THE NOVICE WHO TEACHES NOVICE MASTERS

Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious
Mt 22:34-40

Born in 1568, Italy, Aloysius, whose blessed memory we celebrate today, was from the princely family of Castiglione. He became a page in the court of Medicis and of Philip II of Spain. However, he renounced his inheritance to enter the Society of Jesus and showed great devotion to the Holy Eucharist, interior prayer, and charitable service. Robert Belarmine, another Jesuit and saint, was his spiritual director. While nursing the plague-stricken in 1591, Aloysius contracted the disease and, while still a Jesuit novice, passed away at the young age of 23 years old.

Aloysius exemplifies for us the inseparable love of God and neighbor. One who professes love of God but does not love his neighbor is a handicapped lover. Real love of either kind is not complete without the other. Aloysius’ love for God found its expression not only in his intense devotion to the Holy Eucharist and to interior prayer, but also and simultaneously in his charitable service to his brethren who were victims of a plague. His charity towards the plague-stricken was such that he himself contracted the disease. He was a novice in the Jesuit order, but he was indeed a master in the order of love. Today, even Jesuit novice masters learn from this novice.