Aloysius Gonzaga
Martyrological notice
Roman Martyrology (traditional English edition; normalized OCR transcription): At Rome, the birth-day of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, confessor, of the Society of Jesus.
Alban Butler — Lives of the Saints, with Reflections for Every Day in the Year (1894) · June 21— ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA.
June 21— ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA.
JIIloysius, the eldest son of Ferdinand Gonzaga, 5—1 Marquis of Castiglione, was born on the 9th of March, 1568. The first words he pronounced were the holy names of Jesus and Mary. When he was nine years of age he macle a vow of perpetual virginity, and by a special grace was ever exempted from temptations against purity. He received his first Communion at the hands of St. Charles Borromeo. At an early age he resolved to leave the world, and in a vision was directed by our blessed Lady to join the Society of Jesus. The Saint's mother rejoiced on learning his determination to become a religious, but his father for three years refused his consent. At length St. Aloysius obtained permission to enter the novitiate on the 25th of November, 1585. He took his vows after two years, and went through the ordinary course of philosophy and theology. He was wont to say he doubted whether without penance grace would continue to make head against nature, which, when not afflicted and chas^sed, tends grad- ually to relapse into its old state, losing the habit of suffer-