St. Charles Borromeo

Feastday: November 4
Patron: of bishops, catechists, cardinals, seminarians, spiritual leaders
Birth: October 2, 1538
Death: November 3, 1584
Beatified: May 12, 1602 by Pope Paul V
Canonized: November 1, 1610 by Pope Paul V

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.

"Carlo Borromeo" redirects here. For the Bishop of Pozzuoli, see Carlo Borromeo (bishop). For the Indian sprinter, see Charles Borromeo (athlete).

Charles Borromeo (Italian: Carlo Borromeo; Latin: Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat against the Protestant Reformation together with Ignatius of Loyola and Philip Neri. In that role he was responsible for significant reforms in the Catholic Church, including the founding of seminaries for the education of priests. He is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church, with a feast day on November 4.

Early life

Borromeo 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. The family coat of arms included the Borromean rings, which are sometimes taken to symbolize the Holy Trinity. Borromeo' 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.

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. Borromeo 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. 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. Shortly thereafter, on 31 January 1560, the pope created him cardinal, and thus Borromeo as cardinal-nephew was entrusted with both the public and the privy seal of the ecclesiastical state. 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.

Borromeo organized the third and last session of the Council of Trent, in 1562-63. 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 Justina of Padua.

On 19 November 1562, his older brother, Federico, suddenly died. His family urged Borromeo 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. 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 Borromeo 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

Borromeo 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. Borromeo 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. Borromeo made his formal entry into Milan as archbishop on 23 September 1565.

Reform in Milan

Intercession of Charles Borromeo supported by the Virgin Mary by Rottmayr (Karlskirche, Vienna)

After the death of his uncle, Pius IV (1566), Borromeo contributed materially to suppressing the cabals of the conclave. 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 that the reformer's enthusiasm "would lead him to correct the rest of the world once he has finished with Rome."

Subsequently, he devoted himself to the reformation of his diocese which had deteriorated in practice owing to the 80-year absence of previous archbishops. 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". Borromeo 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. 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 Borromeo intercedes during the plague; painting by Jacob Jordaens (1655)

Borromeo 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. 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. 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.

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

Borromeo 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. Edmund Campion, a Jesuit, along with 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

Painting by Francesco Caccianiga showing an angel tending to Charles Borromeo

Though the Diet of Ilanz of 1524 and 1526 had proclaimed freedom of worship in the Republic of the Three Leagues, Borromeo 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." 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.

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

Crypt of Charles Borromeo, in the Duomo di Milano

Borromeo was described by a biographer as "an austere, dedicated, humorless and uncompromising personality". 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. 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.

Veneration

Following his death, popular devotion to Borromeo 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 Borromeo. In 1604 his case was sent on to the Congregation of Rites. On 1 November 1610, Paul V canonized Borromeo. 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.

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.

Sources

Borromeo' 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. 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".

Monuments

Contrary to Borromeo's last wishes, the Duomo di Milano created a memorial crypt to honor him at the church.
His relative Federico Borromeo and admirers commissioned a statue 20 m high that was erected on the hill above Arona, as they regarded him an important leader of the Counter-Reformation.

Writings

Besides the Noctes Vaticanae, to which he appeared to have contributed, Borromeo's written legacy consisted only of some homilies, discourses and sermons, with a collection of letters. Borromeo's sermons have been translated into many languages.

Churches

A large number of churches dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo exist, including:

Europe

Karlskirche, Vienna, Austria
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, Aš, part Mokřiny
St Charles Borromeo Church, Sheffield
St Charles Borromeo Church, Kingston upon Hull, England
St Charles Borromeo Church, Hadfield, England
Our Lady and St Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, Wisbech, England
St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Oratory, North Kelvinside, Glasgow, Scotland
St. Charles Borromeo Church, Antwerp, Belgium
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, Italy
St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church, Pancevo, Vojvodina, Serbia
Church of St. Charles Borromeo (Warsaw, Poland)
St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery Church, Vienna

North America

Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, Grand Coteau, Louisiana
Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, North Hollywood, California
Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo, California
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, California
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church and Academy (Pt. Loma, California)
St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church in Hampshire, Illinois
St. Charles Borromeo Church (Destrehan, Louisiana)
St. Charles Borromeo Church (New York City), New York
St. Charles's Church (Staten Island, New York)
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Nederland, Texas)
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in St. Charles, Missouri
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Oakes, North Dakota)
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Kettering, Ohio)
St. Charles Borromeo (Lima, Ohio)
St. Charles Borromeo Church (Parma, Ohio)
St. Charles Borromeo in Pikesville, Maryland
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Woburn, Massachusetts)
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Gretna, Nebraska)
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Skillman, New Jersey)
St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church in Greece, New York
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Syracuse, New York)
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Ahoskie, North Carolina)
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Bensalem, Pennsylvania)
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania)
St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church, est. 1846, Woonsocket, Rhode Island
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Milan, Indiana), in Ripley County
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Peru, Indiana)
St. Charles Church (Arlington, Virginia)
St. Charles Parish, Spokane, Washington

Depiction of Charles Borromeo in a stained glass window

Seminaries

St Charles Borromeo Seminary of the Archdiocese of Košice, in Košice, Slovakia
St. Charles Borromeo Seminary of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
San Carlos Seminary of the Archdiocese of Manila in Makati, Philippines
Colegio San Carlos, a recognized primary and secondary school in Bogotá, Colombia, and home for a Benedictine community of priests
Saint Charles Borromeo Major Seminary of Nyakibanda in Rwanda
St Charles' Seminary in Perth, Australia
Borromeo Seminary in Wickliffe, Ohio
St. Charles Seminary in Carthagena, Ohio, now a retirement home
St. Charles Seminary (Staten Island, New York), closed and slated for private homes
St. Charles Seminary (SVD), Goden Rock, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India

St Charles Borromeo Minor Seminary Senior High School, Tamale, Ghana

Other

His nephew, Federico Borromeo (1564–1631), was archbishop of Milan from 1595 and founded the Ambrosian Library in that city. He donated his collection of art and literature to the library. He appeared as a character in Alessandro Manzoni's novel The Betrothed (I promessi sposi).
Sint. Carolus hospital, first Catholic hospital in Indonesia founded by Perkumpulan Perhimpunan St. Carolus Vereeniging (PPSC). It is managed by Kongregasi Suster-Suster Cinta Kasih St. Carolus Borromeus (Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo ) since the foundation in 1913.
Borromeo was crucial in furthering the career of composer Orfeo Vecchi.
Borromeo is one of four people mentioned at the beginning of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as responsible for the Council of Trent, which gave way to the modern day catechism. The others are Peter Canisius, Turibius of Mongrovejo and Robert Bellarmine.
Saint Charles Preparatory School, a former college seminary now a four-year Catholic college preparatory school in Columbus, Ohio
St. Charles, Missouri
St. Charles, Illinois
St. Charles, Minnesota
São Carlos, Brazil
Saint-Charles-Borromée, Quebec, Canada
The San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress on Margarita Island, state of Nueva Esparta, Venezuela, completed in 1684, intended to help protect settlements in the Bay of Pampatar area against the constant threat of piracy
University of San Carlos in Cebu City, Philippines
Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala in Guatemala, originally named "Royal and Pontifical University of San Carlos Borromeo"

Music

Marc-Antoine Charpentier has composed a dramatic motet, Pestis Mediolanensis H.398 & H.398 a, for soloists, double chorus, two flutes, double string orchestra, and continuo (1670?)