In 1947, a small group of faith-filled Catholic men, lead by Frank L. Lucio, gathered together with a common desire to organize a celebration in Tulare to honor Our Lady of Fatima. The committee – which also included Joe Lucio, Manuel A. Borba, Frank Tristao, Jimmie Ferasci and a few others – was dedicated to fulfilling the dream of building a Catholic school for their children and grandchildren, and felt an annual celebration, honoring Our Lady of Fatima, would be an excellent way to support that desire.
The first Fatima celebration was held that October with more than 5000 guests in attendance. The committee met with the pastor of St. Aloysius Church, Fr. Matthew O'Brien, to donate the proceeds of the initial Fatima celebration – and dedicate the proceeds from all future celebration – to build and sustain a new Catholic school in Tulare. The community was so supportive that the following year, more than 50 men joined the committee.
No time was wasted and the school was opened in 1948. Staffed by the Sisters of Notre Dame, the school had a mandate to teach children Catholic faith and doctrine as well as life skills and standard academic curriculum. St. Aloysius School was consecrated to Mary when the site administrator was Sister Kay O'Brien. The love and dedication the school has for the Blessed Mother is evident in the many school-wide activities and in the culture of the community of Tulare.
As a private school, St. Aloysius depends on fundraisers to support everything from curriculum materials to sports items. In recent years, funds have also been used for important technology upgrades that benefit both students and staff. Most importantly, St. Aloysius has been dedicated to maintaining affordable tuition rates and fundraisers such as the Fatima celebration continue to be essential to that cause.
Read more about this incredible annual event, responsible for the birth and ongoing strength of our school, in the Fundraising Events page in the Support SAS section of our website.
OUR PATRON SAINT
St. Aloysius School is named for St. Aloysius Gonzaga – patron saint of Catholic Youth, Jesuit students, teenage children, teenagers, and young people.
Saint Aloysius Gonzaga was born Luigi Gonzaga, the eldest son of Ferrante, the Marquis of Castiglione, an Italian nobleman, on March 9, 1568. From the earliest age, the young saint was given to prayer. Legend has it that his first spoken words were the Holy Names of Mary and Jesus.
Aloysius was raised with many servants, and plenty of wealth and comfort. He was a bright and cheerful boy who got along well with other people. It was natural for his father to have had great hopes that he would have a military career and succeed him in the nobility with title and property. Aloysius was, therefore, trained for soldiery and court life from a very young age. But Aloysius was deeply faithful and pious, the hand of God would not allow him to become a soldier.
By the age of 9, he had privately decided on a religious Life and made a vow of perpetual virginity. He practiced many devotions and mortifications and safeguarded himself at all times from possible temptation. He had many friends among the soldiers and in the court, who encouraged him to join them for their parties and celebrations. They wanted him to behave just like them. But Aloysius preferred to spend his free time in prayer, kneeling on a cold stone floor or in the church in front of the Blessed Sacrament. His friends and other students teased him for this piety and devotion. Even his parents didn’t understand or approve of this.
In 1577, his father took Aloysius and his brother to Florence to study and improve their Latin and Italian. As it would happen, the young man would develop an affinity for the study of the saints even more than his regular studies.
At this time Aloysius read of the Jesuit missionaries in India, and he resolved to join the Society of Jesus. He began this direction in life by instructing the poor boys of Castiglione in the catechism. At Casal-Monferrato, where he spent winters, he assumed the discipline of a monk, fasting three days a week, scourging himself, and praying at midnight on the stone floor of his unheated room.
Over the next two years, Aloysius would fight with his father, mother, royalty, and delegates over his impending Jesuit vocation. At the age of 12, he encountered the great ecclesiastic Saint Charles Borromeo and he received his first Holy Communion from him. When Aloysius was in his teens, nearly old enough to begin working as a soldier, he became sick with kidney disease, so sick that he had to stay in bed. He wasn’t sorry though, even though most would prefer running and playing to being sick in bed for months and months, Aloysius said he was glad that he was ill because it gave him more time to pray and meditate. He also used this time to instruct others in their catechism.
His father and mother were disappointed that Aloysius was sick, but they were even more disappointed when he said that he wanted to become a Jesuit instead of inheriting his father’s title and estate. He signed over all his inheritance to his younger brother. His parents, teachers, and friends argued with him about this decision for three whole years. His parents continued to disagree with his choice to follow a religious life on the grounds he should follow in his father’s stead. Finally, they relented after most of the family title and responsibilities fell to his younger brother Rudolpho, thus allowing Aloysius to enter his novitiate in November 1585.
Aloysius’ health was so poor that he received Holy Viaticum and Extreme Unction on several occasions. Even though Aloysius was still ill from his kidney disease, he insisted being allowed to assist with the sick and he served in a hospital during the plague of 1587 in Milan. In time, he fell victim to the dreaded disease himself, and died at the age of 23, after receiving the last rites from Saint Robert Bellarmine.
It was revealed to him that he would pass on the Octave of Corpus Christi, and though he appeared much better in the days preceding the Feast, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga did, in fact, die on the Octave of Corpus Christi, June 21st, 1591. This young man, a patron to all young people, was beatified in 1621 and declared a saint in 1725. Aloysius’ relics are buried under the altar of Saint Ignatius Church, Rome.