Aloysius Gonzaga

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Aloysius de Gonzaga (Italian: Luigi Gonzaga) was an Italian aristocrat who became a member of the Society of Jesus on September 9, 1568 to 1591).

He died as a result of caring for the victims of a massive epidemic while still a student at the Roman College.

In 1605, he was defeated and canonized in 1726.

Early life

Gonzaga was born in Castiglione delle Stiviere, north of Brescia and Mantua, in what was then part of the Duchy of Mantua, into the illustrious House of Gonzaga. In Italian, Luigi, "Aloysius" is the Latin name of Aloysius de Gonzaga's given name. Gonzaga's uncle was Ferrante de Gonzaga (1544–1586), Marquis de Castiglione, and Donna Marta Tana di Santena, the niece of a Baron of Piedmonte Della Rovere's family. Isabel, the wife of Spain's Prince Philip II, was a lady-in-waiting.

He was in a position to inherit his father's name and dignity as the first-born son of Marquis. Gonzaga's father hoped that he would become a soldier because that was the norm for sons of the aristocracy and his family was often active in the minor wars of the period. Luigi was given a set of miniature weapons and joined his father on training trips so that the boy could learn "the art of arms" from an early age. Gonzaga was taken to a military camp to begin his preparations at the age of five. His father was delighted to see his son marching around camp at the front of a company of soldiers. His mother and his tutor were less satisfied with the vocabulary he learned at school.

He grew up in Renaissance Italy's brutality and brutality, and he witnessed the assassination of two of his brothers.

He and his younger brother, Rodolfo, were sent to Florence in 1576, aged 8, to serve in the Grand Duke's court and further education. While in college, he became ill with a kidney disease that had bounded him throughout his life. Although he was sick, he took the time to read about the saints and spend a significant portion of his time in prayer. At age 9, he is said to have taken a personal vow of chastity. The brothers were sent in November 1579 to the Duke of Mantua. Gonzaga's violent and frivolous lifestyle shocked him.

Gonzaga also returned to Castiglione, where he met Cardinal Charles Borromeo and received First Communion on July 22nd, 1580. Gonzaga, who read a book about Jesuit missionaries in India, felt strongly that he wanted to become a missionary. In Castiglione's summers, he began teaching catechism classes to young boys. He also visited the homes of the Capuchin friars and the Barnabites who lived in Casale Monferrato, the capital of the Gonzaga-ruled Duchy of Montferrat, where the family spent the winter. He also adopted an ascetic lifestyle.

In 1581, the family was brought to Spain to support the Holy Roman Empress Maria of Austria. They arrived in Madrid in March 1582, where Gonzaga and Rodolfo became pages for the young Infante Diego. Gonzaga began to think about joining a religious order in earnest. He had considered joining the Capuchins but instead he found a Jesuit confessor in Madrid and decided to join the Order instead. His mother accepted his request, but his father was furious and barred him from doing so.

The family returned to Italy in July 1584, a year and a half since the infante's death. Gonzaga wanted to be a priest, but several members of his family attempted to convince him not to change his mind. They discovered that there was no way to force him to abandon his scheme and offered to arrange for a bishopric for him. If he were to become a Jesuit, he would deny his right to his inheritance or place in society. Gonzaga's family's efforts to dissuade him were unsuccessful; his family was still interested in higher office and aspiring to be a missionary.

Religious life

Gonzaga gave up all rights of inheritance that had been promised by the emperor in November 1585. Following a brief stay at Palazzo Aragona Gonzaga, his cousin's Roman home, Cardinal Scipione Gonzaga, he was accepted into the Society of Jesus in Rome on November 25th. During this time, he was encouraged to moderate his asceticism a bit and be more social with the other newbies.

Gonzaga's health was still suffering. In addition to the kidney disease, he suffered from a skin disease, chronic headaches, and insomnia. He was sent to Milan for studies, but he was sent back to Rome for a short time due to his health. He took the three holy vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience on November 25th, 1587. He was given minor orders and began researching theology in February and March 1588 to prepare for ordination. He was sent to Mantua in 1589 to mediate between his brother Rodolfo and the Duke of Mantua. In May 1590, he returned to Rome. Later this year, it was reported that he had a vision in which Gabriel Gabriel told him that he would die within a year.

A plague epidemic broke out in Rome in 1591. The Jesuits opened a hospital for the stricken, and Gonzaga accepted to work there. Gonzaga began caring for the victims by begging alms, turning the streets into a Jesuit hospital. He washed and fed the plague victims, assassinating them as best he could get the sacraments. However, though he volunteered to serve himself, Robert Bellarmine confessed to his spiritual director that his constitution was revolted by the sights and smells of the job; he had to work hard to escape his physical repulsion.

Many of the younger Jesuits had been contaminated with the disease at the time, and Gonzaga's superiors had forbidden him from returning to the hospital. Gonzaga, who was used to being refused by his father, persisted and requested permission to return, which was granted. He was eventually allowed to care for the sick, but only at Our Lady of Consolation, where those with contagious diseases were not accepted. Gonzaga carried a man out of his sickbed and brought him right to his bed while he was sick. However, the man was contaminated with the disease. Aloysius died and was bedridden by 3 March 1591, a few days before his 23rd birthday.

Gonzaga bounded for a while, but for weeks after being plagued by fever and a cough, he collapsed for a few weeks. He seemed that he would die in a short time, and Extreme Unction was given. Though ill, Robert Bellarmine, the cardinal and later saint, talked with him several times. Gonzaga had another dream and told several people that he would die on the Octave of Corpus Christi's feast. He looked fine in the morning on the day, but he died before the day was over. Bellarmine gave him the last rites and recited the prayers for the dying as he began to age. He died right before midnight. "When the two Jesuits returned to his side, they noticed a difference in his smile and realized that their young Aloysius was dying," Joseph N. Tylenda wrote. His eyes were fixed on the crucifix he held in his hands, and as he tried to pronounce the name of Jesus, he died."

Purity was his defining feature. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, a Carmelite mystic, claimed to have seen him on April 4, 1600. She praised him as radiant in glory because of his "interior works," a little martyr for his unashamed love of God.

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