San Carlos Borromeo

 Saint Charles Borromeo was born on October 2, 1538 at the castle of Arona on Lake
Maggiore near Milan. His father was the Count of Arona and his mother a member of the
House of Medici. He was the third of six children born to the couple.
 At the age of 12, the young Count Charles Borromeo dedicated himself to a life of
service to the Church. His uncle gave to him the family income from the Benedictine
abbey of Saints Gratinian and Felinus. Even as a youth, his integrity was obvious. He
was explicit in telling his father that he could only keep the money required for his
education and to prepare him for service to the Church. All other funds belonged to the
poor of the Church and were to be passed along to them.
 The young count suffered from a speech impediment that made him appear slow to
those who did not know him. Despite this challenge, he performed well and impressed
his teachers. He attended the University of Pavia and learned Latin. He was praised
because he was hardworking and thorough.
 In 1554 his father passed away and although Charles was a teenager, responsibility for
his household fell to him. Charles continued in his studies and earned a doctorate in
canon and civil law.
 His responsibility for his household resulted in financial difficulties, and Charles earned a
reputation for being short of funds.
 Life sped up for the young count after his uncle, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Medici
became Pope Pius IV on December 25, 1559. The new pope asked his nephew to come
to Rome and appointed him as a cardinal-deacon. With the rank came the job of
assisting and advising his uncle full-time. A month later, Pope Pius IV made his nephew
a cardinal.
 With the new rank came even more duties including the government of the Papal States,
the supervision of the Knights of Malta, the Franciscans, and the Carmelites. He was
only 23 years old.
 The young Borromeo used his leadership role in the Vatican to promote learning and he
established a literary academy. He wrote of some of the lessons and lectures in the
book, Noctes Vaticanae.
 Borromeo was appointed administrator of the Archdiocese of Milan in 1560. Since he
would become the ecclesiastical administrator of Milan, he decided that the Lord was
calling him to the priesthood.
 In 1561, he founded a college at Pavia dedicated to St. Justina of Padua.
 In 1562 his brother died and his family urged him to leave the service of the church to
preserve the family name. However, Borromeo refused. He became more insistent upon
becoming a good bishop and in compelling others to lead exemplary lives of clerical
service.
 Borromeo was ordained first to the order of deacon. Then, he was ordained to the holy
priesthood on September 4, 1563. Then, he was ordained as a bishop on December 7,
1563. He became Archbishop of Milan in May 12, 1564.
 In 1566, Archbishop Borromeo's benefactor and uncle, Pope Pius IV died. Borromeo had
already developed a reputation as a young, idealistic reformer in Rome, and he
 continued that mission in Milan. Milan was the largest diocese in the Catholic Church at
the time and corruption was rampant.
 The driving out of corruption was a critical matter during Borromeo's time. The Protestant
Reformation was spreading throughout northern Europe and constantly threatened to
move south. The greatest defense against Protestant doctrinal errors and claims against
the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was reform and the restoration of integrity to the
Catholic Church. Archbishop Borromeo saw this clearly and he made this his mission.
 His strategy was to provide education to many clergy he saw as ignorant. He founded
schools and seminaries and colleges for clergy.
 He also ended the selling of indulgences, a form of simony (Catholic Catechism #2120,
and ordered monasteries to reform themselves. He made a lot of visits to various
locations to inspect for himself. He ordered the simplification of church interiors, which
was a major point of contention between some Catholics and Protestants. The complex
and busy interiors were claimed to be a distraction from the worship of God. This danger
was acknowledged during the Council of Trent which Archbishop Borromeo enforced.
Even tombs belonging to his own relatives were cleared of inappropriate ornaments and
embellishments.
 His work of cleaning up the Church also made him enemies. On one occasion a member
of a small, decrepit order known as the "Humiliati" attempted to assassinate him with a
pistol, but missed.
 Many of his subordinates and secular officials complained about the Archbishop
throughout his career. However, the existence of these enemies only emboldened
Borromeo and served as confirmation that his efforts to eradicate corruption were
working.
 In 1576 a famine struck Milan followed by the plague, and many of the wealthy and
powerful fled the city. Archbishop Borromeo remained. He used his own fortune to feed
the starving people. When that money was spent, he took loans and went deep into
debt. He may have fed 70,000 people per day. Eventually, the Archbishop convinced the
local governor to return to his post and care for the people.
 In 1583, Archbishop Borromeo traveled to Switzerland and began work suppressing
heresy there. Protestant heresies, along with witchcraft and sorcery had been widely
reported. He founded the Collegium Helveticum to serve and educate Swiss Catholics.
 Eventually, the Archbishop's life of work and toil began to take its toll. In 1584, he
became ill with a fever. He returned to Milan where his conditioned worsened. When it
became obvious he would die, he was given his last Sacraments. He died on November
3, at the age of 46.
 He was beatified on May 12, 1602 by Pope Paul V. He was subsequently canonized by
Pope Paul V on November 1, 1610.
 St. Charles Borromeo's feast day is celebrated on November 4. He is the patron of
bishops, catechists, Lombardy, Italy, Monterey, California, cardinals, seminarians,
spiritual leaders, and Sao Carlos in Brazil. St. Charles Borromeo has a beautiful shrine
in the Milan Cathedral and is often depicted in art wearing his robes, barefoot, carrying
the cross with a rope around his neck and his arm raised in blessing.
  Charles was a descendant of nobility: the Borromeo family was one of the most ancient
and wealthy in Lombardy, made famous by several notable men, both in the church and
state.[1] The family coat of arms included the Borromean rings, which are sometimes
taken to symbolize the Holy Trinity. Charles' father Gilbert was Count of Arona. His
mother Margaret was a member of the Milan branch of the House of Medici. The third
son in a family of six children, he was born in the castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore 36
miles from Milan on 2 October 1538.[2
 Borromeo received the tonsure when he was about twelve years old. At this time his
paternal uncle Giulio Cesare Borromeo turned over to him the income from the
rich Benedictine abbey of Sts. Gratinian and Felin, one of the ancient perquisites of the
family. Charles made plain to his father that all revenues from the abbey beyond what
was required to prepare him for a career in the Church belonged to the poor and could
not be applied to secular use. The young man attended the University of Pavia, where
he applied himself to the study of civil and canon law. Due to a slight impediment of a
speech he was regarded as slow but his thoroughness and industry meant that he made
rapid progress.[2] In 1554 his father died, and although he had an elder brother, Count
Federico, he was requested by the family to take the management of their domestic
affairs. After a time, he resumed his studies, and on 6 December 1559, he earned
a doctorate in canon and civil law.

Rome period

 On 25 December 1559 Borromeo's uncle Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Medici was elected
as Pope Pius IV. The newly-elected pope required his nephew to come to Rome, and on
13 January 1560 appointed him protonotary apostolic.[3] Shortly thereafter, on 31
January 1560, the pope created him cardinal, and thus Charles as cardinal-nephew was
entrusted with both the public and the privy seal of the ecclesiastical state.[4] He was
also brought into the government of the Papal States and appointed a supervisor of
the Franciscans, Carmelites and Knights of Malta.
 During his four years in Rome Borromeo lived in austerity, obliged the Roman Curia to
wear black, and established an academy of learned persons, the Academy of the
Vatican Knights, publishing their memoirs as the Noctes Vaticanae.[5]
 Charles organized the third and last session of the Council of Trent, in 1562-63.[4] He
had a large share in the making of the Tridentine Catechism (Catechismus Romanus). In
1561, Borromeo founded and endowed a college at Pavia, today known as Almo
Collegio Borromeo, which he dedicated to St. Justina of Padua.
 On 19 November 1562, his older brother, Federico, suddenly died. His family urged
Charles to seek permission to return to the lay state (laicization), to marry and have
children so that the family name would not become extinct, but he decided not to leave
the ecclesiastic state.[6] His brother's death, along with his contacts with the Jesuits and
the Theatines and the example of bishops such as Bartholomew of Braga, were the
causes of a conversion of Charles towards a more strict and operative Christian life, and
his aim became to put into practice the dignity and duties of the bishop as drafted by the
recent Council of Trent.
Archbishop of Milan

 Charles was appointed an administrator of the Archdiocese of Milan on 7 February 1560.

After his decision to put into practice the role of bishop, he decided to be
ordained priest (4 September 1563) and on 7 December 1563 he was
consecrated bishop in the Sistine Chapel by Cardinal Giovanni Serbelloni.[7] Charles
was formally appointed archbishop of Milan on 12 May 1564 after the former
archbishop Ippolito II d'Este waived his claims on that archbishopric, but he was only
allowed by the pope to leave Rome one year later. Charles made his formal entry into
Milan as archbishop on 23 September 1565.
 After the death of his uncle, Pius IV (1566), Charles contributed materially to
suppressing the cabals of the conclave.[further explanation needed] Before Charles
went to Milan, while he was overseeing reform in Rome, a nobleman remarked that the
latter city was no longer a place to enjoy oneself or to make a fortune. "Carlo Borromeo
has undertaken to remake the city from top to bottom," he said, predicting that the
reformer's enthusiasm "would lead him to correct the rest of the world once he has
finished with Rome."[8]
 Subsequently, he devoted himself to the reformation of his diocese which had
deteriorated in practice owing to the 80-year absence of previous archbishops.[9] Milan
was the largest archdiocese in Italy at the time, with more than 3,000 clergy and 800,000
people. Both its clergy and laity had drifted from church teaching. The selling of
indulgences and ecclesiastical positions was prevalent; monasteries were "full of
disorder"; many religious were "lazy, ignorant, and debauched".[8] Charles made
numerous pastoral visits, and restored dignity to divine service. He urged churches to be
designed in conformity with the decrees of the Council of Trent, which stated that sacred
art and architecture lacking adequate scriptural foundation was in effect prohibited, as
was any inclusion of classical pagan elements in religious art.[10] He divided the nave of
the church into two compartments to separate the sexes at worship.
 He extended his reforms to the collegiate churches, monasteries and even to
the Confraternities of Penitents, particularly that of St. John the Baptist. This group was
to attend to prisoners and those condemned to death, to give them help and support.
 Charles believed that abuses in the church arose from ignorant clergy. Among his most
important actions, he established seminaries, colleges, and communities for the
education of candidates for holy orders.[11] His emphasis on Catholic learning greatly
increased the preparation of men for the priesthood and benefited their congregations. In
addition, he founded the fraternity of Oblates of St. Ambrose, a society of secular men
who did not take orders, but devoted themselves to the church and followed a discipline
of monastic prayers and study. They provided assistance to parishes where ordered by
the church.[9] The new archbishop's efforts for catechesis and the instruction of youth
included the initiation of the first “Sunday School” classes and the work of the
Confraternity for Christian Doctrine.
 Borromeo diocesan reforms faced opposition from several religious orders, particularly
that of the Humiliati (Brothers of Humility), a penitential order which, although reduced to
about 170 members, owned some ninety monasteries. Some members of that society
 formed a conspiracy against his life, and a shot was fired at him in the archiepiscopal
chapel. His survival was considered miraculous.[11]
 In 1576 there was famine at Milan due to crop failures, and later an outbreak of
the plague. The city's trade fell off, and along with it the people's source of income. The
Governor and many members of the nobility fled the city, but the bishop remained, to
organize the care of those affected and to minister to the dying. He called together the
superiors of all the religious communities in the diocese and won their cooperation.
Borromeo tried to feed 60,000 to 70,000 people daily. He used up his own funds and
went into debt to provide food for the hungry. Finally, he wrote to the Governor, and
successfully persuaded him to return.

Influence on English affairs

 Charles had also been involved in English affairs when he assisted Pius IV. Many
English Catholics had fled to Italy at this time because of the persecutions under Queen
Elizabeth I. He gave pastoral attention to English Catholics who fled to Italy to escape
the new laws against the Catholic faith.[11] Saint Edmund Campion, a Jesuit, along with
Saint Ralph Sherwin visited him at Milan in 1580 on their way to England. They stayed
with him for eight days, talking with him every night after dinner. A Welshman, Griffith
Roberts, served as his canon theologian, and an Englishman, Thomas Goldwell, as
vicar-general. The archbishop carried on his person a small picture of John Fisher, who,
with Thomas More, had been executed during the reign of Henry VIII, and for whom he
held a great veneration. During the nineteenth-century Catholic restoration in
England, Cardinal Wiseman was to institute an order of Oblates of St Charles, led
by Henry Edward Manning, as a congregation of secular priests directly supporting the
Archbishop of Westminster.

Persecution of religious dissidents

 Though the Diet of Ilanz of 1524 and 1526 had proclaimed freedom of worship in the
Republic of the Three Leagues, Charles repressed Protestantism in the Swiss valleys.
The Catholic Encyclopedia relates: “In November [1583] he began a visitation as
Apostolic visitor of all the cantons of Switzerland and the Grisons, leaving the affairs of
his diocese in the hands of Monsignor Owen Lewis, his vicar-general. He began in the
Mesoleina Valley; here not only was their heresy to be fought, but also witchcraft and
sorcery, and at Roveredo it was discovered that "the provost or rector, was the foremost
in sorceries.”[13] During his pastoral visit to the region, 150 people were arrested for
practicing witchcraft. Eleven women and the provost were condemned to be burned
alive.[14]
 Reacting to the pressure of the Protestant Reformation, Borromeo encouraged Ludwig
Pfyffer in his development of the Golden League, but did not live to see its formation in
1586. Based in Lucerne, the organization (also called the Borromean League) linked
activities of several Swiss Catholic cantons of Switzerland, which became the center of
Catholic Counter-Reformation efforts. This organization was determined to expel
heretics and burned some people at the stake. It created severe strains in the civil
 administration of the confederation, and caused the break-up of Appenzell canton along
religious lines. 

Controversy and last days

 Borromeo was described by a biographer as “an austere, dedicated, humorless and

uncompromising personality”.[citation needed] Charged with implementing the reforms
dictated by the Council of Trent, his uncompromising stance brought him into conflict
with secular leaders, priests, and even the Pope.[8] He met with much opposition to his
reforms. The governor of the province and many of the senators addressed complaints
to the courts of Rome and Madrid.
 In 1584, during his annual retreat at Monte Varallo, he fell ill with "intermittent fever and
ague", and on returning to Milan grew rapidly worse. After receiving the Last
Sacraments, he died quietly on 4 November at the age of 46.[2]

Veneration

 Following his death, popular devotion to Charles arose quickly and continued to grow.
The Milanese celebrated his anniversary as though he were already a saint, and
supporters in a number of cities collected documentation to support his canonization. In
1602 Clement VIII beatified Charles. In 1604 his case was sent on to the Congregation
of Rites. On 1 November 1610, Paul V canonized Charles. Three years later, the church
added his feast to the General Roman Calendar for celebration on 4 November. Along
with Guarinus of Palestrina and perhaps Anselm of Lucca, he is one of only two or
three cardinal-nephews to have been canonized.
 Charles Borromeo is the patron saint of bishops, catechists and seminarians.[16]

Iconography

 Borromeo's emblem is the Latin word humilitas (humility), which is a portion of the

Borromeo shield. He is usually represented in art in his robes, barefoot, carrying the
cross as archbishop, a rope around his neck, one hand raised in blessing, thus recalling
his work during the plague.

Another Source

 Charles' biography was originally written by three of his contemporaries: Agostino

Valerio (afterwards cardinal and Bishop of Verona) and Carlo Bascape (General of
the Barnabites, afterwards Bishop of Novara), who wrote their contributions in Latin,
and Pietro Giussanno (a priest), who wrote his in Italian. Father Giussanno's account
was the most detailed of the three.

Legacy

 Il Sancarlone (English: The huge Saint Charles): colossal statue of Carlo Borromeo

erected in Arona, Italy in 1697. The work of Giovanni Battista Crespi, the statue is 23 m
tall and stands on a plinth 12 m in height.
  Borromeo's correspondence shows his influential position in Europe during his lifetime.
The popes under whom he served sought his advice. The Catholic sovereigns of Europe
– Henry III of France, Philip II of Spain, Mary, Queen of Scots – and others showed how
they valued his influence. Cardinal Valerio of Verona said of him that Borromeo was "to
the well-born a pattern of virtue, to his brother cardinals an example of true
nobility." Cardinal Baronius styled him "a second Ambrose, whose early death, lamented
by all good men, inflicted great loss on the Church."
 Late in the sixteenth or at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Catholics in England
circulated among themselves a "Life of St. Charles"

Another Souce:

 Charles Borromeo was born in northern Italy in 1538 to an established and wealthy
family. Trained in civil and canon law in Pavia, he was called to Rome as a young man
by his uncle, Pope Pius IV, to be secretary of state at the Vatican. “Always clear and
precise in his views, firm in his demeanor, and constant in the execution of his projects,”
as one biographer has remarked, he played an important role in convincing Pius to
reconvene the Council of Trent, which sought to address corruption in a sixteenth-
century church beleaguered by Protestantism. Under the auspices of that council,
beginning in 1563 Borromeo supervised the writing of an accurate catechism, rewrote
liturgical texts and music, and began enforcing clerical reform in Rome. Pope Pius IV
named Borromeo archbishop of Milan but kept him in Rome performing a multitude of
official functions.
 When Borromeo arrived in Milan, he faced a daunting task. Milan was the largest
archdiocese in Italy at the time, with more than 3,000 clergy and 800 thousand people.
Both its clergy and laity had drifted from church teaching. The selling of indulgences and
ecclesiastical positions was prevalent; monasteries were “full of disorder”; many religious
were “lazy, ignorant, and debauched,” and some did not even understand how to
properly administer the sacraments. The city had seen no resident bishop for 80 years.
Borromeo immediately called a synod of his bishops to inform them of the new decrees.
Setting an example of personal frugality and order, Borromeo reduced his household
staff, forbade his retainers to accept any presents, and sold some of his property to help
feed the poor. 
 He began preaching in churches and monasteries, combining “exhortation with
intimidation.” He also addressed the backsliding of laypeople, curtailing Sunday
entertainments and requiring that all teachers profess the faith. Always interested in
religious education, Borromeo established the Confraternities of Christian Doctrine to
teach religion to children, and the organization grew to include 740 schools, three
thousand catechists, and forty thousand students in Sunday schools.
 Borromeo’s rigor predictably made him enemies. Before Borromeo went to Milan, while
he was overseeing reform in Rome, a nobleman remarked that the latter city was no
longer a place to enjoy oneself or to make a fortune. “Carlo Borromeo has undertaken to
remake the city from top to bottom,” he said, predicting dryly that the reformer’s
enthusiasm “would lead him to correct the rest of the world once he has finished with
Rome.” Once Borromeo arrived in his own diocese, he was forced to excommunicate
 and imprison some Milanese nobles, including some civil authorities, for defying his new
policies. Some Milanese complained to the pope about Borromeo’s allegedly excessive
rigor, but the archbishop was vindicated. When he ordered the reform of a wealthy and
corrupt religious order, the Humiliati, foes attempted to assassinate him.
 Borromeo also displayed a gentler aspect, however, and many of his people loved him.
During a plague in 1576, he stayed in the city and cared for the sick, ordering that
decorative church hangings be tailored into clothing for the destitute. During a famine he
incurred great debts to feed more than 60,000 people. In more ordinary times, he liked to
wander the city praying with the people. He established hospitals, colleges, orphanages,
and other charitable institutions.
 An energetic reformer who took “always the most austere and stringent interpretation” of
the dictates of the Council of Trent, Charles Borromeo was instrumental in helping
reinvigorate the church during the Counter-Reformation. His work, it is said, “gave new
confidence to a shaken church.” He died in 1584, at age forty-six, tired from his labors.
He was canonized in 1610 and is the patron saint of catechists.

Blending Tough Love and Personal Integrity

 “An austere, dedicated, humorless and uncompromising personality” is the way that a
biographer—an admiring biographer—describes Charles Borromeo. Charged with
implementing the reforms dictated by the Council of Trent, Borromeo had to be tough,
and his toughness brought him into conflict with secular leaders, priests, and even the
pope himself.
 Those teachers and educational administrators who have had the experience of
implementing unpopular reforms, however, are likely to be more empathetic. Sometimes,
for the greater good of our parish or our school, we must oversee change. Our
administrators or religious leaders may have seen that our organization needs to be
reinvigorated and may have chosen us to translate the reforms to others. Students in
catechism classes may not be receiving the information and inspiration that they need;
colleagues may have become lazy and/or resentful about attending necessary training
sessions, meeting with students, or preparing their classes. Curriculum requirements
may be falling by the wayside.
 If we supervise teachers, we will try, of course, to sway them first by cheerful
encouragement that suggests optimism about their worth. But sometimes that is not
enough. When our encouragement falls on deaf ears and change doesn’t happen, we
may find ourselves issuing ultimatums: “If you don’t attend this training class, begin
preparing lessons more thoroughly, use religious education time more to the purpose,
etc., we’ll have to replace you.” When we must say such things, we will likely hear bitter
criticism, may be called unreasonable, because drawing a line and demanding, say, that
teachers attend a crucial training session can raise as many hackles as requiring monks
to return to their cloisters. Being tough, even when necessary, can hurt the person who
initiates reform.
 In such situations, Borromeo can offer us crucial inspiration and some very specific
advice about tough love. For the larger good of the church during a time when it was
 beleaguered, he knew that he had to sacrifice his own popularity. His example
demonstrates that we must be brave in God’s service. Ultimately, the catechists, the
students we serve will thank us.
 Borromeo also teaches crucial fairness. Evenhanded in his demands, he expected the
same compliance with Council of Trent reforms from everyone. Bishops and priests alike
had to dismiss their female relatives from their households; all schoolteachers—no
exceptions—were required to make public professions of faith; every workingman who
was apprehended in the street by one of the Archbishop’s “fishers” on Sunday was
escorted to catechism class. Borromeo reminds us that the rules must be the same for
all, and that we will not succeed if we make exceptions and play favorites.
 Borromeo’s life reminds us teacher/administrators that we cannot be hypocrites. If we
expect to reinvigorate our organization, we must model that reform in our own lives.
While others may be displeased with us at first, and while we may face hard words, we
must take courage and know that the larger cause for which we work is worth the effort,
and the pain.

Another Source:

 Saint Charles spent his life and fortune in the service of the people of his diocese. He
directed and fervently enforced the decrees of the Council of Trent, fought tirelessly for
peace in the wake of the storm caused by Martin Luther, founded schools for the poor,
seminaries for clerics, hospitals for the sick, conducted synods, instituted children's
Sunday school, did great public and private penance, and worked among the sick and
dying,leading his people by example. 
 Born: morning of Wednesday 2 October 1538 in the castle at Aron, diocese of Novara,
Italy 
 Died: 3 November 1584 at 8:30 pm of a fever at Milan, Italy; his will named the Hospital
Maggiore of Milan as his heir; buried in the metropolitan cathedral of Milan; relics
transferred to a chapel built by Count Renato Borromeo in piazza San Maria Podone,
Milan on 21 September 1751 
 Beatified: 1602 by Pope Clement VIII 
Canonized: 1 November 1610 by Pope Paul V 
Name Meaning: strong; manly (= Charles) 
Patronage: against ulcers; apple orchards; bishops; catechists; catechumens; colic;
intestinal disorders; Lombardy, Italy; diocese of Monterey California; seminarians;
spiritual directors; spiritual leaders; starch makers; stomach diseases 
Representation: cardinal wearing a cord around his neck; bishop wearing a cord around
his neck; curing the sick; Holy Communion and coat of arms bearing the word Humilitas 
Images: Gallery of images of Saint Charles 
 Readings 

“If we wish to make any progress in the service of God we must begin every day of our
life with new eagerness. We must keep ourselves in the presence of God as much as
 possible and have no other view or end in all our actions but the divine honor. “

 “I admit that we are all weak, but if we want help, the Lord God has given us the means
to find it easily. Would you like me to teach you how to grow from virtue to virtue and
how, if you are already recollected at prayer, you can be even more attentive next time,
and so give God more pleasing worship? Listen, and I will tell you. If a tiny spark of
God's love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown
out. Keep the stove tightly shut so that it will not lose its heat and grow cold. In other
words, avoid distractions as well as you can. Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your
time in useless chatter. “

 “If teaching and preaching is your job, then study diligently and apply yourself to
whatever is necessary for doing the job well. Be sure that you first preach by the way
you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and
your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head. “

 “We must meditate before, during and after everything we do. The prophet says: "I will
pray, and then I will understand." 
This is the way we can easily overcome the countless difficulties we have to face day
after day, which, after all, are part of our work. In meditation we find the strength to bring
Christ to birth in ourselves and in other men”.

Another source:

 The name of Charles Borromeo is associated with reform. He lived during the time of the
Protestant Reformation, and had a hand in the reform of the whole Church during the
final years of the Council of Trent.
 Although he belonged to the Milanese nobility and was related to the powerful Medici
family, Charles desired to devote himself to the Church. In 1559, when his uncle,
Cardinal de Medici was elected Pope Pius IV, he made Charles cardinal-deacon and
administrator of the Archdiocese of Milan. At the time Charles was still a layman and a
young student. Because of his intellectual qualities Charles was entrusted with several
important offices connected with the Vatican, and later appointed secretary of state with
responsibility for the papal states. The untimely death of his elder brother brought
Charles to a definite decision to be ordained a priest, despite his relatives’ insistence
that he marry. Soon after being ordained a priest at age 25, Borromeo was consecrated
bishop of Milan.
 Working behind the scenes, Saint Charles deserves the credit for keeping the Council of
Trent in session when at several points it was on the verge of breaking up.
Borromeo encouraged the pope to renew the Council in 1562, after it had been
suspended for 10 years. He took upon himself the task of the entire correspondence
during the final phase. Because of his work at the Council, Borromeo was unable to take
up residence in Milan until the Council concluded.
  Eventually, Borromeo was allowed to devote his time to the Archdiocese of Milan, where
the religious and moral picture was far from bright. The reform needed in every phase of
Catholic life among both clergy and laity was initiated at a provincial council of all the
bishops under him. Specific regulations were drawn up for bishops and other clergy: If
the people were to be converted to a better life, Borromeo had to be the first to give a
good example and renew their apostolic spirit.
 Charles took the initiative in giving a good example. He allotted most of his income to
charity, forbade himself all luxury, and imposed severe penances upon himself. He
sacrificed wealth, high honors, esteem, and influence to become poor. During the plague
and famine of 1576, Borromeo tried to feed 60,000 to 70,000 people daily. To do this he
borrowed large sums of money that required years to repay. Whereas the civil
authorities fled at the height of the plague, he stayed in the city, where he ministered to
the sick and the dying, helping those in want.
 Work and the heavy burdens of his high office began to affect Archbishop Borromeo’s
health, leading to his death at the age of 46.
 Reflection: Saint Charles Borromeo made his own the words of Christ: “…I was hungry
and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you
welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you
visited me” (Matthew 25:35-36). Borromeo saw Christ in his neighbor, and knew that
charity done for the least of his flock was charity done for Christ.

Another Source:

 This Friday is the feast of Charles Borromeo, one of the most important bishops in the
entire history of the church, one of the outstanding figures in the Catholic Reformation of
the 16th century and patron saint of bishops, catechists and seminarians.

 Pope John XXIII had a special devotion to Charles Borromeo. The newly elected pope
chose Borromeo's feast day for his own coronation in 1958 (they were still crowning
popes in those days, until the election of John Paul I in 1978) even though the feast day
occurred on a Wednes-day. Traditionally, papal coronations were held on Sunday.
 Thirty-four years earlier, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli had been consecrated a bishop
(today we would say "ordained" a bishop) in the church of San Carlo alla Corso ("St.
Charles on the Corso") in Rome, where Charles Borromeo's heart is preserved for
veneration.
 Fr. Roncalli had spent much time at the Ambrosian Library in Milan researching the life
of Charles Borromeo, especially his pastoral visitations to Roncalli's home diocese of
Bergamo. It was also at the Ambrosian Library where Roncalli came to the attention of
its librarian, Achille Ratti, the future Pope Pius XI.
 Borromeo had been born of an aristocratic and wealthy family. His uncle, Cardinal Gian
Angelo de'Medici (no relation to the famous Medicis of Florence), became Pope Pius IV
in 1559 and the following year heaped honors and responsibilities upon his nephew,
including the administration of the diocese of Milan, then under Spanish rule, and the
cardinal's hat. Borromeo also served as the new pope's secretary of state (another
custom), which required him to take up residency in Rome and to delegate the duties he
had in Milan to others.
 Charles strongly supported his uncle's decision to reopen the Council of Trent in 1562 (it
had been suspended since 1552) and was himself an active participant at the council,
drafting its catechism and contributing to the reform of liturgical books and church music.
 Borromeo was deeply affected by the death of his older brother that same year, and was
determined to live a holier life. He was ordained a priest the following year and two
months later was consecrated a bishop. He was only 25!
 As papal legate to all of Italy, he convened a provincial council at Milan, which
promulgated the reforms of Trent. After his uncle died in 1565, he obtained from his
uncle's successor, Pius V, whom he had strongly supported for election to the papacy,
permission to reside in his diocese. He became the first resident archbishop of Milan in
80 years.
 Borromeo's pledge to live a holier life after his brother's death was fulfilled in his
adopting a simple standard of living. He gave away much of his substantial revenue to
the poor.
 As archbishop of Milan, he held councils and synods, made regular pastoral visits to his
parishes, reorganized the diocesan administrative structure, established seminaries,
enforced standards of morality for his clergy and founded a confraternity to teach
Christian doctrine to children.
 Indeed, his reforms were so far-reaching that some members of the Humiliati, a lay
movement that was originally founded to serve the poor but which had grown rich and
lax itself, hired someone to assassinate the archbishop in 1569. Charles was slightly
wounded, and the group was later suppressed.
 The following year and again in 1576, Borromeo organized and took a personal role in
the feeding of thousands during famines and nursing many others during a plague.
 When in 1578 even his cathedral canons balked at some of his reforms, he founded a
society of diocesan priests, the Oblates of St. Ambrose (a famous predecessor in Milan),
to carry out his wishes.
 However, Borromeo's influence continued at the highest levels of the church. When
Gregory XIII was elected to succeed Pius V in 1572, he, like Borromeo, was determined
to promote the decrees of the Council of Trent and Catholic reform generally.
 In 1583, Gregory appointed him apostolic visitor to Switzerland, where Borromeo had to
confront witchcraft and sorcery as well as Calvinism and Zwingliism. This position and
his ongoing efforts on behalf of the renewal and reform of the church in Milan and in the
church universal eventually wore him down.
 Borromeo died in Milan on Nov. 3, 1584. He was only 46. A cult developed immediately,
and he was canonized in 1610.
 We should keep in mind that Borromeo wasn't even a priest at this time. It was a
common practice to confer the cardinal's hat on one's nephew (thus, the term
"nepotism," from the Italian word for nephew, nipote) and even to hand over the
administration of a diocese to a layman.

Another Souce:

 He belonged to one of the oldest, noblest, richest, and proudest families of Lombardy,
his father being Gilberto Borromeo, Count of Arona, his mother Margherita dei Medici,
sister of Giovanni Angelo, afterward Pope Pius IV.
 Being a second son, he was from infancy dedicated to the Church, for which he studied
at Milan and at Pavia.
 When he was twelve years of age, he was granted by an uncle, Giulio Cesare
Borromeo, the rich revenues of the Benedictine monastery of SS. Gratinian and Felin.
Upon the death of his father, when he was twenty, he received a share of the family
fortune, and when he was twenty-six, at the death of his elder brother Federigo, he
succeeded to all the family treasure and honours. Add to this that another uncle joined
the benefices of another abbey to the youth's income, and that King Philip II settled a
pension of 9000 crowns yearly upon him, and gave him the principality of Oria, that his
uncle Pius IV created him cardinal and archbishop of Milan when he was twenty-three,
and then pile upon all this the fact that he lived in Italy in the middle of the sixteenth
century, and you will feel that had he been spoiled, or had his head been turned by such
wealth and power, it would have been comprehensible if not pardonable.
 But Carlo Borromeo was from childhood marked by a gravity and gentle sanctity of
character, a simple humility, a spirituality. a serene austerity, and a beneficence almost
unique in one of his station.
 He lived in Rome as his uncle's chief adviser and companion, not only spotless among
the intrigue and snares of the Court, but an object of marvel and reverence for the
extraordinary combination in one so youthful, of wisdom and modesty, of caution and
sincerity, of dignity and candour.
 On the death of his brother he left Rome and returned to Milan to take charge of his
diocese and of his huge estates. But in those estates and in his enormous fortune he
personally took little pleasure. His self-denial and his charity seem unmatched save
perhaps by those of some of the early Apostles of the Christian Church. All that he
reserved for himself out of his almost boundless revenues was straw upon which to
sleep. Literally all—everything that he had he gave either to public good works or to
private charities. He was obliged, owing to his station, to live in splendour befitting his
rank as Archbishop, but under his gorgeous robes of scarlet and ermine he wore a poor
threadbare black cassock, and at the banquets which he gave for others, as part of his
unlimited hospitality, he himself took only his habitual dry bread and water.
 Tall and emaciated and stooping in figure, pale and beardless of face, with gentle dark
eyes, aquiline nose, and large kindly mouth, he was, as has been said, a Saint "whom
Jews might bless and Protestants adore," the model of pastors and the reformer of
ecclesiastical discipline in the degenerate age in which he lived.
 For a reformer he pre-eminently was. He spared not himself, his rule over himself was of
the strictest, but he insisted upon and with all his power enforced the restoration of
discipline in the Orders, which had fallen into days of corruption and laxity, of dishonesty
and sloth and immorality.
 This naturally raised up against him an army of enemies over whom his gentle
inflexibility invariably triumphed—not only among the higher clergy who were using their
church revenues for their own indulgence, but among the lower Orders, the Franciscans
and the Umiliati, of whom he required that they live according to the laws of their Order,
laws from which they had shamefully departed.
 It was from among these last that one, Fra Farina by name, was hired to assassinate
him.
 Late on a November afternoon San Carlo was celebrating the evening service in his own
chapel. He was on his knees at the altar; behind him the people were intoning an
anthem, when the shot rang out which Fra Farina had aimed from behind a door. It
struck fairly, but though some of the smaller shots penetrated his clothing and bruised
his back, the bullet was deflected by the heavy gold embroidery on San Carlo's cope.
 This, however, was not at first apparent. At the sound of the report the congregation
arose in tumult to their feet, and rushed to the assistance of their beloved Father, but he
—although he supposed himself mortally wounded—rising, ordered them to their knees
again, and with unshaken calm and an unmoved countenance proceeded with the
service.
 Then he retired, and when he found his life in no danger, consecrated it anew to the
service of his Master.
 In those days the music performed in the Church had, with all else concerning it, fallen
into such lines of secularity and profanity that at the Council of Trent the question was
raised whether it were not to the detriment of religion to continue the performance of
music in the churches. Pius IV referred the matter to the judgment of Carlo Borromeo.
With his zeal for reform and purification, it seems probable that he might for all time have
then banished music from the Church had not a champion arisen to defend the noble art,
of a genius so pure, so rare, and elevated that no hearer could resist him. When his
great Mass was performed before the listening judge, San Carlo's heart was won by the
angelic beauty and majesty of its strains. It was the Mass of Palestrina.
 His love of his people was that which brought about the most wonderful act of San Carlo
Borromeo's beautiful life.
 The plague broke out in Milan in 1585. He was at that moment in Lodi. When news of it
reached him he determined to return at once to Milan. In vain his clerics, his friends, and
relatives remonstrated; in vain they told him that to return meant certain death to one in
his delicate health; in vain they assured him that the other clergy, all the nobles, in fact
every one who was materially able to do so, were fleeing from Milan to some place of
safety. He replied that a shepherd's place was with his flock. He returned, and for the
entire period of the plague, which carried away thousands, he preached daily, and
prayed with his people and for them. He tended the sick, distributing medicines and
performing the last rites for the dying, and helped to bury the dead; he gave himself,
body, soul, and spirit. Time and again he walked barefoot to the cathedral with a halter
round his neck, and before the altar offered himself as a sacrifice for his congregation.
Twenty-eight of his priests, fired by his enthusiasm of self-forgetfulness, assisted him in
his angelic ministry, and not one of these, nor San Carlo himself, was touched by the
universal scourge.
 Eleven years later, when he had arrived .at his forty-sixth year, he died of a fever,
brought on doubtless by his long-sustained privations.
 His last moments were beatific. Radiant with an inner glory, he was heard to murmur:
"Ecce—venio" ("Behold—I come"), and then he expired.
 No Saint of legend this—of miracles and wonders, beyond the miracle of an all-loving
heart and the wonder of a stainless soul.
 Another Souce:

 Charles Borromeo was born in 1538 at the castle of Arona (near Milan) to a very wealthy
aristocratic family. The birth of the boy who was to become a glorious saint was
announced by a brilliant light that appeared above the castle, illuminating the night from
two in the morning, the time of his birth, until daybreak (as confirmed under oath by
multiple witnesses in the canonization process).
 His parents were known for their piety and virtuousness, which young Charles imitated
from early age. Being of an earnest disposition he shone amusements and preferred to
spent time in prayer and listening to the reading of devout books. Only 12 years old he
received the tonsure of minor orders. When his uncle, around that same time, turned
over to him a wealthy Benedictine abbey (one of the benefices held by the family),
Charles insisted the revenues belonged to the Church and the poor and, except for the
minimum necessary for his studies, could not be used for any other purposes.
 Due to a speech impediment (which he would only overcome many years later) and his
love of silence he was considered by many to be slow of mind. However, he loved to
study and at the age of 16 was sent to the University of Pavia to study civil and canon
law. Then, as today, universities were known for corrupt morals; debauchery reigned
among most of his fellow students. Charles would immediately flee from even the
slightest occasion of sin and retire to his prayers and devotions, which often earned him
ridicule and sneers. Caring little for the derision of the world and preferring the friendship
of God to that of men, he begged the Lord to keep his soul from evil and harm. Rejecting
two of his tutors – priests he considered too secular, lax in saying their office, and
improperly dressed as laymen instead of wearing clerical attire – young Charles showed
his prudence and good judgement.

Cardinal and Secretary of State

 Soon after earning his doctorate Charles received the news that his uncle, cardinal
Giovanni Angelo di Medici, had been elected to the papacy (after the death of Paul IV).
The new pope, who took the name Pius IV, summoned his nephew to Rome and, in
short progression, made him cardinal, administrator of the archdiocese of Milan, and
Protector of Portugal, the Low Countries, the Catholic cantons of Switzerland as well as
of the Carmelites, Franciscans and the Knights of Malta, among other offices. He also
entrusted Charles, still only 23 years old, with the administration of the Papal States.
 Despite the heavy burden of the multiple tasks the energetic and diligent young man
performed them admirably, while never neglecting his prayer, devotions and sacred
studies. Surrounded by wealth and honors, St. Charles – in his heart increasingly
austere, humble and disengaged from worldly things – not only did not find enjoyment in
them but saw the dangers they presented to the soul. Longing for monastic life of
contemplation and penance, lived only for God and far from the world, the young
cardinal sought advice of the venerable archbishop of Braga, who counselled him to stay
in Rome in service of the Church. Accepting this as God’s will, St. Charles would spend
the rest of his life untiringly laboring for the good of the Church and the advancement of
Christ’s Kingdom.
 When his older brother unexpectedly died in late 1562, Charles, as the remaining male
heir of the Borromeo family, was urged to abandon his ecclesiastical offices and marry.
He, however, seeing the futility of worldly pursuits, decided to live henceforth only for
Christ. The following year, after giving up most of his estates and benefices, he was
ordained priest and, three months later, consecrated bishop. In 1564 he became
 archbishop of Milan but, being needed by the Pope in Rome, wasn’t permitted to take up
residence in his archdiocese until two years later.

Apostle of the Council of Trent

 Pius IV, at the insistence of his nephew, reconvened the Council of Trent, which had
been interrupted for the previous ten years. Under the skilful organization and zealous
oversight of cardinal Borromeo the great Council was successfully concluded by the end
of 1563. It condemned Protestant heresies and clarified and confirmed Catholic dogmas
and doctrines – particularly those that had been disputed by the Protestants. It also
anathematized anyone who denied these doctrines. [Modern-day Catholics would be
well advised to have a look at these anathemas, for the things condemned by the sacred
Council – and by any Council from Nicea to Vatican I – are the very same that multitudes
of those who claim to be Catholic believe, propagate and practice today.]
 Upon the death of his uncle Pope Pius IV, cardinal Borromeo wholeheartedly supported
the Dominican friar and cardinal of Alessandria, Michele Ghislieri, who was noted for his
holiness and zeal. The other cardinals followed his advice and Ghislieri was raised to the
throne of St. Peter, taking the name of Pius V. (St. Charles put all personal interests and
considerations aside, for relations between his uncle Pius IV and cardinal Ghislieri had
been far from amicable, and did what he knew to be best for the glory of God, the
Church and salvation of souls.) Charles held Pius V in great esteem and veneration and
wrote, shortly after the election, in a letter to the cardinal of Portugal: “Let us mutually
rejoice that we have in him a wise and prudent Pontiff whose holiness is so great that it
seems incapable, indeed, of increase…” St. Pius V also came to greatly esteem and
love St. Charles. And so two of our most glorious saints were brought together to fight
and root out heresy, corruption and immorality wherever they found them.
 St. Charles was also involved in the implementation of liturgical norms, and even helped
to reform liturgical music, restoring the sense of sacredness. (During the Renaissance
period church music became corrupted by the use of secular tunes and songs which
appealed to the taste of the age, and even the liturgical ones became too florid and
extravagant, discouraging piety and attracting many to church only for the musical
performance.) St. Charles supported sacred polyphony and Giovanni Pierluigi da
Palestrina, who to this day is considered the greatest composer of sacred music.

Restoration of morality, piety and religious instruction in Milan

 Shortly after Pius V rose to papacy cardinal Borromeo was at last able to take care of his
own archdiocese of Milan – at the time Italy’s largest with over 600,000 souls and some
3,000 clergy. A daunting task awaited him. Milan had not had a resident bishop for eight
decades; conditions were disastrous. Multitudes – rich and poor alike – were plunged in
sin and iniquity of every kind, children were growing up without knowledge and fear of
God, vast numbers of adults had not been to confession for years and decades (if ever!),
clerical discipline was non-existent, priests were ignorant, lazy and led worldly and
scandalous lives, monasteries were plagued by disorder.
 The situation was so dire that reform may well have seemed impossible. St. Charles,
never losing heart, put his whole confidence in Divine assistance and gave himself
entirely to the duty of bringing souls back to God. He knew that where the priesthood
was holy the laity would follow; where the priesthood was relaxed the laity would fall.
Therefore the work had to begin with a spiritual reform of clergy – rooting out laxity, vice
and abuses. He started with the bishops, who were to be an example to their priests and
laymen. To rid the Church of any corruption Charles replaced unworthy men with ones of
 exemplary life, great personal integrity and piety. Prelates and priests were expected to
be resident in their respective dioceses and parishes, be free of worldly attachments and
ambitions, recite all the hours of the Divine Office in choir, dismiss any females
(including female relatives) from their households, etc. All priests were ordered to wear
the cassock. Those who possessed several benefices had to resign all but one.
 The saint also reformed monastic life, bringing back obedience to the old rules of the
Orders and imposing the regulations of the Council of Trent (including insistence on
strict enclosure). This cost him much time, prayer and tears, for many monasteries,
especially the female branches, initially refused to obey the rules and reforms he
prescribed.
 For the benefit of his flock cardinal Borromeo took a very firm – and public – stand on
the popular vices and evil customs of the day. Disorder and immorality were no longer
tolerated, work on Sunday was strictly forbidden, entertainments on Sundays (and holy
days) censured, observance of Lent made mandatory. Those known to be openly
leading a life of sin were instructed, reprimanded and, if they refused to made amends,
punished. In order that the Holy Name of God be revered by all the saint enacted harsh
penalties against blasphemers and those who harbored them or neglected to correct
blasphemy. Numerous were his regulations for restoration of Christian morals, for he –
as a good shepherd – loved his sheep even to the point of laying down his life if that
were the price for saving their souls.
 This courageous action against disorder and sin earned St. Charles much hostility, as
well as the reputation of a kill-joy. Yet, while certainly rigorous and uncompromising, the
person he was most severe with was himself. Always striving to set a personal example
of discipline, virtue and moral standards, he first enforced upon himself all that he
preached to others.
 In fact the archbishop’s first act in Milan was a reform of his own household. He reduced
staff (keeping only priests of exemplary life), sold all superfluous luxuries to help feed
poor families, forbade his retainers to accept any gifts, and imposed such discipline on
all members that his court surpassed, in devotion and modesty, even the strictest
religious houses.
 St. Charles had so great a respect for the ecclesiastical habit, which he had worn since
childhood, that he avoided even the smallest act of levity that was unbefitting his
vocation. He led an ascetic life, arming himself for the tasks ahead with fervent prayer
and devotions, severe fasts, mortifications and austerities. But above all things, and
throughout his entire life, he was most careful to preserve his heart and soul from every
stain of impurity which he abhorred as contrary to the angelic virtue required in
ecclesiastical persons. His love of purity was such that he never let anyone see his arm,
foot, or any other part of his body uncovered; nor did he speak to any woman, not even
to pious relations, or any nun, without at least two people being present, and even then
as briefly as possible. Keeping himself far from every stain, he could not bear to hear
anyone utter a single impure word.
 St. Charles went to confession every morning – before celebrating Mass, and instructed
his priests to confess at least once a week. He had a great respect for the liturgy and
insisted on scrupulous reverence and decorum not only in celebration of the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass but also in recitation of the Divine Office and in all religious rites
and ceremonies. The habitual neglect of the Sacraments, gross abuses in religious
practices and irreverence for holy places and things he encountered in Milan greatly
grieved the archbishop. It was thanks to him that beauty, dignity and splendor were
restored to liturgy, and abuses were suppressed with all severity.
 The saint’s devotion and fervor for the glory of God quickly rubbed off on the Milanese,
whose love and reverence for all holy things greatly increased. The previously deserted
cathedral had people flocking to the services of the Church; their dedication to the
worship of God rose as soon as they saw it worthily celebrated. To further draw their
hearts to the love of God the saintly archbishop revived and encouraged devotions
(including the ancient Forty Hours devotion), Eucharistic processions, adoration and
pilgrimages (especially to the Holy Shroud of Turin and to Marian shrines).
 Proper education and training of priests and solid instruction in Catechism and Catholic
doctrine for laity was a priority for St. Charles. He established many seminaries and
colleges for the education of clergy, and founded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine
with schools teaching the Catechism to children (these were the first Sunday Schools; by
time of his death there were 740 such schools in the archdiocese, with over 40,000
pupils). Also founded by the saint were the Oblates of St. Ambrose, a secular fraternity
of priests who supported him in religious works wherever they were needed. Nor did he
neglect to establish throughout his archdiocese schools for instruction of the poor,
orphanages and hospitals.
 St. Charles’ zeal and care for the souls of his charges eventually bore wonderful fruits
and his became the model see not only in Italy but in all Catholic lands.