Organizer of the Church

Imagine a young man destined to reform the Church and you would have today's saint.

Feast Day:  November 4
Born:  1538
Death: 1584
Patron of learning and the arts
Italy

Some would say Charles was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.  He has wealthy parents who could give him all that he desired as well as a good education.  He was even born in a castle!  Furthermore, his (maternal) uncle was a well known religious man who would one day be the pope.  No one could deny that Charles has all the needed.  He could have also been quite conceited about his circumstances.  

Charles took a different approach to his station in life.  At the age of 12 years old, he would receive his first tonsure (rite of inducting someone into the clergy, including shearing of his hair and the investment with the surplice).  It was soon after this choice that his (paternal) uncle turned over the wealth obtained by his family in relation to an abbey.  One must wonder if this was a test to young Charles desire to enter the priesthood.  Charles was quick to explain that any profit from the abbey would be returned to the use of the Church.  Charles then spent the remainder of his youth at university studying civil and canon law.  I found it interesting that he was considered a slow learned because a speech impediment; however, he was always very successful in his studies.  He even had to take a break from his coursework when his father died and he was asked to manage the family affairs.  He was still able to complete his doctorate in law by the time he was 21 years old.

When his uncle became Pope Pius IV, Charles was immediately called to Rome to assist as an adviser.  He would soon be named a cardinal and entrusted with both the public and the privy seal of the ecclesiastical state.  He was also entrusted in the government of the Papal States and appointed supervisor of the Franciscans, Carmelites and Knights of Malta.  During this time, he brought order to all that areas of the establishment, including the renewal of the Council of Trent (1562-1563).  This role led to his efforts to create the Church's first official catechism.  

Although asked to leave the priesthood to take over the family affairs when his older brother died, Charles as determined to remain true to his calling and took on the position of bishop of Milan.  He devoted himself wholly to the reformation of his diocese, especially since it had lacked a bishop for almost 80 years.  He was determined to put into practice the many aspects of the Council of Trent, and his diocese would soon become a model for all other dioceses.  Not everyone approved of all the improvements and attempt on his life was miraculously thwarted.

After the plague broke out in Milan, Charles quickly took action and began to take care of the sick.  Supposedly, the leaders of the town fled and Charles took over the every day workings of the town as well as the needs of the sick and dying.  There are accounts of him feeding 50,000-70,000 daily during this time.  

Charles took to wearing a noose around his neck as a symbol of his desire to die in the place of the villagers.  In 1584, during his annual retreat at Monte Varallo, he was stricken with an intermittent fever and ague, and on returning to Milan grew rapidly worse. After receiving the Last Sacraments, the beloved bishop died quietly at the age of 46 years old.  Following his death, popular devotion to Charles arose quickly and continued to grow.

"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."  - St. Charles Borromeo

St. Charles Borromeo, pray for us!