THE STORY OF THE SAINTS - BY FATHER ED
 

St. Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591). This saintly young man was only twenty three years old when he died in Rome. He was born of a noble family at Castiglione (between Brescia and Mantua, Northern Italy). At the age of 10 , Aloysius consecrated himself to God and, at the age of 12, he received First Communion from St. Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan. In his early teens, Aloysius and his brother Rodolfo served at the court of the Duke of Mantua and later at the court of the Prince of Asturias in Spain. On his return to Italy in July, 1584, he decided to enter the Jesuit novitiate in Rome. He gave up his right to succession to his brother Rodolfo. He lived in Rome for six years, with St. Robert Bellarmine as his spiritual director. Aloysius never made it to the priesthood because during the plague of 1591, while he cared for and nursed the sick, he himself contracted the disease and died at midnight between June 20 and 21, with the name of Jesus on his lips. He was canonized in 1726 and his feast is celebrated on June 21. He is the patron of youth.