St. Aloysius (patron of youth & plague victims)
Saint Aloysius Gonzaga
(patron of youth & plague victims)
Find a brief biography and a quote written by Saint Aloysius. We can pray the chaplet to ask for his intercession.
BIO OF SAINT ALOYSIUS
The First Feast of St. Aloysius was on June 21, 1727
HIS EARLY LIFE
Saint Aloysius (pronounced [AL] + [OH] + [ISH] + [UHS] ) Gonzaga (9 March 1568 to 21 June 1591) grew up in his family’s castle in Castiglione, Italy. He was the eldest and groomed for a military career. While he suffered from kidney disease and chronic headaches, he saw it as a blessing because it allowed him time to reflect and pray. During this time, he felt called to the priesthood in a vision by Our Blessed Mother. Instead of continuing his military training, he spent his time teaching catechism to poor young men.
THE JESUITS
In 1585, at the age of 18, he renounced his title and inheritance to join the Jesuits. He studied under Saint Robert Bellarmine SJ who was also his spiritual advisor. He made his first vows in 1587. In 1591, the second wave of the Bubonic plague spread across Rome. The Jesuits opened a hospital to care for those suffering from the epidemic. He begged for alms and helped feed and care for the dying and prepared them to receive the sacraments. Then he also got sick with the plague. When he was dying, he held a Crucifix in his hands and his last word was the Name of Jesus.
CANONIZATION
He was beatified by Pope Paul V on 16 October 1605 and canonized by Pope Benedict XIII on 31 December 1726. In 1926, Pope Pius XI named him patron of Christian youth because of his dedication to the education of young students. He has also been considered a patron saint of plague victims. We can pray for his intercession during the global pandemic or during any time of illness.
When he takes away what he once lent us, his purpose is to store our treasure elsewhere more safely and bestow on us those very blessings that we ourselves would most choose to have.
Saint Aloysius Gonzaga
(an excerpt from a letter to his mother)
Some Thoughts
Everything we have is a gift from God. When we face difficulties, it can be difficult to let go and put everything in God’s hands. Yet He knows that what will give us true joy is more than our circumstances here on earth.
Our Lady of Grace Rosaries (June 21, 2020)
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Packaging
Each chaplet comes with a sturdy prayer card. It includes the full text of the prayers and explains which prayers to say on which beads.
Suggestion
It is a good idea to store your chaplets and prayer cards together. Since chaplets have unique bead groupings and prayers, the prayer card and chaplet need to stay together so that you can continue to use them.
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CREDITS
The LOGO image of Our Lady of Grace is original artwork by Martin Lariviere in 2009. We have the artist’s permission (my son). It is our exclusive trademark logo image.
A beautifully photographed sky by Donald Tong inspired the website’s colour scheme. Cropped portions of it are the background for the footer Bible verse. He shared it as a free download on pexels.com.
Raphael painted The Sistine Madonna circa (1513-1514). We made circular cut-outs from the original image.
Guercino painted the vocation of St. Aloysius Gonzaga in 1650.
Our information is from general knowledge, experience, and shared internet sources. We ask that you use it as a starting point for your research so that you can verify facts and build a reference list.
IN REVIEW
St. Aloysius Gonzaga (March 9, 1568 to June 21, 1591) grew up in his family’s castle in Castiglione, Italy. While he suffered from kidney disease and chronic headaches, he saw it as a blessing because it allowed him time to reflect and pray. He felt called to the priesthood during this time in a vision by our Blessed Mother. At the age of 18, he renounced his title and inheritance to join the Jesuits. Four years after he made his first vows, the second wave of the Bubonic plague spread across Rome. The Jesuits opened a hospital to care for the ill. After he also got sick from the plague, he died holding a Crucifix in his hands. His last word was the Name of Jesus.
St. Aloysius was beatified by Pope Paul VI on October 19, 1605. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII on December 31, 1726.
His feast day is on June 21st. Since he was declared a saint on December 31, 1726, his first feast day was on June 21, 1727.
In 1926, Pope Pius XI named him patron of Christian youth because of his dedication to the education of young students.
In 1591, the second wave of the Bubonic plague spread across Rome. The Jesuits opened a hospital to care for those suffering from the epidemic. He begged for alms and helped feed and care for the dying and prepared them to receive the sacraments. Then he also got sick from the plague. When he was dying, he held a Crucifix in his hands and his last word was the name of Jesus.