St. Aloysius Gonzaga an Example of Spotless Chastity
Excerpt from the book The Angelical Youth Saint Aloysius Of Gonzaga
We all fight a battle against impurity and temptation of some kind or other. At times it can feel as though God has abandoned us to our sins and left us without recourse. But fear not for God never allows us to suffer more that we can handle. So, look to St. Aloysius as your guide and example in your moments of temptation and pray to him to intercede on your behalf and save you from that inner struggle which causes you such grief.
Yours in Jesus and Mary.
From the book The Angelical Youth Saint Aloysius Of Gonzaga by Father Pasquale De Mattei (Thomas Richardson and Son, 1847, pages 33-42).
St. Aloysius Gonzaga an Example of Spotless Chastity
His Purity was without Stain
I. Consider that with regard to chastity, it may be said that St. Aloysius had reached the highest degree of perfection. He was so pure, and so entirely without spot or stain, that by his servants, and even by strangers, he was always known by the name of the young Prince who was not made of flesh and blood, or of an angel incarnate, or of the Angelical youth, a title which was afterwards given to him by the sacred tribunal of the Rota, and confirmed by the Holy See.
If it happened at any time that the conversation became impure, during which Aloysius appeared, no one dared to continue it, considering that it would be an offence to his purity. In a word, the wise and learned Cardinal Bellarmine, his confessor, went so far as to affirm that Aloysius might be considered for certain as confirmed in grace; so purely did his soul walk, and so entirely innocent were all his affections.
Look into your own heart, and see what care thou takest of this beautiful virtue. Art thou of those who only keep account of great sins? Chastity is a mirror of the clearest brilliancy; the slightest breath tarnishes it; it is only beautiful when free from every blemish. Examine then thy inmost thoughts, affections, words, and actions, and fear them all. Verebar omnia opera mea. “I feared all my works, knowing that thou didst not spare the offender.” (Job 9:28.)
And why fear them ? because it will not avail us to flatter ourselves, or neglect our faults, especially in matters of so much moment, for God does not overlook them, but abhors and punishes them. Sciens quod non parceres delinquents (Knowing that You will not spare the offender).
His Purity was that of a Privileged Being
II. Consider that Aloysius, when very young, at Florence, offered up his virginity accompanied by a vow to Mary the Queen of Virgins, and it appears that she rewarded him with a special privilege not known to have been granted to anyone else, attested by the sacred tribunal of the Rota, and in virtue of which he never experienced any temptations of the flesh, nor any thought in the smallest degree opposed to the holy virtue of purity. Nunquam stimulos carnis passus est; nec cogitationem ullam in mente impuram habuit: quod in aliis Sanctorum Historiis rum legitur. (He never suffered the impulses of the flesh; nor did he have any impure thought in his mind: as is read in other Histories of the Saints.)
Rare and wonderful gift, and eminently angelical! Take Mary for the protectoress of thy purity; pray to her every day to guard you. Vitam præsta puram—“Grant our lives may be pure and spotless.” She loves and welcomes chaste souls above all others. But at the same time have a great esteem for this virtue, and cherish it most tenderly. So great is its value that it can only be entirely appreciated in Paradise, because here, in this world, it can scarcely be thoroughly comprehended.
Non est digna ponderatio continentis animæ— “No price is worthy of a continent soul.” Ecclesiasticus 26:20.
It is so beautiful that it renders us similar to the angels; and a pure mind seeks to fly to those whom it most resembles. Happy art thou then, if thou hast preserved this great virtue! Miserable if thou losest it! Castitas Angelos facit: et qui eam servavit, angelus est: qui perdidit, diabolus— “Chastity makes angels: and he who preserves it is an angel: he who destroys it is a devil.” St. Ambrose.
His Purity ever Guarded
III. Consider with what care Aloysius watched over this pearl so dear to him; and in order that no enemy should penetrate into his heart and rob him of it he always kept the entrances closed and sealed. For several years, during which he was obliged to be daily in the presence of the Empress Maria of Austria, as page of honor, he never once looked her in the face. Even when in conversation with his own mother, he always remained with his eyes fixed on the ground; so that it was said that it was impossible to know the color of his eyes.
Once in company, being requested to dance, he fled away terrified, and went to pray in private. And he had always a guard over himself, as if on a slippery road he were carrying some treasure in a fragile vessel: since, habemus thesaurum istum in vasis fictilibus— “We have this treasure in earthen vessels.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)
Behold with what care you must preserve your purity, and you perhaps require to take more care of it, because it is more exposed to assaults. But you ought to of thoughts, or unguarded conversations. The demons desire to make it their prey, but they can only do so by the same means as that by which a huntsman takes a bird; if it pauses on the bird-line, or plays about the snare, it is considered as caught; they only despair of securing it when it flies away.
If you will amuse yourself in liberty of thought, of looks, and of speech, you will be exposed to the risk of being captured: the only way to escape in safety is to keep at a distance from temptation. Venatione ceperunt me inimici mei, quasi avem, gratis— “My enemies have caught me like a bird without cause.” (Lamentations 3:52) How grievous! and for what advantage? For a shameful, deceitful, and trifling pleasure, to become the prey of demons.
Prayer to St. Aloysius
Angelical youth and most chaste saint, my great advocate St. Aloysius, I rejoice to contemplate in thee such perfect innocence and wonderful purity, spotless from all sin, and not even exposed to the pestiferous breath of suggestion to evil. But how ashamed I ought to feel before so pure a lily—I, who must appear so filthy in thy sight by reason of my numerous sins! Thou, most amiable saint, canst cure them all; I lament them, and repent most sincerely. Obtain for me from God, and from the Blessed Mary, an unsullied purity, spotless in thoughts and in affections. Grant that I may be inspired with a supreme hatred of all sin: so that it may not only become abominable to me, but that I may effectually close every avenue, through which it might introduce itself into my heart. And this I am resolved to do with thy protection and that of Mary. Amen.
Maxims of St. Aloysius and Practices of Virtue
I. The strength of a Christian proceeds from the holy fear of God; for he who fears God has naught else to fear. Have always before your mind that God is present, whether you are alone or in company: this will strengthen you against every temptation. Quomodo possum hoc malum facere, el peccare in Dominum meum? “How can I do this evil, and sin against my God.” (Genesis 39:9)
II. It is a most dangerous thing to allow one's self to be governed by a particular affection to any creature, or created being. Guard yourself from such peril, by putting a bridle on those affections which excite us to love anything outside of God. Everyday, then, examine your affections, lest they become inordinate towards any one person, that you may cut them off, making a sacrifice of them to God, who wishes to reign alone in your heart. Dominum Deum tuum timebis, et ei soli servies— “Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him only.” Deuteronomy 10:20.
III. The life which many lead without fervor of spirit, and without restraining their passions, proceeds from their being averse to mental prayer. Make a meditation everyday upon some eternal maxim, by which your affections will be raised above this earth. Who that has eternity before his eyes would be detained in the deadly chains of transitory pleasures! Quam miseranda conditio! ubi cito præterit, quod delectat ; et sine fine manet, quod cruciat— “What a miserable condition! where he quickly passes by, what pleases him; and it remains without end, which torments!” St. Augustine.
Example
It is impossible to enumerate the wonderful proofs that St. Aloysius has given of his being the especial protector of chastity. And it was a good inspiration that led a nobleman in gratitude to the saintly youth, who had liberated him from the importunity of impure temptations, to suspend on his tomb a votive offering; in which St. Aloysius is exhibited in the act of showering down lilies from heaven upon whoever invoked him with the motto: Accinxit fortitudine lumbos meos, roboravit brachium meum— “He girded my loins with strength, strengthened my arm”.
It will suffice at present to cite one fact amongst the most admirable. In Poland there lived a monk of tried virtue, and who, in order that he might gain a greater merit for his purity, (as it afterwards appeared,) prayed to God that he might be visited by a most afflicting temptation. He left no ways or means untried in order to overcome it: he crucified his flesh by the most severe fasts, with the sharpest hair-cloth, with disciplines, and with unceasing prayer. But his trouble neither ceasing, nor being at all mitigated, the unhappy man wept day and night; retired from the conversation of all, and often remained for several hours with his face flat on the ground, which he bathed with his tears, imploring pity from God.
Finding that his temptation only increased with renewed force in consequence of the assaults of the devil, and feeling himself tempted with the spirit of blasphemy, which was the more distressing to him, because it appeared as if God and the saints neither heard nor cared for him. He had remained in this dreadful state for the space of a year, in continual and furious combat with himself, when opportunely it occurred to his confessor, to advise him to employ as his advocate to the throne of mercy, the holy youth Aloysius, who by a singular privilege had been exempt even from any involuntary fault in thought; and he suspended around his neck a relic, in order that at the first assault of temptation, he could have recourse to it by placing it on his heart.
Oh wonderful! He perceived that his affliction had been prolonged only to render more visible the glorious protection which St. Aloysius exercises in favor of chastity. He had hardly laid the relic on his breast, than the storm was banished from his heart, and after so long a trial he suddenly felt himself restored to a perfect peace and serenity: so that, as he attested upon oath, to the glory of his holy protector, from that time he was not only freed from every similar temptation, but even from all fear of falling into anything of the kind again; affirming that there was no sin of which he had afterwards so little fear as this. Holland, tom. 4. Jun. p. 1050.