^^ cO- ^ ^ ^. ^'^ ^c^. ^^^im:^ ,^ - ^'- ^^^,v^ A^^^. ^ , -^^/^^ ■ ' _ ^ '^ v,^.:^cip^ ^^^ip;j^-.#' -r - e ^v - V -^.■' 'M- ^. *v '%%^ #-^. .-^ C"-^ V „. ^^ •v^ .^ ■^^ ' » * '<^-, ■^^ '^ C -0- 3^ '% /■ %^ .V \ ^ 7 >^ "oo^ o>' .^^' '%-. *:<^aj/^^ ■,v I f S/^iS^T -4L@¥S0-B. ilisiLedlnr Peter F.Cijuiiiatliain C16 S.S'^S" Tlulid^ THE LIFE OP ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA, OP THE COMPANY OF JESUS. / Q^CpCLTti if " Senectus venerabilis°est non diuturna, neque annorum numero computata: carii autem sunt sensus hominis, et astas senectutis vita immaculata Consumiiiatus in brevi explevit tempora multa," — Sap, iv. 8, 9, 13. f PHILADELPHIA: PETER F. CUNNINGHAM, Catholic Bookseller, 216 SOL^II THIRD STREET. 1S67. ' 1667 PERMISStT STJPBRIORUM. :^\ Entered ^''<'or^^^i^^^r'S''^ri^^'^^^, '7^^^'!. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, '" [i!andforthe°EasternDistricJ^rPeBnsylva^ Stereotyped by Theodore Bro^-n, 605 Sansom street, Philadelphia. PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. Many words are not required to recommend to the American Catholic public a life of the Angelical youth, St. Aloysius Gonzaga. In a country like this, where every thinking man feels that the education of the rising generation is one of the most important objects that can engage the attention of all, who, from whatever cause, may be interested in the preservation of good morals, Catholics turn instinctively to the blessed Saint, whom the Will of Heaven, expressed by the Vicar of Christ on earth, has designated as the especial protector of youth in these latter days. To him they entrust the young people for whom they know that they will be held responsible at the tribunal of the Most High ; and it is through his intercession, after that of the Mother of God, that they hope that I the Invisible Head of the Church will vouchsafe them I the graces necessary to enable them to succeed in the arduous task of imparting a truly Christian education to those committed to their care. The present volume is the first of a series of lives of holy persons, now publishing in England, edited by a gentleman fully competent for the important task. A few inaccuracies, which had been allowed to PREFACE. creep into the English edition, have been carefully corrected in this reprint. This correction has been rendered the more easy by the fact that the author himself had substantially acknowledged the justice of the remarks, which had been made by his critics. It will be seen that the author has spared no pains to make his work perfect. On this account, his life of St. Aloysius has special claims on the Catholic public. An extraordinary hero of sanctity, Aloysius is, at the same time, an exemplar which each one may copy, albeit imperfectly, in the regulation of his daily actions. It thus becomes a matter of import- ance, to know all the details of his short and saintly career ; and these are given in the present volume with an exactness, a grace, and an earnestness, which mark a labor of holy love. That this publication may conduce to the greater glory of God, the object for which Aloysius ever labored, and the preservation of innocence among those of whom he is the special protector, is the sin- cere wish and prayer of the American publisher. ADVERTISEMENT. II /TORE ample details exist for the life of St. Aloysiua ■^'-^ Gonzaga than for almost any other saint per- haps in the calender. P. Virgilio Cepari, his principal biographer, lived in close intimacy with him at the Roman College for several years, and, having resolved to write his life, he communicated his design to P. Girolamo Piatti. This father, who, as being set over the novices sent to serve masses at the Gesii, had enjoyed much communication with Aloysius previously to P. Cepari's personal intercourse with the holy youth, had exacted from him an account of his life and vocation, as well as of the graces he received in the world ; all which P. Piatti had secretly committed to paper. This manuscript he now handed over to P. Cepari, approving and encouraging his design. By the help of these materials, and with the addition of what he had himself noted or learned from others, Cepari concluded his first biography about two years before the saint's death, but showed it to a very limited number of persons, and that in strict confidence, fearing lest it should reach the ears of the subject himself. After Aloysius's death, P. Cepari submitted the manuscript to P. Bellarmino, who strongly urged him IV ADVERTISEMENT* to add to his narrative the last two years of the saint's life. But as he was at that time much occupied, he handed over his papers, with many fresh materials which he had collected, to P. Giovanni Antonio Valtrino, who had just come from Sicily for the purpose of compiling the chronicles of the Company, in order that he might complete the work or make any other use of it he pleased. This father had no personal knowledge of Aloysius, but when he heard the details of his wonderful sanctity at the Roman College, and witnessed the veneration of which he was the object, he felt pressed to give so edifying an example more rapid publication, and not wait to consign the recital to the chronicles which were in process of formation. Accordingly, he wrote a separate life, and this was the second manuscript biography of the saint which was circulated. As Cepari, Piatti, and Valtrino, however, had mainly relied upon Aloysius's own account extracted from him by obedience, or caught and noted down from his lips when led by some pious artifice to speak of himself, much, they were aware, must necessarily be deficient in the statement ; for the holy youth's humility not only veiled from his own eye his sublime perfection,-but made him solicitous to conceal it from others. As far as truth and obedience would permit, Aloysius had, no doubt,, diminished the merit of what he related, as well as omitted much which would have redounded to his praise. Saints' descriptions of themselves must ADVERTISEMENT. V always be open to similar charges. For this reason it was therefore extremely desirable to refer to other authentic sources, as well as for the purpose- of insuring accuracy in regard to time, place, and circumstance. The information obtained from Castaglione, Mantua, and other places so swelled the materials- in hand, that it soon became evident that the life must be re- written. But P. Valtrino's death taking place before he could take any further measure, the task again devolved upon P. Cepari, whom the General of the Company, Claudio Acquaviva, who was most desirous to see the work completed, enjoined to resume his . labour. P. Cepari received the charge as though it came direct from heaven. With indefatigable diligence he now sought out and inquired personally at the mouth of every one who from the cradle to the grave had been in relation with the holy youth. He first visited Florence, in order to obtain every minute detail of Aloysius's life in the world from his governor, Signer Pier Francesco del Turco, who had entered the house- hold of Don Giovanni de' Medici when his saintly charge had joined the company. This gentleman was attached to the court of the Marquis of Castiglione at the time of Aloysius's birth, who was consigned to his care at a very tender age ; and he held this office about the youth's person for eighteen years, quitting rt only when he entered the doors of the Company's house at Rome. From Florence, Cepari passed into VI ADVERTISEMENT. Lombardy, and repaired to Castiglione, where he spent many days in collecting every particular from the mother of the saint, and from those who had served and attended upon him in the world ; with the bishop's licence, and in order to give greater authenti- city to his narrative, he also caused two long processes to be drawn up of his life and manners. From countries which he was unable to visit, such as Spain and France, he solicited and obtained letters from persons who had known or conversed with Aloysius ; ho interested himself also to have examinations instituted and processes formed with all the due solemnities, in various parts of Poland, and before the ecclesiastical tribunals of the patriarch of Venice, of the archbishops of Naples, Milan, Florence, Bologna, Siena, Turin, and also of the bishops of Mantua, Padua, Vicenza, Brescia, Forli, Modena, Reggio, Parma, Piacenza, Mondovi, Ancona, Recanati, and Tivoli. More than once he himself went round all parts of Lombardy where he could hope to glean information or verify more fully the accuracy of any facts related. At last he took up his quarters at Brescia, on account of its proximity to Castiglione, and the facility thus offered for promptly clearing up doubts or solving questions which might arise. From the processes and from the written statements which he had pro- cured, and which were also attested on oath, Cepari then composed his biography, which thus possesses guarantees for veracity and exactness which it would ADVERTISEMENT. Vll be scarcely possible to exceed; a(M to which that, previously to its publication, it was strictly examined and compared with the episcopal processes. Notwithstanding, however, all his diligence, Cepari could only avail himself of what existed in the form of authentic documents previous to the date of the pub- lication of his work in 1606. As yet, no ecclesiastical processes existed, except those drawn up by the authority of the bishops. But the increasing glory of the saint led to the formation of the first processes instituted by apostolic authority in the year 1608, under the pontificate of Paul V. The depositions then made contain, of course, much repetition of what was already embodied in Cepari's work, but they also furnish additional matter of great interest. The present biography is grounded upon Cepari's work, V and the writer can by no means pretend to have exhausted his valuable materials ; but reference has been made to the processes of 1608, as given by the Bollandists, and advantage taken of what might serve to illustrate the text or supply deficiencies. This has been done more especially with respect to the circum- stances of the saint's death, for an account of which the father seems exclusively to have relied upon two letters written to him in the year 1604, at his express desire, by P. Fabrini, one of the witnesses of Aloysius's last moments. The two other persons present were P. Guelfucci and the infirmarian. Their depositions appear in the processes, and help to complete the nar- Vm ADVERTISEMENT. rative as well as to elucidate the order of the incidents. A few notes had been collected by Cepari subse- quently to the publication of his work, with a view to their future insertion. But no advantage had been taken of these memoranda until the recent edition of the Life by the Jesuit fathers at Rome, which also contains many valuable additions and carries on the narrative of all that relates to the saint's honour down to the present day. Some hitherto unpublished writings of St. Aloysius form an interesting appendage to the volume. P. Cepari concludes his advertisement, addressed to the "pious reader," with these words, which the writer desires to adopt and appropriate : — " The defects in this history must be attributed to me ; for the good it may do, may glory be rendered to God, whom may it please to give us grace to imitate the holy example of this youth, and to arrive, through his intercession, at that blessed end which he now enjoys with great glory in Heaven. And thou, most holy and most blessed Luigi, who in the happy abodes of Paradise art now receiving the reward of thy holy labours, and who in the mirror of the Divine Essence seest my imperfection, forgive me if I have presumed to write in unworthy language of thy heroic virtues, and obtain for me, from our common lord, grace to live reli- giously and virtuously ; so that, favoured by thy aid and protection, I may one day come to enjoy thy company -in eternal blessedness.' CONTENTS. Advertisement, • page 3 PART I. W^t Saint lit i\z Mt^xXts, CHAPTER L LEWIS GONZAGA's BIRTH AND INFANCY: Introductory remarks. The saint's parents. Their marriage in Spain. Return to Italy. Castle of Castiglione. Birth and Baptism of Prince Lewis. His infant piety. His sweet and gentle disposition. A soldier at four years of age : he fires off a cannon. His delicacy of conscience. His devo- tional practices. Prognostications of his great sanctity. page 17 CHAPTER 11. lewis's early boyhood. Hig mature and serious character. His father's apprehensions. He takes his son to Florence. Lewis's conduct with other children. His first confession. His singular meekness and humility. He makes a vow of virginity. His strict custody of the senses. Letter to his father. Removal to Mantua. His illness, and extraordinary abstinence. Return to Cas- tiglione. His habits of contemplation and abstraction. His ' first attractions towards the Company of Jesus. His active charity . . . page 34 CHAPTER IIL lewis's mode of life at castiglione. Interview with St. Charles Borromeo. Lewis receives his first communion at the saint's hands. His devotion to the X CONTENTS. Blessed Sacrament. Journey to Casal : perilous passage of a torrent. A review at Milan. Lewis's recreations. His conviction of a call to the religious life. His mortifications and prolonged prayers. Providential escape from fire. His loftiness of spirit. Deposition of P. Claudio Fini. page 55 CHAPTER IV. LEWIS AT THE COURT OF SPAIN. Voyage to Spain. An incident on the way, Lewis's application to study. Distracting effects of change. His angelic modes- ty. Love of poverty and retirement. Marvellous gift of controlling his thoughts. His choice of the Company of Jesus. Disclosure of his purpose to the marchese. His father's indignation and anger. Interview with his son's confessor. Approval of Lewis's vocation by P. Francesco Gonzaga. Lewis retires to the Company's house; returns at his father's command. Renewed discussions. The mar- chese gives a provisional consent. . . jpage 78 CHAPTER V. RETURN TO ITALY AND DISAPPOINTED HOPES. P. Gonzaga accompanies the family homeward. Lewis is sent to several Italian courts. Rebukes a hoary sinner. Is pre- sent at a ball. Repeated attempts to shake his resolution. He retires to a grotto retreat. Recalled by his father, he redoubles his penances. The marchese is carried to his son's room : relents at the sight that meets his eyes. Scipione Gonzaga is commissioned to write to the Father General of the Company. A deed prepared by which Lewis may re- nounce his hereditary rights. . . . . page 102 CHAPTER VL RENEWED TRIALS AND FINAL SUCCESS. Lewis is sent to conduct a negotiation at Milan. He displays great ability. Frequents the Jesuits' house. His appear- ance at a tournament. The marchese tries the effect of en- treaties. Lewis is examined by P. Gagliardi in his father's presence. His visit to Mantua. He follows the Spiritual Exercises at the Jesuits' college. His silence, prayer, and fastings. His prescience respecting his brother Francesco- His father denies having given his consent to his joining tne Company. Lewis proposes a compromise j to which the CONTENTS. XI marchese reluctantly accedes. Lewis makes a last appeal ; and is successful page 121 CHAPTER VII. LEWIS JOINS THE COMPANY OF JESUS. The saint leaves Castiglione. Signing of the deed of renuncia- tion. The parting banquet. Natural affections absorbed in divine charity. Visit to Loreto. Lewis's love of suffer- ing. Arrival at Rome, and reception by the Father General. Interview with the Pope. Scipione Gonzaga's admiration of the holy youth. Leave-taking. The haven reached at last page 143 PART II. CHAPTER L lewis's entry into the noviciate. Entrance into religion a step to a higher state. Lewises more perfect practice of humility and exactness. His period of probation shortened. Subjection to discipline. Interior trials. Death of his father. The saint's conformity with the will of God page\Q2 CHAPTER 11. THE PERFECT NOVICE. Object of the noviciate. Aloysius's rigid mortification of the senses. Strict observance of the rules of silence. Perfect repression of curiosity. Exquisite nicety of conscience. The actions of saints both admirable and imitable. The utter absence of scrupulosity in Aloysius. His disregard of human respect. Habit of never justifying himself. Dis- like of praise. Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Rev- erence for superiors. Love of obedience. Complete dominion over himself. Wonderful power of praying without distrac- tions. Chief subjects of his meditations. Continual appli- cation of his mind to God. . . . . page 173 Xll CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. THE saint's visit TO NAPLES, AND CLOSE OF HIS NOVICIATE. Father Pescatore. Aloysius accompanies him to Naples. The esteem in which he was held in the college. His illness and edifying patience. Return to Rome. His appearance in the public schools. He desires to humiliate himself. His intellectual acuteness. Minute conscientiousness and in- genuousness. Holy indifference and self-spoilation. He makes his religious profession, and receives minor orders. Letter to his mother jpage 199 CHAPTER IV. THE FIRST YEARS OF HIS RELIGIOUS PROFESSION. The saint's ripeness for heaven. His reluctance to avail himself of exemptions. Delight in humiliations. Habitual austeri- ties. Sympathy with suffering. Zeal for souls. Effects of his example and conversation. . . . jpage 216 CHAPTER V. ALOYSIUS'S MISSION OF PEACE TO CASTIGLIONE. Cause of dispute between the saint's brother and the Duke of Mantua. Aloysius is sent for. His departure from Rome. Incident at starting. Veneration shown him on the way. His equanimity. Reception at Castiglione. Meeting of mother and son. Jlis lowliness of demeanour. Spiritual conversation. Visit to Castle Goffredo. Delay at Mantua. Discourse to the fathers of the Jesuit college. Interview with Duke Vincenzo. Reconciliation of the disputants. ;page 229 CHAPTER VI. ALOYSIUS'S CONDUCT IN THE AFFAIR OF HIS BROTHER'S MARRIAGE. Project of a family alliance. Ridolfo's private marriage. Scan- dal thereupon. Alloysius's remonstrances. His brother de- fers explanation. The saint takes leave of his family and goes to Milan. The truth disclosed, Aloysius's letter to his brother. The latter consents to a public declaration. The saint preaches at Castiglione. Family joy and reconciliation. Aloysius returns to Milan. Writes thence a letter of advice to Ridolfo. Falls ill. The infirmarian Fra. Salombrini. page 251 CONTENTS. XUl CHAPTER VII. ALOYSIUS^S LIFE AT THE COLLEGE OF BRERA, AND RETURN TO ROME. His love of humiliation. True refinement of heart. Instance of his humility. Some of his recorded sayings. His per- severance in little things. His rare spiritual gifts. He re- ceives a divine intimation of the shortness of his life. His tenderness to the sick. He sets out for Rome. Preaches at Siena. Passage of a dangerous ford. His perfect abstrac- tion. Testimonies to his consummate sanctity. His long- ing desire for death. Letter to his mother. , jpage 265 CHAPTER YIII. ALOYSIUS'S LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. Epidemic at Rome. Aloysius obtains leave to serve the fever- stricken. His devoted charity. He takes the infection Receives the last Sacraments. The fever abates : joy at Cas- tiglione. Extract from a letter to his mother. His be- haviour on his death bed. He is visited by Cardinals della Rovere and Scipione Gonzaga. Parting interview with P. Corbinelli. Death of the father and his appearance to Aloysius. The saint's desire to escape Purgatory. Vision and revelation of the day of his departure. Last letter to his mother. His special preparation for death. He again ask for the Viaticum : his request at length accorded. Takes leave of the fathers and brethren. His last moments. Sentiments inspired by his death. . . jpage 284 PART III. ®6^ ^amt m ^tdihzxt. CHAPTER L TESTIMONIES TO ALOYSIUS'S SANCTITY. HIS BEATIFICATION. Eagerness for his relics. Scene around his bier. Testimonies to his saintliness rendered by the Father General; the dowager duchess of Mantua ; Italian and other European princes; his brethren in the Company; especially Cardinal Bellarmine. St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi has a vision of Xir. CONTENTS. him iu glory. Death of Ridolfo. The saint's appearance to his mother. First steps towards his public veneration. Synod held at Mantua. Observance of his anniversary at Brescia and Castiglione. Francesco's interview with Clement VIII. Solemn translation of his relics. His picture suspended at his tomb by Papal permission. Demonstration at the Roman College. His Beatification. Festal celebration at Mantua. page 316 CHAPTER II. THE saint's CAX0NIZATI0N-. Aloysius's three nieces ; their vocation to the religious state and holy lives. He appears to their mother. Incorruption of their remains. Increasing devotion to the saint. Judgments of the Congregation of Rites, and of the Tribunal of the Rota. Ratification by the Pope. Celebration of the saint's festival at Castiglione. His canonization delayed. The holy body again removed. The saint is canonized by Benedict XIII. Devotion to him encouraged by all the Popes. jpage 343 CHAPTER III. THE saint's miracles. Instances of his miraculous power unnumbered. His favours to his own kindred and dependents ; and to members of the Company. The saint appears to Giuseppe Spinelli^ in com- pany with Blessed John Berchmans, and heals him. Heap- pears also to Nicoli Luigi Celestiui, and restores him to health. Instances of his appearance in company with other saints. His graciousness to his clients. Great devotion to him in the Valtelline : its first origin. Miraculous oil from his lamp at Sasso. Multiplication of flour, oil, nuts, &c. His kind patronage of children, and patience with their faults. His assistance of youth in their studies. Fruits of his early triduo. His solicitude for souls. His care of the poor. Conversion of a Turkish woman. A recent miracle. Con- cluding remarks jpage 352 Indulgenced Prayer to the Saint. . . pag^ 393 PART I. THE SAINT IN THE WORLD. 15 CHAPTER I. Lewis Gonzaga's Bikth and Infancy. The life of St. Aloy&ius is not an eventful one, if the outward vicissitudes of our earthly pilgrimage are to be taken as the measure of eventfulness. It was, moreover, a short life, and what men might call an incomplete life, even as respected the vocation to follow which he had made the sacrifice of all his world- ly prospects. For he saw but the opening of his twenty-third summer, and died before attaining to the priesthood. But if we look to the interior life, the true life of all Christians — if we turn our eyes to that stage upon which the great drama of our existence is enacted — then the life of this youth becomes one of surpassing interest ; and such is the light in which every devout Catholic has always regarded it. When acts of perfection, acts done for God, and not mere days and years, are considered as the measure of ex- tension, then also does it expand into a long life ; and if the entire fulfilment of the Divine purpose of grace towards the soul be taken into account, then, too, does it come before us as a complete life. To him may truly be applied the words of the wise, man, — ''Con- summatis in Irevi^ explevit tempora multa'' ^^ Being made perfect in a short »pace, he fulfilled a long time." (Wis. iv. 13.) It pleased God, who in him designed to furnish a perfect model to youth, to finish His work in a few days, and call away his servant to receive his crown before he had passed beyond the threshhold of a more advanced period of life ; so that he should 17 18 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. for ever be imaged forth to us in all the charm and grace of life's early spring, and as such be recommended as a more familiar pattern and patron of adolescence, no less than of boyhood. The Gonzagas were amongst those princely families of Italy which have furnished rulers to its little in- dependent states, and with which crowned heads have not disdained to seek alliance in marriage. The elder branch had reigned at Mantua for two centuries at the period to which our story refers, but even in the tenth century nobles of the same ancient stock had exercised sovereignty over many Lombard towns. The father of our saint, Ferrante Gonzaga, was by inheritance Marquis of Castiglione della Stiviere in Lombardy, and by birth, as were all the Gonzagas, a prince of the Holy Roman Empire. His mother was a Spanish lady of high extraction. The marquis had spent his life chiefly in camps, in the Imperial service, and his tastes and pursuits were in consequence thoroughly military. Secular ambition occupied a large place in his heart, and he does not appear to have turned his thoughts towards marriage until his first youth was passed. On the whole, judged by an ordinary standard, he appears to have been an estimable man and a good Catholic. If his tastes and views were in a large degree worldly, he was capable, to a certain extent, of appreciating something higher, and was evidently desirous of meeting with qualifications of a superior order in his future consort. We may argue thus much at least from his choice. The lady upon whom it fell deserves a somewhat more extended notice. Philip II. at this time ruled Spain, and was also sovereign of the Low Countries, king of Naples, and HIS BIRTH AND INFANCY. 19 duke of Milan. After the death of Mary Tudor, queen of England, his second wife, he married Elisa- beth of Yalois (usually called Isabella in Spanish his- tory), the daughter of Henry II. of France and Catherine of Medicis. On leaving France the princess had brought with her as her lady of honour. Donna Marta Tana, daughter of the Baron de Santena, lord of Chieri in Piedmont, a nobleman of high lineage, possessing independent fiefs which owned vassalage to the Emperor alone, and of Donna Anna della Rovere, daughter of the duke of Urbino. They were attached to the household of Catherine of Medicis, and their daughter had thus grow^n up on terms of the most affectionate friendship and confidence with the young princess Elisabeth. Marta was worthy of the love and esteem in which she. was held, and formed the chief consolation of her royal mistress in the not very enviable position she held in a court distracted by the moody jealousies of the heir to the throne, the un- happy Carlos, and his dissensions with his father. The visit of the king's nephews, the Archdukes Rudolph and Ernest of Austria, sons of the Emperor Maximilian II. and Maria, the daughter of Charles v., was the occasion of the presence at Madrid of many German and Italian nobles who came in their train. Foremost amongst the latter ranked Don Ferrante Gonzaga, Marquis of Castiglione, himself, as we have seen, on his mother's side of noble Spanish extraction ; and it was thus at the Court of Madrid that he became acquainted with the high merits of his future spouse. Donna Marta. Having resolv^ to seek her in marriage, his first step was to allow the project he entertained to reach the royal ears, and he 20 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. was fortunate enough to find his views favourably re- garded in that quarter. The queen herself undertook to become a suitor in his behalf. In one of those hours of privacy which formed Elisabeth's sweetest recreation, she gently and lovingly broke to her dear Marta her own and the king's desire for her union with Don Ferrante. There was nothing in the pro- posed alliance calculated to be very attractive in the eyes of a young maiden. True, it was, as the world would say, a very great match; for, although Donna Marta came of noble lineage, her proposed husband was a kind of petty sovereign in his own land. But, on the other hand, Marta was in the bloom of early youth, and Ferrante was hovering on the confines of middle age ; and what was even of more importance than the discrepancy in years, there was that which existed in disposition between the pious, retiring, humble girl — for such, though reared in courts, was Marta de Santena— and the mail-coated baron, who esteemed the upholding of the honour and interests of his ancient and lordly family the great active business of life. Ferrante, indeed, was an honourable man, attached to his faith, and zealous in his own way for God's glorj^. Had it been otherwise, we may conceive that not all the favour of royalty could have led Marta to lend an ear to his proposals. As it was, she asked for time to reflect and refer the matter to God. For this end she caused many masses to be offered; to these she added her own fervent prayer for guidance together with abundant alms to the poor ; she consulted also her spiritual director ; and finally decided on accepting the offer which had been made to her. HIS BIRTH AND INFANCY. 21 Pius V. had granted a jubilee to the Christian world, which had just been published in Spain; and Marta, with her intended spouse, seized the opportunity to hallow their betrothal by uniting it with this devotion. Upon the morning of the feast of St. John the Bap- tist, in the year 1566, they communicated, in order to gain the Indulgence, and forthwith concluded the ante- nuptial contract. Philip richly endowed the affianced bride and presented her with costly jewels, to which his royal consort added magnificent presents in testimony of her own personal afiection. But Marta's mind, so far from being dazzled with her brilliant prospects, was more than ever fixed upon God and holy things; and she herself in after years told P. Cepari that on the day of her betrothal she felt herself moved inter- nally to devote her whole future life to the more perfect service of God. On the wedding-day we again find the marchese and his intended bride preparing them- selves by confession and communion for the worthy reception of the sacrament of matrimony ; and thus was this marriage concluded in a truly Catholic spirit. It has been noticed that it was the first marriage celebrated in Spain with all the formalities prescribed by the Council of Trent. Having obtained the sovereign's assent, Gonzaga now left Spain for Italy, distinguished by many tes- timonies of royal favour, Philip having appointed him his chamberlain and conferred other honours and emoluments upon him. He was impatient to reach his own dominions and present his young wife to his vassals. They took up their residence in the rock castle of Castiglione, the ancestral abode of Fer- rante's race. It adjoined the town, in which also the 22 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. marchese possessed a palace. He had his own private chapel and chaplain within the fortress ; nevertheless, the noble couple regularly attended all the services of religion in the parish church. As the sound of the bells summoned the faithful on the numerous festival days to the sacred offices, the lord and lady of the. place descended with their household from the old feudal castle, while their vassals, moved at once by precept and example, congregated to meet them. Business, amusement, all was forsaken in an instant when the chime rang out ; houses were closed, and young and old, high and low, rich and poor, descended together'to the house of God. Faithful to her resolve, and freed from the trammels of a court, the marchesa added to her public devotions long hours of prayer in her private oratory, and the active exercise of works of mercy amongst her dependents. The constant subject of her petitions was a son whom God might deign to accept for His service. For this she besought the Lord with many tears. Often was she heard to say, that, for a mother, there could be no joy com- parable to that of seeing her son wholly consecrated to God ; but it was chiefly to God Himself, and to His saints, that she gave utterance to these aspirations; for the marchese was far from sharing her views and feelings in this respect. He, too, ardently desired a "son as the complement of his happiness; but -it was much more as the heir of his name, of his honours, and of his little states, than as an heir of glory, and of those high places in God's kingdom which are the prize of heroic sanctity. Not that the lord of Casti- glione thought meanly or otherwise than reverently either of priests or monks, or of Christian perfection; HIS BIRTH AND INFANCY. 23 but the first-born of his house had a vocation ready marked out for him. What that vocation was in Gonzaga's estimation we have ah'eady seen. It was the mother's pious aspirations, not the father's fond hopes, which were to be fulfilled ; and the eldest son of this marriage may well be regarded as the special fruit of her prayers. The danger in which mother and child were placed at his birth was the cause of his being baptised ere scarce he had be- held the light of day. In the case of so great a saint we can hardly regard it as an accidental or unmeaning circumstance (were we ever warranted in character- izing any circumstances as such) that the rising of the Sun of justice in the soul of the infant should have scarce been preceded by the dawning of the material light on the bodily eye, and that it should thus have been rescued at the very earliest moment from the powers of darkness. It is also worthy of notice that the marchesa vowed to the Blessed Virgin, in the event of her safety, to make a pilgrimage to the Santa Casa of Loreto, and take her child with her. Thus early was this babe, afterwards so remarkable for his devotion to Mary, placed under her patronage, being, indeed, in a peculiar manner, the son of her inter- cessory love. It was on the 9th of March, 1568, that our saint was born. The first thing he received after his baptism was his mother's blessing, who made the sign of the cross over him ; and he then lay so still and motionless that it seemed as if he were dead ; an hour elapsed, when awaking as from deep slumber, he made one slight wail, but wept and complained no more as infants are wont to do ; a sign, as men deemed 24 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. it in after times, of his future meekness and the innate sweetness of his disposition. The 20th of April saw the whole town of Castig- lione astir, and arrayed in gay, festal trim ; at in- tervals the boom of the castle artillery resounded along the Lombard plain ; the courts of the ducal resi- dence and the avenues leading to it were thronged with cavaliers and men-at-arms, while the whole road from the castle to the collegiate church of SS. Celsus and Nazarius was strewn with bright spring flowers. It was, indeed, a day of great rejoicing to Gonzaga's vassals, who loved their lord, and were happy under his mild rule, when his first-born was to be presented in church to receive the supplementary rites of bap- tism. The procession was one brilliant with all the splendour distinguishing the worldly rank of the in- fant's princely relatives, several of whom graced the ceremony with their presence ; amongst them the Prince Prospero Gonzaga, cousin to Ferrante, repre- sented the godfather, the duke of Mantua, head of this great family. The child received the name of his paternal grandfather, Aluigi. In the parish register might be seen (in Cepari's days at least) these words inscribed as by some divine prescience, for nothing of the sort is added in the case of his younger brothers : — '' Sitfelix^ carusque Deo, ter optinio terque maximo, et hominibus in ceternum vivatJ" " May he be happy, and live for ever, dear to God and men." As the noble party left the church, largesse was abundantly distributed among the gazing populace. The Princes Ferrante and Prospero scattered silver pieces by handfuls, and the marchese's younger brothers, Orazio and Alfonso, imitated their liberality ; niS BIRTH AND INFANCY. 25 then followed the majordomo, with his beautiful basket full of sugary dainties, which he flung amidst the crowd, and for which the rising generation of Gon- zaga's vassals, doubtless scrambled as eagerly as their elders for the coin. All was glitter, merriment, and joy, and loud cries of ''Viva the Prince Aluigi ! May he be happy above all !" followed the young heir of Castiglione, till the castle gates closed on the gay procession. Such was the wordly pomp which ushered Lewis Gonzaga into the world, for by that name we shall at present call him, as more familiar to English ears than his Italian appellation.* This predestinated infant inspired respect, even while still in his swaddling bands, by the sweet serenity of his countenance; and his head lady-nurse, Camilla Mavnardi, often told her mistress that when she took the little prince Aluigi in her arms she experienced a thrill of devotion, as if she carried an angel of heaven, not a child of earth. His mother let not a day pass without forming the sign of the cross with the babe's own hand, and was forever repeating to him in accents of reverence and tenderness the names of Jesus and Mary. She was abundantly repaid w^hen she heard them lisped as the first utterances of his infant tongue. Lewis may be said to have begun to pray before he began to speak, as well as to exercise a compassionate charity towards the poor. He saw his mother give to all the destitute persons she met, and no sooner did he in the distance espy a ragged object than with the most expressive gestures he petitioned for something to be- * We reserve the Latin name Aloysius, by which the Saint is known in the Universal Church, to be appUed to him when ho enters religion. 3 26 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. stow, and manifested the liveliest joy when the alms were placed in his little out-stretched hand. His mother watched incessantly for the first dawn of conscious reason, that she might bespeak its first act for God. She taught him the Our Father and the Hail Mary, when he could scarce form his words ; and Lewis was never tired of repeating them after her. Often he might be heard stammering them to himself, and, bye and bye, when able to walk and run about, he would be missed, and, after diligent search, found behind some piece of furniture, or the tapestry of the apartment, on his knees, with hands joined in prayer, and eyes cast down to earth, praying like a little seraph. Marta's gratitude and delight were unbounded, and she indulged in the happiest prognostics of the future sanc- tity of her darling. But the marchese, who entertained quite other projects in Lewis's regard, was by no means charmed with the pacific temper of his boy. A second son had now been born to him. Ridolfo was a com- plete contrast to his elder brother ; he was full of child- ish impetuosity, noisy and boisterous ; and the marchese began almost to think that he ought to h^ve come first into the world. Ridolfo, only two years old, was in the father's eyes quite a little man for spirit already, while Aluigi, his senior, looked as mild and placid as a girl. And so he resolved to take him out of the women's hands. Marta heard this announcement with dismay, and gently represented that Lewis, not being yet four years old, was scarcely of an age to be placed under a tutor. But Ferrante thought that, if left much longer with the women, he would be only good to make a churchman of. He was his eldest born, and must be trained to serve his sovereign and keep up the HIS BIRTH AND INFANCY. 2T honour of his ancestors. Marta submissively held her peace ; she never opposed the will of her husband. On the 7th of October, 1571, the united squadrons of the Holy See, of the King of Spain, and of the Republic of Venice, under the command of the heroic Don John of Austria, had gained in the gulf of Le- panto that memorable victory which broke the mari- time preponderance and destroyed the prestige of the Ottoman power. The day cost the enemy of the Chris- tian faith 30,000 men, and 200 vessels; a remnant was rallied by one of their boldest commanders, an unhappy Calabrian, who, carried oflF by pirates in his youth, had turned renegade and, renouncing his family name as well as his religion, was styled Ouloudj Ali. Selim II. made him a capitan-pasha in reward for this service, and sent him to attack the Spanish possessions on the African coast ; for Philip at that time held Tunis and some other minor towns. That monarch made preparations, however, for a vigorous defence, and proposed to the Marquis of Castiglione to take the command of a body of 3,000 Milanese destined for Tunis. Ferr ante was over-joyed; he was a man of war, and his Catholic heart bounded moreover at the thought of grappling with the infidel. The 3,000 men were assembled at Casal, whither their leader purposed to repair, in order to manoeuvre them for a month and get them into training for active service. It was a splendid opportunity to inoculate Lewis with military tastes; and so, disregarding the mother's fears, — for mothers' fears are matters of course, and the great Marquis was used to have his own way, — the father resolved to take the hope of his house with him. The anxious Marta may well have considered that it was 28 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. exposing the child to unnecessary risks thus to intro- duce him to a rough camp at his tender age, for the purpose of witnessing martial exercises which he could not comprehend. But her husband judged otherwise : it was after this manner he himself had been reared ; the boy would be amused and interested by what he saw, and he would be taught to play the soldier. In order to flatter and encourage the w^arlike spirit in his infant mind, Ferrante even caused a complete suit of armour to be made for him. Behold, then, the future saint armed cap a pie^ at the age of four years, with cuirass, helm'Ct, and flowing plume, sword, belt, and powder-flask. A lance completed the array of- the miniature soldier. His father beheld him with pride thus accoutered; while his mother, suppressing, how- ever, all murmurs, embraced him with many tears, and with a heart full of anguish. It was a first parting, trial enough in itself; added to which was the fear of all the dangers to body and soul which her dear child might encounter, thrown among rude soldiers and bereft of the fostering care of tender and loving hands. She betook herself to her prayers, and commended him to God ; while his father gave him in charge to Don Pier Francesco del Turco, a gentleman of his household, and one, be it observed who was in every way worthy of his new office. And so the party took their road to Casal Maggiore. But Lewis w^as not only to play the warrior in his outward garb ; his father, intent upon kindling martial ardour in his son's breast, designed him to take a per- sonal share in what was going on, so far as his tender age permitted. Accordingly he had his charge of powder in his belt, and a small arquebuse was provided HIS BIRTH AND INFANCY. 29' for iiim to load and fire off. Gunpowder was as exciting a toy, no doubt, to little boys in the IGth century as it is in the 19th, and Lewis's pacific temper was not proof against its attractions. All the stirring exer- cises with which he was surrounded formed, indeed, a new and strange scene to this child taken out of the nursery, and one calculated to lay hold on the imagin- ation. The heir of Castiglione evinced at any rate that it was not spirit that he lacked ; and even Don Fer- rante might be content when he saw his little son assisting at the reviews, visor down and lance in hand, w^ith all the serious gravity of a veteran, and, when his turn came to make some display, acquitting himself with an intelligence and dexterity which delighted both officers and soldiers. He was, however, not al- ways so fortunate, and one day, when discharging his fire arm, the ammunition he had about him exploded in his face. Providence watched over the child, for his eyes were uninjured and the skin of his face only superficially burned. As may be supposed, he was a great favourite of the camp, where he was permitted to run about wiih considerable freedom. After this accident he was not allowed to have any powder in his flask; but the little event seemed to have whetted his desire for handling that dangerous article, and those who sur- rounded him would not fail to add fuel to the new- passion by praising him for the courage he had shown. For he was the soldiers' darling and pride; and the child naturally relished their applause and was anxious for a further opportunity of displaying his prowess. Accordingly one day w^hile all were enjoying their siesta, he crept aw^ay and ran to the camp, where, 80 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. slipping quietly between the lines of slumbering soldiers, he opened one of the men's cartridge boxes, took out a charge of powder and was off at once with his treasure to the castle.^ Here he loaded and dis- charged a little field-piece which stood upon the ramparts. At the sound of the detonation the slumberers start to their feet, all is confusion, mixed with some dismay ; the prince himself fears that there may be mutiny amongst his troops, and a gentleman of his household is posted off to ascertain the cause of the alarm-signal. Don Ferrante meanwhile gravely dons the insignia of his rank and office to sit in judg- ment on offenders, when — -behold ! the messenger returns to say that it is only Prince Aluigi who has fired off a cannon for his amusement. A glow of pride and joy passed over the father's heart, and his first impulse would assuredly have led him to receive the boy with open arms, but he concealed his feelings, and, assuming a severe air, threatened to punish the delinquent for this rash act of insubordination. A universal appeal for pardon for the dear little offender instantly arose on all sides, '' Grrazia^ grazia^ pardon, pardon, for his highness, pardon for Prince Alguigi ! " The happy father was of course, not implacable, and graciously extended his forgiveness. He was, in fact, far more tempted to reward than to punish. Lewis in after years acknowledged that it was by the special protection of Heaven that he escaped death on this occasion from the recoil of the gun, and said that for long afterwards he did not cease to reproach himself for having stolen the powder of one of the soldiers, and only consoled himself by the reflection that he HIS BIRTH AND INFANCY. 31 knew the man would willingly have given it if he had asked him for it. When the marchese embarked for Tunis with the troops, Lewis was sent back to Castiglione with his tutor and a gentleman of his suite. Del Turco took the opportunity upon the road to upbraid his little pupil for the habit he had acquired of using certain words unbecoming his high rank and likely to distress his lady- mother. The language of camps, as we all know, is not very choice, and often far from decorous ; Lewis had mixed with the soldiers, and, in the innocence of his heart, had imitated his new friends, not only without knowledge of the import of his words, but without a suspicion that they had any evil meaning. The sweet child burst into tears, and promised that he would never use these expressions again. Lewis did not forget his engagement, for not only was he never again heard to utter a reprehensible word, but if others made use in his presence of any course or im- modest terms, he would blush and cast his eyes to the ground, or turn away as if he did not hear ; and, if he could not do this, he would manifest his displeasure in his looks. Nay more, he continued all his days to regard this childish inadvertence as the great sin of his life, and when he was in religion, would allege it as a proof of his early wickedness. What a life must that have been where such a pardonable error figured as the chief transgression! Possibly Grod allowed this speck, this shadow of a sin (as we may call it), that it might furnish to the tender conscience of the saint a subject of humiliation amidst the many graces and gifts with which he was hereafter to be crowned ; as also to serve at the time to scare him back when he 32 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. seemed to be advancing one step into the world. God would have Lewis all for Himself from the very first; and, by his own confession, his heart, at the age of seven years — the epoch at which theologians generally con- sider that a child arrives at the full use of reason — was altogether converted to God. We have, besides, the independent testimony of four of his confessors, who at different times heard his general confession, and one of whom, Cardinal Bellarmine, received that which he made at the point of death, that he never committed a mortal sin or lost the grace of his baptism ; and this is a circumstance the more worthy of remark because by far the greater part of this saint's life was spent, not in the shade of the cloister, or in the midst of every spiritual help, but in tho courts of princes, besieged as we shall see, by every effort that blind fondness could devise to turn him away from his high vocation. Lewis, on his return from Cassal, related all his little imprudences and faults and perils to his mother ; and she told him it was the Madonna della Santa Casa who had watched over and preserved him. Then she related to him the story of the Holy House of Loreto, and informed him of her own vow ; which, however, had been commuted by Gregory XHI. at her husband's desire. We shall hereafter find the holy youth himself discharging the vow made for him by his pious mother. Marta also told her dear ''angel," for she never spoke of him save by this appellation, how ardently she desired to consecrate one of her sons to God, and how much she regretted that Ridolph exhibited no signs of a future vocation. ''It will be me, perhaps," said the little Lewis; and HIS BIRTH AND INFANCY. 33 again, upon another occasion, he said with more con- fidence, ''I believe that it will be me." '^You are the eldest," she replied, '' and your father w^ould not readily consent to part with you." Well, indeed, did the watchful mother recognize in Lewis those signs which she missed in Riuolph, but well also did she know what an all but insuperable obstacle the mar- chese's will would present to the realization of her pious hopes in the person of their first-born. Lewis, having learned from his mother that seven years was the age of reason, felt himself constrained on its attainment to lead a life of perfection and give every instant to God. He multiplied his prayers, and began to enter on that path of mortification which he trod till death. Daily he said the Ofiice of Our Lady and recited the Penitential and Gradual Psalms upon his knees, on the bare floor, refusing the cushion of which he had hitherto made use, like the other men- bers of his family. Nor would he intermit this practice when attacked by a quartan fever, under which he laboured for eighteen months, bearing his sufierings with angelic patience ; only, when too much exhausted, he would call one of his mother's waiting women to join with and assist him in the repetition. Was he not seven years old, and bound to become a saint ? Already, indeed, the vassals said to one another, '* Prince Aluigi w^ill be a great saint ?" It would seem as if the devils themselves were forced to bear testimony to the child's marvellous holiness. A religious of the order of St. Francis, in great repute for sanctity, passing that way and making a short stay at a convent of his order, num- bers resorted to him for spiritual advice or to beg his prayers ; and, as he was reported to possess miraculous 34 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. gifts, persons possessed by the evil spirit were brought to him that he might exorcise them. A large party from the castle being present on one of these occasions, an energumen, singling out from amongst the crowd the little heir of Castiglione, exclaimed, pointing to him, ''Do you see him ? do jou see him ? Yes that child will go to heaven and be raised to high glory/' This saying therefore went abroad among the people, and confirmed throughout the fief the growing opin- ion of the sanctity of the ''little angel," destined, as they believed to be their future lord. CHAPTER II. Lewis's Eakly Boyhood. The war in Tunis being closed, after an obstinate struggle, by the surrender of the fort of Goletta iii 1574, Don Ferrante sent back his troops to Italy, but he himself repaired, by the desire of Philip, to the court of Madrid, where he held the office of chamber- lain, with which he had been invested at his marriage. Here he was detained two years. On his return to his family he was struck with the amazing progress which had taken place in the mind of his son L^wis, who exhibited a maturity of judgment and seriousness of deportment, as well as a firmness, prudence, and discretion, quite unusual at his age. The father felt much satisfaction at these early manifestations of superior capacity, Avhich gave promise of future emi- nence in the heir of his house, and of singular fitnesa HIS EARLY BOYHOOD. 35 to succeed to the government of his dominions ; nor would it appear that he even experienced any repug- nance to the devout disposition and pious habits of the boy, viewed simply in themselves. To do the marchese justice, he appears to have had no aversion to great piety ; no small matter in one who himself neither follows nor aims at any exalted standard. It was the possible results of such exceeding piety which alone he dreaded. Could sanctity be made compatible with the secular position which Lewis was destined to fill, it could not only be excused but even valued and aJmired. Lewis must be lord of Castiglione ; if he were a saint besides, the marchOYHOOD. 55 ered with a benignant though austere gentleness. Such majesty and force had every word that came from his lips, though allied to a humility and meekness quite indescribable, that when his mother took him with her, on the occasion of a visit to Tortona, where she went to compliment the duchess of Lorraine,"^ on her passage through Tuscany with her daughter^ the duchess of Brunswick, the courtiers of these princesses were no less impressed by the marvellous grace with which this young child spoke, than were his partial and obsequi- ous dependants at home. And all this time he had not yet made his first communion ! It was a saint who was first to give to Lewis the Bread of Angels. CHAPTER III. Lewis's Mode of Life at Castiglione. In the July of this same year, 1580, the archbishop of Milan, having been appointed by Pope Gregory XIII. Apostolic visitor of the dioceses in his province, came to Castiglione. This prelate was no less a per- sonage than the great Cardinal Charles Borromeo, the fame of whose sanctity had already spread far and wide. The news of his approach caused great excitement, and the noble family of Castiglione had hoped to enter- tain him. in their castle; but St. Charles made a rule to decline all such invitations, taking up his quarters ■^Claude, daughter of Henry IL and Catherine of Medicis, and sister consequently of Elisabeth of Valois, whom Donna Marta accompanied into Spain. 56 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAOA. invariably under the roof of some of the clergy of the place where he tarried, and being always accompanied by a very slender retinue, in order not to be burden- some to them. At Castligione he made his stay at the residence of the arch-priest, in the close vicinity of the church, and here he preached to an immense crowd of people, amongst whom, in their reserved places, were Donna Marta and her " angel.'' Fruitful of grace are the words of saints ; they seem to pass over the souls of men like a breath from Heaven, moving them as " the trees of the forest are moved by the wind.'' The whole congregation were dissolved in tears: what, then, may we conceive, passed in the mind of that child of grace, so alive to its slightest impression ? No one probably had been more deeply disappointed than Lewis at losing the golden opportunity of entertaining a saint; but he would not altogether fail of reaping the benefit which he chiefly had in view, spiritual counsel from this great servant of God. He accord- ingly took courage, or rather — for it was not courage that ever failed him — he overcame his bashfulness, and presented himself to ask for a private interview with the cardinal, to whom he laid bare his whole soul and conscience. A saint instinctively recognizes a saint. In Lewis, indeed, the marks of holiness were patent even to a less divinely illuminated eye than that of Borromeo. The holy cardinal marvelled, and blessed God who, in the midst of the thorns of the world and in the ungenial atmosphere of a court, had warmed and nourished into vigourous bloom this tender plant, without the fostering care of any human hand. When he discovered from his questions that this high degre.e HIS MODE OF LIFE AT CASTIGLIONE. 57 of perfection had been attained by one who as yet had not partaken of the Bread of the Strong, his admira- tion at such close correspondence with grax^e exempli- fied in this marvellous boy must have been doubly heightened. He desired him to lose no time before making his first communion. It was a blessing for which Lewis ardently longed ; and it would seem cer- tainly more than matter of surprise that a delay of this kind should have been permitted in his case. Be this as it may, St. Charles exhorted him now to practice frequent communion, adding instructions with respect to its profitable reception ; and amongst other counsels given by the holy archbishop, we recognize the zealous promoter of the decrees of Trent in his recommenda- tion of the diligent study of the Catechism put forth by the Council. Those who were awaiting without their own turn for admission were meanwhile express- ing one to another their suprise that the cardinal should spend so much of his time — and who did not know how jealously the great archbishop husbanded that precious time ? — in conversing with a little boy. But the Saint valued the privilege of conversing with this stripling, in his eyes the sweetest marvel of grace he had ever beheld, as much (and that is not saying a little) as the child himself valued that of receiving the counsels and benediction of the mature servant of God. He desired himself to communicate this young angel ; and no more touching sight can we conceive than that of our dear boy-saint receiving the Body of his Lord from the hands of the glorious St. Charles, whose praise is in all the Churches, and the splendour of whose charity has even won the commendation of the cold world without. 58 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. Lewis's mother could not remember, when questioned by Cepari, the precise date of this memorable act, but it must have been towards the end of July. One cir- cumstance, however, the marchesa did most clearly re- call to mind, namely, that from this day she noted the extraordinary increase in her son's devotion to the Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Thus every morning, when present at the Adorable Sacrifice, she observed that he burst into tears at the consecration, and that they continued to flow to the close of the mass, and wet the stones of the floor where he knelt. It was so to the close of his life. With what searching care Lewis habitually examined his conscience, and with what humility and contrition he made his confessions, we have the testimony of those who received them.^. The faults which he could discover in himself, as may be supposed, were those of omission rather than com- mission ; but with him these seemed very grevious, for he never believed that his acts corresponded with the great light which God vouchsafed to him ; and thus Lewis's confessions of sin became so many lessons of perfection to his confessors. His preparations for communion were made with corresponding dilio;ence. On the days which preceded, all his thoughts were fixed on the Adorable Sacrament, all his words referred to It ; to his approaching reception all his prayers and meditations were directed ; and so frequent were these, that the household were in the habit of saying that he seemed to desire to hold conversation with the walls, for he was constantly discovered in the corner of some apartment on his knees. What passed between our Lord and this favoured soul in communion, God alone knows ; Lewis seems never to have revealed, the sexjret II HIS MODE OF LIFE AT CASTKLIONE. 59 to any one ; but all might witness the recollection and deep devotion with which he approached the Sacred Banquet, and the long thanksgiving which followed its reception. All this while the marchese was at Casal, where the governors of Montferrato usually resided. The infor- mation which reached him of the state of debility in which his eldest son continued, a state prolonged by his own refusal to take sufficient nourishment, caused him much uneasiness : no one, it was evident, exerted the needful authority in this matter ; he hoped to be more successful himself. Accordingly, towards the close of the summer, the marchesa received a summons to join her husband at Casal with her children. The orders of heads of families were reckoned to be very imperative in those times, and the marchesa was not one to derogate an iota from the respect habitually accorded to the expressed desires of husbands and fathers, or to allow herself any latitude of judgment or discretion on such occasions. She started therefore without even waiting for an escort, and although heavy rains had been falling for several days. To reach Casal, it was necessary to ford the Tesino, whose waters were now swollen to a furious torrent. Donna Marta, accompanied by two of her ladies, occupied the first vehicle ; in the second carriage followed the heir, with his brother and their governor. Donna Marta's coachman boldly entered the stream, the frightful rapidity of the current being scarcely apparent to its full extent on the bank. However, the ponderous carriages of those days were calculated to resist a good deal of pressure, and the struggling horses brought them safe through to the opposite side. Lewis's . f 60 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. J driver followed the lead, but upon reaching the centre of the stream an ominous crack was heard in the body of the massive coach. The vehicle, unable to resist the force of the impetuous torrent, now broke violently in twain, the fore-part alone, containing Ridolfo, being dragged, not without labour and peril, to the shore, while the hinder part, in which Lewis and his governor were seated, being left at the mercy of the rushing current, began to drift rapidly down the river. A cry of terror arose from the waters, which was taken up by the spectators on the bank, and borne to the ears of the anxious mother and the occupants of the first carriage. Her children are in peril ; she turns back : there is Ridolfo : he has safely reached the shore ; but where is Lewis ? where is her angel boy ? Providence had watched over him ; the carriage had floated without turning over, and was now arrested in its course by the trunk of a tree, which the tempest had swept into the river. A peasant, mounted on horseback, waves his hand and shouts encouragement to them from the bank. Don Francesco sees him, but the din of the elements prevents him from distin- guishing a word: as for his saintly charge, he neither hears or sees anything. He is calmly praying, just as he so often prays in some secluded corner of his father's palace. He allows himself quietly to be taken in the peasant's arms, when with difiiculty the man has reached the spot, and to be placed behind him on his horse. The countryman, after depositing the heir of Castiglione on dry land, returns for the governor, and performs the same service successfully for him also. The happy mother leads her children and the whole party to the little church of the adjoining vil* HIS MODE OF LIFE AT CASTIGLIONE. 61 lagGj there to thank God and His holy Mother for their rescue from death. But ill news travelled fast even in days when the locomotive and the telegraph were unknown ; tidings borne from mouth to mouth have almost electric swiftness : the marchese has heard of the peril in which his sons are placed, and a horseman comes galloping up to ascertain the trutn. He is despatched with the tranquillizing intelligence of their safety, and Don Ferrante has soon the happiness of pressing his children in his arms. The marchese had hoped that under the paternal eye and authority Lewis would become docile to sani- tary regulations, but there was one circumstance which he had not taken into account. Somehow or other none could bring themselves to compulsory interference with the boy. He seemed invested with a halo of sanctity, inspiring even his elders with a veneration which disarmed their resolution. By common consent he appeared to be left to take pretty much his own way in spiritual matters. 'Not but that Don Ferrante endeavoured to bring the power of paternal remon- strance to bear upon him, but even he, the lordly marquis, was himself under the influence of the spell, and his reluctant admiration for much which he re- gretted, tempered the exertion of his authority, and re- strained him from forcible interference with his son's way of life. The very meekness of the boy's respectful refusals, which were made rather in the guise of humble and tender appeals to be spared what he dreaded, put to flight all his father's stern resolves. On his arrival at Casal, the marchese's first attempt was to engage him to join in diversions and sports, in the hopes of distracting his mind from his devotional exercises. 6 62 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. Lewis, however, studiously avoided every place of public resort ; mucli more did he shun all banquets, plays, and similar entertamments ; indeed he not only shunned, but resolutely declined to be present at them. The marchese would at times exhibit displeasure at this pertinacious love of retirement, but there he allowed the matter to rest. Once, however, when his term of government was near its expiration, and he was about to repair to Milan, in order to attend a grand review of cavalry at which all the high nobility of the country were to be present, he insisted upon his son's bearing him company ; and Lewis, marking his father's determination, felt it incumbent on him to submit. It was a grand sight, that review. When we remember the splendour of dress displayed by the upper classes of those days, and the taste for grandeur and magnificence which generally distinguished the 16th century ; and when to these brilliant features, we add the crowd of spectators, from the middle and lower classes, all in their festive attire, at a period when the rolling stone of uniformity had not begun to pass over everything, mercilessly efi^acing differences and crushing all that imparts originality, picturesque- ness, and variety to such a spectacle, we may conceive that the scene offered no small attractions to a boy not quite thirteen years of age. The marchesino must of course occupy one of the best places ; all were solicit- ous that he should have a good view of what must possess so lively an interest in the eyes of youth. Poor boy ! They little knew that his sole desire was to mortify those eyes, and not to suffer them to drink in pleasure from any earthly object. In vain did he excuse himself, on. the plea^ of his youth, f^Qm occupy- HIS MODE OF LIFE AT CASTIGLIONE. 63 ing a prominent position : he had excellent sight, and did not need to be seated in a front rank ; his modest objections were overruled, and he was placed in an advantageous situation for witnessing the display. Then he ha^d recourse to another expedient ; he turned away his eyes or cast them down — the attitude in which the saint is so familiar to us — and would wit- ness as little of the world's pomp and pageantry as he could help. And what all this time were Lewis's recreations? for no one, young or old, really lives, or can well live, without some recreation. Lewis's recreations, we have seen, were those neither of boys nor of ordinary grown men, but he had his recreations, in which he took as much or more delight than others in their games and shows. When- the rest of the family accepted some invitation abroad, Lewis would find his entertainment at home in the society of some one or two grave men, learned and pious, who would come and discourse with the boy of letters or holy things; or if he went out to refresh his spirit, it would be to visit a venerated sanctuary of Our Lady in that neighbourhood, known as the Madonna di Crea, or to enjoy the conversation of the Barnabite Fathers of San Paolo Decollate. From these holy monks, whose convent he much frequented, and where he often confessed and communicated, he derived much light in the ways of God. Each day that he left their company to return to his secular home, it was with an ever-deepening impression of the peace, the unruffled serenity, which dwelt within the shelter of convent walls ; specially did he admire the happiness which beamed in the faces of the fathers, so foreign to 64 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. the look of care which hangs more or less about the countenances of the men of the world, and their thorough contempt of all temporal interests, from which they had divorced themselves forever. And then, with what holy envy did he consider the even flow of a life in which prayer and psalmody daily ascended at stated hours, the ravishing calm of months and years spent where no sound which recalled the world without came to trouble the deep silence and quiet of the sacred precincts. ''See, Lewis," he said to himself (as he' afterwards related to Cepari and others), ''how excellent is the religious state! These fathers are free from all worldly ties, and far removed from all occasions of sin. That time which secular persons squander in running after transitory goods, or vain amusements, they wholly employ in the meritorious acquisition of true riches, heavenly treasure; and they are secure of not losing the fruit of their labours. Religious are the really reasonable people ; for they do not allow themselves to be tyrannized over by their senses or passions. They are not ambitious of honour, and they do not prize worldly possessions, they are not goaded by emulation, they are not envious of the good of others, they are satisfied with serving God, cui servire regnare est (whom to serve is to reign). And then, what wonder if they be always joyous, and fear neither death, judgment, nor hell, since they live with their conscience pure from sin — nay more, day and night are making fresh gains, and are for ever occupied in holy works with God gr for God ! it is this testimony of a good conscience which preserves them in that peace and interior tranquillity whence flows the outward serenity of their countenances. HIS MODE OF LIFE AT CASTIGLIONE. 65 This well-grounded hope which they possess of heavenly goods, this abiding refnembrance of Whom it is they serve, and in Whose court they stand, to' what soul would not they bring consolation? And what are you doing? What think you? why could not you, too, make choice of such a state? See the great promises which God has made to it. See what op- portunities would be yours of attending without disturbance to your devotions. If, giving up the marquisate to Ridolfo, your younger brother, as you have already determined to do, you nevertheless re- main with him, you will, perhaps, have to witness many things which will not please you. If you keep silence, then remorse of conscience will follow ; if you speak out, then you will be thought troublesome, or you will not be listened to : and even if you enter the priesthood, and become an ecclesiastic, you will not obtain your object; rather, while taking on yourself a higher obligation to a perfect life than is laid upon seculars, you will remain exposed to the same perils v/hich encompass them — nay, in a manner, be subject to greater temptations than beset married persons: while, any how, you will not escape from human respect; for, living in the world, you will have to take account of it, and now satisfy this great man, and now accommodate that other. If you entirely avoid women, and, in particular, your own female relatives, it will be noticed as a singularity; if you converse familiarly with them, what becomes of the resolution you have madej If you accept prelacies in the Church, then you will be plunged into the vortex of worldly affairs, even more than in your present state of life; if you refuse them, your relatives will be dis- 66 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. satisfied with you, and disesteem you, and will say that you dishonour your kindred, and will press you in a thousand ways to accept these distinctions. Whereas if you become a religious, at one blow you remove all these impediments; you close the door against every peril, you liberate yourself from all human respect, and you place yourself in a condition to be able to enjoy perfect quiet and to serve God with all perfection." These and such like considerations Lewis inwardly revolved, and remained in so great a state of abstrac- tion for some days, that those about him clearly per- ceived that something unusual was working in his mind ; yet no one ventured to question him. At last, after assiduous prayer and many communions offered to ob- tain light in so momentous an affair, Lewis became convinced that he was divinely called to the religious state. Well aware that at present he was too young to carry out his intention, he did not attempt to fix his choice on any order in particular, and discreetly ab- stained from revealing his purpose to any one, albeit the Barnabite fathers much more than suspected it, and cherished the hope of possessing him one day them- selves. But from this hour, no longer doubting but that he was called to that perfect life of self-immolation, which the religious by his profession adopts, he felt himself urged to practise the same abnegation in the world and in the court, so far at least as it was possi- ble. Hitherto he had accepted without reflection the use of certain accommodations, luxuries belonging to his rank, which, indeed, the delicacy of his constitution now seemed to render almost essential to his health. Winter in Northern Italy is often very severe, and, as Ai HIS MODE OF LIFE AT CASTIGLIONE. 67 a matter of course, a fire was lighted in the young prince's room at that season, which was all the more needed as he spent there so large a portion of his time. But religious have no fire in their cells, and so Lewis would renounce this comfort also as an unnecessary indulgence. Nay more, when in company, he would avoid all approach to the blazing hearth ; or, if courtesy obliged him sometimes to draw near, he would dex- trously place himself so as to enjoy its warmth as little as might be. Yet he was extremely sensitive to cold, and suffered much from its severity. His faith- ful cameriere^^ Clemente Ghisoni, who survived his young master and furnished Cepari with many traits of the saint's youth, compassionating the state of his liands, swollen, inflamed, and even bleeding as they were from the effects of cold, prepared an ointment which he begged him to apply to them. Lewis ex- pressed his thanks with his usual graciousness, and the ointment speedily disappeared, but it was certainly not by use : it was probably locked up safe out of sight where no one could mark its unbroken surface, for the saintly boy had no desire for the removal of his pains, but rejoiced to have something to suffer for his Lord. His books of recreation were, we need hardly say, not profane tales or romances, which he never so much as opened, nor, indeed, any work of which the reading could bring no profit to his soul, but the lives of Saints, in which he greatly delighted. For his classi- ■^ In princely houses like that of Gonzaga, the term came- riere implied something higher in grade than the appellation of valet conveys to our modern ear ; and Clemente himself (accor- ding to Cepari) seems to have been a person of some trust and importance. 68 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. cal studies lie selected those pagan authors who treat-: ed of morals, such as Seneca, Plutarch, and Valerius Maximus, and he used to avail himself of apt quota- tions from their pages when exhorting others to lead a Christian life. The discourse which flowed from his lips on these occasions not only astonished the hear- ers by its touching eloquence, but suggested the ir- resistible persuasion that much of the science of divine things which he possessed was infused know- ledge, so far beyond the natural capacity of his age did it appear. The marchese's term of office being expired, he and his family returned to Castiglione, where, to his ex- ceeding annoyance, he observed that, so far from mo- derating his austerities, Lewis continued to increase them. Much, of course, remained unknown to his parent, for the boy shunned observation, from the double motive of humility and discretion, but much also there was which could not escape the knowledge of all. The food which he took seemed insufficient to preservelife without a miracle. Donna Camilla Ferrari,"^' a lady belonging to the marchesa's household who had had the charge of Lewis in his infancy, weighed one of his ordinary repasts, and found that it barely reached an ounce. When at table, he would choose whatever seemed the worst, just taste it, and eat no more. But he now added three regular weekly fasts, besides such as were either occasional or prompted by his devotion. On Friday, in memory of our Lord's Passion, he took nothing but a very small amount of * Formerly Maynardi, whom we noticed as presiding over the nursery. She had lately married. HIS MODE OF LIFE AT CASTIGLIONE. 69 tread dipped in water. On Saturday he fasted in the same manner, in honour of the Blessed Virgin. Wed- nesday he kept as an ordinary fast-day of the Church. What his quondam nurse did from affectionate curiosity, he himself in after years habitually practised from a desire to avoid all superfluity and to adhere strictly to what he found absolutely necessary for the support of life. But these were not his only mortifications. His desire for suffering made him ingenious. He possessed no instrument of penance, and no facility for procuring any ; accordingly he searched amongst the old lumber of the castle, where he found some castaway leashes of dogs and fragments of old iron chain, which he carried off as a treasure. With these he disciplined himself as he knelt, in which act he was often surprised by his attendants, who also, in making his bed, discovered pieces of rope stained with blood, carefully concealed under the mattress. They showed them to the marchesa, but her son was a saint in her eyes, and she dared not interfere with the holy excesses of his fervour. Not so the marchese ; when this distressing information reached his ears he exclaimed : '^ That child will kill himself," and sent for Lewis, to w^hom he bitterly complained of his im- prudence, at the same time representing the affliction which it was causing to himself; nevertheless, he seemed marvellously restrained from issuing any pro- hibition to his son. Lewis was resolved to be a saint. Saints have not slept on down, and so, unable to change the bed pro- vided for him, he placed pieces of wood and other hard substances underneath him ; and in order not to want for suffering during the day, being unable to procure a 70 ST. ALOYSIUS GOITZAGA. hair-shirt, he devised a novel instrument of penance' in a cincture of his own manufacture, made out of the rowels of some old spurs, which he w^ore next his delicate skin, and which pricked and tormented him at every movement. To these mortifications must be added the bodily fatigues he underwent during his in- cessant devotions. His first morning act was an hour's mental prayer, measured, however, rather by devotion than by a timepiece ; this was followed by his vocal prayers. He then heard one or more masses, which he also frequently served ; besides which he attended the different offices in the neighbouring religious houses. The remainder of his time he devoted, in the secrecy of his own apartment, to meditation, contemplation, and spiritual reading. In the evening, before lying down to rest, he made one or two hours' unbroken prayer, so that the valets, who were waiting without to undress and see him into bed, as was usual with persons of his rank, thought he would never have done ; but, instead of being wearied, as we suspect would be the case with most servants in our modern days, they were much edified at their young lord's piety^ and beguiled the time with peering at him through the aforementioned treacherous chinks. Nor can we re- frain from noticing by the way the respectful apprecia- tion, not to say hearty admiration, for that high perfec- tion and sublime devotion which is attained by few, and is, indeed, unattainable to the great mass of men, which meets us at every turn in these times, beginning with the great marquis, whose ambition, pride, and treasured hopes were thwarted by his son's vocation, and end- ing with the domestics, a class who are seldom behind- hand in valuing the pomp and worldly advantages of niS MODE OF LIFE AT CASTIGLIONE. 71 the great houses in which they serve. Deep must have been, in the midst of the many corruptions of the 16th century, the hold which the Catholic' faith in all its fulness had nevertheless upon the hearts of the multitude, for it to have influenced so powerfully their standard of judgment. Vice, laxity, and even neglect of religious duties might abound, but piety was certainly not despised. To return to the poor marchese, for whom we think it is scarcely possible, despite his blamable opposition to God's designs respecting his child, not to feel a certain degree of natural compassion — he was constantly la- menting that he could not get his son out of his room, and he himself related to P. Prospero Malavolta how he had often, upon entering it, found the spot where his Aluigi had prayed all bedewed with his tears. Even when the boy was compelled to l?ave his retire- ment, he carried that retirement along with him in spirit; and the subject of his meditation, whether a mystery of the Passion, or any other, was so deeply impressed upon his mind that whatever he was doing, or whatever of necessity superficially occupied his at- tention, it was still in its hidden depths intent on this heavenly theme. But, not content with praying well- nigh the whole day long, he rose in the silence of night, in the cold night of a Lombard winter, and there on his knees, in the centre of his room, with no other covering but his night-dress and with no support to his feeble body, he would pray, all shaking and trem- bling from head to foot ; and when his attention was thereby somewhat distracted, imputing it to imper- fection and determined to conquer, he would still pray on and meditate, until his soul became so rapt from 72 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. his senses that he no longer felt the cold. Often how- ever, he became so benumbed and exhausted that, resolved neither to sit nor to support himself, he would at last fall prostrate on the floor, and thus continue his meditation. As we contemplate this picture, our minds revert to the great St. Dominic, of whose youthful sanctity Dante sings in his Paradise : — *^ Many a time his nurse, at entering, found That he had risen in silence, and was prostrate, As who should say, * My errand was for this.' "^ (Gary's Translation.) It is little, if at all, short of miraculous that Lewis did not contract some mortal complaint in consequence of these holy indiscretions. One life-long malady, indeed, was the result of this intense application of mind, if it were not rather the consequence of the nervous depression caused by defective nourishment and sleep, a painful headache, from which he habitu- ally suffered, and w^hich he cherished in memory of our Lord's crown of thorns. It reminded him of the Passion of Jesus, and, like the sufferings of other saints, and unlike those of common men, it did not seem either to oppress his powers or in general lo interfere with his occupations. Sometimes, however, he had such violent attacks, that Jie was obliged to take some bodily *rest; and having retired one night on this account betimes, and remembering that he had not said the seven Penitential Psalms, he would not close his eyes till he had acquitted himself of this his customary exercise ; so calling the servant, he bade ^ " Spesse fiate fu tacito e desto Trovato in terra dalla sua nutrice. Cum dicesse : lo son venuto a questo." — Cajito xii. HIS MODE OF LIFE AT CASTIGLIONE. 73 liim place a candle by his bed, and then dismissed him. Scarcely had he finished the Psalms when, overcome with the stupefying pain and with bodily exhaustion, the eyes of the young saint closed, and he slept. The angels of God watched over him, or he had closed to open them no more. The candle in burning down set fire to the bedclothes. They did not, however blaze, but smouldered on, the fire twist- ing and writhing about like a coiling serpent. The curtains of the bed, three mattresses, and a paillasse were thus consumed, and yet, strange to say, with an absence of all flame. Lewis awoke, and, finding him- self intensely hot, attributed it to fever ; but when, upon stretching his hands and feet to other parts of the bed, he found them equally warm, he marvelled a little, yet endeavoured to go to sleep again. But the stifling heat increasing almost to sufi'ocation, he got up and called to the servants. No sooner had he left his couch and opened the door, admitting a current of air, than the smothered flames burst forth, enveloped the whole bed, and would have set fire to the room, but for the prompt exertions of the soldiers of the fortress, who threw everything which had ignited through the window into the castle-ditch. The cir- cumstances appearing quite inexplicable by natural causes, what wonder if, taken in connection with the holiness of their young lord, the people of Castiglione should have deemed them miraculous ? Possibly they were right : it is hard to draw the line between extra- ordinary Providences and supernatural interventions. Lewis himself appears to have regarded his preserva- tion as a grazia if not a positive miracle. It was, indeed, by no means his first experience of t 74 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. the special protection of Providence, and nothing could surpass the confidence which he placed in the Divine care and help. These sentiments had their source in his constant practice of referring everything to God for counsel and help. No little child ever looked more continually to its parent's hand and eye to prefer its requests and seek for guidance, than Lewis turned to his Heavenly Father in every need, in every doubt. We have, moreover, his own recorded testimony that he never recommended anything to God, whether great or small, without obtaining his desire, and this in cases even of much diflSculty, and where others quite despaired of success. Hence in this boy, so humble and so lowly, there dwelt a certain loftiness of spirit. Like Al)raham, the '' friend of God," with whom he negociated his every afiair, and talked face to face, and who, fresh from the majesty of this presence, despised the Paradisaical fruitfulness of the Jordan plain and the princely guerdon proffered by the king of Sodom, our Aloysius contemned in his heart all that the world could show of wealth, glory, and magnificence ; so that, in sweet scorn, the youth was fain to laugh within him, and could scarce, indeed, suppress his merriment, when witnessing the style and splendour of court, so imposing in worldly eyes — the gold, the silver, the rich furniture and attire, the pompous etiquette, the obsequious bearing of the courtiers, and such like vain circumstances and con- comitants of earthly rank and station. He who all the day long dwelt in the court of the King of kings, could see nothing in all these things but what was utterly and (one may even say) ludicrously unworthy of the least esteem. Amongst all the gifts with which / HIS MODE OF LIFE AT CASTIGLIONE. 75 God had munificently endowed him, there was none, indeed, upon which Lewis set a higher value than upon this elevation of soul above every earthly interest and desire. We may think of him as continually singing in his heart, Regnum mundi et omnem ornatum seculi contempsi^ propter amor em Domini nostri Jesu Christie a kind of perpetual pgean of his exodus from Egypt. "^ Often, in confidential conversation with his mother, he would express his wonder that everybody did not embrace the religious state, considering its advantages, not for the future life alone, but for the present also ; whence the marchesa inferred that her son had cer- tainly himself set his heart upon it ; but she said nothing. His delight in the company of religious was another indication of his secret purpose. He who so sedulously shunned all society, not only visited fre- quently the monasteries in Castiglione, but if any monks from other convents chanced to make a passing stay, he never lost the opportunity of seeing and dis- coursing with them. He used, in particular, to rejoice when any of the Benedictines of Monte Cassino came that way, and these fathers were afterwards to add their testimony to the holiness of Lewis. He loved also much the Dominicans, who, in the heats of sum- mer, used to spend their recreation time at Castiglione or in its neighbourhood ; and we cannot better close this account of our young saint's mode of life at this period than by quoting from the deposition of the Dominican father Claudio Fini, a doctor in theology and celebrated preacher of Lombardy, which he con- •^ *