Mass at the altar of St. Luigi Ignazio

 

On 21 June 1924, exactly one hundred years ago, Don Luigi Orione celebrated Mass for the first time at the altar of S. Luigi Gonzaga, in the church of S. Ignazio in Rome, to fulfill a vow. From this date onwards, whenever possible, I renewed this celebration.

After his death (March 12, 1940), the general directors continued to fulfill the vow made by the Founder, ensuring that over time, the Mass celebrated on the liturgical feast of San Luigi Gonzaga on his altar at the Church of Sant'Ignazio, would become a fixed event open to the entire Orionine charismatic family.

Life of  Luigi Gonzaga

Aloysius Gonzaga (Luigi Gonzaga, 1568-1591) gave up a privileged life and a princely inheritance to live the vows of religious life even to the point of contacting the plague because of his selfless care for people already sick with it. He was the eldest son of the Marquis of Castiglione, and heir to the family title. The Gonzagas were known as patrons of Renaissance artists, and they ruled what amounted to a kingdom.

As a young man Gonzaga wore a suit of armor and walked at his father's side when he reviewed troops. His life began to change after he contacted malaria and suffered frequent bouts of fever. As early as age seven, he became attracted to prayer and turned away from the courtly life around him. When he was nine, he and his brother were sent to Florence to learn the customs of princes at the court of their father's friend the Grand Duke Francesco de' Medici. The Medici court was one of the grandest, most opulent in Europe, but also one full of intrigue, deceit, sex and violence. The young Gonzaga withdrew from this world and became firm in his desire to never offend God by sinning. In November 1579 he moved to Mantua to stay with the duke, to relative him; in that residence he discovered a book with brief lives of the saints. He also began to pray the Psalms daily and later started meditating after he discovered a prayer book written by the Jesuit Peter Canisius. His mercy on him included daily Mass, weekly communion and fasting three days a week.

The young heir traveled with Maria of Austria, the daughter of Charles V, on her way to Madrid in 1582. He became a page attending the duke of Asturias, the heir apparent, and was later made a knight of the Order of St. James . The higher he rose in royal society, however, the more his thoughts of him turned to becoming a Jesuit like his confessor of him in Madrid. On Aug. 15, 1583 he had an experience in prayer that confirmed his decision. When he told his confessor about him, that man said he would have to get his father's permission from him.

The marquis was enraged by the news that his heir wanted to renounce all that had been so carefully prepared for him. The whole family returned to Castiglione and then the marquis sent his two sons on a tour of the courts of Italy, hoping that the experience of such refined living would change his son's mind and relieve the tension that had developed between two strong-willed individuals. The son's determination proved to be stronger, and the father finally granted his assent to him. In November 1585 Aloysius renounced his inheritance in favor of his brother Rudolph and set out for Rome where he presented himself to the Superior General, Claudio Acquaviva, who admitted him to the novitiate of Sant'Andrea.

Although the new novice was not yet 18, his background made him mature beyond his years, and he found the novitiate less rigorous than the life he had been living by his own decision. He nevertheless obediently followed the novitiate rules and the guidance of his novice master. He enrolled in the Roman College to finish philosophy studies before taking first vows, and then went immediately into theology right after. He returned to Castiglione in 1589 to negotiate peace between his brother and the duke of Mantua, and then returned to Rome in May 1590.

Plague and famine struck Italy the following year and Gonzaga threw himself into caring for the victims of the plague. He begged alms for the sick and physically carried those he found in the streets to a hospital where he washed and fed them and prepared them for the sacraments. He told his spiritual director, Robert Bellarmine (who would later be recognized as a saint), that he had a premonition he would die soon.

So many young Jesuits were becoming sick that the superior forbade Gonzaga to return to the hospital. Gonzaga did get permission to work at Our Lady of Consolation hospital which did not treat anyone with contagious diseases. Gonzaga went there but contacted the plague when he cared for a man who had the plague. The young Jesuit put himself to bed on March 3, 1591; his condition worsened and then improved somewhat, but he could not recover full health. Fever and a cough set in and he slowly lingered on. He knew he was dying and asked to receive communion. Two Jesuits watched with him through the night and saw his face change as he held onto a cross and called the name of Jesus. He was only 23 when he died. His body is now kept in the church of St. Ignatius in Rome.

Originally Collected and edited by: Tom Rochford, SJ

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Francis entrusts to him the youth of the world

For today's civilized world, the child soldier is one of the icons of human unworthiness. Small hands that nervously grip a machete or a too-thinking rifle instead of a ball, trained to slaughter instead of play. Yet there was about 450 years ago a little boy who at 5 years of age went around happily wearing a mini-armor and had fun with arquebuses and grenades, excited by the feeling of power that a uniform and weapons gave off, immersed in the atmosphere full of tensions of the palace where he was growing up, that of his father, the Marquis Ferrante Gonzaga.

The soul and the sword

In the following years, that little boy revealed a brilliant brain and a strong and fiery character, the qualities that his father expected from the perfect heir, a "clone" capable of prospectively managing the affairs of the marquisate with the toughness and political skill imposed . from the role. However, his mother, the Piedmontese countess Marta di Sàntena, a woman of great faith, who delicately teaches her son the things of the soul while her husband tries to instill in him the codes of the military nobility. What prevails, and also quickly considering the circumstances - those of a fiefdom in which intrigues, violence and blood are intertwined - are the things of the soul.

From the courts to the cassock

At 10 years old, Luigi no longer has anything of the child-soldier nature. While he is in Florence at the Medici court he decides to consecrate himself to Mary "as she had consecrated herself to God". Over time he shows a growing interest in prayer rather than in the practice of war, in the poverty of customs instead of the luxuries of his world. Until he was still 18-after his father di lui sent him around the Italian courts with the hope that some princess would distract him from those "oddities" -Luigi decided to formally renounce his birthright di lui to him. The father is furious, the relatives make fun of him, the notary who draws up the deed is incredulous. The only one rubbing his hands is the second son Rodolfo, to whom the choice of that singular brother opens up the future command of the house. The young Gonzaga responds frankly to everyone: “I am looking for salvation, you too should look for it! You cannot serve two masters... It is too difficult for a state lord to save himself." And he leaves for Rome with the idea of ​​joining the Jesuits.

"God, my rest"

In the novitiate of the Company the formative fathers immediately realize that Luigi is a diamond. He prays and does penance with such intensity that, paradoxically, to moderate his ardors the penance of "not" doing penance is imposed on him. Or, at the limits of humor, to overcome the migraines that are making him suffer, they ask him for the love of God to "not think about God" - so he confides to a trainer that he doesn't really know what to do : "The rector told me he forbids me to pray, so that my attention does not cause violence to my head", but this, he says simply, "has almost become natural to me, and I find peace and rest and not pain" .

In the midst of the plague "like the others"

In Rome in that period, after a famine, a violent plague epidemic broke out. The city becomes hell, thousands die in terrible conditions. The Jesuits are at the forefront in bringing help to the infected and Luigi is no exception: he - a nobleman - knocks on doors to ask for alms with the motto "Like the others" in his head and heart. One day he sees an abandoned plague victim and puts him on his shoulder to take him to the hospital. Luigi is already ill and perhaps that last gesture of courage and generosity worsens the situation without there being any more hope. In a short time the ancient child soldier, who became the rich young man who did not turn his back on Jesus but followed him, died at the age of 23, on 21 June 1591. Benedict XIII canonized him in 1729.

References

https://www.donorione.org/public/contentpage/21-giugno-2024-il-100-anniversario-della-messa-allaltare-di-san-luigi---video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rztv42_Y7pI&t=430s

https://www.jesuits.global/saint-blessed/saint-aloysius-gonzaga/

https://www.vaticannews.va/it/papa/news/2023-06/luigi-gonzaga-tweet-papa-affida-giovani-storia-santo.html