Prayer of Saint Aloysius to the Blessed Mother Prayer Card

Also known as

    * Aluigi Gonzaga
    * Luigi Gonzaga

Memorial

    * 21 June

Profile

    Italian noble who grew up in a castle, the son of a compulsive gambler. Cousin of Saint Rudolph Acquaviva. Trained from age four as a soldier and courtier. He suffered from kidney disease, which he considered a blessing as it left him bed-ridden with time for prayer. While still a boy himself, he taught catechism to poor boys. He received his First Communion from Saint Charles Borromeo. At age 18, Aloysius signed away his legal claim to his family’s lands and title to his brother, and became a Jesuit novice. Spiritual student of Saint Robert Bellarmine. Tended plague victims in Rome, Italy in the outbreak of 1591 during which he caught the disease that killed him at age 23.

Born

    * 9 March 1568 in the family castle of Castiglione delle Stivieri in Montua, Lombardy, Italy

Died

    * 20-21 June 1591 at Rome, Italy of plague, fever, and desire to see God
    * relics entombed under the altar of Saint Ignatius Church, Rome

Beatified

    * 19 October 1605 Pope Paul V (cultus confirmed)
    * 1621 by Pope Gregory XV

Canonized

    * 31 December 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII

Patronage

    * against sore eyes
    * AIDS care-givers
    * AIDS patients
    * Castiglione delle Stiviere, Italy
    * Catholic youth
    * Jesuit students
    * relief from pestilence
    * teenage children
    * teenagers
    * Valmonte, Italy
    * young people


Representation

    * skull
    * lilies