His mother repeated over and over again these words that she hoped he would say first, before any other words.
Many parents hope that their children will first say "Mama" or "Papa," leading to a game of sorts where each parent repeatedly tries to train their child in their first word.
This is very natural and a common feature of family life, especially when welcoming a first child.
St. Aloysius Gonzaga's mother, however, had a different strategy. She did not try to get her son to say "Mama," but to say two words that melted her heart.
Jesus, Mary
According to the book Life of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, his mother made it her goal to train him to say the words "Jesus" or "Mary" when he was a baby:
Every day she made the sign of the cross with the infant's hand, she repeated again and again the names of Our Lord and of His Blessed Mother until at last her heart throbbed with joy when she saw the lips part and utter the words ''Jesus," ''Mary."
While she may not have known it, those two words would go on to summarize the life of St. Aloysius, as the author of the book explains:
It seems that these two names tell the whole life of St. Aloysius. He imitated Our Lord not only in innocence, but as far as possible in suffering ; and from the time of his birth he was under the protection of the Blessed Virgin and mirrored her purity and love for God.
His mother continued his early education by teaching him the Our Father and the Hail Mary as soon as he was able to say distinct sentences.
This brought great joy to her heart, as it was a primary aim of hers to education St. Aloysius in the Catholic faith as early as she could, hoping and praying that he would stay faithful to Christ for the rest of his life.
The good news is that he certainly did, attaining the heights of sanctity at an early age. St. Aloysius died when he was 23 years old and was known for his purity and deep interior life.
