St. Aloysius - June 21st

 

Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Aloysius, patron of Catholic youth. He is often pictured as a young man holding a crucifix, with an angelic face. Although artists make him appear wimpy, the young man was actually very strong willed.

His father wanted him to be a soldier, and so, as a child, Aloysius would roam about his father’s military camp, wearing soldier clothing. One day, he accidentally set off an explosion from ammunition, which caused many to think the castle was being attacked.

Though not old enough to know better, he began to speak the dirty language of the soldiers. However, at the age of 7, he had a conversion and wanted to give himself totally to God. At this young age, most of his time was spent in prayer, reading devotions from a prayer book, and disciplining his body. He caught malaria, which put an end to his playing soldier. And when his father returned from war, he noticed his son had changed, and now wanted to be religious brother, rather than a soldier.

During his time, murders and adultery were widespread. Immorality was the chief topic in conversations; like today, amusement games had impure and suggestive material.

Despite the immoral world around him, St. Aloysius vowed never to commit a mortal sin. And so, at the age of 10, he avoided silly and indecent games and kept his eyes cast down, as young women passed by. By disciplining his own innocent body, he made reparation for the impure sins of others.

At the age of 12, St. Aloysius received instruction on the Eucharist from his relative St. Charles Borremeo, and made his first Communion from him.

Determined to become a religious in the order of the Jesuits, one day, he went to receive Holy Communion in a Jesuit church, and knelt before an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He distinctly heard an inner voice tell him, it was God’s will, he become a religious.

However, his father was opposed to it causing years of turmoil until he was finally told to leave the house. He left and went to a house on the outskirts of town. Worried about his son, his father sent a man sent to check on him. As the man peered into his room, he noticed Aloysius scourging himself. When his father heard that his son was scourging himself, he came to see his boy, and began to weep, as he saw his son’s bleeding back. With a change of heart, his father wrote a letter to the Jesuits, asking that his boy be received into the order. After entering the order, he was told to do less penance, but practiced humility, obedience and poverty, by his self-denial. He used to say, “I am a twisted piece of iron, I have entered religious life to get twisted straight.”

He began to study to become a priest. However, a famine and a plague swept through the city. Consequently, he began to beg for food for the many who were starving, and helped the many who were sick in the hospitals from the plague. Eventually he caught the plague and after 3 months, he joyfully prayed that his death would come soon. Three days before his death, he stated, “Were off, were off!” The provincial asked “We are off where?”, and he replied, “We are off to heaven, if my sins do not stop me!” He died, during the octave of Corpus Christi, at the young age of 23. Today, in the Liturgy of Hours, the Office of Readings has his beautiful letter to his mother, stating his death is near, but not to worry.

St. Therese, the little flower, said this about, St. Aloysius, “Look at St. Aloysius. God could have made him live long, to evangelize the nations. But He did not choose to do so, because He destined him for a far more fruitful mission. This young saint did much more good through dying, before he was twenty-four, than he would otherwise have done, if he had lived to be eighty. He is doing an apostolic work in heaven.” We know that these words of St. Therese would prophetically speak of her role as patron of missionaries, as she said, she would do her work in heaven.

Today, let us ask St. Aloysius, patron of Catholic Youth, to pray for all our youth of today, that their souls may be kept pure.

And, as St. Aloysius made reparation for the many sins of impurity, which engulfed his world, may we too, imitate this strong willed saint, by making reparation for these sins, which so offend, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Virgin Most Pure!