Friday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time

For the Poor Souls in Purgatory

First Friday of the Month

Saint: Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop, Patron of Catechists and Catechumens (1538-1584)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 28 Those Who Refuse to Amend After Frequent Reproofs

Mass: Ph 3:17-4:1; Resp Ps 122; Lk 16:1-8

To it the tribes go up.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT, 

SAINT NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Stand firm in the Lord, beloved.

(Ph 4:1)

The saint we commemorate today, Saint Charles Borromeo, the patron saint of catechists and catechumens, certainly stood firm in the Lord. It is no wonder that he died at the age of 46, no doubt worn out. There is so much to say about him, one does not know where to begin let alone where to end. Born into an affluent family in northern Italy, Charles had massive influence on the Church. He was about education (he had degrees in both civil and canon law); was made a cardinal at the age of 21; played a large part in diplomatic efforts that led to the re-opening in 1562 of the Council of Trent; was consecrated Archbishop of Milan; worked on the catechism, the Missal and the Breviary and reformed his diocese. Charles gave much of his property to the poor; he taught children the faith and inspired the Sunday School movement; at his own expense, Charles fed thousands of people during a famine and cared for the sick and buried the dead during a two-year plague. And not surprisingly, Charles encountered much opposition due to his reform efforts with the clergy and religious. A couple of my favorite stories are that his aunts, in Dominican convents, treated the introduction of grilles as a personal insult while the canons of one church slammed the door in his face to prevent him from making a visitation and then the servants fired at him! Charles also had to deal with priests who were practicing witchcraft and sorcery (see Universalis, "About today", November 4, 2022). Did I mention that Charles suffered throughout his life from some kind of speech impediment? He overcame it though, as one friend, Achille Gagliardi, commented: "I have often wondered how it was that, without any natural eloquence or anything attractive in his manner, he was able to work such changes in the hearts of his listeners. He spoke but little, in a voice barely audible-but his words always had an effect" (Butler's Lives of the Saints, November volume, pp. 29, 31). All in a day's work. Charles Borromeo was canonized 26 years after his death by Pope Paul V, on November 1, 1610. 

SAINT CHARLES BORROMEO,

PRAY FOR US.

NB. I used to walk past a statue of Saint Charles Borromeo every morning in Rome on my way to school. It stands behind the 17th century church of San Carlo al Corso, in the Piazza Augusto Imperatore. Due to that and also that I belonged to the parish of Saint Charles Borromeo in Charleston, IL, when I was a graduate student at Eastern Illinois University, Saint Charles Borromeo has been a favorite. 

Friendly reminder: Don't forget to add another saint's name to your collection. I have hard time deciding which one to add. ☺ Holy! Holy! Holy! all the saints adore thee ...

Today's photo: This one from a dear faithful reader who happens to be my sister in Carmichael, CA. From a walk around the block. We will go up to the house of the Lord.

© Gertrude Feick 2022