On June 21, the Church celebrates the life of St. Aloysius Gonzaga.
St. Aloysius had a great desire to serve and know God as a young boy, but his family life was not always aligned with his desire. He was born into a noble Italian family and his father was a compulsive gambler. He grew up in a castle and was trained from a very young age to be a soldier and courtier. Despite the exigencies of his family, he taught catechism to poor boys.
He encountered many holy people in his lifetime, receiving first Communion from St. Charles Borromeo and studying under St. Robert Bellarmine. As a teen, he suffered from kidney disease, which he considered a blessing as it left him with time for prayer.
At 18 he signed away his legal claim to his title and his family's lands, and he entered the Jesuits. He died shortly thereafter of the plague at the age of 23, having devotedly cared for plague victims in Rome during the outbreak of 1591.
He was canonized in 1726 and is the patron saint of youth, AIDS patients and AIDS caregivers.
— Catholic News Agency