Gonzaga

 

March Madness is finally over - Gonzaga fell to North Carolina 71 to 65 last night.  We didn't watch, don't follow college basketball, and Honey resents the fact that it usurps time when the network normally shows some of her favorite shows. She did ask this year "What's a Gonzaga."

I told her I thought it was a Catholic school - I was right, but that was all I knew.

A bit of research this morning told me that it is a Jesuit college in Spokane, Washington.  It was named for Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian nobleman who gave up wealth and power to join the church. He fell ill while tending the sick during an epidemic, and died at the age of 22. 

He was Canonized in 1726, and is the patron saint of students, and also of AIDS patients and care-givers.

The other thing I learned this morning is that Aloysius and Luigi are variations of the same name.  They don't look (or sound) anything alike, but one is Latin and the other Italian for the same person.