Thoughts to live by: St. Charles Borromeo

Some Notes on St. Charles Borromeo: Tuesday, 4 November

1. St. Charles Borromeo was born on 02 October 1538 into a noble family, one of the most ancient and wealthiest in Lombardy. His father was the Count of Arona. His mother was from the House of Medici.

2. When he was 12, he received the tonsure and also received the income of the Benedictine Abbey. But he refused to use it for himself, preferring instead to give it to the poor.

3. Though thought to be slow, in reality he had a prodigious intellect. He earned a doctorate in canon and civil law at age 21. In 1560, the newly elected Pope Pius IV, his uncle, called him to Rome, appointed him protonatory apostolic, and created him Cardinal. He was 22 years old. His outstanding intellectual and administrative skills soon assumed staggering responsibilities. He was made governor of the Papal States and supervisor of the Franciscans, Carmelites and Knights of Malta. During his 4 years in Rome, he lived in austerity.

4. He organized the 3rd and last session of the Council of Trent in 1562-63. The reforming Council served as the Catholic answer to the Protestant Reformation. He also played a leading role to the making of the Catechism of Trent.

5. When his older brother died, the Borromeo family urged him to be laicized and marry, so that the family would not become extinct. But he refused. He was appointed the administrator of the Archdiocese of Milan. For this reason, he was ordained a deacon. Later in 1563, he was ordained a priest during the Council of Trent. A month later, he was ordained a Bishop in the Sistine Chapel. He was then formally appointed Archbishop of Milan in 1564. He was 26 yrs old.

6. In Milan, he faced an Archdiocese in a state of disintegration after 80 years with no leadership. He made many pastoral visits, reformed churches and monasteries, and established seminaries for the education of future priests. He initiated the first "Sunday School" classes to instruct the youth in their Catholic faith.

7. Very active in preaching, he was famous in bringing back many lapsed Catholics to the faith. He reformed the clergy, many of whom were living scandalous lives. Understandably, many religious communities resisted the reform. Some disgruntled monks tried to kill him. He miraculously survived.

8. In 1576, a severe famine and later a plague hit Milan. While the Milan governor fled to escape the plague, Archbishop Borromeo stayed and organized the care of those affected, and ministered to the dying. Trying to feed about 3,000 daily for three months, he used up his own funds and the wealth of the Borromeo family to provide. Convinced that the famine and plague were a chastisement for sins, he walked in procession, barefoot, with a rope around his neck in spiritual penance.

9. He gave pastoral attention to English Catholics who had fled from the new laws against the Catholic faith. While visiting the cantons of Switzerland and the Grisons as Apostolic Visitor, he repressed Protestantism, witchcraft and sorcery. Oppositionists to his reform appealed to the courts of Rome and Madrid.

10. In 1584, during his annual retreat, he fell ill. Returning to Milan from his retreat, his intermittent fever and ague grew rapidly worse. After receiving the last rites, the once young prodigy of the Papal Court quietly died on 03 Nov 1584 at the age of 46.

11. Popular devotion quickly grew. The Milanese celebrated his anniversary as though he was already a saint. He was beatified in 1602. Twenty years after his death, he was canonized by Pope Paul V in 1610. His feast day is on 04 November. He is the Patron Saint of Bishops, Catechists and Seminarians.

12. His correspondence shows his influence on Popes, Kings and Queens. One Cardinal styled him as "a second Ambrose, whose early death ... inflicted a great loss on the Church."

St. Charles Borromeo was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation together with St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Philip Neri.

13. Prayer — Preserve in the midst of your people, we ask, O Lord, the spirit with which you filled St. Charles Borromeo, that your Church may be constantly renewed and, by conforming herself to the likeness of Christ, may show his face to the world, through Christ our Lord. Amen.