Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Charles Borromeo (1538 AD - 1584 AD). As the younger son of a wealthy and powerful family (related to the de Medici through his mother), St. Charles was marked out for a career in the Church from the time of his birth at the family castle on Lago Maggiore. As was not unusual in the case of such a highly placed youth, at the age of twelve St. Charles received the tonsure and was before long appointed Abbot of a monastery in Arona. St. Charles studied civil and ecclesiastical law at Pavia, and when St. Charles' uncle, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo de Medici, was elected pope, St. Charles was summoned to Rome. There, at the age of 22, St. Charles was made a Cardinal and charged with administering the Papal States. Soon, St. Charles was also appointed administrator of the vacant archbishopric of Milan, and named Legate of Bologna, Romagna and the March of Ancona, as well as Protector of the Kingdom of Portugal, of Lower Germany, and the Catholic cantons of Switzerland. In addition, the Franciscans, the Carmelites and several other religious congregations were placed under St. Charles' protection. St. Charles excelled at the work his uncle had given him; for example, it was mainly through St. Charles' patient diplomatic labors as papal secretary of state that the suspended Council of Trent was re-convened and concluded its reforming work.
So far, the story of St. Charles' life testifies mainly to the influence of his family and his own administrative abilities. It is at this point that St. Charles' true greatness begins to emerge more clearly. In 1563, while the Council of Trent was sitting, St. Charles' elder brother died. As St. Charles had never been ordained, his family pressured him to put aside his ecclesiastical work, assume leadership of the family, and marry in order that the family name would not be extinguished. Even his uncle, Pope Pius IV, tried to convince St. Charles to pursue this course. Instead, St. Charles resolved to dedicate himself to spiritual things, and secretly arranged to have himself ordained a priest. In succeeding years, St. Charles would be the chief force behind the composition of the Council's catechism, as well at the Council's reform of the Missal and breviary. St. Charles founded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine to instruct children in the Faith. He also undertook the reform of his diocese, as well as the reform of religious congregations under his protection. This reforming work made many enemies for St. Charles, and several attempts were made on his life. Although St. Charles forgave them all, four men suffered execution for attempting to kill him. When famine struck Milan, he fed thousands at his own expense. When plague struck, St. Charles comforted the suffering victims, and induced his clergy to assist him. St. Charles undertook arduous and dangerous journeys to visit the Swiss cantons of which he was Protector. There he restored discipline amongst the clergy, and fought heresy and even witchcraft. In 1580, St. Charles met the Marquis of Gonzaga, and administered first Communion to his son, Luigi, now known as St. Aloysius Gonzaga.
St. Charles Borromeo died at the age of 46, and was canonized sixteen years later, in 1610, by Pope Paul V.
Although St. Charles wished to be buried simply, an ornate tomb was constructed for him beneath the altar of the Cathedral of Milan. Here is Henry James' description of his visit to St. Charles' tomb:
“This holy man lies at his eternal rest in a small but gorgeous sepulchral chapel … and for the modest sum of five francs you may have his shriveled mortality unveiled and gaze at it … The little sacristan … lighted a couple of extra candles and proceeded to remove from above the altar, by means of a crank, a sort of sliding shutter, just as you may see a shop-boy do of a morning at his master's window. In this case too a large sheet of plate-glass was uncovered, and to form an idea of the étalage you must imagine that a jeweller, for reasons of his own, has struck an unnatural partnership with an undertaker. The black mummified corpse of the saint is stretched out in a glass coffin, clad in his mouldering canonicals, mitred, crosiered and gloved, glittering with votive jewels. It is an extraordinary mixture of death and life; the desiccated clay, the ashen rags, the hideous little black mask and skull, and the living, glowing, twinkling splendour of diamonds, emeralds and sapphires. The collection is really fine, and many great historic names are attached to the different offerings. Whatever may be the better opinion as to the future of the Church, I can't help thinking she will make a figure in the world so long as she retains this great fund of precious "properties," this prodigious capital decoratively invested and scintillating throughout Christendom at effectively-scattered points.”
The "better opinion as to the future of the Church" may be decidedly more hostile today than it was even in Henry James' time, but so long as She has saints like St. Charles, the Church will indeed continue to make a great "figure in the world."
St. Charles Borromeo, pray for us.
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