lombardy which was seized by the Hapsburgs.) Living with the Duke, 11-year-old Luigi and his brother witnessed vendettas, violence, extravagance and decadent frivolities. Privately, Luigi took a vow of chastity.
1580--The Gonzaga boys returned home. Luigi met with Cardinal Charles Borromeo, and received his First Communion from him. After reading about Jesuit missionaries, Luigi dreamt about priestly missions. To prepare, he taught catechism during the summers. He toured the Capuchin and Barnabite houses, in the capital city of Montferrat where the family wintered. At age 12, he adopted an ascetic lifestyle.
1582--The family was called to Madrid in Spain to assist the Holy Roman Empress. Luigi and Rodolfo became pages to the young heir, Infante Diego. The decadence chafed at Luigi, who was 14, and he vocalized his desire to join a priestly order. He had considered the Capuchins, but because of his Jesuit confessor in Madrid, he applied to the Jesuits. Being the heir apparent, when his furious father heard about this; he threatened to whip Luigi, thus ending the nonsense.
1584--With the Infante's death, the family returned to Italy. At 16, Gonzaga was determined to study for the priesthood. Saddened, the family bargained to secure some legacy by negotiating for a secular priesthood leading to a bishopric. Luigi balked at the power, inheritance, status and society. All family attempts failed; Luigi refused all high offices. God had called him to be a missionary priest and he would obey.
1585--At 17, Luigi signed away all inheritance rights, as witnessed by the emperor and left for Rome. Through his noble birth, he gained an audience with Pope Sixtus V. He was accepted into the Society of Jesus in Rome. Over time, he was asked to reduce his aggressive asceticism and to socialize more with other novices.
1587--Formally, Luigi declared vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.
1588--At age 20, Luigi took minor orders. He began theology studies in preparation for ordination.
1589--He was called home for mediation between his brother Rodolfo, the newest heir and the Duke of Mantua.
1590--Upon returning to Rome, he had a vision from the Archangel Gabriel. He was told he would die within the year. Aloysius lived humbly in Rome, advancing in prayer and often entering deep contemplation. He prayed before the Blessed Sacrament daily, grew in devotion to Our Lady and meditated on Christ’s Passion. The future saint, Father Robert Bellarmine became his spiritual director and teacher. Aloysius was obedient, manifested a holy chastity, and was charitable; especially towards the poor.
1591--A bubonic plague broke out in Rome. The Jesuits opened a hospital and Gonzaga volunteered to care for victims. He begged for alms while seeking and bringing in the dying from the streets. He washed and fed the plague victims, while prepping them for the sacraments. Meanwhile, he privately confessed to the now Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, that he was physically repulsed by the sights and smells. When many of the Jesuits became infected, Gonzaga's superiors forbade him to go back. Gonzaga obeyed but persisted with requests until he was allowed to return to another hospital, where plague victims were not acceted. Ironically, Gonzaga was infected there. He grew ill, was bedridden and his health declined over several weeks. Near death, he was given Extreme Unction. He confessed several times to St Bellarmine. Gonzaga prophesized that he would die on the feast of Corpus Christi. Below is his final letter to his mother, written on his deathbed.
"The Divine Goodness, most honored lady, is a fathomless and shoreless ocean.
I confess that when I plunge my mind into thought of this,
It is carried away by the immensity and it feels quite lost and bewildered there.
In return for my short and feeble labors, God is calling me to eternal rest;
His voice from heaven invites me to the infinite bliss I have sought so languidly.
He promises me this reward for the tears I have so seldom shed…
I write all this with one desire, that you and the family may consider my departure a joy and favor.
And that you especially, may speed with a mother’s blessing, my passage across the waters
until I reach the shore to which all hopes belong.
I write most willingly because I have no clearer way of expressing the love and respect that I owe you as your son."
On June 21, 1591, St Bellarmine performed last rites. Aloysius died prior to midnight. Gonzaga was buried in a Roman church, now named for St. Ignatius of Loyola. His skull was sent to his childhood church in Castigliani, where it is venerated, see here. Many considered him a saint upon his death. Those who knew him or heard his confessions, claimed he never committed a mortal sin.
1600--St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi claimed to have had a vision of him on April 4. She described him as gloriously radiant from his "interior works." She called him a hidden martyr, for his great love of God and suffering neighbor.
1605--He was beatified by Pope Paul V on October 19, a mere 14 years after his death.
1726--Pope Benedict XIII canonized him as a saint on December 31.
1729--Pope Benedict XIII declared him as the patron saint of youth and students, placing all schools under his patronage.
1926--Pope Pius XI named him patron of all Christian youth. Due to the manner of his death, he is considered a patron saint of plague victims. For his compassion and courage against an incurable disease, St. Aloysius Gonzaga has become the patron for both AIDs patients and their caregivers.
Today, many schools and colleges are named for St. Aloysius Gonzaga. A few are Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, Pennsylvania and Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Often, St Aloysius is pictured wearing a black cassock and surplice. In his hands, he holds a lily to signify his purity, a cross symbolizing his piety and sacrifice, a skull to represent his early death; and a rosary signifying his devotion to his ever Blessed Mother, Mary.
Saint Aloysius,
You abandoned money, physical comfort, power and status for the priceless promises of God’s grace.
Please pray that we will keep God's will and our interior life in order.
Ask for help. so we too may choose the wealth of the kingdom of God, above all else.
Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, pray for us.
Mother Mary, pray for us.
Jesus, we trust in You.
Sources:
Quotes from St Aloysius Gonzaga
Science cannot explain suffering. As Lay Passionist and nurse, she challenges modern health care assumptions; contraception, abortion, euthanasia, herd immunity and more. Behind every health dilemma, God asks us to abide in Him. Author of 7 books & >20 peer-reviewed nursing journal articles; she also writes as "The Catholic Nurse" on Substack, see "Archives." She is a veteran of the Army Nurse Corps. Her primary charism is mercy through which she explores redemptive suffering, spiritual healing and the joy of bringing of souls to God.
