Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

The Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Saint Aloysius was born in 1568 near Mantua in Lombardy. Instructed in piety by his mother, he manifested an inclination to religious life. He legally delivered his share of the ancestral dominion to his brother and entered the Society of Jesus. While serving the sick during a plague, he himself contracted the disease and died in 1591 (Magnificat, 304). He did not live a long life, but he touched many lives and worked on his own spiritual growth. I think this quote speaks very well to that: "Saint Aloysius, a Jesuit, died at the age of twenty-three while caring for the plague-stricken. He was noted for the purity of heart - that is, the single-hearted focus - with which he pursued holiness" (Magnificat, 302). As members of the body of Christ, we all have a universal call to holiness. We are to be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy. These are graces that we can pray for since Jesus talked about prayer in the gospel for today, Matthew 6:7-15. Our Lord gave the disciples "The Lord's Prayer." As Jesus said, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him." That does not mean we stop praying because God already knows what we are going to say! He wants to hear is from us. We pray for those graces to be faithful, prayerful, holy people. We have a wonderful saint in Saint Aloysius Gonzaga who will intercede for us as we stive to live that holiness way of life. Blessings to You!!!