Saint Aloysius Gonzaga (1591)

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga was born on March 9, 1568. He is the model of the virtue of holy purity to all young Catholic boys. The first words Saint Aloysius spoke as a little child were the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. So rich was his wisdom as a young boy that at the age of nine he made a vow of perpetual virginity. God arranged it that a saint should give Saint Aloysius his first Holy Communion. This saint was Saint Charles Borromeo, whose feast day is November 4, and who died in 1584. In 1585, when Aloysius Gonzaga was seventeen years old, he joined the newly-founded Order of the Society of Jesus.

Saint Aloysius died speaking the Holy Name of Jesus, on the octave of Corpus Christi, June 21, 1591, when he was only twenty-three years old. The name of Saint Aloysius in Italian is Luigi, and countless Italian boys have been called by that name, after him. His name in French is Louis. He himself was named for Saint Louis of Toulouse, who in turn was named for the great King, Saint Louis of France. Saint Robert Bellarmine wrote, by way of eulogy, the life of Saint Aloysius.

The Vocation of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (a/k/a "Guercino" 1591–1666) source

The Vocation of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri
(a/k/a “Guercino” 1591–1666) source