St. Charles Borromeo: Patron of Catechists and Spiritual Directors
November 4 is the memorial of St. Charles Borromeo (1538 - 15840), Bishop of Milan and one of the great reformers of the sixteenth century. He is is the patron of catechists, catechumens, spiritual directors, and spiritual leaders. Charles was born at the Castle of Arona in northern Italy to wealthy and powerful parents. His father, Count Gilbert Borromeo, was a man of virtue and skill, and his mother was a member of the famous Medici family of Milan, sister of Angelo de Medici, who was to become Pope Pius IV. Raised in a pious family, Charles was deeply devoted to the Passion of Christ and to the Blessed Mother. He received the clerical tonsure at age twelve and was educated at the Benedict Abbey of Saints Gratian and Felinus. He earned a doctorate in civil and canon law at the University of Pavia. When his uncle, Cardinal de Medici, was elected pope in 1559, as Pius IV, Charles was made cardinal-deacon and administrator to the archdiocese of Milan while still a lay person a...