November  4, 2020

CHARLES  BORROMEO:

INTERESTING BULLET  POINTS

 

 
[Instead of a homily – for today’s feast of St. Charles Borromeo, I spent my time reading up on the life of Charles or Carlo Borromeo – and came up with some interesting things about his life.  Here are some short bullet points.]
 
He lived 46 years of life. I don’t know how average that was back in his dates -  1538 to  1584.
 
Charles Borromeo came from a name family and from money. His  father was the Count of Arona. The family had a castle on Lake Maggiore near Milan.  His mother was from the House of Medici.
 
Charles was the third of six kids – two boys and four girls.
 
His mother – Margherita -  died when Charles was 9.  His father – Gilberto died when Charles was around 16.
 
He had to grow up fast.
 
At the age of 12 he dedicated himself to the church – connecting himself to  a Benedictine Abbey.  He got a good education – going to the University of Pavia.
 
He had a speech impediment all his life.  I don’t know if this was a stammer or a stutter.  First impressions were that he was slow – but as life went on people discovered he had a first rate mind and gave concise clear comments.  
 
He was put in charge of the household  - but continued his studies – getting a doctorate in both civil and canon law.
 
Like his dad he became a count.
 
On Christmas Day, 1559 -  his uncle – Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Medici - became  Pope Pius IV. Charles  was invited to Rome to work with the Pope – who made him a cardinal deacon then a Cardinal – and a full time adviser to the pope – a month later.  He was not a priest yet.
 
There he was – age 23 -  doing all kinds of administration work for his uncle the Pope. He worked with the Knights of Malta, the Franciscans, the Carmelites. He was administering the governing of the Vatican.
 
When his brother died – people figured he might take over running the family and care for its interests – possibly marry. Nope, he handed over the family to an uncle.
 
When he was made administrator of the church in Milan, he decided to become a priest in 1536. He was also named archbishop  of Milan – and his term  was from 1564- 1584 – then Cardinal.
 
His hand and his mind and his skills were used in lots of different church matters – not only in Italy, but in other parts of Europe.
 
He also played a major role in the Counter-Reformation against the Protestants – founding seminaries and pushed for great education of priests as well as getting them to clean up their act.
 
1576 – a famine hit Milan – and then a plague and he worked big time to help the folks in this endemic.  He was in on feeding 60,000 to 70,000 people a day.
 
He was shot at once, but the assassin missed.
 
At  46 he caught a fever – asked for the last sacraments – and died on November 3^rd, 1584.
 
He was canonized in 1610.