This is a rather remarkable painting of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, (1569-1591) the young Jesuit novice who died in Rome at the age of twenty-three while caring for plague victims.
Here we see him kneeling with his head resting against a Gospel page. The room is filled with morning light. The lily alongside him, at the edge of the kneeler, reminds us of Jesus' beatitude words, "Blessed are the clean of heart, they shall see God." There is a carved image of the Mother of God on the side wall before which he may well have prayed his prayer.
O holy Mary, my Queen,
into your blessed trust and special keeping,
into the heart of your tender mercy,
this day, everyday of my life
and at the hour of my death,
I entrust my soul and body;
to you I entrust all my hopes and consolations,
all my trials and miseries,
my life and the end of my life,
that through your most holy intercession and your merits,
all my actions may be ordered
and directed according to your will
and that of your divine Son.
Amen.
