Each week the newsletter includes information about a saint, or picks up a theme linked to the week or what is happening in the year. Today we include a copy of this week's entry about Saint Charles Borromeo, whose feast day is on Monday 4th November - see below. Copies of the newsletter are usually available on the Cathedral Website.
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| Detail of altarpiece St Charles Borromeo Chapel |
Colouring pages for November saints
St Charles Borromeo
Devotion to Saint Charles is particularly strong in England due of his association with many of our martyrs. When the newly-ordained priests returning home from the English College in Rome passed through Milan, Saint Charles offered hospitality and entertained them in his home. He knew that many of them were returning to certain death. Today, many English churches are dedicated to Saint Charles. Lancaster Cathedral has its own chapel dedicated to him.
Charles was the son of Count Gilbert II Borromeo and Margaret Medici. He was born on 2nd October 1538 in the family castle at Arona on Lake Maggiore, and was educated at the neighbouring Benedictine abbey. In 1559 his uncle was elected Pope Pius IV. The following year, the Pope appointed Charles as his Secretary of State and made him a cardinal and administrator of the diocese of Milan. Charles served as Papal Legate on numerous diplomatic missions, and in 1562 was instrumental in having his uncle reconvene the Council of Trent, which had been suspended ten years earlier. Charles played a leading role in guiding and fashioning the decrees of the third and last group of sessions.
In 1563, upon the death of Count Frederick Borromeo, Charles refused the headship of the Borromeo family and was instead ordained priest at the age of 25. Later that same year he was consecrated bishop of Milan. Because of his work at the Council of Trent, he was not allowed to take up residence in Milan until the Council was over. He oversaw publication of the catechism, missal, and breviary called for by the Council.
When Charles finally did arrive in Milan, the diocese had been without a resident bishop for eighty years. Immediately, he instituted radical reforms despite great opposition. The reforms were so effective that Milan became a model diocese. He implemented measures to improve the morals and manners of the clergy, he established seminaries, and he founded a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for the religious instruction of children. He increased the Church’s assistance to the poor and the needy and was extremely generous in his help to the English college at Douai. He was active in preaching, resisting the spread of Protestant theology, and bringing back lapsed Catholics to the Church.
In 1578, he founded a society of secular priests, originally named Oblates of Saint Ambrose, but now known as Oblates of Saint Charles. As Archbishop, Charles took the initiative in giving good example to his priests and people. He allotted most of his income to charity, forbade himself all luxury, and imposed severe penances upon
himself. During the plague and famine of 1576, he 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 Milan at the height of the plague, Charles stayed in the city, where he ministered to the sick and the dying.
On the night of November 3rd 1584, Charles died of fever at Milan, aged 46. He was buried in his Cathedral, although later his relics were removed to a private family chapel in the same city. He was beatified in 1602 and canonized in 1610. His feast day is November 4th.
