ALOYSIUS GONZAGA, SAINT

born March 9, 1568, Castiglione delle Stiviere, Republic of Venice died June 21, 1591, Rome; canonized 1726; feast day June 21 patron saint of Roman Catholic youth. A son of Ferrante, marchese di Castiglione, Aloysius was educated at the ducal courts of Florence and Mantua and at the royal court of Madrid, where he was page to King Philip II's son Diego. In 1585 he resigned his inheritance and entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) at Rome, where one of his spiritual directors was the renowned theologian Robert Bellarmine. Shortly before ordination, while nursing victims of the plague, he contracted the disease and died. He was named patron of youth by Pope Benedict XIII in 1729, an action confirmed by Pope Pius XI in 1926. Additional reading Among the many lives of Aloysius Gonzaga are those by Maurice Meschler, Life of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Patron of Christian Youth (1911, reprinted 1985); and C.C. Martindale, The Vocation of Aloysius Gonzaga (1927, reissued 1945).