Among
the great reformers of the troubled sixteenth century was Charles Borromeo, who,
with St. Francis of Loyola, St. Philip Neri, and others, led the movement to
combat the inroads of the Protestant Reformation. His father, Count Gilbert
Borromeo, was a man of piety and ability, and his mother was a member of the
famous Medici family of Milan, sister of Angelo de Medici, later to become Pope
Pius IV. The second of two sons in a family of six children, Charles was born in
the castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, on October 2, 1538. He was so devout that
at the age of twelve he received the tonsure. At this time his paternal uncle,
Julius Caesar Borromeo, turned over to him the income from a rich Benedictine
abbey, one of the ancient perquisites of this noble family. In spite of his
youth, Charles had a sense of responsibility, and he 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. To take such a scrupulous stand in a period of corruption and decadence was
unusual, and most significant as an indication of Charles' integrity of
character.
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 speech, he was
regarded as slow; yet his thoroughness and industry more than compensated for
the handicap, and his strict behavior made him a model for his fellow students,
who, in this era of the Renaissance, were for the most part pleasure-loving and
dissipated. Charles now accepted a sufficient income from the abbey to meet the
expenses of the kind of household a young nobleman was expected to maintain. By
the time he took his doctor's degree at twenty-two his parents were dead and his
elder brother, Frederick, was head of the family. Charles had no sooner returned
home than the news came that his uncle, Cardinal Angelo de Medici, had been
elected Pope Pius IV. A few months later the new Pope sent for his nephew to
come to Rome, and within a very short time Charles was the recipient of such a
wealth of honors, offices, and powers that he became a leading figure at the
papal court. He was appointed cardinal-deacon and administrator of the see of
Milan, although he was not to take up his work there for many years; he was
named legate of Bologna, Romagna, and the March of Ancona; protector of
Portugal, the Low Countries, and the Catholic cantons of Switzerland; supervisor
of the Franciscan and Carmelite Orders, and of the Knights of Malta, and
administrator of the papal states. The Pope's confidence in him was not
misplaced, for Charles displayed great energy, ability, and diplomacy in
fulfilling these various duties. Methodical and diligent, he learned how to
despatch business affairs with speed and efficiency.
Yet in spite of his heavy tasks, Charles found time for recreation in music
and physical exercise. He had the many-sidedness which we associate with men of
the Renaissance, and was deeply interested in the advancement of learning. He
set up at the Vatican a literary academy of clergy and laymen, and some of the
studies and talks growing out of it were published as <Noctes Vaticanae>,
to which Charles himself was a contributor. It was the custom for one in his
position to live in magnificent state, but splendid trappings meant nothing to
him. He remained modest and humble in spirit, and wholly aloof from the worldly
temptations of Rome.
When the Venerable Bartholomew de Martyribus, archbishop of Braga, came to
Rome, Charles consulted him as to his future. "You know what it is,"
he is recorded as saying, "to be the nephew of a pope, and a beloved
nephew; nor are you ignorant of what it is to live at the court of Rome. The
dangers are infinite. What ought I to do, young as I am, and without experience?
God has given me ardor for penance, and an earnest desire to prefer Him to all
things; and I have some thought of going into a monastery, to live as if there
were only God and myself in the world." The prelate advised Charles to stay
on at Rome, where he was so greatly needed. This proved to be excellent counsel,
for an even greater opportunity for service to the Church was to come to the
young man.
The Pope, soon after his election, announced the reassembling of the Council
of Trent, which had been suspended ten years earlier, in 1552. Charles now
devoted himself to plans for the resumption of deliberations, and was in
attendance during the two years that the Council continued in session at Trent
(Italian, Trento), a city of northern Italy. Its purpose was to conclude the
work of formulating and codifying Church doctrine and to bring about a genuine
reform of abuses. It defined original sin, decreed the perpetuity of the marital
tie, pronounced anathema against those who rejected the invocation of saints or
the veneration of relics, or who denied the existence of Purgatory or the
validity of indulgences. It also dealt with episcopal jurisdiction, the
education of seminarists, and discipline for the clergy. Some of the points
proved so controversial that several times the Council almost broke up with its
labors unfinished. Charles is credited with helping to heal the rifts and
spurring the prelates and theologians on to the conclusion of their historic
task. He is also conceded to have had a large share in drawing up the Tridentine
Catechism. His training in diplomacy at the papal court had served him well.
In this flowering time of all the arts, Church music showed remarkable
development. Among Charles' duties was the commissioning of composers to write
liturgical music. The renowned Palestrina, later to become Vatican choir master,
composed at this time the glorious Mass called "Papae Marcelli," and
other choral works that set a new standard for polyphonic music.
While the Council of Trent was in session, Charles' elder brother died, and
as head of the family Charles became proprietor of extensive land holdings.
Since he was only in minor orders, people thought that he would now marry, but
Charles remained true to the course he had marked out for himself. Yielding his
family position to his Uncle Julius, he entered the priesthood in September,
1563. Three months later he became bishop of Milan, as well as cardinal-priest,
with the title of St. Prassede. For a long time Charles had been concerned over
the see of Milan, to which, years before, he had been appointed administrator.
Catholics were falling away from the Church, chiefly because there had been no
resident bishop at Milan for eighty years. The new bishop was welcomed with joy
and he set to work vigorously to reform this important diocese. Soon he was
called back to Rome to assist the Pope on his deathbed, at which Philip Neri,
another future saint, was also present. The new Pope, Pius V, who was to follow
in the noble tradition of his predecessor, urged Charles to remain with him for
a time. Soon, however, with the Pope's blessing, he returned to Milan.
Charles now concentrated his great abilities on the establishment of schools,
seminaries, and convents. But more important than the improvement of the
physical structures through which the Church must carry on its work was the need
for reform of the priestly function itself. Throughout the region religious
practices were profaned by grave abuses; the Sacrament was neglected, for many
priests were both lazy and ignorant; the monasteries were relaxed in discipline
and full of disorders. These widespread faults had been engendered in part by
the decay of medieval society and in part by the revival of the ideas of pagan
antiquity. By remonstrance and exhortation Charles worked to raise the level of
spiritual life, and to put into effect the ecclesiastical changes indicated by
the Council of Trent. He founded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, with
its Sunday Schools for the teaching of the Catechism to children. Historically
these were the first Sunday Schools, and are. said to have numbered 740. He
instituted a secular fraternity whose members, called the Oblates of St.
Ambrose, pledged obedience to their bishop and were used by him in religious
work in any manner he thought wise. The bishop's income from his family estates
was considerable, and nearly all of it was turned over to an almoner for the
relief of the poor; plate and other valuables were sold for the same purpose. In
conformity with the decrees of the Council of Trent, the cathedral of Milan was
cleared of its gorgeous tombs, banners, and arms. In his zeal for reform Charles
came into conflict with the governor of the province and the senate, who feared
the Church was encroaching upon the civil jurisdiction. The opposition to
Charles and the complaints against him were carried to King Philip II of Spain,
who had sovereignty over this part of Italy, and to the Pope; in the end Charles
was completely exonerated. His days were filled with duties and cares; at night
he would take off his bishop's robes, don a tattered old cassock, and pass the
evening in study and prayer. He lived as simply as it was possible to do. One
cold night when someone wanted to have his bed warmed, he said, "The best
way not to find a bed cold is to go to bed colder than the bed is."
However, he did not allow his rigorous self-discipline to weaken him for the
work he had to do.
The almost inaccessible Alpine valleys lying in the northern part of his
diocese had been virtually abandoned by the clergy. The bishop did not hesitate
to undertake journeys to these remote valleys and mountain tops. He discussed
theology with peasants and taught the Catechism to herdboys. Everywhere he
preached and effected reforms, replacing unworthy priests by those who were
zealous to restore the faith. In 1576 he successfully met another challenge.
There was famine at Milan due to crop failures, and later came 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 who were stricken and to minister
to the dying. He called together the superiors of all the religious communities
in the diocese, and won their cooperation. He used up his own funds and went
into debt to provide food for the hungry. Finally he wrote to the governor, and
shamed him into coming back to his post.
The bishop's reforms were opposed by the Humiliati (Brothers of Humility), a
decayed penitential order which, although reduced to about 170 members, owned
some ninety monasteries. Three of its priors hatched a plot to assassinate
Charles, and he was actually fired upon while at evening prayers with his
household. Charles refused to have the would-be assassin sought out and
punished. The Humiliati at length submitted to the reform of their order.
Many English Catholics had fled to Italy at this time because of the
persecutions under Queen Elizabeth. The bishop had a Welshman, Dr. Griffith
Roberts, as canon theologian, and an Englishman, Thomas Goldwell, as
vicar-general. He carried about on his person a little picture of St. John
Fisher, who, with St. Thomas More, had been martyred for the faith during the
reign of Henry VIII.
Travels in his diocese, especially in the difficult Alpine country, had
weakened the bishop's constitution. In 1584, during his annual retreat at Monte
Varallo, he was stricken with ague, and on returning to Milan grew rapidly
worse. After receiving the Last Sacraments, the beloved bishop died quietly on
November 4, at the age of forty-six. Canonization followed in 1610. St. Charles
Borromeo's sermons were published at Milan in the eighteenth century and have
been widely translated. Two years after his death the Borromean League was
formed in the Catholic cantons of Switzerland, for the expulsion of heretics.
Contrary to his wishes, a memorial was erected in the Milan cathedral, where his
body now rests, and at Arona, his birthplace, stands an impressive statue in his
honor. For his piety, energy, and effectiveness this eminent churchman soon
became known as a "second Ambrose." He is the patron of Lombardy; his
emblems are the Holy Communion and a coat of arms bearing the word Humilitas.
Saint Charles Borromeo, Archbishop, Cardinal. Celebration of Feast Day is
November 4.
Taken from "Lives of Saints", Published by John J. Crawley &
Co., Inc.
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