Today's Saint post is for my nephew, Rai. Sorry, Rai, but there is no Patron Saint of video games. However, I did find a blog post that suggested St. Aloysius Gonzaga as a possible candidate for the office . . . I'll explain why in a minute.
Aloysius was born in 1568 the first of seven children. His family was of the nobility and, as the eldest, Aloysius was to inherit his father's title and status of Marquis -- and the castle, of course. As the son of an aristocratic family, he spent much of his youth in military training and serving at court. Upon returning home, he met Cardinal (Saint) Charles Borromeo (whose feast day is today) and received his First Holy Communion from the Cardinal on July 22, 1580.
In 1585, he gave up all rights of inheritance and joined the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). He struggled with health issues, but he was still able to continue his studies and received minor orders in 1588. While he was studying theology in preparation for ordination, a plague broke out in Rome. The Jesuits opened a hospital to care for the victims and Aloysius volunteered to work there. During his service, he contracted the disease and died on June 21, 1591.
Now for the link to games: There is a story that one time, while Aloysius was playing chess with some seminarians, someone posed the question, "what would you do if you knew that you only had one hour to live?" One seminarian said that he would go to confession, another that he would pray before the Blessed Sacrament. But not St. Aloysius. He reasoned that, since his superiors gave him permission to play the game, and he had no other pressing duties, clearly, this is what God wanted him to do. So, in his final hour, he would finish the game!
Aloysius is actually patron of young students, Christian youth, Jesuit scholastics, the blind and AIDS patients and caregivers. His feast day is June 21.
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