Saint Charles Borromée
Archevêque de Milan (+ 1584)
Fils cadet d'une noble famille italienne, il avait
tout pour se laisser entraîner dans une vie facile et fastueuse.
Neveu d'un pape, nommé cardinal à 22 ans, il est
submergé de charges honorifiques très lucratives: son revenu annuel était de
52.000 écus(*). Il reçoit les revenus du diocèse de Milan, des abbayes de
Mozzo, Folina, Nonatella, Colle et de quelques autres légations: Bologne,
Spolète, Ravenne, etc ... Il reste laïc, grand amateur de chasse et de musique
de chambre.
Mais la conscience de son devoir est telle qu'il
s'impose dans la vie mondaine et brillante de Rome, par sa rigueur et son
travail. Il collabore efficacement à la reprise du Concile de Trente,
interrompu depuis huit ans. Au moment de la mort subite de son frère aîné,
alors qu'il pourrait quitter l'Église pour la charge de chef d'une grande
famille, il demande à devenir prêtre.
Désormais il accomplit par vocation ce qu'il réalisait
par devoir. Devenu archevêque de Milan, il crée des séminaires pour la
formation des prêtres. Il prend soin des pauvres alors qu'il vit lui-même
pauvrement. Il soigne lui-même les pestiférés quand la peste ravage Milan en 1576.
Il demande à tous les religieux de se convertir en infirmiers. Les années
passent. Malgré le poids des années, il n'arrête pas de se donner jusqu'à
l'épuisement.
"Pour éclairer, la chandelle doit se consumer,
" dit-il à ceux qui lui prêchent le repos.
(*) Un internaute nous signale: "si on se
rapporte à l'écu de François Ier (environ même époque ), il pesait environ 3
grammes; les 52 000 écus du revenu de Charles ne devaient donc pas de beaucoup
dépasser les 150 000 grammes d'or fin soit 150 kg"
Le 4 novembre 2010, le Saint-Père a fait parvenir un
message au Cardinal Dionigio Tettamanzi, Archevêque de Milan (Italie), pour le
quatrième centenaire de la canonisation de saint Charles Borromée. En voici les
passages principaux: Charles Borromée vécut dans une période difficile
pour le christianisme, "une époque sombre parsemée d'épreuves pour la
communauté chrétienne, pleine de divisions et de convulsions doctrinales,
d'affaiblissement de la pureté de la foi et des mœurs, de mauvais exemples de
la part du clergé. Mais il ne se contenta pas de se lamenter ou de condamner.
Pour changer les autres, il commença par réformer sa propre vie... Il était
conscient qu'une réforme crédible devait partir des pasteurs" et pour y
parvenir il eut recours à la centralité de l'Eucharistie, à la spiritualité de
la croix, à la fréquence des sacrements et à l'écoute de la Parole, à la
fidélité envers le Pape, "toujours prompt à obéir à ses indications comme
garantie d'une communion ecclésiale, authentique et complète".
Après avoir manifesté le désir de voir l'exemple de
saint Charles continuer à inspirer la conversion personnelle comme
communautaire, Benoît XVI encourage prêtres et diacres à faire de leur vie un
parcours de sainteté. Il encourage en particulier le clergé milanais à suivre
"une foi limpide, à vivre une vie sobre, selon l'ardeur apostolique de
saint Ambroise, de
saint Charles Borromée et de tant d'autre pasteurs locaux... Saint Charles, qui
fut un véritable père des pauvres, fonda des institutions d'assistance"
et, "durant la peste de 1576 il resta parmi son peuple pour le servir et
le défendre avec les armes de la prière, de la pénitence et de l'amour".
Sa charité ne se comprend pas si on ignore son rapport passionné au Seigneur,
qui "se reflétait dans sa contemplation du mystère de l'autel et de la
croix, d'où découlait sa compassion des hommes souffrants et son élan
apostolique de porter l'Évangile à chacun... C'est de l'Eucharistie, cœur de
toute communauté, qu'il faut tirer la force d'éduquer et de combattre pour la
charité. Toute action charitable et apostolique trouve force et fécondité dans
cette source". Le Saint-Père conclut par un appel aux jeunes: "A
l'exemple de Charles Borromée, vous pouvez faire de votre jeunesse une offrande
au Christ et au prochain... Si vous êtes l'avenir de l'Église, vous en faites
partie dès aujourd'hui. Si vous avez l'audace de croire dans la sainteté, vous
serez le principal trésor de l'Église ambrosienne, bâtie sur ses saints".
(source: VIS 20101104 420)
Nommé par son oncle, le pape Pie IV, cardinal et
archevêque de Milan, il se montra sur ce siège un vrai pasteur, attentif aux
besoins de l’Église de son temps. Pour la formation de son clergé, il réunit
des synodes et fonda des séminaires ; pour favoriser la vie chrétienne, il
visita plusieurs fois tout son troupeau et les diocèses suffragants et
prit beaucoup de dispositions pour le salut des âmes. Il s’en alla la
veille de ce jour à la patrie du ciel, en 1584.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/7/Saint-Charles-Borromee.html
Archevêque de Milan (+
1584)
Saint Charles Borromée
Fils cadet d'une noble
famille italienne, il avait tout pour se laisser entraîner dans une vie facile
et fastueuse. Neveu d'un pape, nommé cardinal à 22 ans, il est submergé de
charges honorifiques très lucratives: son revenu annuel était de 52.000 écus. Il
reçoit les revenus du diocèse de Milan, des abbayes de Mozzo, Folina,
Nonatella, Colle et de quelques autres légations : Bologne, Spolète, Ravenne,
etc ... Il reste laïc, grand amateur de chasse et de musique de chambre. Mais
la conscience de son devoir est telle qu'il s'impose dans la vie mondaine et
brillante de Rome, par sa rigueur et son travail. Il collabore efficacement à
la reprise du Concile de Trente, interrompu depuis huit ans. Au moment de la
mort subite de son frère aîné, alors qu'il pourrait quitter l'Église pour la
charge de chef d'une grande famille, il demande à devenir prêtre. Désormais il
accomplit par vocation ce qu'il réalisait par devoir. Devenu archevêque de
Milan, il crée des séminaires pour la formation des prêtres. Il prend soin des
pauvres alors qu'il vit lui-même pauvrement. Il soigne lui-même les pestiférés
quand la peste ravage Milan en 1576. Il demande à tous les religieux de se
convertir en infirmiers. Les années passent. Malgré le poids des années, il
n'arrête pas de se donner jusqu'à l'épuisement. "Pour éclairer, la
chandelle doit se consumer, " dit-il à ceux qui lui prêchent le repos. Un
internaute nous signale : "si on se rapporte à l'écu de François Ier
(environ même époque ), il pesait environ 3 grammes ; les 52 000 écus du revenu
de Charles ne devaient donc pas de beaucoup dépasser les 150 000 grammes d'or
fin soit 150 kg"
Évite qu’en te voyant dire une chose et en faire une autre, les gens ne se moquent de tes paroles en hochant la tête.
(St Charles Borromée)
SOURCE : https://fr.aleteia.org/coin-priere/#saint
Giovanni
Ambrogio Figino, San Carlo Borromeo (ultimo quarto del XVI - inizio XVII
secolo), olio su tela; Milano, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
Saint Charles Borromée
Archevêque de Milan
(1538-1584)
Saint Charles Borromée, né au sein de l'opulence et
des grandeurs, devait être l'un des plus illustres pontifes de l'Église dans
tous les temps. Sa vocation se révéla d'une manière si remarquable, que son
père le destina dès son enfance au service des autels. Neveu du Pape Pie VI,
Charles était cardinal avant l'âge de vingt-trois ans, et recevait les plus
hautes et les plus délicates missions.
Après son élévation au sacerdoce, il fut promu à
l'archevêché de Milan, qu'il devait diriger avec la sagesse et la science des
vieillards. Ce beau diocèse était alors dans une désorganisation complète:
peuple, clergé, cloîtres, tout était à renouveler. Le pieux et vaillant pontife
se mit à l'oeuvre, mais donna d'abord l'exemple. Il mena dans son palais la vie
d'un anachorète; il en vint à ne prendre que du pain et de l'eau, une seule
fois le jour; ses austérités atteignirent une telle proportion, que le Pape dut
exiger de sa part plus de modération dans la pénitence.
Il vendit ses meubles précieux, se débarrassa de ses
pompeux ornements, employa tout ce qu'il avait de revenus à l'entretien des
séminaires, des hôpitaux, des écoles, et au soulagement des pauvres honteux et
des mendiants. Son personnel était soumis à une règle sévère; les heures de
prières étaient marquées, et personne ne s'absentait alors sans permission. Les
prêtres de son entourage, soumis à une discipline encore plus stricte,
formaient une véritable communauté, qui fut digne de donner à l'Église un
cardinal et plus de vingt évêques.
Le saint archevêque transforma le service du culte
dans sa cathédrale et y mit à la fois la régularité et la magnificence. Aucune
classe de son diocèse ne fut oubliée; toutes les oeuvres nécessaires furent
fondées, et l'on vit apparaître partout une merveilleuse efflorescence de vie
chrétienne. Ce ne fut pas sans de grandes épreuves. Saint Charles reçut un
jour, d'un ennemi, un coup d'arquebuse, pendant qu'il présidait à la prière
dans sa chapelle particulière; par une protection providentielle, la balle ne
fit que lui effleurer la peau, et le Saint continua la prière sans trouble. On
sait le dévouement qu'il montra pendant la peste de Milan. Il visitait toutes
les maisons et les hôpitaux, et sauva la vie, par ses charités, à soixante-dix
mille malheureux. Les pieds nus et la corde au cou, le crucifix à la main, il
s'offrit en holocauste, fit des cérémonies expiatoires et apaisa la colère
divine. Il mourut sur la cendre, à quarante-six ans.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_charles_borromee.html
Borromée, Charles
2.10.1538 à Arona, 3.11.1584 à Milan, de Milan. Fils de Gilberto, comte d'Arona, et de Margherita de' Medici. Neveu par sa mère du pape Pie IV (Giovan Angelo de' Medici), cousin de Federico Borromeo et de Mark Sittich von Hohenems. B. fut orienté précocement vers la carrière ecclésiastique et reçut à 12 ans déjà le titre d'abbé commendataire. Eduqué par des précepteurs privés à Arona et à Milan, B. fit ses études de droit à Pavie et obtint son doctorat en l'un et l'autre droits (1559). La même année, son oncle devint pape; ce dernier l'appela à Rome et en fit son proche collaborateur en le nommant cardinal-diacre et secrétaire d'Etat (1560). En 1560 encore, B. se vit confier l'administration permanente de l'archidiocèse de Milan mais, comme il resta à Rome jusqu'en septembre 1565, il délégua cette charge aux évêques auxiliaires Sebastiano Donati (1561) et Gerolamo Ferragata (1562). Son séjour à Rome coïncida avec un processus de maturation spirituelle (peut-être liée à la mort de son frère en 1562) qui le conduisit au sacerdoce puis à l'épiscopat (1563). En 1564, B. devint cardinal du titre de Sainte-Praxède. Il s'installa dans son diocèse en 1566 et y appliqua immédiatement les directives du concile de Trente. Il accorda une attention particulière aux cantons catholiques et à leurs bailliages italiens soumis à la juridiction ecclésiastique de Milan, s'y rendant fréquemment au cours de son épiscopat. En 1560 déjà, il avait été nommé Protector Helvetiae à la demande des cantons catholiques. Ses visites pastorales et diplomatiques lui permirent de prendre conscience de la gravité de la situation morale et matérielle dans laquelle se trouvaient le clergé et le peuple et d'établir les fondements d'une profonde réforme spirituelle. Afin de renforcer l'instruction et la discipline du clergé et de contenir le développement du protestantisme, B. demanda en 1579 la création d'une nonciature permanente auprès des Confédérés, instituée en 1586 seulement en raison de la résistance de la curie romaine; il demanda aussi l'ouverture d'un collège jésuite et d'un grand séminaire. La fondation à Milan du Collegium helveticum, destiné à la formation du clergé suisse et doté de cinquante bourses d'études (1579), et le patronage de la fondation du collège Papio d'Ascona (1584) vont dans le même sens. Encouragés par ces exemples, les jésuites s'établirent à Lucerne puis dans d'autres villes de la Confédération (Fribourg, Porrentruy), tandis que les capucins ouvraient leurs missions en Suisse centrale (Altdorf, Stans et Lucerne) avec l'appui du nonce Giovanni Francesco Bonomi. Considéré comme un modèle d'évêque post-tridentin, B. fut canonisé le 1er novembre 1610; il est le patron de la Suisse catholique.
Bibliographie
– P. D'Alessandri, Atti di san Carlo riguardanti la Svizzera e i suoi territori, 1909
– HS, I/1, 42; I/6, 355-356
– DBI, 20, 360-369
– C. di Filippo Bareggi, «San Carlo e la Riforma cattolica», in Storia
religiosa della Svizzera, éd. F. Citterio, L. Vaccaro, 1996, 193-246
Auteur(e): Pablo Crivelli / LT
SOURCE : http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F10211.php
Biographie de Saint Charles Borromée
Paroisse Saint-Charles à Marseille
Humilitas ! Cette devise figurant en lettres d’or
sur le blason familial aurait pu paraître bien incongrue chez les Borromée,
tant ils n’étaient pas habitués à la pratiquer. Il revint pourtant au plus
illustre de leurs enfants de l’illustrer, et de quelle façon !
Sa jeunesse
Deuxième fils du comte Gilbert II Borromée et de
Marguerite de Médicis de Marignan, Charles, né à Arona le 2 octobre 1538, était
par sa mère le neveu du cardinal Jean Ange de Médicis de Marignan.
En 1547, il reçut la tonsure la charge d’abbé
commendataire de l’abbaye d’Arona, dans la province de Manfredonia. Manifestant
déjà la vertu de charité qui marquera toute sa vie, il en reversera la totalité
des revenus aux pauvres.
Le jeune Charles entreprit par la suite des études de
droit canonique et civil à Pavie. En 1559, il devint docteur in utroque jure.
Son père étant mort en 1558, et bien qu’il eût un
frère aîné, Charles fut appelé dès cette date à gérer les affaires de sa
puissante famille. La même année, il reçut également les titres d’abbé
commendataire de San Silano de Romagnano, et prieur commendataire de Santa
Maria di Calvenzano, en percevant ainsi les bénéfices.
A Rome
Le 25 décembre 1559, son oncle maternel fut élu pape
sous le nom de Pie IV. Le nouveau pontife appela immédiatement à Rome ses
neveux Charles et Frédéric Borromée, nommant le premier son secrétaire privé et
administrateur apostolique de Milan. Ce dernier titre titre lui permettait de
gérer les affaires temporelles du diocèse (et d’en percevoir les revenus) sans
avoir à en assumer la charge spirituelle, Charles n’étant même pas prêtre à
cette époque.
Ce n’était qu’un début, car il a plu au nouveau pape
de combler son neveu de titres et d’honneurs : en 1561, et bien que n’étant que
simple clerc tonsuré, Pie IV le créa cardinal et en fit son secrétaire d’Etat
(à l’époque cardinal-neveu, ce qui correspondait effectivement à sa situation).
Charles fut également légat apostolique à Bologne, en Romagne et dans les
Marches, archiprêtre de la basilique Sainte Marie Majeure et Préfet de la
Congrégation Consistoriale.
En 1562, le comte Frédéric Borromée, frère aîné de
Charles, mourut brusquement. Sa famille insista pour que Charles renonce à ses
charges ecclésiastiques et fonde une famille. Mais Charles avait déjà choisi de
ne rien préférer à l’amour de Dieu et en 1563 il reçut successivement le
sacerdoce et l’épiscopat, devenant ainsi archevêque de Milan.
Le concile de Trente était alors suspendu depuis près
de huit ans, sans avoir terminé ses travaux. Ce fut l’une des grandes oeuvres
de Charles de persuader son oncle mais également les divers souverains d’Europe
de convoquer la dernière session du concile : il y consacra deux ans de
négociations avant que la sainte assemblée puisse se réunir en toute sécurité
et indépendance, sa continuité étant désormais garantie. En 1566, le concile
étant terminé, il revint à Charles de diriger les travaux de rédaction du
Catéchisme du Concile de Trente, lequel est resté en vigueur jusqu’à la
promulgation du Catéchisme de l’Eglise Catholique par Saint Jean-Paul II.
Pendant ses années romaines, Charles s’attacha
également à réformer la chapelle musicale vaticane, exigeant selon les
prescriptions du concile, qu’on cherchât à obtenir l’intelligibilité des
paroles et une musique en rapport avec le texte chanté.
A Milan
A la mort de Pie IV en 1566, Charles se démit de
toutes ses fonctions pour aller résider dans son diocèse de Milan. Celui-ci
était alors dans un état moral et spirituel désastreux, et aucun de ses
archevêques n’y avait résidé depuis plus de quatre-vingt ans.
Le cardinal Borromée, dès son arrivée, donna dans son
diocèse l’exemple de la sainteté et s’attacha à restaurer la discipline selon
les normes de la Contre Réformes voulues par le concile de Trente. C’est avec
raison qu’il est appelé le modèle des évêques et le restaurateur des vertus,
tant il fit preuve pendant son épiscopat d’une science, d’une persévérance et
d’un renoncement à l’amour de soi qui justifient ces titres.
Cette discipline, il se l’imposa d’abord à lui-même,
vivant dans l’ascétisme le plus rigoureux, portant le cilice, allant jusqu’à
dormir par terre (il avait vendu tous ses meubles précieux pour faire un don en
argent aux pauvres) et à ne prendre qu’un repas maigre par jour, voulant ainsi
s’offrir lui-même en victime pour les péchés de son peuple, comme le Christ
s’immola en croix pour ceux du genre humain tout entier.
Tout d’abord, il ouvrit un grand séminaire à Milan, un séminaire helvétique pour former des prêtres devant exercer en Suisse menacée par les progrès du protestantisme, et plusieurs petits séminaires pour assurer au clergé une formation convenable. Il imposa également aux communautés religieuses de revenir à l’observance de leur règle et fit remettre les grilles aux parloirs des couvents.
Dans son oeuvre réformatrice il s’appuya sur les Jésuites, les Théatins et les
Barnabites, et fonda une nouvelle congrégation, les Oblats de Saint Ambroise en
1578.
Se dépensant sans compter, Saint Charles s’attacha
également à visiter chacune des paroisses de son immense diocèse, fit restaurer
ou construire plusieurs églises, monastères et établissements d’enseignement,
et, pour s’assurer de la bonne application des réformes qu’il voulait
introduire, tint pas moins de onze synodes diocésains et six conciles
provinciaux et instaura un conseil permanent pour veiller à l’application de
leurs décisions. A ces assemblées, s’ajouta l’interminable et admirable suite
des mandements généraux ou spéciaux, lettres pastorales, instructions aux
confesseurs, sur la liturgie, la tenue des églises, la prédication, les
sacrements : une véritable encyclopédie pastorale, dont l’ampleur grandiose ne
laisse pas soupçonner la brièveté de l’existence de leur auteur.
Bien évidemment, tous ces changements, cette lutte
incessante contre les abus et dérèglements en tous genres rencontrèrent de
vives résistances, de la part des évêques de la région négligents des affaires
de leur diocèse, du chapitre de la cathédrale imbu de ses privilèges, du clergé
habitué à vivre dans le relâchement moral et la mollesse spirituelle, mais également
de la noblesse lombarde depuis longtemps accoutumée à s’ingérer dans les
affaires de l’Église. L’une des plus fortes fut celle de l’ordre dit des
Humiliés, dont les idées dérivaient en outre vers le calvinisme. L’un des
membres de cet ordre n’hésita pas à commettre un attentat contre Saint Charles
en tirant un coup d’arquebuse dans son dos, alors que le cardinal étant en
prière dans son oratoire privé, ajoutant l’horreur du sacrilège (l’attentat a
été commis dans une chapelle) à celle de la tentative de meurtre. Fort
heureusement, Saint Charles s’en tira avec une éraflure à l’épaule. Bien que
Charles fut prêt à pardonner à son agresseur, l’ordre des Humiliés fut dissous
et ses biens répartis entre d’autres ordres et églises du diocèse.
La sollicitude pastorale de Saint Charles trouva
encore à s’exprimer de façon éclatante pendant la famine de 1570 et surtout
lors de la peste qui affecta Milan en 1576 et 1577. N’hésitant pas à
interrompre une visite pastorale pour rentrer en ville malgré le danger de la
contagion, il porta secours aux malades autant qu’il le pouvait. L’Histoire a
surtout retenu à cette occasion la grande procession dont il prit la tête,
pieds nus et la corde au cou, tenant en mains une croix de bois dans laquelle
avait été enchâssée la relique du Saint Clou, à la suite de quoi l’épidémie
cessa.
Mort et canonisation
A la fin d’octobre 1584, s’étant retiré au Sacro Monte
de Varallo pour méditer sur la Passion de Notre Seigneur, Saint Charles,
affaibli par les mortifications, tomba malade. Ramené en litière et atteint
d’une forte fièvre jusqu’à Milan, il s’éteignit dans la nuit du 3 au 4 novembre
1584 à l’âge de 46 ans, couché sur le sac et la cendre, les yeux fixés sur le
crucifix qu’il tenait à la main.
Il fut béatifié en 1602 et canonisé le 1er novembre
1610 par le pape Paul V. Sa fête, de 3ème classe dans l’église universelle mais
de 1ere classe dans notre paroisse dont il est le patron, est fixée au 4
novembre.
En 1910 le pape Saint Pie X publia l’encyclique Editae
Saepe, célébrant la mémoire de Saint Charles.
Saint Charles est le saint patron des séminaristes et
des directeurs spirituels. Il repose dans la cathédrale de Milan.
Saint Charles est ainsi l’un des plus beaux ornements
de l’Eglise au XVIè siècle. La collecte de la messe de sa fête résume,
admirablement et en peu de mots ce que fut sa vie : pastoralis sollicitudo
gloriosum redidit (la sollicitude pastorale le rendit glorieux).
Sancte Carole, gloriose patrone, ora pro nobis !
Successeur de Saint Ambroise, vous fûtes l’héritier de son zèle pour la maison
de Dieu. Votre action fut puissante aussi dans l’Eglise, et vos deux noms, à
plus de mille ans d’intervalle, s’unissent dans une commune gloire. Puissent de
même s’unir au pied du trône de Dieu vos prières au profit de nos temps amoindris
; puisse votre crédit au Ciel nous obtenir des chefs dignes de continuer, de
reprendre au besoin, votre oeuvre sur terre ! Elle éclata de vos jours en
pleine évidence, cette parole des Saints Livres : « tel le chef de la
cité, tels sont les habitants », et cette autre encore :
« j’enivrerai de grâce les âmes sacerdotales et mon peuple sera rempli de
mes biens, dit le Seigneur ». (Dom Guéranger)
SOURCE : http://paroisse-saint-charles.fr/WordPress3/biographie-saint-charles-borromee/
Orazio Borgianni (1574–1616), San Carlo Borromeo, circa 1612, 217 x 151, San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
Benoît XVI évoque Charles Borromée, saint patron de
Karol Wojtyla
Allocution du pape à l’angélus de midi
NOVEMBRE 04, 2007 00:00ZENIT STAFFEGLISES
LOCALES
ROME, Dimanche 4 novembre 2007 (ZENIT.org) – Benoît XVI a évoqué le grand
évêque Charles Borromée, saint patron de Karol Wojtyla, avant la prière de
l’angélus dominical place Saint-Pierre, à midi.
Le pape rappelait quelques traits biographiques et
spirituels de ce grand archevêque de Milan : « Sa figure se détache au XVI e s.
comme modèle de pasteur exemplaire par sa charité, sa doctrine, son zèle
apostolique, et surtout, par sa prière : « les âmes, disait-il, se conquièrent
à genoux ». Consacré évêque à 25 ans, il mit en pratique la consigne du concile
de Trente qui imposait aux pasteurs de résider dans leurs diocèses respectifs,
et il se consacra totalement à l’Eglise ambrosienne ».
Le pape expliquait que l’évêque visita son diocèse «
trois fois, de long en large », mais aussi qu’il « convoqua six synodes
provinciaux et onze diocésains ; il fonda des séminaires pour la formation
d’une nouvelle génération de prêtres ; il construisit des hôpitaux et destina
les richesses de sa famille au service des pauvres ; il défendit les droits de
l’Eglise contre les puissants, renouvela la vie religieuse et institua une
congrégation nouvelle de prêtres séculiers, les Oblats ».
Sa charité méprisa le danger lorsque la peste sévit en
1576 : « Il visita les malades et les réconforta et il dépensa pour eux tous
ses biens ».
« Sa devise tenait en un seul mot : « Humilitas ».
L’humilité le poussa, comme le Seigneur Jésus, à renoncer à lui-même pour se
faire le serviteur de tous », ajoutait le pape.
Benoît XVI évoquait aussi son « vénéré prédécesseur
Jean-Paul II qui portait son nom avec dévotion » et il confiait « à
l’intercession de saint Charles tous les évêques du monde, invitant les fidèles
à invoquer pour eux « la céleste protection de la très sainte Vierge Marie,
Mère de l’Eglise ».
En polonais, le pape ajoutait : « Je salue les
Polonais présents et ceux qui s’unissent à nous grâce à la radio et la
télévision. C’est aujourd’hui la mémoire de saint Charles Borromée, patron de
baptême de Jean-Paul II. Remercions Dieu pour la vie et l’œuvre de ces deux
grands hommes de l’Eglise, éloignés dans le temps mais proches dans l’Esprit.
Que Dieu vous bénisse ! ».
SOURCE : https://fr.zenit.org/2007/11/04/benoit-xvi-evoque-charles-borromee-saint-patron-de-karol-wojtyla/
Antonio Concioli, San Carlo
Borromeo con Gesù Bambino e Maria
Vergine (fine XVIII - inizio XIX secolo)
Saint PIE X
26 mai 1910
Lettre encyclique Editæ
Sæpe
Sur saint Charles
Borromée
Encyclique Editæ Sæpe sur
saint Charles Borromée
Aux vénérables frères
Patriarches, Primats, Archevêques, Évêques et autres Ordinaires des lieux en
paix et communion avec le Siège Apostolique
Vénérables frères,
Salut et bénédiction apostolique
Ce que la parole divine
rappelle maintes fois dans les Saintes-Ecritures, que le juste laissera une
mémoire éternelle de louanges et qu’il parle encore après sa mort[1],
se vérifie surtout dans l’œuvre et renseignement continuel de l’Eglise.
Celle-ci, en effet, mère
et génératrice de sainteté, toujours animée d’une vigueur juvénile, dirigée et
fécondée par le souffle de l’Esprit-Saint qui habite en nous (Rom. viii, 11),
non seulement est seule à engendrer, à nourrir et à élever dans son sein la
très noble lignée des justes, mais elle est encore préoccupée plus que tout
autre, comme par un instinct d’amour maternel, à en conserver la mémoire et à
en rétablir l’honneur. Un tel souvenir lui donne comme un réconfort divin, et
lui fait détourner sa vue des misères de ce pèlerinage mortel ; en même
temps, elle voit déjà dans les saints sa joie et sa couronne ; elle
reconnaît en eux la sublime image de son Epoux céleste, et, forte de ce
témoignage nouveau, elle pénètre ses fils de cotte parole antique : Toutes
choses concourent au bien de ceux qui aiment Dieu, de ceux qui sont appelés
selon son éternel dessein (Rom. viii, 28). Et non seulement il Nous est doux
d’évoquer leurs œuvres glorieuses, mais Nous y trouvons encore un lumineux
exemple proposé à votre imitation ; c’est un vif stimulant à la vertu que
cet écho unanimement répété par les saints, répondant à la voix de Paul : Soyez
mes imitateurs, comme je le suis du Christ (I Cor. iv, 16).
Pour ces motifs,
Vénérables Frères, à peine avions-Nous assumé la charge du Souverain Pontificat
et signifie par Notre première Lettre Encyclique[2]
Notre dessein de Nous employer constamment à « instaurer toutes choses
dans le Christ », qu’en même temps Nous Nous sommes vivement efforcé de
diriger, ainsi que les Nôtres, les regards de tous vers Jésus, l’Apôtre et le
Pontife de notre religion, l’Auteur et le Consommateur de la foi (Hebr. iii,
1 ; xii, 2–3). Mais, puisque Notre faiblesse est telle que nous sommes
facilement effrayés de la grandeur d’un tel modèle. Nous avions, par un
bienfait de la Providence divine, un autre modèle à vous proposer ; pour
être aussi proche du Christ qu’il est possible à la nature humaine, ce modèle
est aussi plus conforme à Notre faiblesse, Nous voulons parler de la
bienheureuse Vierge, l’auguste Mère de Dieu[3].
Enfin, saisissant successivement diverses occasions de faire revivre la mémoire
des saints, Nous avons proposé à votre commune admiration ces serviteurs et ces
dispensateurs fidèles de la maison de Dieu, et à des degrés divers, suivant le
rang propre de chacun, ses amis et ses familiers ; ce sont eux qui par la
foi ont vaincu les royaumes, opéré la justice, obtenu les promesses [4],
voulant qu’aiguillonnés par leurs exemples nous ne soyons plus des enfants,
flottants et emportés à tout vent de doctrine, par la tromperie des hommes, par
leur astuce pour induire en erreur, mais que, confessant la vérité, nous
continuions à croître à tous égards dans la charité en union avec Celui qui est
le chef, le Christ (Eph. iv, 11 sq.).
Ce conseil très élevé de
la Providence divine, Nous l’avons montré réalisé tout spécialement en trois
personnages, qui, grands pasteurs des peuples et grands docteurs, vécurent en
des temps bien divers, mais à peu près également malheureux pour l’Eglise. Ce
sont : Grégoire le Grand, Jean Chrysostome et Anselme d’Aoste, dont on
vient de célébrer solennellement en ces dernières années les centenaires. Même,
Nous avons plus spécialement, en deux Lettres Encycliques datées du 12
mars 1904 et du 21
avril 1909, expliqué ces points de doctrine et ces préceptes de vie
chrétienne qui Nous semblèrent appropriés à notre époque et se rattachent aux
exemples et aux enseignements des saints.
Et parce que Nous sommes
persuadé que les exemples illustres des soldats du Christ sont beaucoup plus
efficaces pour entraîner les esprits que ne sauraient l’être des paroles ou des
considérations élevées[5],
Nous profitons volontiers aujourd’hui d’une autre heureuse opportunité qui
s’offre à Nous pour recommander les très utiles enseignements d’un autre saint
pasteur, suscité de Dieu en des temps plus rapprochés de nous, et presque au
milieu des mêmes tempêtes ; Nous voulons nommer saint Charles Borromée,
cardinal de la sainte Eglise romaine, archevêque de Milan, inscrit par Paul V
Notre prédécesseur, de sainte mémoire, il y a trois cents ans, au catalogue des
saints. Et cette disposition n’est pas moins heureuse, puisque, pour Nous
servir des paroles de ce même prédécesseur, « le Seigneur, qui accomplit à
lui seul de grands miracles ; a fait parmi nous en ces derniers temps des
choses merveilleuses, et, par une action admirable de sa Providence, a élevé
sur le roc de la pierre apostolique une grande lumière, en choisissant dans le
sein de la sacro-sainte Eglise romaine Charles, prêtre fidèle, bon serviteur,
modèle du troupeau et modèle des pasteurs. Et de fait, illuminant toute
l’Eglise par l’éclat multiple des œuvres saintes, il brille devant les prêtres
et le peuple, tel Abel par l’innocence, Enoch par la pureté, Jacob par le
support des fatigues, Moïse par la mansuétude, Elie par le zèle ardent. Il nous
donne à imiter dans sa vie l’austérité de Jérôme au milieu de l’abondance des
délices, l’humilité de Martin parmi les dignités les plus élevées, la
sollicitude pastorale de Grégoire, la liberté d’Ambroise, la charité de Paulin,
et, finalement, il nous donne de voir avec nos yeux, de toucher avec nos mains
un homme qui, tandis que le monde lui prodigue ses flatteries, vit crucifié au
monde, vit de l’esprit, foulant aux pieds les choses terrestres, cherchant
continuellement les choses célestes ; non seulement cet homme remplit, en
vertu de sa position, les fonctions angéliques, mais il se fait sur la terre
l’émule de la vie des anges par ses pensées et par ses œuvres ».[6]
Notre prédécesseur
s’exprimait ainsi, cinq lustres après la mort de Charles. Et maintenant que
trois siècles se sont écoulés depuis la glorification qu’il décréta,
« c’est à bon droit que notre lèvre est remplie de joie et notre langue
d’allégresse, au jour insigne de notre solennité ; en ce jour, le décret
décernant les honneurs sacrés à Charles, cardinal prêtre de la sainte Église
romaine, à laquelle Nous présidons, par une disposition de la volonté du
Seigneur, est venu ajouter une couronne enrichie de toutes les pierres
précieuses à son unique Épouse ». Ainsi, Nous partageons avec Notre
prédécesseur la confiance que la contemplation de la gloire de notre saint, et
plus encore les enseignements et les exemples laissés par lui, humilieront
l’orgueil des impies et couvriront de confusion tous ceux qui « se
glorifient des simulacres de l’erreur »[7].
Il adviendra par-là que la glorification Renouvelée de Charles, modèle du
troupeau et des pasteurs dans les temps modernes, champion et conseiller
infatigable de la vraie réforme catholique contre ces novateurs récents dont le
projet n’était pas la restauration, mais plutôt la déformation et la
destruction de la foi et des mœurs, servira, après trois siècles, à tous les
catholiques, de réconfort et d’instruction, comme aussi de noble excitation,
pour coopérer activement à l’œuvre qui Nous tient tant à cœur, de la
restauration de toutes choses dans le Christ.
Certainement vous savez
bien, Vénérables Frères, que l’Église, malgré d’incessantes tribulations, n’est
jamais laissée par Dieu privée de toute consolation. C’est parce que le Christ
l’a aimée… et s’est livré lui-même pour elle, afin de la sanctifier et de la
faire comparaître glorieuse devant lui, sans tache ni ride ni rien de
semblable, mais pour qu’elle soit sainte et immaculée. (Eph. v, 25 sq.) Aussi,
quand la licence des mœurs est plus déchaînée, plus féroce l’élan de la
persécution, plus perfides les embûches de l’erreur, et quand ces maux semblent
la menacer de la dernière ruine au point d’arracher de son sein nombre de ses
fils pour les renverser dans, le tourbillon de l’impiété et des vices, c’est
alors que l’Église éprouve le plus efficacement la protection divine. Car Dieu
fait en sorte que l’erreur elle-même, que les méchants le veuillent ou non,
serve au triomphe de la vérité, dont l’Église est la gardienne vigilante ;
il fait de même servir la corruption au progrès de la sainteté, dont elle est
la génératrice et la maîtresse, et la persécution à une plus merveilleuse libération
de nos ennemis. Ainsi advient-il que lorsque l’Église apparaît aux yeux des
profanes comme abattue par la tempête la plus violente, et en quelque sorte
submergée, alors elle en sort plus belle, plus forte, plus pure, brillant de
l’éclat des plus grandes vertus. De la sorte, la souveraine bonté de Dieu
confirme par de nouvelles preuves que l’Église est une œuvre divine ; soit
parce que dans l’épreuve la plus douloureuse, celle des erreurs et des fautes
qui se glissent parmi ses membres, elle lui fait surmonter le danger, soit
parce qu’elle lui montre réalisée la parole du Christ : Les portes de
l’enfer ne prévaudront pas Contre elle (Matth. xvi, 18); soit parce qu’elle
accomplit de fait la promesse : Voici que je serai avec vous tous les
jours, jusqu’à la consommation des siècles (Matth. xxviii, 20); soit enfin
parce qu’elle témoigne de cette puissance mystérieuse par laquelle un autre
Paraclet, que lui a promisse Christ à son prompt retour au ciel, répand
continuellement sur elle ses dons, et la défend, et la console en toutes ses
tribulations ; esprit qui demeure éternellement en elle ; esprit de
vérité que le monde ne peut recevoir parce qu’il ne le voit pas et ne le
connaît pas, car il demeurera en vous et sera avec vous. (Joan. xiv, 16 sq. ;
26, 59 ; xv, 7 sq.) De cette source jaillissent la vie et la vigueur de
l’Église ; c’est par là qu’elle se distingue de toute autre société, ainsi
que l’enseigne le Concile œcuménique du Vatican, par les notes manifestes qui
la signalent et l’établissent « comme un étendard élevé parmi les
nations »[8].
Et, de fait, seul un
miracle de la puissance divine peut faire que, malgré l’envahissement de la
corruption et les fréquentes défections de ses membres, l’Église, corps
mystique du Christ, puisse se maintenir indéfectible dans la sainteté de sa
doctrine, de ses lois et de sa fin, tirer des mêmes causes des effets également
fructueux, recueillir de la foi et de la justice d’un grand nombre de ses fils
des fruits très abondants de salut. Et la marque de sa vie divine n’apparaît
pas moins évidemment en ce fait que, parmi de si grands et de si honteux
courants d’opinions perverses, parmi un si grand nombre de rebelles, parmi une
variété si multiple d’erreurs, elle persévère néanmoins, constante et immuable,
comme la colonne et le soutien de la vérité, dans la profession d’une même
doctrine, dans la communion des mêmes sacrements, dans sa constitution divine,
dans le gouvernement, dans la morale. Et cela est d’autant plus admirable que,
non seulement elle résiste au mal, mais qu’elle vainc le mal par le bien et ne
laisse jamais de bénir ses amis comme ses ennemis, travaillant ardemment à ce
but, qu’elle désire tant réaliser, de rénover par des institutions chrétiennes
la société comme les individus. Car cette œuvre constitue sa mission propre
dans le monde, et ses ennemis eux-mêmes en ressentent les bienfaits.
Une si admirable action
de la Providence dans l’œuvre restauratrice effectuée par l’Église apparaît
avec éclat, dans ce siècle qui a vu surgir saint Charles Borromée, pour le
réconfort des gens de bien. Alors, le déchaînement des passions, le soin de
masquer et d’obscurcir presque complètement la connaissance de la vérité
occasionnaient une lutte continuelle contre les erreurs, et la société humaine,
courant aux pires excès, semblait travailler à sa ruine.
Au sein de ces calamités,
l’on voyait s’élever des hommes orgueilleux et rebelles, ennemis de la croix du
Christ… hommes aux sentiments terrestres, ayant pour dieu leur ventre (Philip.
iii, 18, 19). Ceux-ci s’appliquaient, non à corriger les mœurs, mais à nier les
dogmes ; ils multipliaient les désordres, relâchaient, pour eux et pour
les autres, les freins apportés à la licence, méprisaient ouvertement la
direction autorisée de l’Eglise, et, mettant à profit les passions des princes
ou des peuples plus corrompus, en ruinaient avec une sorte de violence
tyrannique la doctrine, la constitution, la discipline. Puis, imitant ces
impies à qui est adressée la menace : Malheur à vous qui appelez mal le
bien et bien le mal (Is. v, 20), ils ont appelé réforme ces révoltes
séditieuses et cette perversion de la foi et des mœurs, se donnant à eux-mêmes
le titre de réformateurs. Mais, en réalité, ce furent des corrupteurs. Enervant
par des guerres et des luttes intestines les forces de l’Europe, ils préparèrent
les rébellions et l’apostasie des temps modernes, où se renouvelèrent en même
temps comme dans un seul élan ces trois sortes de luttes, d’abord isolées, et
dont l’Eglise est sortie toujours Victorieuse : les luttes sanglantes des
premiers siècles, la peste intérieure des hérésies, enfin, sous le nom de
liberté évangélique, cette corruption provenant des vices, et cette perversion
de la discipline, à laquelle n’avait peut-être pas atteint le moyen âge.
A cotte foule de
séducteurs, Dieu opposa de vrais réformateurs et dos hommes saints, soit pour
arrêter ce courant impétueux et éteindre cette effervescence, soit pour réparer
les maux déjà causés. Leur action assidue, leurs efforts multiples pour la
réforme de la discipline apportèrent d’autant plus de consolation à l’Eglise
que plus grave était la tribulation qui l’opprimait. Ainsi s’accomplit la
parole sacrée : Dieu est fidèle, il donnera avec la tentation le succès. (I
Cor. x, 13.) En de telles circonstances, le zèle et la sainteté émérite de
Charles Borromée ajoutèrent, par une disposition de la Providence, à la joie
sainte de l’Eglise.
Or, son ministère, par
l’action directrice de Dieu, eut une force et une efficacité très spéciales,
non seulement pour briser l’audace des factieux, mais encore pour instruire les
fils de l’Eglise et leur rendre la ferveur. Des premiers il réprimait les
folles audaces et réfutait les futiles accusations avec l’éloquence la plus
puissante, on y joignant l’exemple de la vie et des œuvres ; des autres,
il relevait les espérances et ravivait l’ardeur. Et ce fut merveille de voir
comment il réunit en lui, dès sa jeunesse, toutes les qualités d’un vrai
réformateur, qualités qui, chez les autres, sont éparses et distinctes ;
on vit briller en lui vertu, jugement, doctrine, autorité, puissance,
activité ; tous ces dons, il les fît servir également à la défense qui lui
était confiée de la vérité catholique contre les hérésies envahissantes. Cette
mission, qu’il partageait avec la mission propre de l’Eglise, il la réalisa en
réveillant la foi endormie et comme éteinte chez plusieurs ; il la
fortifia par des lois et des institutions pleines de sagesse ; il rétablit
la discipline tombée, et ramena par son énergie aux règles de la vie chrétienne
les mœurs du clergé et du peuple. Ainsi, tandis qu’il remplissait entièrement
sa tâche de réformateur, il ne laissait pas d’accomplir en ce même temps tous
les devoirs du bon et fidèle serviteur, et plus tard ceux du prêtre éminent,
qui en son temps plut à Dieu et fut trouvé juste. Il mérita de la sorte d’être
choisi comme modèle par toutes sortes de personnes, clercs et laïques, riches
et pauvres. Son excellence, comme la leur, se résume dans cet éloge adressé à
l’évêque ou au prélat qui, obéissant aux préceptes de l’apôtre Pierre, s’était
fait de tout son cœur le modèle du troupeau (I Petr. v, 3). Et il n’y a pas
lieu de moins admirer ce fait que Charles, avant d’avoir atteint l’âge de vingt
ans, élevé aux plus grands honneurs, admis à prendre part aux affaires graves
et souverainement difficiles de l’Eglise, ait progressé chaque jour davantage
dans l’exercice le plus parfait de la vertu, par cette contemplation des choses
divines qui dans la retraite sacrée l’avait déjà renouvelé, et le faisait
maintenant briller en le mettant en spectacle au monde, aux anges et aux
hommes.
Alors, pour employer
encore l’expression de Paul V Notre prédécesseur, le Seigneur commença vraiment
de faire paraître en Charles le cours de ses merveilles ; il fit preuve de
sagesse, de justice, d’un zèle très ardent à promouvoir la gloire de Dieu et du
nom catholique, d’une sollicitude spéciale pour cette œuvre de restauration de
la foi et de l’Eglise Universelle, qui était aussi la préoccupation de
l’auguste Concile de Trente. Le même Pontife et la postérité entière lui accordent
tout le mérite de la célébration de ce Concile, en ce sens qu’avant d’en être
l’exécuteur le plus fidèle il en fut le plus ferme soutien. Et certes, ce ne
fut pas sans de nombreuses veilles, sans beaucoup d’ennuis et de fatigues qu’il
put mener à bien cette entreprise.
Cependant, tous ces
événements n’étaient pas autre chose qu’une préparation, comme un noviciat de
vie, où il se formait le cœur par la piété, l’esprit par l’étude, le corps par
la fatigue, à tel point que ce jeune homme, modeste et plein d’humilité, était
comme l’argile entre les mains de Dieu et de son Vicaire sur la terre. Cette
vie de préparation faisait précisément l’objet du mépris des fauteurs de
nouveauté ; telle est aussi la sottise de nos modernes qui ne remarquent
pas, dans leur mépris, les œuvres merveilleuses de Dieu, lentement mûries dans
l’ombre et le silence de l’âme qui s’adonne à l’obéissance et à la
prière : cette préparation contient comme le germe du progrès futur, de
même que dans la semence on voit poindre l’espérance de la moisson.
Néanmoins, la sainteté et
l’activité de Charles, qui s’annonçaient alors sous de si brillants auspices,
se développèrent ensuite et produisirent des fruits merveilleux, comme nous
l’avons insinué plus haut, quand, tel « un bon ouvrier, il quitta la
splendeur et la majesté de Rome, il se retira dans le champ qu’il avait choisi
pour le cultiver (Milan) ; là, remplissant chaque jour mieux son office, il
retourna ce champ déjà affreusement abîmé par la tristesse des temps et rendu
agreste par les ronces qui le couvraient ; il lui rendit enfin une telle
splendeur qu’il fît de l’Eglise de Milan un très illustre modèle de discipline
ecclésiastique »[9].
Tels sont les grands et remarquables résultats qu’il obtint en conformant son
œuvre de réforme aux règles proposées peu auparavant par le Concile de Trente.
L’Eglise, en effet,
sachant combien les sentiments et les pensées de l’âme humaine sont enclins.au
mal (Gen. viii, 21), ne cesse jamais de lutter contre les vices et les erreurs,
afin de détruire le corps de péché pour que nous ne soyons plus les esclaves du
péché (Rom. vi, 6). Et dans cette lutte, comme elle est sa propre maîtresse, et
qu’elle se guide d’après la grâce répandue dans nos cœurs par l’Esprit-Saint,
elle emprunte aussi sa règle de penser et d’agir au Docteur des Gentils, qui a
dit : Renouvelez-vous dans votre esprit et dans vos pensées. (Eph. iv,
23.) Et ne vous conformez pas ait siècle présent, mais transformez-vous par le
renouvellement de l’esprit afin que vous éprouviez quelle est ta volonté de
Dieu, et ce qui est bon, ce qui est agréable, ce qui est parfait. (Rom. xii,
2.) Le fils de l’Eglise, le réformateur sincère ne se persuade jamais d’avoir
atteint le but, mais il proteste seulement d’y tendre, ainsi que l’apôtre quand
il dit : Oubliant ce qui est derrière moi, je me porte de tout moi-même
vers ce qui est en avant ; je cours droit au but, afin de remporter le
prix pour lequel Dieu m’a appelé d’en haut en Jésus-Christ (Philip. iii,
13, 14).
Il advient par-là,
qu’unis avec le Christ dans l’Eglise, nous continuons à croître à tous égards
dans la charité de Celui qui est la tête, le Christ. C’est de Lui que tout le
corps… prend le développement qui lui est propre, et se perfectionne dans la
charité (Eph. iv, 15, 16); et l’Eglise notre Mère pratiquement confirme chaque
jour davantage ce mystère de la volonté divine de restaurer dans la plénitude
ordonnée des temps toutes choses dans le Christ (Eph. i, 9, 10).
C’est à quoi ne pensaient
pas les réformateurs dont Charles Borromée se fit l’adversaire : ces
hommes présumaient de réformer à leur guise la foi et la discipline ; les
modernes, contre qui nous devons présentement lutter avec énergie, ne
comprennent pas mieux ces choses, Vénérables Frères. Eux aussi renversent la
doctrine, les lois, les institutions de l’Eglise. Toujours ils ont sur les
lèvres les grands mots de progrès et de civilisation : ce n’est pas que
cela leur tienne tant à cœur, mais c’est qu’ils peuvent avec ces mots
grandioses déguiser plus facilement la malignité de leurs intentions.
Et pour ce qui est de
leur but réel, de leurs intrigues, de la voie qu’ils comptent suivre, personne
de vous ne les ignore, et Nous avons déjà dénoncé et condamné leurs desseins.
Ils se proposent de fomenter une apostasie universelle de la foi et de la
discipline de l’Eglise, apostasie beaucoup plus néfaste que celle où faillit
autrefois sombrer le siècle de Charles : elle se glisse habilement et avec
mystère dans les veines mêmes de l’Eglise ; elle prend comme point de
départ des principes erronés, dont elle déduit avec subtilité les conséquences
extrêmes.
Toutefois, des deux
apostasies l’origine est la même : l’homme ennemi, celui qui toujours
veille pour perdre les hommes, a semé la zizanie au milieu du froment. (Matth.
xiii, 25); leurs voies à toutes deux sont hypocrites et ténébreuses ; leur
marche et leur but sont les mêmes. Gomme autrefois, les premiers apostats,
penchés du côté où la fortune semblait leur sourire, excitaient l’une contre
l’autre la classe des puissants du jour et celle du peuple, pour les jouer et
les perdre ensuite l’une et l’autre, de même les apostats modernes exaspèrent
tour à tour les riches et les pauvres déjà remplis de haine les uns contre les
autres : En de telles conditions, tous, mécontents de leur sort, traînent
une existence de plus en plus misérable, et payent le tribut imposé à ceux dont
le cœur est rivé aux choses terrestres et périssables, et qui ne cherchent pas le
règne de Dieu et sa justice. Mais un fait rend le conflit présent encore plus
grave : en effet, tandis que les novateurs indisciplinés du passé ne
laissaient pas de retenir quelques parcelles du trésor de la doctrine révélée,
les modernes semblent ne pas vouloir se permettre de repos avant de l’avoir vu
entièrement dissipé. Or, si l’on renverse le fondement de la religion, on
dénoue nécessairement par le fait le lien de la société civile ; spectacle
triste pour le présent, et gros de menaces pour l’avenir ; non pas qu’il y
ait à craindre pour le maintien, la conservation de l’intégrité de
l’Eglise : les promesses divines ; assurément, sont un gage que Dieu
ne permettrait pas ce mal ; mais à cause des dangers qui attendent les
familles et les nations, celles surtout qui provoquent avec le plus d’ardeur ou
tolèrent avec le plus d’indifférence ce souffle empoisonné de l’impiété.
Telle est l’impiété et la
folie de cette guerre déclarée et propagée avec l’aide de ceux-là mêmes qui
devraient davantage appuyer et soutenir notre cause, et si multiple est la
transformation des erreurs, si répété l’encouragement aux vices, que soit les
uns soit les autres, même parmi les nôtres, s’y laissent tromper. Séduits
qu’ils sont par l’apparence de la nouveauté et de la doctrine, ils nourrissent
l’illusion que l’Eglise pourrait aimablement s’accorder avec les maximes du
siècle. Vous comprenez, alors, Vénérables Frères, que tous nous devons opposer
une résistance énergique, et repousser l’assaut ennemi avec les armes mêmes
qu’employa en son temps Charles Borromée.
Avant tout, puisque l’on
s’attaque à la citadelle même de la foi, soit par une négation ouverte, soit
par une opposition hypocrite, soit par un travestissement de ses dogmes, nous
nous rappellerons ce précepte souvent enseigné par saint Charles :
« Le premier et le plus grand souci des pasteurs doit être de s’occuper de
ce qui a rapport à la conservation intégrale et inviolable de la foi catholique,
de cette foi que la sainte Eglise romaine professe et enseigne, et sans
laquelle il est impossible de plaire à Dieu. »[10]
Et encore : « Sur ce point… aucun déploiement d’activité ne peut être
tel qu’il réponde adéquatement aux besoins des, temps. »[11]
On voit par là qu’il est
nécessaire de s’opposer par la saine doctrine au « ferment de perversité
hérétique » qui, s’il n’est pas éliminé, corrompt toute la masse :
opposons-nous donc aux opinions perverses qui se glissent, cachées sous des
apparences trompeuses, et dont l’ensemble est professé sous le nom de modernisme,
et rappelons-nous, avec saint Charles, « combien grand doit être le zèle
de l’évêque, et combien éminemment active sa préoccupation de combattre le
crime de l’hérésie » [12].
Il n’est pas nécessaire, en vérité, de rapporter les autres paroles du Saint,
lorsqu’il rappelle les sanctions, les lois, les peines décrétées par les
Pontifes romains contre tout prélat négligent ou manquant d’ardeur à délivrer
son diocèse du « ferment de perversité hérétique ». Mais il sera fort
opportun d’examiner de nouveau et de méditer attentivement les conclusions
qu’il nous donne : « L’évêque doit donc avant tout demeurer dans
cette sollicitude constante et cette vigilance continuelle, afin que non
seulement le fléau pestilentiel de l’hérésie ne s’infiltre jamais dans le
troupeau qui lui est confié, mais afin que même tout soupçon en soit totalement
écarté. Et si ce mal venait à se glisser parmi nous — Dieu fasse dans sa bonté
et dans sa miséricorde qu’il n’en soit pas ainsi ! —alors il faudrait
s’appliquer par tous les efforts possibles à l’extirper au plus tôt, et agir
avec ceux qui sont atteints ou même suspects d’un tel fléau, selon la règle des
canons et des sanctions pontificales. »[13]
Mais ni la délivrance ni
la préservation du fléau des erreurs ne sont possibles si l’on ne met toute sa
sollicitude à procurer l’instruction parfaite du clergé et du peuple, car la
foi vient de la prédication entendue, et la prédication se fait par la parole
de Dieu (Rom. x, 17).
Et la nécessité
d’inculquer à tous la vérité s’impose d’autant plus à notre époque que nous
voyons le venin de l’erreur s’infiltrer par toutes les veines de l’Etat, là
même où on le supposerait le moins. C’est à un degré tel qu’elles s’appliquent
aujourd’hui plus que jamais à tous, les raisons exposées par saint Charles dans
ces paroles : « Ceux qui se rapprochent de l’hérésie ou qui ne sont
pas stables et fermes dans les fondements de la foi donnent fort à craindre
qu’ils ne se laissent trop facilement attirer par les hérétiques dans quelque
erreur, fruit de l’impiété ou de la corruption de la doctrine. »[14]
Aujourd’hui, en fait, par la facilité des voyages, la propagation des erreurs
s’est accrue, subissant le sort commun ; et, par la liberté effrénée des
passions, nous vivons au milieu d’une société pervertie, où n’existe ni vérité…
ni connaissance de Dieu (Os. iv, 1); dans une terre désolée… parce que nul ne
réfléchit intérieurement (Jérém. xii, 11). Aussi, pour Notre part, voulant Nous
servir des ternies mêmes de saint Charles, « Nous avons déployé jusqu’ici
beaucoup d’activité pour que tous et chacun des fidèles du Christ fussent bien
instruits des éléments de la foi chrétienne » (Conc. Prov. V, p. I); et
sur ce sujet, que Nous avons considéré comme étant d’une souveraine importance,
Nous avons écrit une Encyclique spéciale[15].
Aussi ne voulons-Nous pas répéter ici ce que saint Charles Borromée, apôtre au
zèle infatigable, déplorait quand il se plaignait « d’avoir obtenu
jusque-là trop peu de résultats en une affaire d’une telle
importance » ; néanmoins, comme lui, « sachant bien la grandeur
de l’entreprise et du péril », Nous voudrions enflammer encore davantage
le zèle de tous. Notre but est que, prenant Charles comme modèle, tous
concourent, chacun selon son rang et ses forces, à cette œuvre de restauration
chrétienne.
Que les pères de famille
et les maîtres se souviennent donc de la ferveur avec laquelle le saint évêque
ne cessait de les avertir qu’ils devaient non seulement donner à leurs fils, à
leurs serviteurs, aux gens de leur maison, la facilité d’apprendre la doctrine
chrétienne, mais encore leur faire de cette chose une obligation. Que les
membres du clergé se rappellent le concours qu’ils doivent donner, dans cet
enseignement, aux curés. Ceux-ci, à leur tour, feront en sorte que leurs écoles
se multiplient selon le nombre et les besoins des fidèles ; qu’elles
soient recommandables par la probité des maîtres, auxquels on donnera pour
aides des hommes ou des femmes d’une sainteté éprouvée, ainsi que le prescrit
le saint archevêque de Milan[16].
La nécessité de cette
institution paraît manifestement s’accroître en raison de l’évolution des temps
et des coutumes modernes. A cette raison s’ajoute l’existence de ces écoles
publiques, privées de toute religion, où l’on se fait comme un jeu de tourner
en ridicule les choses les plus saintes, où les lèvres du maître et les
oreilles du disciple sont également ouvertes au blasphème. Nous parlons ici de
cette école qui, par une souveraine injustice, s’intitule école neutre ou
laïque, n’étant pas autre chose, en réalité, que le règne tyrannique et
tout-puissant d’une secte occulte. Ce nouveau joug d’une liberté hypocrite,
vous l’avez déjà dénoncé hautement et avec intrépidité, Vénérables Frères,
surtout dans ces pays où les droits de la religion et de la famille furent plus
effrontément foulés aux pieds ; où la voix même de la nature, ordonnant de
ménager la foi et la candeur de la jeunesse, fut étouffée. En vue de remédier,
selon Nos forces, au mal commis par ceux-là mêmes qui, exigeant des autres
l’obéissance, la refusent au Maître suprême de toutes choses, Nous avons
recommandé, dans les villes, “l’institution opportune d’écoles de religion. Et
bien que cette œuvre, grâce à vos efforts, ait donné jusqu’à présent d’assez bons
résultats, toutefois il est souverainement désirable qu’elle se propage
toujours plus au loin, que lesdites écoles s’ouvrent partout nombreuses et
florissantes, et riches en maîtres recommandables par leur doctrine émérite et
par l’intégrité de leur vie.
La fonction de l’orateur
sacré, de qui l’on exige à plus forte raison les qualités que nous venons
d’énumérer, se rattache étroitement à cet enseignement très utile des premiers
éléments. Aussi l’activité et les conseils de Charles dans les Synodes provinciaux
et diocésains tendaient-ils d’une façon très spéciale à la formation de
prédicateurs capables de s’employer activement et avec fruit au ministère de la
parole. Cette même formation semble peut-être plus fortement réclamée de nous
au temps présent ; en effet, tandis que la foi vacille en tant de cœurs,
il n’en manque pas qui, par un entraînement de vaine gloire, se plient aux
exigences de la mode, faussent la parole de Dieu et dérobent aux âmes la
nourriture de vie.
Nous devons donc,
Vénérables Frères, avec la plus grande vigilance, faire en sorte que notre
troupeau ne soit pas rassasié d’inanités par des hommes vains et frivoles, mais
plutôt qu’il soit nourri d’un instrument vital par les ministres de la parole
auxquels s’appliquent ces maximes : Nous remplissons l’office
d’ambassadeurs au nom du Christ, “comme si Dieu lui-même vous exhortait par
notre bouche : réconciliez-vous avec Dieu (II Cor. v, 20) ; en ministres
et légats ne nous conduisant pas avec astuce et ne faussant pas la parole de
Dieu, mais manifestant franchement la vérité, nous recommandant à la conscience
de tous les hommes devant Dieu (II Cor. iv, 2) ; les ouvriers, qui n’ont point
à rougir et distribuent avec justice la parole de vérité (II Tim. ii, 15). Et
non moins utiles seront pour nous ces règles très saintes et éminemment
fécondes que l’évêque de Milan avait coutume de recommander aux fidèles et qui
sont résumées dans ces paroles de saint Paul : Ayant reçu la parole de
Dieu que nous vous avons prêchée, vous l’avez acceptée non point comme une
parole des hommes, mais, ainsi qu’elle l’est véritablement, comme la parole de
Dieu. C’est elle qui manifeste sa puissance en vous qui avez cru. (I Thess. ii,
13.)
Ainsi la parole de Dieu,
vivante, efficace, plus acérée qu’un glaive à deux tranchants (Hebr, iv, 12),
non seulement contribuera à la conservation et à la défense de la foi, mais
encore donnera une impulsion efficace aux bonnes œuvres, car la foi sans les
œuvres est une foi morte (Jacob. ii, 26); et ceux-là ne sont pas justifiés
devant Dieu qui écoutent la loi, mais ceux-qui la mettent en pratique (Rom.
ii, 13).
Et voici un autre point
par où l’on voit combien la fausse réforme diffère de celle qui est vraie. Ceux
qui soutiennent la première, imitant l’inconstance des sots, courent et se
précipitent aux extrêmes. Tantôt ils exaltent la foi comme pour exclure la
nécessité des bonnes œuvres, tantôt ils placent dans la nature seule toute
l’excellence de la vertu, sans se préoccuper de recourir à la foi et à la grâce
divine. Il s’ensuit que les actes ayant pour principe la seule honnêteté
naturelle ne sont pas autre chose que des apparences de la vertu ; ils ne
sont ni durables en eux-mêmes ni suffisants pour procurer le salut. L’œuvre de
ces réformateurs n’a donc pas la valeur qu’il faudrait pour restaurer la
discipline ; mais elle entraîne la ruine de la foi et des mœurs.
Au contraire, ceux qui, à
l’exemple de Charles, amis de la vérité et pleinement sincères, recherchent la
réforme vraie et salutaire, ceux-là évitent les mesures extrêmes et ne
franchissent jamais les limites hors desquelles aucune réforme ne peut
subsister. Unis très fermement à l’Eglise et à son Chef le Christ, non
seulement ils acquièrent par là une grande force de vie intérieure, mais encore
ils en reçoivent pour leurs actes extérieurs une direction, grâce à laquelle
ils peuvent se livrer en toute sécurité à cette œuvre de réforme de la société
humaine. Cette divine mission, perpétuellement transmise à ceux qui doivent
agir comme légats du Christ, est à proprement parler celle d’enseigner toutes
les nations en leur apprenant non seulement les choses qu’il faut croire, mais
encore celles qu’il faut pratiquer, selon la parole même du Christ : observez
toutes les choses que je vous ai ordonnées (Matth. xxviii, 18, 20). Le Christ
est, en effet, la voie, la vérité et la vie (Joan. xiv, 6). Il est venu pour
que les hommes aient la vie, et qu’ils l’aient en surabondance (Joan. x, 10).
Mais parce que l’accomplissement de ces devoirs avec raide de la nature seule
est bien au-dessus de ce que les forces de l’homme peuvent atteindre par
elles-mêmes, l’Église possède, en même temps que son droit d’enseigner, le
pouvoir de gouverner la société chrétienne et celui de la sanctifier. En même
temps, par le moyen de ceux qui, en vertu de leur rang propre et de leurs
fonctions, soit ses ministres et ses coopérateurs, elle fournit au monde les
moyens opportuns et nécessaires de salut. Bien avertis de tout cela, les vrais
réformateurs n’étouffent pas, pour ainsi parler, les bourgeons afin de sauver
la racine ; ils ne séparent pas la foi d’avec la sainteté de la vie ;
mais ils développent et réchauffent l’une et l’autre au souffle de la charité, ce
lien de la perfection (Coloss, iii, 14). Obéissant au précepte de l’Apôtre, ils
gardent le dépôt (I Tim. vi, 20), non point pour en cacher la connaissance et
la lumière aux nations, mais pour en faire découler plus au loin les flots très
salutaires qui jaillissent de cette source, de vérité et de vie. Ainsi pourvus,
ils Joignent la théorie à la pratique, se servant de celle-là pour prévenir
toute séduction de l’erreur, et de celle-ci pour faire passer les préceptes
dans les mœurs et dans les actes de la vie. C’est pourquoi ils réunissent tous
les moyens aptes ou nécessaires à la fin qu’ils se proposent, qui est soit
l’extirpation du péché, soit le perfectionnement des saints pour l’œuvre du
ministère, pour l’édification du corps du Christ (Eph. iv, 12). A ce but
tendent les décrets, les canons, les lois qu’établirent les Pères et les
Conciles ; à ce but aussi tous les moyens d’enseignement, de gouvernement,
de bienfaisance ; à ce but enfin la discipline et l’action entière de
l’Eglise.
Ces maîtres dans la foi
et dans la vertu, le véritable fils de l’Eglise, qui veut son amendement et
celui de son prochain, les contemple sans relâche de ses regards. Saint Charles
Borromée les cite souvent et s’appuie sur eux dans son œuvre de restauration de
la discipline ecclésiastique, lorsqu’il écrit, par exemple : « Nous
nous sommes conformés à l’ancien usage et à l’autorité des saints Pères et des
saints Conciles, en particulier du Concile œcuménique de Trente, et, en nous
réglant sur eux, nous avons édicté de nombreux décrets dans nos précédents Conciles
provinciaux. » De même, il avoue avoir été amené à son dessein de
répression de la corruption publique « par le droit et les sanctions
sacrées des saints Canons, et surtout par les décrets du Concile de
Trente ». (Conc. Prov. V, p. I.)
Non content de ces
mesures, et voulant se mettre en garde contre la possibilité de s’écarter
jamais de cette règle, il conclut à peu près en ces termes les statuts de ses
Synodes provinciaux : « Tous et chacun des décrets et des actes
portés par nous dans ce Synode provincial, nous les soumettons, avec toute
l’obéissance et le respect voulus, à l’autorité et au jugement de la sainte
Eglise romaine, mère et maîtresse de toutes les Eglises, afin que toujours elle
puisse les amender et les corriger. »[17]
Cette volonté, il l’affirma d’autant plus que tous les jours il s’avançait
davantage dans la perfection d’une vie laborieuse, non seulement tant que son
oncle occupa la Chaire de saint Pierre, mais encore sous le pontificat de ses
successeurs, Pie V et Grégoire XIII : après avoir puissamment contribué à
leur élection, il les aida énergiquement dans les affaires les plus graves, et répondit
pleinement à leur attente.
Mais il se conforma tout
particulièrement à leur volonté, en disposant les choses pour les faire servir
à la fin qu’il s’était proposée, c’est-à-dire à l’instauration de la discipline
sacrée. Dans cette entreprise il se montra très éloigné de l’esprit de ceux qui
déguisent leur obstination sous les apparences d’un zèle plus ardent. C’est
pourquoi, commençant le jugement pan la maison de Dieu (I Petr. iv, 17), il
s’appliqua avant toutes choses à réformer sur des règles fixes la discipline du
clergé ; à cet effet, il érigea des Séminaires pour les aspirants aux
saints Ordres ; il institua des Congrégations de prêtres nommés Oblats ;
il fit venir des Familles religieuses soit anciennes, soit de fondation plus
récente, il réunit des Conciles, et, cherchant partout des secours, il fortifia
et accrut l’œuvre commencée.
Bientôt, ce ne fut pas
avec un zèle moindre qu’il s’appliqua à corriger les mœurs du peuple,
s’appliquant ce que disait autrefois le prophète : Voici que je t’ai établi
aujourd’hui… pour arracher et détruire, pour perdre et dissiper, pour
construire et planter. (Jer. i, 10.) C’est pourquoi ce bon pasteur visitait
lui-même et non sans beaucoup de fatigue les églises de sa province, et, se
faisant semblable à son divin Maître, passa en faisant le bien et en guérissant
les blessures du troupeau ; les maux qu’il rencontrait çà et là, qu’ils
fussent attribuables à l’ignorance ou à la négligence dans l’observation des
lois, il s’efforça autant qu’il put de les détruire et de les déraciner ;
à la perversité des opinions, à la fange débordante des passions, il opposa
comme une muraille les écoles et les collèges qu’il fonda pour l’éducation des
enfants et des jeunes gens ; il agrandit les associations mariales qu’il
avait vues naître à Rome ; il ouvrit des hospices pour les
orphelins ; par ses soins, des refuges furent ouverts aux femmes en péril
pour leur vertu, aux veuves et aux pauvres, tant de l’un que de l’autre sexe,
qui étaient accablés soit par la maladie, soit par l’âge ; il défendit les
pauvres contre le pouvoir abusif des maîtres, contre l’usure injuste, la traite
des enfants et autres nombreux abus de ce genre. Il accomplit toutes ces choses
en réprouvant absolument la conduite de ceux qui, pour réformer à leur guise la
république chrétienne, bouleversent toutes choses et fomentent l’agitation avec
un fracas de paroles superflues, oublieux de cette parole divine : Le
Seigneur n’est pas dans l’agitation. (III Reg. xix, 11.)
Une autre marque
distingue encore, et vous en avez fait l’expérience, Vénérables Frères, les
vrais d’avec les faux réformateurs : c’est que ces derniers cherchent
leurs intérêts et non pas ceux de Jésus-Christ (Philipp. ii, 21); accueillant
en toute avidité ces paroles insidieuses autrefois adressées au divin
Maître : Manifeste-toi toi-même au monde (Joan. vii, 4), ils répètent à
leur tour ce cri d’orgueil : Faisons-nous à nous-mêmes un nom. Cette
témérité, dont nous gémissons si souvent dans les temps présents, a été cause
que les prêtres sont tombés à la guerre, voulant agir avec courage, et partant
au combat sans prendre conseil. (I Mach. V, 57, 67.)
Celui qui, au contraire,
s’applique d’un cœur sincère à améliorer la société humaine, ne recherche pas
sa propre gloire, mais la gloire de Celui qui l’a envoyé (Joan. vii, 18); et,
se conformant à l’exemple du Christ, il ne discutera pas et ne criera point et
personne n’entendra sa voix sur les places publiques ; — il ne sera ni
triste ni agité (Is. XLII, 2 sq.; Matth. xii, 19), mais doux et humble de cœur (Matth.
xi, 29). Il sera agréable à Dieu et obtiendra des fruits très abondants
de salut.
Tous deux se distinguent
encore en cela, que l’un, s’appuyant sur les seules forces humaines, se confie
en l’homme et fait de la chair son bras (Jer. xvii, 5), tandis que l’autre met
toute sa confiance en Dieu ; il attend de lui et des moyens surnaturels
toute force et toute énergie, répétant ces paroles de l’Apôtre : Je puis
tout en Celui qui me fortifie. (Philipp. IV, 13.)
Ces moyens, que le Christ
a prodigués dans toute leur abondance, le chrétien les recherche au sein même
de l’Église pour le salut commun : c’est plus particulièrement
l’application à la prière, le sacrifice, les sacrements, qui deviennent comme
une source d’eau vive jaillissant jusqu’à la vie éternelle (Joan. iv, 14). Ils
dédaignent tous tes moyens, ceux qui s’efforcent de travailler à l’œuvre de
réformation par des voies détournées et en oubliant Dieu, et ne cessent jamais
sinon de tarir complètement ces sources très pures, du moins de les troubler
afin d’en écarter le peuple chrétien. Dans cette besogne, leurs imitateurs
modernes agissent plus mal encore : se couvrant du masque d’une religion
prétendue plus noble, ils regardent comme étant de minime valeur et tournent en
dérision ces moyens de salut, surtout ces deux sacrements dont l’un permet aux
pénitents d’expier leurs Imites, et l’autre réconforte l’âme par une nourriture
céleste. Aussi les meilleurs feront-ils tous leurs efforts pour que des dons
d’un si haut prix soient tenus en très grand honneur ; ils ne souffriront
pas que le zèle des hommes se refroidisse à l’égard de Ce double gage de la
charité divine.
Telle fut la conduite de
saint Charles Borromée, des écrits duquel nous extrayons plus particulièrement
les paroles suivantes : « Plus grand et plus abondant est ce fruit
des sacrements, qui dépasse toutes les explications qu’on en peut donner, plus
aussi nous devons en parler et les recevoir avec soin, avec une piété intime,
avec la vénération et le culte extérieur qu’ils méritent. »[18]
Il convient aussi grandement de rappeler ces paroles par lesquelles il exhorte
fortement les curés et les autres orateurs sacrés à faire revivre l’ancienne
pratique de la fréquente communion ; ce que Nous-même avons fait par le
décret commençant par les mots Tridentina Synodus. « Les curés… et les
prédicateurs, dit lé saint évêque, devront exhorter le peuple le plus souvent
possible à la pratique très salutaire de la communion fréquente. Ils y sont
poussés par les institutions et les exemples de l’Eglise naissante, les paroles
des Pères les plus autorisés, la doctrine du catéchisme romain, très largement
explicite sur ce point ; enfin par l’avis du Concile de Trente, qui
souhaiterait de voir à chaque messe les fidèles communier non seulement
spirituellement, mais encore par la réception sacramentelle de
l’Eucharistie. »[19]
Dans quel esprit et avec quel amour l’on doit s’approcher du sacré banquet, il,
nous l’enseigne en ces termes : « Non seulement on excitera le peuple
à la réception fréquente de la très sainte Eucharistie, mais encore on
l’avertira combien il est périlleux et nuisible de s’approcher indigneraient de
ce banquet divin. »[20]
Cette sollicitude paraît surtout s’imposer à notre époque où la foi est
chancelante et la charité refroidie, de peur qu’il n’advienne qu’un usage trop
fréquent ne diminue le respect dû à un si grand mystère ; mais cette
pratique doit plutôt avoir pour résultat d’amener l’homme à s’éprouver
lui-même, et ainsi à manger de ce pain et à boire de ce vin. (I Cor.
xi, 28.)
De ces sources découlera
un fleuve abondant de grâces, où les talents même humains et naturels viendront
s’alimenter et se fortifier. Le chrétien, dans sa conduite, ne méprisera certes
pas les choses qui sont utiles à la vie et qui la soutiennent, étant donné
qu’elles viennent du seul et même Dieu, auteur de la grâce et de la nature,
mais il prendra bien garde de ne pas faire consister toute la fin de sa vie et
pour ainsi dire sa béatitude dans l’usage et la possession des choses
extérieures et des biens du corps. Celui-là donc qui voudra en user avec
justesse et modération les fera servir au salut des âmes, conformément à cette
parole du Christ : Cherchez d’abord le royaume de Dieu et sa justice, et
tout le reste vous sera donné par surcroît. (Luc. xii, 31 ; Matth.
vi, 33.)
Non seulement un tel
usage ordonné et prudent de ces moyens de salut ne sera pas en opposition avec
un bien d’un ordre inférieur, celui de la société civile, mais il en servira au
plus haut point les intérêts, et cela, non pas avec l’aide de mots vains et
retentissants, comme font les hommes factieux, mais par des actes et des
efforts continus, poussés, s’il le faut, jusqu’à la perte des biens, des forces
et de la vie. Des exemples de ce courage nous sont donnés en premier lieu par
plusieurs évêques qui, dans des temps tristes pour l’Eglise, imitent l’ardeur
de Charles et réalisent ces paroles du divin Maître : Le bon pasteur donne
sa vie pour ses brebis. (Joan. x, 11.) Ce n’est pas par un désir de vaine
gloire ni par un esprit de parti ni en raison de quelque avantage privé, qu’ils
sont amenés à se dévouer pour le salut commun, mais c’est par cette charité qui
jamais ne fait défaut. Cette flamme de la charité, qui échappe aux gens du
monde, animait saint Charles Borromée quand, après s’être exposé à la mort en
soignant les pestiférés, non content d’avoir remédié aux maux présents, il se
montre encore rempli de sollicitude pour l’avenir : « Il est tout à
fait raisonnable qu’à l’exemple d’un père très bon, aimant ses fils d’un amour
unique et leur ménageant avec prévoyance, tant dans le présent que pour
l’avenir, les choses nécessaires à leur entretien, nous aussi, poussés par le
devoir de la charité paternelle, nous pourvoyions avec le plus grand soin, dans
ce cinquième Concile provincial, aux intérêts des fidèles de notre province,
leur préparant pour l’avenir les secours que nous avons su par expérience, au
cours de l’épidémie, leur être salutaires. »[21]
Les mêmes efforts et les
mêmes desseins d’un esprit prévoyant trouvent leur application pratique,
Vénérables Frères, dans cette action catholique que Nous vous avons souvent
recommandée. Des hommes choisis même parmi le peuple sont associés à ce
ministère très vaste, qui embrasse toutes ces œuvres de miséricorde dont le
royaume éternel sera la récompense (Matth. xxv, 34 sq.). Lorsque ces personnes
auront accepté de se charger d’un tel fardeau, elles doivent être prêtes et
décidées à se dévouer entièrement, elles et tous leurs biens, pour la meilleure
cause ; à s’opposer à l’envie, à la détraction, à l’hostilité de plusieurs
qui répondent aux bienfaits par de mauvais procédés ; à travailler tel un
bon serviteur du Christ (II Tim. ii, 3), et à courir avec persévérance dans la
carrière qui nous est ouverte, les yeux fixés sur Jésus, l’auteur et le
consommateur de la foi (Hebr. xii, 1,2), lutte bien difficile, assurément, mais
dont l’enjeu sera sans nul doute le bien de la société, même si le jour de la
victoire complète est retardé.
Sur ce dernier point par
Nous signalé, il nous est permis d’admirer en saint Charles d’illustres
exemples ; et chacun peut, selon sa condition, y trouver matière à son
imitation ou à son édification. Et, en effet, bien que sa vertu singulière, son
merveilleux talent et sa charité prodigue d’elle-même l’aient rendu si
recommandable à tous, cependant il subit aussi bien que les autres cette
loi : Tous ceux qui veulent vivre pieusement dans le Christ Jésus
souffriront la persécution. (II Tim. iii, 12.) C’est pourquoi, par le fait
qu’il suivait un genre de vie plus austère, qu’il observait toujours la
droiture et l’honnêteté, qu’il se faisait le vengeur incorruptible des lois et
de la justice, par cela même il s’attira la jalousie des puissants ; il
fut exposé aux ruses des diplomates, à la haine des magistrats ; les
nobles, le clergé, le peuple le tinrent en suspicion ; enfin, des hommes
perdus de mœurs lui en voulurent, à mort, et cherchèrent à attenter à ses
jours. A tous, il résista avec une indomptable énergie, bien qu’il fût doux et
d’un caractère aimable.
Et, non seulement il ne
capitula sur aucun point qui eût été préjudiciable à la foi ou aux mœurs, mais
il n’accueillit pas même les demandes contraires à la discipline ou onéreuses
pour le peuple fidèle, quand bien même elles lui venaient ; comme on croit
qu’il advint, d’un roi très puissant et, d’ailleurs, catholique. Se
ressouvenant des paroles du Christ : Rendez à César ce qui est à César, et
à Dieu ce qui est à Dieu (Matth. xxii, 21), et de celles des apôtres : On
doit obéir à Dieu plutôt qu’aux hommes (Act. v, 29), il mérita excellemment non
seulement de la cause de la religion, mais encore de la société civile, qu’il
préserva d’une ruine certaine, alors que, subissant le châtiment dû à sa
prudence insensée, elle était en quelque sorte engloutie par le flot des
séditions qu’elle avait elle-même soulevées.
La même louange, et la
même reconnaissance seront dues aux catholiques de notre temps et à leurs
vaillants chefs, les évêques. Les uns et les autres ne manquent jamais à leurs
devoirs de citoyens, soit qu’il leur faille observer la fidélité et le respect
envers leurs maîtres même impies, quand ils ordonnent des choses justes, soit
qu’ils aient l’obligation de blâmer leurs ordres iniques. De la sorte, ils
s’écartent également et de la licence effrénée à laquelle s’abandonnent les
fauteurs de séditions et de troubles, et de la servile abjection de ceux qui
accueillent comme des lois sacrées les décrets impies portés par les hommes les
plus pervers qui, sous le couvert du nom menteur de liberté, établissent la
confusion de tous les droits et imposent le joug de la plus dure servitude.
Et c’est à la face du
monde entier et à la pleine lumière de notre civilisation que ces choses
arrivent ; et c’est tout particulièrement dans une nation où la puissance
des ténèbres semble avoir établi sa principale demeure. Sous sa domination
puissante, tous les droits des fils de l’Eglise sont manifestement bafoués :
tout sentiment de magnanimité, d’urbanité et de foi est banni du cœur de ceux
qui gouvernent cette république, alors que leurs ancêtres, fiers du nom
chrétien, brillèrent si longtemps de l’éclat de ces mêmes vertus. Tant il est
vrai que lorsque la haine de Dieu et de l’Eglise a pénétré dans l’esprit, un
mouvement rétrograde s’imprime à toutes choses ; on en revient d’un élan
précipité à l’antique et barbare liberté, ou plutôt à ce despotisme cruel dont
seules la famille du Christ et la discipline introduite par elle nous avaient
délivrés, ou encore, comme le disait saint Charles, tant il est « certain
et admis par tous que nulle chose n’offense Dieu plus gravement et n’excite
plus fortement son courroux que la tache d’hérésie ; rien, en un mot, ne
contribue davantage à la ruine des provinces et des royaumes que ce fléau si
affreux »[22].
Il faut tenir cependant pour plus funeste encore la conspiration actuelle dont
le but est d’arracher les nations chrétiennes du sein de l’Eglise. Très opposés
de sentiments et de volonté, ce qui est la note propre des hérétiques, nos
ennemis s’accordent sur un seul point : la lutte opiniâtre ; contre
la justice et la vérité ; mais comme l’Eglise est la gardienne et le
vengeur de Tune et de l’autre, ils se ruent sur elle en rangs serrés. Et tandis
qu’ils ne cessent de se dire neutres, ou même de prétendre favoriser la cause
de la paix, on les voit, tout en ne cachant point leurs desseins, se servir de
paroles mielleuses, et passer tout leur temps à dresser des embûches, joignant
la raillerie au dommage causé, la fraude à la violence. C’est donc à une
agression d’un nouveau genre que le nom chrétien est aujourd’hui en butte. La
guerre lui est faite avec des armes bien autrement dangereuses que celles
employées dans les combats d’autrefois, où saint Charles Borromée acquit une
telle gloire.
Nous inspirant tous de
ses exemples et de ses enseignements, c’est pour les plus grands intérêts d’où
dépendent le salut de la société et celui des individus, que nous combattrons
d’un cœur ardent et fier : c’est pour la foi et la religion, pour la
sainteté du droit public. Nous combattrons, contraints sans doute par une
triste nécessité, mais en même temps réconfortés par une douce confiance que le
Dieu tout-puissant donnera la victoire aux soldats qui combattent dans les
rangs d’une armée si glorieuse. Cette confiance est accrue par la vue de
l’œuvre de Charles, dont la puissance et l’efficacité se sont perpétuées
jusqu’à nos jours, soit pour réprimer l’orgueil des esprits, soit pour affermir
les âmes dans le saint projet de restaurer toutes choses dans le Christ.
Et maintenant, Vénérables
Frères, il Nous est permis de conclure en ces mêmes termes par lesquels Notre
prédécesseur Paul V, dont Nous avons fait plusieurs fois mention, terminait ses
lettres décernant à Charles les honneurs suprêmes : « Il est donc
juste que nous rendions gloire, honneur et bénédiction à Celui qui vit dans les
siècles des siècles ; il a rempli de toutes bénédictions spirituelles son
serviteur notre frère, afin qu’il fût saint et sans tache en sa présence ;
et comme en nous le donnant il l’a rendu semblable à une étoile brillante dans
cette nuit de péchés et de douleurs, ayons donc recours à la clémence
divine ; supplions-la par nos prières et par nos œuvres, afin que Charles,
par ses mérites et ses exemples, vienne en aide à l’Eglise qu’il a aimée avec
ardeur ; qu’il l’assiste de sa protection, et que, dans ces jours de
Colère, il soit notre réconciliation, par Jésus-Christ Notre-Seigneur. »[23]
Puisse ajouter à ces vœux
et combler nos communes espérances le gage de la bénédiction apostolique que
Nous vous accordons avec amour, à vous, Vénérables Frères, au clergé et au
peuple dont vous avez la charge.
Donné à Rome, près
Saint-Pierre, le 26 mai 1910, la septième année de Notre Pontificat.
PIE X, PAPE.
Notes de bas de page
Ps. cxi, 7 ; Prov.
x, 7 ; Hebr. xi, 4 ↩︎
Litt.
Encycl. E supremi, 4 oct. 1903 ↩︎
Litt.
Encycl. Ad diem illum, die II m. Febr, 1904 ↩︎
Hebr, xi, 33 ↩︎
Ex Bulla Unigenitus. Cal.
Nov. anno 1610. ↩︎
Bulla Unigenitus ↩︎
Bulla Unigenitus ↩︎
Conc. Prov, I, sub
initium. ↩︎
Conc. Prov. V, p. I. ↩︎
Conc. Prov. V, p. I ↩︎
Ibid. ↩︎
Conc. Prov. V, p. I. ↩︎
Encycl.
Acerbo nimis, 25 avr, 1905 ↩︎
Conc. Prov. V, p. I ↩︎
Conc. Prov. VI, sub
finem. ↩︎
Conc. Prov. I, p. II. ↩︎
Conc. Prov. III, p. I. ↩︎
Conc. Prov. IV, p. II. ↩︎
Conc. Prov. V, p. II. ↩︎
Conc. Prov., V, p. I ↩︎
Bulle Unigenitus. ↩︎
SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-x/la/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_26051910_editae-saepe.html
Le sens de l’Avent
Voici, mes bien-aimés, ce
temps célébré avec tant de ferveur, et, comme dit l’Esprit Saint, temps de la
faveur divine, période de salut, de paix et de réconciliation ; temps
jadis désiré très ardemment par les vœux et les aspirations instantes des anciens
prophètes et patriarches, et qui a été vu enfin par le juste Siméon avec une
joie débordante ! Puisqu’il a toujours été célébré par l’Église avec tant
de ferveur, nous-mêmes devons aussi le passer religieusement dans les louanges
et les actions de grâce adressées au Père éternel pour la miséricorde qu’il a
manifestée dans ce mystère.
Du fait que ce mystère
est revécu chaque année par l’Église, nous sommes exhortés à rappeler sans
cesse le souvenir de tant d’amour envers nous. Cela nous enseigne aussi que l’avènement
du Christ n’a pas profité seulement à ceux qui vivaient à l’époque du Sauveur,
mais que sa vertu devait être communiquée aussi à nous tous ; du moins si
nous voulons, par le moyen de la foi et des sacrements, accueillir la grâce
qu’il nous a méritée et diriger notre vie selon cette grâce en lui obéissant.
L’Église nous demande
encore de comprendre ceci : de même qu’il est venu au monde une seule fois
en s’incarnant, de même, si nous enlevons tout obstacle de notre part, il est
prêt à venir à nous de nouveau, à toute heure et à tout instant, pour habiter
spirituellement dans nos cœurs avec l’abondance de ses grâces.
St Charles Borromée
Charles Borromée (†
1584), archevêque de Milan, fut un des acteurs du concile de Trente et en
rédigea largement le catéchisme en 1566. Il fut canonisé en 1610.
SOURCE : https://fr.aleteia.org/daily-prayer/dimanche-27-novembre/meditation-de-ce-jour-1/
Saint
Charles Borromée visite et réconforte les pestiférés de Milan
Saint Charles Borromée
Le nom de Borromée dérive
de bon romèo, mots vieillis de la langue italienne, qui signifiaient à
l’origine bon pèlerin de Rome et, plus tard, simplement bon pèlerin. C’est sous
cette forme de Bon Romèo que saint Charles aimait lui-même à écrire son nom
patronymique dans ses lettres de jeunesse.
La famille Borromée.
Les Borromée étaient une
antique famille milanaise qui, par ses vertus et les services rendus au pays,
avait acquis une haute situation politique et sociale. Les rois d’Espagne lui
avaient confié la garde de la place forte d’Arona, l’une des plus importantes
du duché de Milan, située sur le Lac Majeur, à l’entrée des premières vallées
alpestres.
Aujourd’hui, on voit à
Arona, dominant au loin le lac et la vallée inférieure du Tessin, une statue
colossale de notre Saint. Le monument n’est point trop grand pour le héros dont
le nom a rempli le monde et dont le souvenir plane encore mystérieusement sur
toute la plaine lombarde. C’est à Arona surtout qu’il faut rechercher les
souvenirs de son enfance, plutôt que dans les fameuses îles Borromées avec
leurs jardins et leur palais, dont Charles ne connut jamais les splendeurs.
Son père était le comte
Giberto Borromée, un chrétien dans toute la force du mot.
Au milieu des honneurs
dont le monde l’entourait, le noble seigneur menait la vie d’un religieux. Tous
les jours, il récitait l’office et donnait plusieurs heures à la
méditation ; souvent même, on le voyait, revêtu de l’habit de pénitent, se
livrer aux pratiques les plus austères.
Giberto avait épousé, en
1528, Marguerite de Médicis, noble demoiselle issue d’une famille lombarde qui
n’avait de commun que le nom avec les Médicis de Florence et sœur du futur Pie
IV. La piété de Marguerite égalait celle de son époux, et elle s’appliqua de
toute son âme à la communiquer à ses enfants.
Charles naquit au château
d’Arona le 2 octobre 1538. Un frère et une sœur, Frédéric et Isabelle,
l’avaient précédé en ce monde. Les actes du procès de canonisation relatent une
tradition locale d’après laquelle, la nuit de sa naissance, une merveilleuse
clarté, semblable à un arc-en-ciel, illuminait les alentours du château
d’Arona. En vérité c’était bien le lever d’un astre resplendissant au firmament
de l’Eglise.
Le premier appel de Dieu.
– L’étudiant.
L’enfance de Charles se
passa à Arona, à l’école de ses pieux parents. Les biographes nous le
représentent comme un enfant sérieux et doux. Un de ses plus agréables
passe-temps était de jouer à la chapelle.
Quand il fut un peu plus
grandelet, écrit un vieil auteur, fuyant les légeretez et entretenements
enfantins, n’avoit autre délectation et plaisir qu’à faire des petits autels,
chanter les louanges de Dieu et faire autres semblables choses, qui donnaient un
indice manifeste de sa vocation singulière.
L’appel de Dieu se
manifesta d’ailleurs de très bonne heure, et, il faut le dire, à la grande
satisfaction des siens. Selon les coutumes du temps, le droit d’aînesse
établissait Frédéric, premier fils de Giberto, l’héritier de ses biens et de sa
dignité. Il ne restait à Charles qu’à se créer une situation dans le monde ou à
se consacrer à Dieu dans l’état ecclésiastique.
C’est à ce dernier parti
qu’il s’arrêta de lui-même, et de très bonne heure. Il n’avait, en effet, que
huit ans, le 13 octobre 1545, lorsqu’il reçut la tonsure à Milan, dans l’église
de Saint-Jean-Quatre-Faces. Cette cérémonie faisait de lui un clerc et lui
donnait le droit de percevoir les fruits des biens ecclésiastiques dont il
pourrait être désormais investi. Il attendit encore cinq ans. Son oncle
paternel, Jules-Charles Borromée, lui céda alors l’abbaye des Saints-Gratinien
et Félin.
Un jour, l’Eglise
interdira l’abus de la collation des bénéfices aux enfants ; mais pour le
jeune Charles ce fut sans inconvénient. Comprenant les grandes responsabilités
qui pesaient sur lui, il donna l’ordre de distribuer aux pauvres les revenus Je
l’abbaye, et il ne permit jamais qu’on détournât des œuvres de charité les
biens provenant de l’Eglise. « C’est le bien de Dieu et par conséquent des
pauvres », disait-il, et il ne voulut jamais les faire servir à ses
besoins personnels.
Charles fut envoyé à
Milan pour y apprendre les lettres et particulièrement le latin. Son esprit
lent et positif plutôt que souple et brillant ne le disposait guère aux études
littéraires. Mais sa persévérante énergie triompha des difficultés, si bien
qu’à l’âge de quatorze ans on le jugea capable de suivre les cours de droit à
l’Université de Pavie où enseignait alors le célèbre Francesco Alciato.
Il avait à peine vingt et
un ans (1559), lorsqu’il fut proclamé docteur in utroque iure. A cette
occasion, son maître, Francesco Alciato, prononça un éloge chaleureux du
récipiendaire.
– Charles, s’écria-t-il,
entreprendra de grandes choses et brillera comme une étoile dans l’Eglise.
Les parents du Saint
n’étaient plus là pour se réjouir de ses succès. Marguerite avait quitté ce
monde dix ans auparavant, en 1548, et le comte Giberto était mort depuis
quelques mois. Bien que le plus jeune, c’est Charles qui était de fait, le
tuteur de ses frère et sœur. Il montra un talent remarquable à mettre ordre à
la succession de ses parents et à conserver à son frère Frédéric le
commandement de la place d’Arona.
Mais s’il s’oubliait
lui-même, Dieu ne l’oubliait pas, et lui préparait mystérieusement les voies.
Un fait providentiel, qui devait imprimer à sa vie une direction définitive, se
produisit peu après. Le 26 décembre 1559, son oncle maternel, Jean-Ange de
Médicis, était élu Pape. Il fut couronné sous le nom de Pie IV le 6 janvier
1560. Son avènement causa une grande joie à Rome, car on comptait qu’il
mettrait fin aux intrigues qui avaient attristé les dernières années de son
prédécesseur Paul IV.
Le nouveau pontife, qui
connaissait les admirables qualités de son neveu Charles, résolut aussitôt de
se l’attacher et d’en faire son bras droit dans le gouvernement de l’Eglise.
Les ascensions
d’une âme.
Arrivé à Rome en janvier
1560, Charles fut nommé immédiatement protonotaire apostolique, puis
référendaire de la signature pontificale. C’étaient là déjà des titres
considérables pour un jeune homme de vingt-deux ans. Les choses n’en restèrent
point-là. Mû par une visible inspiration du ciel, Pie IV fit entrer son neveu,
dès le 31 janvier, dans le Sacré-Collège et lui assigna pour titre cardinalice
la diaconie des Saints-Vite et Modeste. Peu après, le 8 février, Charles était
nommé administrateur de l’Eglise de Milan, faute de pouvoir porter déjà le
titre d’archevêque, n’étant pas encore prêtre. Il devait encore, accumulant
titres sur titres, recevoir les trois légations de Bologne, de Romagne et des
Marches, ainsi que plusieurs abbayes.
Plus tard, Pie IV devait
encore lui conférer les charges d’archiprêtre de Sainte-Marie Majeure, de
grand-pénitencier et de protecteur de diverses nations et Ordres religieux.
On s’étonnerait
aujourd’hui de voir confier des missions et des charges si importantes à un
jeune homme. Les contemporains, eux, n’en étaient point choqués. C’était dans
les mœurs du temps. En ce qui touche saint Charles, il faut bien reconnaître
que le népotisme de Pie IV ne pouvait être plus heureux.
Charles n’était point
encore tellement détaché des honneurs et de la famille, qu’il fût insensible au
bon renom et à la fortune des siens. Il contribua de tout son pouvoir au
brillant établissement de ses aînés. Avant la fin de sa première année de Rome,
sa sœur Camille était fiancée au prince César de Gonzague, des ducs de Mantoue,
et son frère Frédéric épousait Virginie della Rovere, fille du duc d’Urbino. Ce
frère portait en lui tous les espoirs de sa famille. Son mariage princier et la
charge de général de la Sainte Eglise, que Charles lui obtint, semblaient
marquer le début d’une brillante carrière. La mort, inattendue de tous, faucha
toutes ces belles espérances. La douleur du jeune cardinal fut sans
mesure ; mais ce fut aussi pour lui une lumière de la grâce.
Cet événement, plus
qu’aucun autre, m’a fait toucher au vif notre misère et la vraie félicité de la
gloire éternelle.
Dès lors, il retrancha
énergiquement tout ce qu’il pouvait y avoir encore de mondain dans sa vie.
S’étant mis sous la direction du P. Ribera, de la Compagnie de Jésus, il
s’adonna avec une ardeur nouvelle aux pratiques de la vie intérieure, acheva
ses études de théologie et se prépara à son ordination sacerdotale, qui eut
lieu en l’église des Saint-Apôtres au commencement d’août 1563.
Saint Charles et le
Concile de Trente.
Le jeune cardinal
Borromée fut mêlé, du vivant de son oncle, Pie IV, à un grand nombre d’affaires
religieuses et politiques. On ne saurait les mentionner toutes. Il faut
toutefois signaler la part qu’il prit au Concile de Trente (1545–1563), dont il
fit rédiger les Actes et le célèbre Catéchisme. Il collabora aussi à la réforme
du Bréviaire.
Le Saint donna le premier
l’exemple dans l’application des décrets du Concile. Il restreignit le train de
sa maison et s’employa de tout son pouvoir à la destruction des abus dans la
ville même de Rome. Dieu lui donna le plus précieux auxiliaire en saint
Philippe Néri qui seconda efficacement son zèle auprès du clergé romain. L’un
et l’autre rivalisaient de zèle pour ravir les âmes au démon. C’est ce
qu’exprimait Philippe lorsqu’il criait à Charles : Au voleur !
La réforme de la musique
religieuse, édictée par le Concile, donna lieu à un épisode touchant qui mérite
d’être rappelé ici.
Il y avait alors à Rome
un musicien de génie, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, maître de chapelle à
Sainte-Marie Majeure depuis 1561. A prendre au pied de la lettre les décrets du
Concile, toute polyphonie semblait devoir être exclue de la musique sacrée. Or,
Pie IV, très musicien, n’était guère disposé à cette suppression radicale. On
chercha une solution. Palestrina la donna victorieusement. Il composa trois
messes qui furent exécutées devant une Commission cardinalice et qui
suscitèrent un vif enthousiasme. La troisième, dite messe du pape Marcel, fut
jugée un chef‑d’œuvre. Ses accents simples et profondément religieux nous
émeuvent encore, comme ils émurent Pie IV et les cardinaux romains en l’an de
grâce 1564.
Ce fut en cette même
année que Charles commença à prendre des mesures importantes dans
l’administration de son archevêché de Milan. Ne pouvant encore se rendre en
personne, à son siège, il se fit précéder par un vicaire général aussi savant
que pieux, Nicolas Ormanetto. Il l’appela à Rome, lui donna ses instructions et
l’envoya à Milan, muni de pleins pouvoirs, au mois de juin.
Ce fut seulement au cours
de l’été suivant que Pie IV permit à son neveu d’aller passer quelque temps à
Milan, pour prendre possession de son siège archiépiscopal et tenir le Concile
provincial prescrit par les décrets du Concile de Trente. Voulant que ce voyage
servît à Charles pour se rendre compte des progrès de la réforme catholique
dans les régions qu’il aurait à traverser, le Pape lui conféra les pouvoirs de
légat a latere pour toute l’Italie.
Le jeune archevêque n’eut
rien de plus à cœur que de hâter la réunion du Concile projeté. Onze évêques y
prirent part. Non content de promulguer les décrets du Concile de Trente, le cardinal
fit décider plusieurs mesures destinées à en faciliter l’application.
La mort de Pie IV, en
décembre 1565, le ramena soudain à Rome et il prit part au Conclave qui devait
donner à l’Eglise un très grand Pape, l’illustre saint Pie V.
L’archevêque
de Milan.
Le nouveau pontife ayant
rendu à Charles sa liberté, celui-ci en usa sans retard pour regagner sa ville
archiépiscopale, où il rentra, sans éclat, le 5 avril 1566. Dégagé désormais de
toutes les préoccupations qui l’avaient jusque-là absorbé, tandis qu’il prêtait
son concours au gouvernement du monde chrétien, il se consacra d’une façon
absolue aux devoirs de sa charge pastorale. Notons tout de suite que son action
continua à rayonner par toute l’Italie. C’est ainsi qu’on le vit accomplir
diverses missions auprès des grands de la péninsule. C’est à l’occasion d’un de
ces voyages qu’il connut saint Louis de Gonzague et lui fit faire sa première
Communion.
D’importantes réformes
s’imposaient. Le désordre s’était introduit dans les rangs du clergé, et les
laïques, rompant impunément la clôture, pénétraient dans les couvents, où les
vierges n’étaient plus défendues contre les séductions du monde.
L’archevêque résolut de
prêcher d’exemple et de se sacrifier pour son peuple. Dans son palais épiscopal,
il menait la vie d’un véritable anachorète ; à la fin de sa vie, le pain
et l’eau formèrent sa seule nourriture, et encore ne prenait-il ce modeste
repas qu’une fois par jour ; ses austérités devinrent telles que sa santé
fut compromise, et que le Pape, l’ayant appris, lui ordonna d’apporter quelque
tempérament à tant de mortifications. Il vendit ses meubles précieux, se
débarrassa de ses riches habits et résigna tous les bénéfices que son oncle lui
avait donnés. Après avoir ainsi réduit ses revenus, il employa ce qui restait à
l’entretien des Séminaires, des hôpitaux, des écoles et au soulagement des
pauvres honteux et des mendiants.
Le démon ne pouvait voir
ces heureuses améliorations s’accomplir sans faire éclater sa rage. Il
communiqua son esprit de vengeance à quelques misérables qui n’avaient pris
l’habit religieux que pour mieux séduire le peuple. Exaspérés par le courage et
la fermeté que déployait le saint évêque, les imposteurs résolurent de se
défaire de lui, et, un soir, pendant qu’il disait la prière, dans sa chapelle
particulière, avec ses familiers, un assassin entra furtivement et déchargea
son arquebuse sur le prélat. La balle traversa les habits jusqu’à la
chair ; mais, comme si elle eût été arrêtée par une main invisible, elle
tomba aux pieds du Saint. Au bruit de la détonation, les familiers s’étaient
levés pour se jeter sur l’assassin ; mais, d’un geste plein d’autorité, le
cardinal les retint à leur place, et il continua la prière, comme s’il n’était
arrivé aucun incident. Malgré les supplications de l’archevêque, la justice
séculière fut inexorable, et l’assassin subit, avec ses complices, la peine du
parricide.
Charles comprit que ses
prédications demeuraient stériles s’il ne donnait à son Eglise un clergé
capable de seconder ses efforts. Il fonda, dans ce but, trois séminaires et
plusieurs écoles ecclésiastiques.
L’archevêque fit appel au
dévouement des religieux, pour l’aider à évangéliser son peuple. Sur sa
demande, les Jésuites vinrent s’établir à Milan, et il leur confia l’église
paroissiale de Saint-Fidèle. S’occupant avec un soin tout particulier de
l’éducation de la jeunesse, il fonda des collèges à Lucerne et à Fribourg et il
en donna la direction aux Jésuites, qu’il avait pu apprécier à Milan.
Il établit aussi les
Théatins dans sa ville métropolitaine, et leur donna l’église et l’abbaye de
Saint-Antoine ; enfin, il appela les Capucins et leur confia
l’évangélisation des montagnes de la Suisse, où leur influence salutaire se
manifesta bientôt.
Ce n’était pas encore
assez, et le Saint, pour refréner les audaces du libertinage et de l’hérésie,
convoqua jusqu’à six Conciles provinciaux et onze synodes diocésains. Grâce aux
dispositions prises dans toutes ces assemblées, la discipline ecclésiastique
retrouva toute sa vigueur, et l’on vit peu à peu disparaître du diocèse les
nombreux abus antérieurs.
La peste de Milan
en 1576.
Malgré ses efforts, le
cardinal n’arrivait pas à triompher des dernières résistances. Voyant qu’on
méprisait ses conseils, il annonça l’approche du châtiment divin. Des fêtes
licencieuses, contre lesquelles il avait vainement protesté, venaient de se
donner à l’occasion du passage du prince don Juan d’Autriche, le héros de
Lépante. Elles n’étaient pas terminées que la peste se déclara dans la ville, à
deux endroits à la fois.
Aux premiers indices de
la contagion, le prince, le gouverneur, les magistrats municipaux s’enfuirent
précipitamment, et l’archevêque demeura seul avec son clergé dans la ville
désertée par les agents de l’autorité civile. En vain des conseillers timides
le pressèrent-ils de partir, sous prétexte de se conserver à son peuple et de
ne pas priver de ses soins tout le reste du troupeau ; le Saint n’était
pas un « pasteur mercenaire », et au milieu de la tourmente, il
voulut partager toutes les tribulations des brebis. Six mois durant, il fut la
providence des pauvres, des mourants, des affamés. Après avoir vendu son
argenterie pour subvenir aux besoins des malheureux dont le nombre augmentait
tous les jours, il donna aux pestiférés les meubles de sa maison, ses habits,
et jusqu’à son propre lit. On le voyait passer à travers des monceaux de
cadavres, pour porter aux mourants les derniers sacrements. Il voulut visiter
lui-même toutes les maisons et tous les hôpitaux, et aucune misère n’échappa à
son inépuisable charité ; on évalue à 70 000 le nombre de ceux que ses
libéralités arrachèrent à la mort !
Ce n’était pas
assez ; il lui restait à conjurer le fléau. En présence de ce malheur
public, il eut recours à la prière publique, et il donna l’ordre de faire des
processions dans toute la ville. Lui-même, les pieds nus, le Crucifix dans les
mains, la corde autour du cou, dans ces cérémonies expiatoires, il s’offrait en
holocauste, et il ne cessait de crier dans les rues et sur les places
publiques : « Miséricorde, Seigneur, miséricorde ! » La prière
de l’archevêque fut enfin entendue, le fléau disparut.
Sa sainte mort.
Le cardinal faisait,
chaque année, une retraite spirituelle suivie d’une confession générale. A
l’automne de 1584, il se rendit dans ce but au Sacro Monte de Varallo. Il y
avait là un sanctuaire élevé par un pieux Franciscain, un siècle auparavant, en
l’honneur de Jésus souffrant. Ce lieu était devenu un centre important de
prière, et de nombreuses chapelles y avaient été élevées pour rappeler les
diverses scènes de la Passion. L’ensemble de ces édifices forme un pèlerinage
particulièrement fréquenté de nos jours encore.
L’archevêque sortit de sa
retraite, transporté par la contemplation des choses éternelles et avec le
pressentiment de sa mort prochaine. Vers la fin d’octobre, il eut plusieurs
accès de fièvre, mais il voulut, avant de rentrer à Milan, procéder à une
fondation qu’il avait à coeur. Il se rendit en barque, étendu sur un matelas,
jusqu’à la petite ville d’Ascona, près de Locarno, et présida à l’inauguration
d’un Séminaire qu’il avait fait construire pour les clercs de cette région.
Ce fut son dernier
effort. Le mal augmentant tous les jours, il donna l’ordre qu’on le transportât
à Milan, où il espérait célébrer, le jour de la Toussaint, sa dernière messe
pontificale. Obligé de s’arrêter en chemin, il ne put arriver que le 3
novembre, à 2 heures du matin, dans sa ville métropolitaine, et comme la
maladie l’empêchait de se lever, il ordonna qu’on dressât un autel dans sa
chambre, et il fit placer sur son lit un tableau de l’agonie de Notre-Seigneur
au jardin des Olives. Le 4 novembre au matin, il reçut le Viatique et
l’Extrême-Onction, puis, faisant couvrir de cendres bénites une de ses haires,
il la prit sur son corps afin d’être muni de l’armure de la pénitence contre
les derniers assauts de l’ennemi.
Cependant, la nouvelle de
la maladie s’était répandue à travers la ville ; le peuple se pressait
dans les églises pour demander la guérison du pontife, et une foule compacte
attendait avec anxiété devant la porte du palais archiépiscopal. Son attente ne
devait pas être longue. A 3 heures du soir, les cloches de la cathédrale
annonçaient au peuple de Milan que son père était mort.
La cause de béatification
et canonisation fut rapide entre toutes. Béatifié en 1604, ce fut à la
Toussaint de 1610, donc vingt-six ans seulement après sa mort, que le grand
Cardinal fut solennellement proclamé Saint par Paul V.
Son corps repose dans la
crypte de la cathédrale de Milan, où les pèlerins peuvent le voir et le
vénérer.
R. B.
Note de LPL : Saint
Pie X publia l’encyclique
Editæ sæpe sur saint Charles Borromée le 26 mai 1910.
Sources consultées. –
Agostino Valerio, Vita Caroli Borromaei (Rome, 1586). – Bascape, De vita et
rebus gestis Caroli Borromaei (Ingolstadt, 1592). – Mgr Ch. Sylvain, Histoire
de saint Charles Borromée (Lille, 1885). – San Carlo Borromeo, nel terzo centenario
della canonizazione (Milan, 1910). – Léonce Celier, Saint Charles Borromée
(Collection Les Saints, 1912). – (V. S. B. P., n° 37.)
https://laportelatine.org/spiritualite/vies-de-saints/saint-charles-borromee
4 novembre
Saint Charles Borromée
Morceaux choisis
Ayant un grand respect des choses de Dieu et de ses
saints, ainsi que de tous les ordres de la sainte Eglise et de votre pasteur,
et veillez à les observer intégralement.
Tournez constamment vos regards vers la Providence de
Dieu, dans la pensée que rien n'arrive sans sa volonté et que tout doit tourner
à bien.
Gardez-vous d'entretenir la curiosité de savoir les
actions d'autrui, ou d'être avides de nouveautés, principalement dans les
choses de la foi, et ne parlez pas de ce que vous ignorez.
Défendez-vous de croupir dans la paresse, c'est le
poison de l'âme : mais efforcez-vous de vos occuper des oeuvres pies, ou tout
au moins à des choses utiles.
Evitez de travailler avec l'argent ou les biens
d'autrui, à moins que vous n'y soyez contraints par raison de charité. Et ne
vous laissez entraîner à aucune action injuste, opposée à la volonté de Dieu,
ni pour le gain, ni par amitié, ni par amour des vôtres.
Si la fécondité de la vie conjugale est, certes, chose
bonne, meilleure est la chasteté virginale, et par-dessus tout est excellente
la fécondité virginale.
On ose dire qu'il faut s'accommoder au temps, comme si
l'Esprit de Jésus-Christ et les règles de l'Evangile devaient changer avec le
temps, et être asservis aux sentiments et aux affections des hommes. Au lieu
que l'on doit travailler au contraire à rendre tous les temps conformes aux
ordonnances de l'Eglise, et à réformer tout ce qui s'y trouve défectueux, par
la rectitude immuable de l'esprit évangélique et apostolique. Car c'est la
chair et le sang et non pas l'Esprit de Dieu qui a fait que notre siècle est
devenu incapable de cette vertu si pure et si simple des anciens Pères. C'est
l'esprit humain qui, voulant satisfaire ses désirs, trouve toujours mille
défenseurs et des raisons apparentes pour se couvrir et se défendre. Mais les
paroles de Dieu et les règles des saints demeurent toujours fermes. Elles n'ont
pas été établies pour changer avec le temps, mais pour être inviolables et
immuables en tous temps, et pour se soumettre et s'assujettir tous les temps.
Pourquoi cette église, qui est la vôtre,
demeure-t-elle ainsi sans soins et sans ornements ? Ces murs, ce toit, ce
dallage dénoncent votre irréligion. Ils crient (...) Votre église que vous
honorez et que vous aimez si peu, vous êtes capable de la négliger à ce point ?
O Combien votre indifférence extérieure témoigne de la tiédeur de vos âmes !
Biographie
Charles Borromée, second fils du comte Gibert et de
Marguerite de Medici, sœur du futur Pie IV, naquit sur la rocca (roc
ou château fort) Borromeo d'Arona, près du lac Majeur, le 2 octobre 1538. Dès
1550 il reçut l'habit clérical et les revenus de l'abbaye locale de San
Gratiniano.
Etudiant à l'université de Pavie, il était sérieux et
studieux, précis, net et volontaire plus solide que brillant, avide de livres,
mais souvent sans argent. A la fin de 1559, il fut reçu docteur en droit canon
et en droit civil.
En janvier 1560, ce jeune homme de vingt-deux ans fut
appelé à Rome par son oncle qui venait d’être élu pape sous le nom de Pie IV.
Cardinal dès le 31 janvier, bien qu’il ait obligation de résider à Rome, il est
nommé administrateur du diocèse de Milan, des légations de Bologne et de
Romagne, puis des Marches, en même temps qu’il reçoit en commende plusieurs
abbayes. Pie IV qui voulait un homme dévoué et actif au sommet de son
administration fait de Charles Borromée ce que sera plus tard le
secrétaire d'Etat. Au début, on le trouvait trop regardant, par comparaison
avec d'autres princes de l'Eglise, qui gaspillaient avec une prodigalité de
grands seigneurs. Pour compléter sa culture, le jeune cardinal fonda chez lui
une académie des Nuits vaticanes, allusion au Nuits
attiques du païen Aulu-Gelle. Chaos - c'était le pseudonyme de
Charles Borromée - commenta la quatrième Béatitude, condamna la luxure et loua
la charité.
Restait à achever le concile de Trente, ouvert en
1545. Pie IV y réussit en 1562-1563, grâce au dévouement de son neveu, qui
assuma l'écrasante besogne de la correspondance avec les agents du Saint-Siège,
nonces et légats du concile. Plutôt simple exécutant que conseiller, selon
un ambassadeur vénitien, il travaillait même la nuit, rédigeait de brefs
rapports sur les nouvelles qui lui arrivaient de partout, répontait à toute la
correspondance pontificale et s’occupait des affaires courantes.
En novembre 1562, quand mourut Frédéric, son frère
aîné, on se demanda si le Charles quitterait les Ordres pour perpétuer sa race,
mais, le 17 juillet 1563 il fut ordonné prêtre et, en décembre, il reçut
la consécration épiscopale. Il restreignit son train de maison, augmenta ses
veilles, ses jeûnes et ses austérités, se refusa tout divertissement, fût-ce
une innocente promenade. Les Nuits vaticanes se muèrent en conférences
religieuses. Un bref de Pie IV autorisait le cardinal-neveu à faire sortir,
pour ses travaux, livres et manuscrits de la Bibliothèque vaticane et Charles
Borromée, malgré une certaine timidité, s'exerça à l'éloquence sacrée.
Après que Charles Borromée avait rendu à Rome les
services que l’on attendait de lui, fort du concile de Trente qui imposait la
résidence aux évêques, il voulut s’installer à Milan où il entra solennellement
23 septembre 1565, après avoir, comme légat, effectué un voyage au centre et au
nord de l'Italie. Il dut revenir à Rome près de son oncle mourant et, le
conclave ayant élu Pie V, il rentra à Milan (avril 1566). Saint Pie V lui
témoigna d’autant plus d'estime et de confiance qu’il était fort lié à
Séraphin Grindelli, chanoine régulier du Latran et son aumônier.
Le cardinal de Milan, passa désormais le reste de sa
vie dans son vaste archidiocèse, à l’exception de brefs séjours romains.
Charles Borromée, à la tête de quinze suffragants, avec juridiction sur des
terres vénitiennes, génoises, novaraises et aussi suisses, puisqu’il avait été
nommé, en mars 1560, protecteur de la nation helvétique, avec juridiction
spirituelle sur plusieurs cantons ; il n’obtint un nonce que sous Grégoire
XIII. Charles Borromée visita la Suisse (notamment les trois vallées ou trois
lignes du Tessin en 1567, les cantons allemands en 1570, 1581, 1583),
s'enquérant des abus, rédigeant des ordonnances, entretenant une lourde
correspondance, se bataillant contre des magistrats et des fonctionnaires
civils souvent revêches, tandis qu’il restait courtois, souple et habile. En
général, il se montra fin connaisseur et manieur d'hommes, sa vertu
perfectionnait ses dons naturels. Il lui arrivait cependant de se raidir, par
exemple contre l'usage invétéré de suspendre dans les églises des écussons et
trophées en mémoire de hauts faits militaires, allant jusqu'à lancer l'interdit
contre des paroisses récalcitrantes, mais un ordre exprès de Rome l'obligea à
désarmer. Il réussit à maintenir catholique une partie de la Suisse allemande,
il favorisa les capucins (à Altdorf en 1581) et les jésuites, dont les collèges
de Lucerne et de Fribourg sont en partie le fruit de son zèle.
Si la richesse avait alors gâté dans la chrétienté une
partie du haut clergé, la pauvreté avait avili le bas clergé, victime d'un
recrutement inconsidéré, de l'abandon où le laissaient ses supérieurs et de
l'ignorance.
L'Eglise avait pâti, et pâtissait encore, en ce
temps-là, des empiétements parfois scandaleux du civil sur l'ecclésiastique
dans les territoires espagnols, et même dans les Etats pontificaux. Les évêques
avaient trop pris l'habitude de vivre hors de leur diocèse, et le clergé
volontiers flagornait le pouvoir civil pour en tirer des avantages matériels.
En Lombardie administrée par les Espagnols, il souffrit de la morgue des hidalgos et
de leurs prétentions. Ses contre-attaques pour sa liberté embarrassèrent
parfois la Cour romaine, obligée de ménager le tout-puissant Philippe II.
Appuyé par son peuple, Charles Borromée s'opposa net à l'introduction chez lui
de l'Inquisition espagnole, au profit de la romaine. Il lutta contre les
gouverneurs de Milan : Alburquerque, Requesens, qu'il excommunia en 1573,
Ayamonte. Pour se rendre populaire, Ayamonte donna en 1579 un grand éclat aux
fêtes du carnaval. Borromée riposta par un édit excommuniant tous ceux qui y
assisteraient. L’année suivante, seul un escadron de cavalerie, en service
commandé, fit les frais des réjouissances, tandis que la femme du gouverneur
interdisait à ses fils d’y participer. Ayamonte mourut en avril 1580 réconcilié
avec l'Eglise ; ses furent pacifiques et pleins de déférence pour le redoutable
cardinal.
Ce chef austère payait de sa personne. Il suffisait de
le voir pour sentir ce qu'était la discipline ecclésiastique. Devant les
décadences, il était une résurrection. Il sut consolider dans son diocèse la
religion, développer le culte eucharistique et le sens moral. Son peuple, dans
l'ensemble, l'admirait et le soutenait, mais ses réformes, exécutées d'une main
forte, soulevèrent quelques résistances dans le clergé : en août 1569, les
chanoines de Santa Maria della Scala, à Milan, soutenus par Alburquerque,
le repoussèrent quand il voulut entrer dans leur basilique. Les Humiliés,
congrégation milanaise enrichie par le commerce de la laine, avaient perdu la
ferveur. Borromée voulut y ramener l'ordre. Un religieux du couvent de Milan,
Jérôme Donato, dit Farina, tira un coup d'arquebuse presque à bout portant
sur le cardinal qui priait dans sa chapelle avec le personnel de sa maison (26
octobre 1569). Borromée eut ses vêtements troués sur l'épine dorsale, mais,
n’étant pas blessé, il fit achever la prière. Peu après, une bulle supprimait
le premier ordre des Humiliés. Par la suite, leur tiers ordre fusionna
avec des confréries similaires. Quant aux Humiliés du second ordre,
qui étaient restées saines, elles survécurent jusque vers 1807.
L'archevêque voulait des auxiliaires intelligents et
dévoués : il les choisit volontiers parmi les nouveaux ordres de clercs
réguliers récemment créés. Charles Borromée était très personnel dans son
gouvernement ; il essaya d'imposer un général de son choix aux
dominicains, et aux jésuites. Il voulait que chez lui les religieux fussent à
lui. Il écrivait en décembre 1577 : Eux (les prêtres de l'Oratoire)
entendent que cette congrégation de Pères qui s'établira ici existe comme
membre de celle de Rome et dépende de là-bas, et moi j'entends qu'elle dépende
absolument d'ici, tout en désirant utiliser ces Pères de Rome pour commencer et
diriger cette œuvre. Charles Borromée retira aux Jésuites la direction de
son grand séminaire, trop indépendants, et créa à son usage les oblats de
Saint-Ambroise dont il composa lui-même la règle. Après sa canonisation,
en 1611, la congrégation s'intitula des Saints-Ambroise-et-Charles.
Charles Borromée créa des sanctuaires devenus
célèbres, des séminaires, des collèges laïcs, un refuge pour repenties, un
mont-de-piété. Il avait revu soigneusement les premiers statuts du
mont-de-piété de Rome, vers 1565, en qualité de protecteur de l'ordre
franciscain. Il fit adopter des sages mesures de contrôle contre la fraude ou
les malversations : il fut le bienfaiteur de l'institution. Il organisa
des confraternités comme celles du Saint-Sacrement, du Saint-Rosaire.
Il mit beaucoup d'ardeur à promouvoir l'œuvre catéchétique du saint prêtre
Castellino da Castello. Lui-même commentait volontiers l'Evangile : par
les moyens les plus simples, il en tirait des applications très variées pour
ses auditeurs et, par son exemple, il sut réveiller chez son clergé le goût de
l'éloquence sacrée. Avec un grand dévouement, il visita les peuples de son
diocèse et des diocèses suffragants ; comme les vivres étaient chers, il avait
stipulé que l'entretien de sa suite ne serait pas à la charge de la mense
épiscopale.
Au total, le cardinal vit plus de mille paroisses,
convoqua onze synodes diocésains et six conciles provinciaux. Lors de la
terrible peste de 1576-1577, compliquée d'une famine, Charles Borromée vendit
sa principauté napolitaine d'Oria pour soulager la misère publique.
Il mourut à Milan le samedi 3 novembre 1584 au soir.
Dans une lettre d'Arona, datée du 1er novembre, il disait que la fièvre le
dévorait et qu'il allait cesser ses visites pastorales pour regagner Milan afin
de recevoir son beau-frère le comte Annibal d'Altaemps et lui faire fête quatre
ou cinq jours. Il venait d’inaugurer un séminaire (30 octobre) et de consoler
les gens de Locarno où la peste avait fait passer la population de 4800 à
700 habitants.
Pour lui, Charles Borromée fut dur : peu de
nourriture et peu de sommeil, aucun confort ni aucun luxe personnel.
Intelligence claire et administrateur plutôt que de penseur, sa bibliothèque
était un instrument de travail. Il priait profondément et largement. Il reste,
dans l'Eglise militante, une grande figure de chef. Son blason
portait : Humilitas. Au physique, il était de belle taille, avec
de vastes yeux bleus, un nez aquilin puissant, le teint pâle sous des cheveux
bruns ; jusqu'en 1574, il porta une barbe courte, rousse, négligée ;
puis, ayant ordonné au clergé de se raser, il donna l'exemple.
Le 4 novembre 1601, à Milan, au lieu de chanter le
service accoutumé pour son anniversaire, on organisa, sur le conseil de Baronius,
une grandiose manifestation de vénération publique. En 1602, et les années
suivantes, ce témoignage fut de plus en plus éclatant. En 1610, Rome canonisa
Charles Borromée qui obtint vite un culte populaire : son origine
patricienne, sa dignité cardinalice, son génie réformateur, les œuvres de son
zèle pastoral pour le clergé et le peuple, sa charité pour les pauvres, son
dévouement lors de la peste le redirent rapidement cher au peuple chrétien,
notamment aux Pays-Bas espagnols où l'imagerie anversoise vulgarisa l'homme de
prière ou le consolateur des pestiférés. Son influence fut très grande en
France.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/11/04.php
Tanzio da Varallo. Carlo Borromeo comunica
un appestato, 1616
Saint Charles Borromée, le cardinal qui soignait les
malades de la peste
Thérèse
Puppinck - Publié le 03/11/20 - Mis à jour le 03/11/21
En 1576, alors que la ville de Milan est ravagée par
la peste, saint Charles Borromée, célébré par l'Église ce 4 novembre, fait
preuve d'un dévouement extraordinaire auprès des malades et mène des actions
rapides pour limiter la propagation du mal.
Saint Charles Borromée est un des grands prélats
italiens du XVIe siècle. Il est connu pour sa participation active au concile
de Trente, notamment dans la rédaction du célèbre catéchisme appelé aujourd’hui
catéchisme du concile de Trente. Dans son diocèse de Milan, saint Charles eut à
cœur de faire appliquer la réforme catholique issue du concile dans un esprit
de charitable pédagogie. Toutefois, les Milanais se souviennent davantage de
son action énergique et spectaculaire lors de la terrible peste qui ravagea la
ville durant les derniers mois de l’année 1576.
Dès le début de la propagation de cette redoutable
maladie, que la médecine de l’époque ne sait pas soigner, l’évêque propose son
assistance aux autorités civiles, et il conseille le gouverneur pour mettre en
place les premières mesures prophylactiques destinées à limiter la propagation
du mal. Immédiatement, on décide la fermeture des portes de la ville afin
d’empêcher l’arrivée de nouveaux pestiférés, car la maladie vient des villes
environnantes. Autre mesure élémentaire pour restreindre la contagion : séparer
les malades des biens portants. Ainsi, à la moindre suspicion de peste, les
habitants sont envoyés au lazaret. Mais rapidement, celui-ci ne suffit pas, et
les autorités organisent la construction, en dehors de la ville, de plusieurs
centaines de cabanes pour recevoir les malades.
De la santé du corps à la santé de l’âme
Saint Charles ne conçoit pas de laisser les pesteux et
les mourants sans réconfort. Il sait combien le soutien affectif, et surtout
spirituel, est fondamental en période d’épidémie. La santé de l’âme est plus
importante que celle du corps, estime le pieux évêque. A quoi bon soulager le
corps si l’âme est malade ? Il décide alors d’aller tous les jours visiter
les pestiférés pour les réconforter, les confesser et leur donner la sainte
communion. Son courage et son élan de générosité entraînent d’autres prêtres et
religieux. Progressivement, ces ecclésiastiques viennent à leur tour apporter
les secours de la religion aux malades, qui, sans eux, seraient dans une
profonde solitude et une profonde détresse.
L’acceptation du risque de la maladie par amour de
Dieu et des âmes n’empêche pas l’évêque de Milan de suivre les recommandations
médicales pour se protéger et empêcher la contagion. Ainsi, Charles désinfecte
toujours ses vêtements au vinaigre, et il refuse désormais de se faire servir,
ne souhaitant pas exposer les serviteurs du palais épiscopal. Comme il risque
chaque jour d’être infecté, il se promène avec une longue baguette qui lui
permet de maintenir une distance de sécurité quand il rencontre des biens
portants. Il préconise les mêmes mesures préventives à tous ceux qui approchent
les pestiférés. Mais plus que tous les moyens terrestres, Mgr Charles Borromée
s’abandonne totalement à la volonté de son Père céleste. Il encourage les
prêtres à conserver une âme à la fois ardente, entièrement dévouée à leur
ministère, et tranquille, pleinement confiante en Dieu. Force est de constater
que sa confiance ne fut pas vaine, puisque, malgré une exposition quasi
journalière à la maladie, Charles ne fut pas atteint par la peste.
Un confinement strict
Au mois d’octobre, quelques semaines après le début de
l’épidémie, les autorités civiles publient un édit de quarantaine :
interdiction est faite à tous les habitants de sortir de leur demeure, sous
peine de mort. L’isolement profond entraîné par ce confinement, la crainte du
mal toujours menaçant, la préoccupation du sort des parents et des amis, les
premières atteintes de la maladie, tout contribue à aggraver encore plus la
détresse des Milanais. Leur pasteur sent combien cette situation est
douloureuse pour le cœur, mais aussi dangereuse pour l’âme. Il décide de réagir
en conséquence et commence par prévenir la municipalité que ses prêtres ne vont
pas respecter la quarantaine. Le gouverneur, qui a déserté la ville quelques
jours après le début de l’épidémie pour se réfugier à la campagne, se retrouve
impuissant face à la détermination de Charles. De plus, il comprend les
bienfaits d’une présence spirituelle pour maintenir la santé morale des
habitants. L’évêque répartit ensuite les équipes sacerdotales entre le
ministère des pestiférés et le ministère des confinés, et il cherche les moyens
de transmettre aux fidèles les grâces sacramentelles malgré le confinement.
Tout d’abord, saint Charles incite les habitants à une
prière plus fréquente et plus intense, en leur proposant des lectures
spirituelles et la récitation des litanies. Puis il fait sonner les cloches de
la ville sept fois par jour, afin d’inviter les habitants à se recueillir tous
ensemble au même moment. Des prêtres déambulent dans les rues en priant à voix
haute, et les fidèles, de leurs fenêtres, leur donnent la réplique. Quand ils
souhaitent se confesser, ils appellent le prêtre qui les confesse alors sur le
pas de la porte. Enfin, Charles fait construire à travers la ville dix-neuf
colonnes surmontée d’une croix. Un autel est installé au pied de chacune
d’elle, et la messe y est célébrée tous les jours. Postés à leurs fenêtres, les
habitants peuvent se tourner vers les croix dressées dans le ciel, et prendre
ainsi part aux messes. Les prêtres portent ensuite la communion aux fidèles, à
travers les fenêtres ou sur le pas des portes. La quarantaine est partiellement
levée à la fin du mois de décembre et la peste quitte progressivement la ville
durant les mois suivants.
Charles Borromée mourut en 1584 ; il fut canonisé
dès 1610. Son action à Milan contribua à la reconnaissance de l’héroïcité de
ses vertus. Pendant ces semaines éprouvantes d’épidémie, saint Charles n’hésita
pas à bousculer les règlements et les conventions sociales, et il eut le
courage de risquer sa vie, par amour du Christ et des âmes. Son dévouement
auprès des prêtres et des fidèles de son diocèse lors cette épidémie lui a valu
d’être déclaré saint patron des évêques.
Cet Italien est à
l’origine du confessionnal
Anna Ashkova - publié
le 03/11/22
C’est au XVIe siècle
qu’est apparu le confessionnal. On doit l’usage de cet isoloir clos à un
cardinal italien devenu saint, Charles Borromée, que l'Église fête le 4
novembre.
S’il est moins utilisé de
nos jours, le confessionnal fait partie intégrante de l’histoire de
l’Église catholique. N’est-ce pas cette petite cabine qui vient bien souvent à
l’esprit lorsqu’on évoque le sacrement de réconciliation ? Sans parler des
films et des séries qui le mettent encore en valeur lors des scènes de
confession. Mais cet isoloir clos n’est pas si ancien. Il n’a été créé qu’au
XVIe siècle. En effet jusqu’à cette date la confession se
faisait de différentes manières.
Au IIIe siècle, la
confession ne se fait qu’une fois dans sa vie et publiquement. À partir du IVe
siècle, le prêtre l’entend en privé et donne une « pénitence »
proportionnée aux péchés confessés. Les chrétiens se confessent alors plusieurs
fois dans leur vie. Tout change en 1215 lors du concile de Latran, sous le pape Innocent III. La confession
a lieu alors chaque année avant la fête de Pâques. Elle est faite sur un banc (sedes
confessionnalis), et le pénitent reçoit l’absolution à genoux. Un siècle plus
tard, la question de la discrétion de la confession se pose.
Soucis d’anonymat et de
discrétion d’échanges
Certains conciles locaux
recommandent de confesser les hommes in secretario, dans la sacristie
fermée. Pour les femmes, il est conseillé au prêtre d’en être séparé par une
petite cloison verticale dont le centre est percé d’une grille et le bas muni
d’un agenouilloir. Entre 1545 et 1563, le Concile de Trente consacre une
session entière au sacrement de pénitence. C’est à ce moment là qu’est définit
l’obligation de confesser tous les péchés mortels avant la communion. C’est
donc durant la Contre-Réforme que le confessionnal est promu pour la première
fois. Et on attribue l’origine de ce meuble liturgique à saint Charles Borromée, l’un des grands prélats italiens du
XVIe siècle qui a consacré beaucoup de ses œuvres au sacrement de la
confession. Parmi ses écrits qui eurent le plus de succès et la postérité la
plus riche figurent les Instructions aux confesseurs de sa ville et
de son diocèse.
Lire aussi :Saviez-vous que Padre Pio perdait souvent patience au
confessionnal ?
Ce cardinal-archevêque de
Milan recommande l’usage d’un confessionnal et le rend obligatoire dans la cité
italienne et dans sa province. Sa réputation comme évêque réformateur gagne la
France dès la fin du concile, puis sa mort en 1584, et surtout après sa
canonisation en 1610. Ainsi rapidement, le confessionnal a été adopté par
d’autres pays, dont la France, à la suite des conciles d’Aix-en-Provence (1585)
et de Toulouse (1590). Ce meuble assure l’anonymat entre le confesseur et son
pénitent, et permet la discrétion de l’échange. Entre le XVIIe et XVIIIe
siècles, il bénéficie d’une décoration soignée et devient le lieu presque
unique de la confession dans le catholicisme.
Les confessionnaux clos
de moins en moins utilisés
Depuis le concile de Vatican II, les confessionnaux en forme
d’isoloir sont de moins en moins utilisés même s’ils sont toujours en usage. En
effet, on encourage davantage les confessions en face-à-face. Si le fidèle le
souhaite, il peut ainsi simplement s’asseoir en face du prêtre pour se
confesser ou s’agenouiller sur un prie-Dieu. Une séparation entre pénitent et
confesseur peut être cependant maintenue pour préserver l’anonymat. Un simple
séparation, plus légère, remplace alors les grands confessionnaux anciens. Il
est en effet important que le fidèle puisse choisir sous quelle forme se
déroule la confession afin qu’il reçoive le sacrement de réconciliation dans de
bonnes conditions.
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Leçons des Matines (avant 1960)
Quatrième leçon. Charles naquit à Milan, de la noble
famille des Borromée. Une lumière divine, qui brilla la nuit de sa naissance
sur la chambre de sa mère, fit présager combien sa sainteté serait éclatante.
Enrôlé dès son enfance dans la milice cléricale et pourvu quelque temps après
d’une abbaye, il avertit son père de ne pas employer pour sa maison les revenus
de ce’ bénéfice ; et lorsque l’administration lui en fut dévolue, il en
distribua aux pauvres tout le superflu. La chasteté lui fut si chère, qu’il
repoussa avec une invincible constance les femmes impudiques plusieurs fois
envoyées pour lui faire perdre sa pureté. A vingt-trois ans, son oncle le Pape
Pie IV l’ayant agrégé au Sacré Collège des Cardinaux, il s’y distingua par une
piété insigne et par l’éclat de toutes les vertus. Bientôt après, le même Pape
l’ayant fait Archevêque de Milan, il s’appliqua avec beaucoup de sollicitude à
gouverner l’Église qui lui était confiée, selon les règles du concile de
Trente, qui venait d’être terminé, grâce à lui surtout ; et pour réformer les
mœurs déréglées de son peuple, outre qu’il assembla maintes fois des synodes,
il montra dans sa personne un modèle d’éminente sainteté. Il travailla
par-dessus tout à extirper l’hérésie du pays des Rhètes et des Suisses, dont il
convertit un grand nombre à la foi chrétienne.
Cinquième leçon. La charité de cet homme de Dieu
brilla tout particulièrement lorsqu’ayant vendu sa principauté d’Oria, il en
donna aux pauvres, en un seul jour, tout le prix, qui était de quarante mille
pièces d’or. Ce fut avec la même charité qu’il en distribua vingt mille qu’on
lui avait léguées. Il renonça aux amples revenus ecclésiastiques dont il avait
été comblé par son oncle, et n’en retint que ce qui lui était nécessaire pour
lui-même et pour assister les indigents. Pour les nourrir pendant la peste qui
ravagea Milan, il vendit tout le mobilier de sa maison, sans même se réserver
un lit ; de sorte que, depuis, il coucha sur le plancher. Empressé à visiter
ceux que le fléau atteignait, il les soulageait avec une affection de père, et,
leur administrant lui-même les sacrements de l’Église, les consolait d’une
façon merveilleuse. Pendant ce temps, pour se faire médiateur auprès de Dieu
par de très humbles prières et pour détourner sa colère, il ordonna une
procession publique : il y marcha la corde au cou, les pieds nus et
ensanglantés par les pierres contre lesquelles il se heurtait, portant une
croix et s’offrant lui-même comme victime pour les péchés de son peuple. Il fut
un très énergique défenseur de la liberté de l’Église. Mais, comme il avait à
cœur de rétablir la discipline, des séditieux lâchèrent contre lui, pendant
qu’il était en prières, la roue d’une arquebuse ; le projectile l’ayant frappé,
il ne dut qu’à la protection divine d’être préservé de tout mal.
Sixième leçon. Il était d’une abstinence étonnante ;
jeûnait très souvent au pain et à l’eau, et, d’autres fois, se contentait de
légumes. Il domptait son corps par les veilles, un cilice très dur, de
fréquentes disciplines. L’humilité et la douceur lui étaient on ne peut plus
chères. Il ne manqua jamais de se livrer à la prière et à la prédication de la
parole de Dieu, quelque grandes occupations qu’il eût. Il bâtit beaucoup
d’églises, des monastères et des collèges. Il a écrit plusieurs ouvrages très
utiles, surtout pour l’instruction des Évêques, et c’est par ses soins que le
catéchisme des curés a paru. Enfin, il se retira dans une solitude du mont
Varale, où se trouvent des tableaux représentant au vif la passion de notre
Seigneur. C’est là que, menant pendant quelques jours une vie rude par la
mortification volontaire, mais douce par la méditation des souffrances de
Jésus-Christ, il fut pris de la fièvre, et comme la maladie s’aggravait, il
revint à Milan, où, sous la cendre et le cilice, les yeux attachés sur un
crucifix, il partit pour le ciel, âgé de quarante-sept ans, le troisième jour
des nones de novembre de l’année mil cinq cent quatre-vingt-quatre. Des
miracles l’ayant illustré, le Souverain Pontife Paul V le mit au nombre des
Saints.
Daniele Crespi (1598–1630), Supper
of Saint Carlo Borromeo', circa 1620, 190 x 265, Santa Maria della Passione church
in Milan
Dom Guéranger, l’Année Liturgique
Humilitas. A sa naissance au château d’Arona, Charles
trouvait inscrit en chef de l’écu de famille ce mot couronné d’or [1]. Parmi
les pièces nombreuses du blason des Borromées, on disait de celle-ci qu’ils ne
connaissaient l’humilité que dans leurs armes. Le temps était venu où
l’énigmatique devise de la noble maison se justifierait dans son membre le plus
illustre ; où, au faîte des grandeurs, un Borromée saurait vider de soi son
cœur pour le remplir de Dieu : en sorte pourtant que, loin de renier la fierté
de sa race, plus intrépide qu’aucun, cet humble éclipserait dans ses
entreprises les hauts faits d’une longue suite d’aïeux. Nouvelle preuve que
l’humilité ne déprime jamais. Charles atteignait à peine sa vingt-deuxième
année, quand Pie IV, dont sa mère était la sœur, l’appelait au poste difficile
qu’on nomme aujourd’hui la Secrétairerie d’État, et bientôt le créait cardinal,
archevêque de Milan, semblait se complaire à entasser honneurs et
responsabilités sur ses jeunes épaules. On était au lendemain du règne de Paul
IV, si mal servi par une confiance pareille, que ses neveux, les Caraffa, y
méritèrent le dernier supplice. Mais l’événement devait montrer que son doux
successeur recevait en cela ses inspirations de l’Esprit-Saint, non de la chair
et du sang.
Soixante ans déjà s’étaient écoulés de ce siècle de
Luther qui fut si fatal au monde, et les ruines s’amoncelaient sans fin, tandis
que chaque jour menaçait l’Église d’un danger nouveau. Les Protestants venaient
d’imposer aux catholiques d’Allemagne le traité de Passau qui consacrait leur
triomphe, et octroyait aux dissidents l’égalité avec la liberté. L’abdication
de Charles-Quint découragé donnait l’empire à son frère Ferdinand, tandis que
l’Espagne et ses immenses domaines des deux mondes allaient à Philippe II son
fils ; or Ferdinand Ier inaugurait la coutume de se passer de Rome, en ceignant
le diadème mis au front de Charlemagne par saint Léon III ; et Philippe,
enserrant l’Italie par la possession de Naples au Sud, du Milanais au Nord,
semblait à plusieurs une menace pour l’indépendance de Rome elle-même.
L’Angleterre, un instant réconciliée sous Marie Tudor, était replongée par
Élisabeth dans le schisme où elle demeure jusqu’à nos jours. Des rois enfants
se succédaient sur le trône de saint Louis, et la régence de Catherine de
Médicis livrait la France aux guerres de religion.
Telle était la situation politique que le ministre
d’État de Pie IV avait mission d’enrayer, d’utiliser au mieux des intérêts du
Siège apostolique et de l’Église. Charles n’hésita pas. Appelant la foi au
secours de son inexpérience, il comprit qu’au déluge d’erreurs sous lequel le
monde menaçait de périr, Rome se devait avant tout d’opposer comme digue
l’intégrale vérité dont elle est la gardienne ; il se dit qu’en face d’une hérésie
se parant du grand nom de Réforme et déchaînant toutes les passions, l’Église,
qui sans cesse renouvelle sa jeunesse [2], aurait beau jeu de prendre occasion
de l’attaque pour fortifier sa discipline, élever les mœurs de ses fils,
manifester à tous les yeux son indéfectible sainteté. C’était la pensée qui
déjà, sous Paul III et Jules III, avait amené la convocation du concile de
Trente, inspiré ses décrets de définitions dogmatiques et de réformation. Mais
le concile, deux fois interrompu, n’avait point achevé son œuvre, qui restait
contestée. Depuis huit ans qu’elle demeurait suspendue, les difficultés d’une
reprise ne faisaient que s’accroître, en raison des prétentions discordantes
qu’affichaient à son sujet les princes. Tous les efforts du cardinal neveu se
tournèrent à vaincre l’obstacle. Il y consacra ses jours et ses nuits,
pénétrant de ses vues le Pontife suprême, inspirant son zèle aux nonces
accrédités près des cours, rivalisant d’habileté autant que de fermeté avec les
diplomates de carrière pour triompher des préjugés ou du mauvais vouloir des
rois. Et quand, après deux ans donnés à ces négociations épineuses, les Pères
de Trente se réunirent enfin, Charles apparut comme la providence et l’ange
tutélaire de l’auguste assemblée ; elle lui dut son organisation matérielle, sa
sécurité politique, la pleine indépendance de ses délibérations, leur
continuité désormais ininterrompue. Retenu à Rome, il est l’intermédiaire du
Pape et du concile. La confiance des légats présidents lui est vite acquise ;
les archives pontificales en gardent la preuve : c’est à lui qu’ils recourent
journellement, dans leurs sollicitudes et parfois leurs angoisses, comme au
meilleur conseil, à l’appui le plus sûr.
Le Sage disait de la Sagesse : « A cause d’elle, ma
jeunesse sera honorée des vieillards ; les princes admireront mes avis : si je
me tais, ils attendront que je parle ; quand j’ouvrirai la bouche, ils
m’écouteront attentifs, les mains sur leurs lèvres [3]. » Ainsi en fut-il de
Charles Borromée, à ce moment critique de l’histoire du monde ; et l’on
comprend que la Sagesse divine qu’il écoutait si docilement, qui l’inspirait si
pleinement, ait rendu son nom immortel dans la mémoire reconnaissante des
peuples [4].
C’est de ce concile de Trente dont l’achèvement lui
est dû, que Bossuet reconnaît, en sa. Défense de la trop fameuse Déclaration,
qu’il ramena l’Église à la pureté de ses origines autant que le permettait
l’iniquité des temps [5]. Écoutons ce qu’à l’heure où les assises œcuméniques
du Vatican venaient de s’ouvrir, l’évêque de Poitiers, le futur cardinal Pie,
disait « de ce concile de Trente, qui, à meilleur titre que celui même de
Nicée, a mérité d’être appelé le grand concile ; de ce concile dont il est
juste d’affirmer que, depuis la création du monde, aucune assemblée d’hommes
n’a réussi à introduire parmi les hommes une aussi grande perfection ; de ce
concile dont on a pu dire que, comme un arbre de vie, il a pour toujours rendu
à l’Église la vigueur de sa jeunesse. Plus de trois siècles se sont écoulés
depuis qu’il termina ses travaux, et sa vertu curative et fortifiante n’a point
cessé de se faire sentir [6]. »
« Le concile de Trente est demeuré comme en permanence
dans l’Église au moyen des congrégations romaines chargées d’en perpétuer
l’application, ainsi que de procurer l’obéissance aux constitutions
pontificales qui l’ont suivi et complété [7]. » Charles inspira les mesures
adoptées dans ce but par Pie IV, et au développement desquelles les Pontifes
qui suivirent attachèrent leurs noms. La révision des livres liturgiques, la
rédaction du Catéchisme romain l’eurent pour promoteur. Avant tout, et sur
toutes choses, il fut l’exemplaire vivant delà discipline renouvelée, acquérant
ainsi le droit de s’en montrer envers et contre tous l’infatigable zélateur.
Rome, initiée par lui à la réforme salutaire où il convenait qu’elle précédât
l’armée entière des chrétiens, se transforma en quelques mois. Les trois
églises dédiées à saint Charles en ses murs [8], les nombreux autels qui
portent son nom dans les autres sanctuaires de la cité reine, témoignent de la
gratitude persévérante qu’elle lui a vouée.
Son administration cependant et son séjour n’y
dépassèrent pas les six années du pontificat de Pie IV. A la mort de celui-ci,
malgré les instances de saint Pie V, qu’il contribua plus que personne à lui
donner pour successeur, Charles quitta Rome pour Milan où l’appelait son titre
d’archevêque de cette ville. Depuis près d’un siècle, la grande cité lombarde
ne connaissait guère que de nom ses pasteurs, et cet abandon l’avait, comme
tant d’autres en ces temps, livrée au loup qui ravit et disperse le troupeau
[9]. Notre Saint comprenait autrement le devoir de la charge des âmes. Il s’y
donnera tout entier, sans ménagement de lui-même, sans nul souci des jugements
humains, sans crainte des puissants. Traiter dans l’esprit de Jésus-Christ les
intérêts de Jésus-Christ sera sa maxime [10], son programmées ordonnances
édictées à Trente. L’épiscopat de saint Charles fut la mise en action du grand
concile ; il resta comme sa forme vécue, son modèle d’application pratique en
toute Église, la preuve aussi de son efficacité , la démonstration effective
qu’il suffisait à toute réforme, qu’il pouvait sanctifier à lui seul pasteur et
troupeau.
Nous eussions voulu donner mieux qu’un souvenir à ces
Acta Ecclesiae Mediolanensis, pieusement rassemblés par des mains fidèles, et
où notre Saint paraît si grand ! C’est là qu’à la suite des six conciles de sa
province et des onze synodes diocésains qu’il présida, se déroule l’inépuisable
série des mandements généraux ou spéciaux que lui dicta son zèle ; lettres
pastorales, où brille le Mémorial sublime qui suivit la peste de Milan ;
instructions sur la sainte Liturgie, la tenue des Églises, la prédication,
l’administration des divers Sacrements, et entre lesquelles se détache
l’instruction célèbre aux Confesseurs ; ordonnances concernant le for
archiépiscopal, la chancellerie, les visites canoniques ; règlements pour la
famille domestique de l’archevêque et ses vicaires ou officiers de tous rangs,
pour les prêtres des paroisses et leurs réunions dans les conférences dont il
introduisit l’usage, pour les Oblats qu’il avait fondés, les séminaires, les
écoles, les confréries ; édits et décrets, tableaux enfin et formulaire
universels. Véritable encyclopédie pastorale, dont l’ampleur grandiose ne
laisse guère soupçonner la brièveté de cette existence terminée à quarante-six
ans, ni les épreuves et les combats qui, semble-t-il, auraient dû l’absorber
tout entière.
Successeur d’Ambroise, vous fûtes l’héritier de son
zèle pour la maison de Dieu ; votre action fut puissante aussi dans l’Église ;
et vos deux noms, à plus de mille ans d’intervalle, s’unissent dans une commune
gloire. Puissent de même s’unir au pied du trône de Dieu vos prières, en faveur
de nos temps amoindris ; puisse votre crédit au ciel nous obtenir des chefs
dignes de continuer, de reprendre au besoin, votre œuvre sur terre ! Elle
éclata de vos jours en pleine évidence, cette parole des saints Livres : Tel le
chef de la cité, tels sent les habitants [11]. Et cette autre non moins :
J’enivrerai de grâce les âmes sacerdotales, et mon peuple sera rempli de mes
biens, dit le Seigneur [12].
Combien justement vous disiez, ô Charles : « Jamais
Israël n’entendit pire menace que celle-ci : Lex peribit a sacerdote [13].
Prêtres, instruments divins, desquels dépend le bonheur du monde : leur
abondance est la richesse de tous ; leur nullité, le malheur des nations [14].
» Et lorsque, du milieu de vos prêtres convoqués en synode, vous passiez à
l’auguste assemblée des dix-sept pontifes, vos suffragants ; réunis en concile,
votre voix se faisait, s’il se peut, plus forte encore : « Craignons que le
Juge irrité ne nous dise : Si vous étiez les éclaireurs de mon Église, pourquoi
donc fermiez-vous les yeux ? Si vous vous prétendiez les pasteurs du troupeau,
pourquoi l’avez-vous laissé s’égarer ? Sel de la terre, vous vous êtes affadis.
Lumière du monde, ceux qui étaient assis dans les ténèbres et dans l’ombre de
la mort n’ont point vu vos rayons. Vous étiez Apôtres ; mais qui donc éprouva
votre vigueur apostolique, vous qui jamais n’avez rien fait que pour complaire
aux hommes ? Vous étiez la bouche du Seigneur, et l’avez rendue muette. Si
votre excuse doit être que le fardeau dépassait vos forces, pourquoi fut-il
l’objet de vos brigues ambitieuses [15] ? »
Mais, par la grâce du Seigneur Dieu bénissant votre
zèle pour l’amendement des brebis comme des agneaux, vous pouviez ajouter, ô
Charles : « Province de Milan, reprends espoir. Voici que, venus à toi, tes
pères se sont rassemblés dans le but de guérir tes maux ; ils n’ont plus
d’autre souci que de te voir porter des fruits de salut, multipliant à cette
fin leurs efforts communs [16]. »
Mes petits enfants que j’enfante de nouveau, jusqu’à
ce que le Christ soit formé en vous [17] ! C’est l’aspiration de l’Épouse, le
cri qui ne cessera qu’au ciel : et synodes, visites, réformation, décrets
concernant prédication, gouvernement, ministère, ne sont à vos yeux que la
manifestation de cet unique désir de l’Église, la traduction du cri de la Mère
[18] en travail de ses fils [19].
Daignez, bienheureux Pontife, ranimer en tous lieux
l’amour de cette discipline sainte, où la sollicitude pastorale qui vous rendit
glorieux [20] trouva le secret de sa fécondité merveilleuse. Il peut suffire
aux simples fidèles de n’ignorer point que parmi les trésors de l’Église leur
Mère existe, à côté de la doctrine et des Sacrements, un corps de droit
incomparable, œuvre des siècles, objet de légitime fierté pour tous ses fils
dont il protège les privilèges divins ; mais le clerc, qui se voue à l’Église,
ne saurait la servir utilement sans l’étude approfondie, persévérante, qui lui
donnera l’intelligence du détail de ses lois ; mais fidèles et clercs doivent
supplier Dieu que le malheur des temps ne mette plus obstacle à la tenue par
nos chefs vénérés de ces assemblées conciliaires et synodales prescrites à
Trente [21], magnifiquement observées par vous, ô Charles, qui fîtes
l’expérience de leur vertu pour sauver la terre. Veuille le ciel exaucer en
votre considération notre prière, et nous pourrons redire avec vous [22] à
l’Église : « O bénigne Mère, ne pleurez plus ; vos peines seront récompensées,
vos fils vous reviendront de la contrée ennemie. Et moi, dit le Seigneur, j’enivrerai
de grâce les âmes sacerdotales, et mon peuple sera rempli de mes biens [23]. »
1] Le chef de l’écu d’argent, chargé du mot humilitas,
en lettres gothiques de sable, surmonté d’une couronne d’or.
[2] Psalm. CII, 5.
[3] Sap. VIII, 10-12.
[4] Ibid. 13.
[5] Gallia orthodoxa, Pars III, Lib. XI, c. 13 ; VII,
c. 40.
[6] Discours prononcé à Rome, dans l’église de
Saint-André della Valle, le 14 janvier 1870.
[7] Instruction pastorale à l’occasion du prochain
concile de Bordeaux, 26 juin 1830.
[8] Saint-Charles aux Catinari, l’une des plus belles
de Rome ; Saint-Charles au Corso, qui garde son cœur ; Saint-Charles aux
Quatre-Fontaines.
[9] Johan. X, 12.
[10] Acta Eccl. Mediolanensis, Oratio habita in
concil. prov. VI.
[11] Eccli. X, 2.
[12] Jerem. XXXI, 14.
[13] La loi périra, s’éteindra, sera muette, au cœur
du prêtre et sur ses lèvres. Ezech. VII, 26. Acta Eccl. Mediolan.
Constitutiones et regula ; societatis scholarum doctrina : christianae, Cap.
III.
[14] Concio I ad Clerum, in Synod. diœces. XI.
[15] Oratio habita in Concil. prov II.
[16] Oratio habita in Concil. prov. VI.
[17] Gal. IV, 19.
[18] Apoc. XII, 2.
[19] Concio I ad Clerum, in Synod. diœces. XI.
[20] Collecte de la fête.
[21] Sessio XXIV, de Reformatione cap. II.
[22] Concio I ad Clerum, in Synod. XI.
[23] Jerem. XXXI, 16, 14.
Johann Michael Rottmayr . Intercession de Charles Borromée supporté par la Vierge Marie, 1714. Fresque, dôme de l'Église Saint-Charles-Borromée, Vienne.
Michael Rottmayr, Intercessione
di san Carlo Borromeo sostenuto da Maria
Vergine, Vienna (Austria), Karlskirche
Bhx Cardinal Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
Si Milan regarde saint Charles comme le plus illustre de ses pasteurs depuis saint Ambroise, l’Église Mère de Rome le serre sur son cœur et le salue comme l’un des plus chers et des plus méritants de ses enfants.
En effet, l’œuvre de saint Charles peut être considérée en deux périodes et sur deux champs distincts. D’abord son activité aux côtés de son oncle Pie IV, activité qui embrassa non seulement Rome mais l’Église universelle elle-même. Vient ensuite l’action pastorale accomplie à Milan par le Saint, apôtre et pasteur de ce vaste diocèse.
Secrétaire d’État de Pie IV, saint Charles se trouva aux côtés du Pontife à l’une des époques les plus décisives pour l’histoire de la papauté. Il s’agissait de savoir si le Saint-Siège s’engagerait enfin d’une manière résolue dans la voie de la réforme ecclésiastique, si longtemps et si universellement réclamée ; ou bien s’il ajournerait encore cette difficile entreprise, se contentant, comme malheureusement quelques-uns des Pontifes de ce siècle, de demi-mesures.
Ce fut sous l’influence personnelle de saint Charles que Pie IV se décida pour la réforme ; et de ce jour le Saint, au nom et avec l’autorité de son oncle, marcha hardiment dans la voie ouverte, sans considérations humaines. On peut donc dire que, de Rome, il dirigea la dernière période du Concile de Trente, et ce qui est encore plus important, lorsque le Concile eut été approuvé par le Pape, saint Charles s’appliqua avec toute son énergie à en réaliser effectivement le plan de réforme.
Ici commence la seconde partie de la vie de saint Charles. Pie IV étant mort, il se fixa définitivement dans son Église de Milan, où étaient à relever les ruines accumulées par de longues années de mauvais gouvernement, en l’absence des pasteurs légitimes.
Saint Charles, pour sanctifier son troupeau, commença par se sanctifier lui-même. Comme Jésus avait voulu racheter le monde moins par sa prédication et ses miracles que par sa passion, ainsi saint Charles s’offrit-il comme une victime à Dieu pour son peuple par une vie très austère. Les âmes, disait-il, se gagnent à genoux, faisant ainsi allusion à ses longues prières au pied du Crucifix ou dans la crypte de l’église du Saint-Sépulcre à Milan.
L’activité déployée par saint Charles en toute sorte de labeur pastoral est incroyable. Son champ d’action, à titre de métropolitain de Milan et de légat du Saint-Siège, était immense. Et pourtant il n’y eut pas de village des Alpes ou de pays perdu où saint Charles ne se rendît pour y faire la visite pastorale. Ses biographes nous disent qu’en moins de trois semaines il lui arriva de consacrer quinze églises.
L’archevêque de Milan avait alors à résoudre d’importants et difficiles problèmes. L’hérésie, qui avait infecté les cantons suisses confinant au diocèse, menaçait de contaminer aussi celui-ci. Il fallait tout au moins en paralyser l’influence et saint Charles le fit. Il fallait en outre former des évêques et des prêtres inspirés par l’idéal le plus élevé : le Saint érige des collèges et des séminaires, rassemble des conciles, promulgue des canons, favorise l’ouverture de maisons religieuses pour l’éducation de la jeunesse.
L’affaiblissement de l’esprit ecclésiastique dans le clergé est presque toujours favorisé par le pouvoir civil qui avilit en effet le prêtre pour pouvoir ensuite se l’assujettir plus aisément. Saint Charles fut le vengeur intrépide de l’autorité épiscopale ; aussi non seulement il eut à lutter contre les chanoines, les religieuses et les religieux qui s’étaient écartés de leur route primitive — par exemple les Humiliés qui allèrent jusqu’à tenter d’assassiner le Saint ! — mais il trouva des adversaires beaucoup plus redoutables dans les gouverneurs de Milan, trop jaloux des prétendues prérogatives de la couronne d’Espagne.
Ainsi vécut, agit et combattit le grand saint Charles Borromée, qui se montra le digne champion de la lutte sacrée pour laquelle il s’immola. Usé avant le temps par les dures fatigues de sa vie pastorale, il mourut sur la brèche le 3 novembre 1584, âgé seulement de quarante-six ans.
Dans la collecte de la Messe, l’Église résume son éloge dans ces brèves mais éloquentes paroles : pastoralis sollicitudo gloriosum reddidit.
Rome conserve de lui de nombreux souvenirs, à Saint-Martin-aux-Monts, par exemple, et à Sainte-Praxède, dont il fut titulaire. Son cœur est conservé dans la grande église qui lui est dédiée près de la porte Flaminienne, église qui représente aujourd’hui le sanctuaire particulier des Lombards dans la Ville éternelle. Outre cette église de Saint-Charles au Corso, deux autres sanctuaires de la Ville se parent de son nom ; ce sont : Saint-Charles a’ Catinari et Saint-Charles-aux-Quatre-Fontaines. Dans le palais Altemps on vénère toujours la chambre habitée par le Saint. Quant au manteau de pourpre du grand Cardinal, il est conservé religieusement dans le Titre de Sainte-Cécile.
La messe est du commun Státuit, à l’exception de la
première collecte : « Gardez toujours, Seigneur, votre Église sous la
protection de votre saint pontife Charles ; et de même que la sollicitude
pastorale l’éleva à une si grande gloire, que son intercession nous embrase
aussi du saint amour. »
.jpg)
Bertholet Flemalle (1614-1675), Saint Charles Borromée
et les pestiférés, Cathédrale Saint-Paul, Liège
Dom Pius Parsch, le Guide dans l’année liturgique
« Un véritable et grand pasteur d’âmes »
Saint Charles. — Jour de mort : 3 novembre 1584. Tombeau : à la cathédrale de Milan. Image : On le représente en archevêque, une corde au cou, bénissant des malades. Vie : Le saint est l’un des plus beaux ornements de l’Église catholique au XVIe siècle ; c’est un des plus grands pasteurs d’âmes de tous les temps ; il travailla beaucoup à l’achèvement et à l’application du concile de Trente ; ses instructions pastorales sont encore en vigueur de nos jours. Né en 1538, dans une famille de la haute noblesse de Milan, il se destina dès son enfance à l’état ecclésiastique. Cardinal à 23 ans (1560), il devint bientôt archevêque de Milan. Son grand souci fut alors de faire exécuter dans sa province ecclésiastique les décisions du concile de Trente ; ce qui lui valut de sérieuses attaques et oppositions, tant du côté civil que du côté ecclésiastique. Sa charité pleine de miséricorde envers le prochain et sa libéralité envers les pauvres étaient très grandes. Lorsque la peste sévit à Milan, il vendit son mobilier, jusqu’à son lit, pour venir en aide aux malades et aux nécessiteux et, à partir de cette époque, il coucha sur de simples planches. Il visitait les malades atteints de la peste, les consolait comme un tendre père et leur administrait les sacrements de ses propres mains. Véritable médiateur, il implorait jour et nuit le pardon divin en d’humbles prières devant le trône de la grâce. Ayant ordonné une procession publique d’expiation, il y parut la corde au cou, les pieds nus et ensanglantés, une croix sur les épaules, s’offrant en victime expiatoire pour son peuple afin de détourner de lui la justice divine. Il mourut dans sa 47e année, couché sur un sac et sur la cendre, tenant en ses mains le crucifix ; c’était le 3 novembre 1584. En mourant, il prononça ces paroles : « Seigneur, voici que je viens ; je viendrai bientôt. » Il avait atteint seulement l’âge de 46 ans. Son tombeau est dans la célèbre cathédrale de Milan, construite en marbre blanc. La Messe est du commun des évêques (Statuit). L’Oraison propre fait mention de son zèle pastoral (pastoralis sollicitudo).
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/04-11-St-Charles-Borromee-eveque
Giovanni Battista Crespi,Statue colossale de saint Charles Borromée, érigée en 1697 à Arona (Italie), sa ville natale. 23 mètres sur un piédestal de 12 mètres.
Arona, Statua di san Carlo Borromeo,
detta il Sancarlone
Also known as
Apostle to the Council of Trent
Carlo Borromeo
Father of the Clergy
formerly 5 November
3 November (Milan, Italy)
Profile
Born to a wealthy, noble family, the third of six children,
son of Count Giberto
II Borromeo and Margherita de’ Medici. Nephew of Pope Pius IV.
Suffered with a speech impediment. Studied in Milan,
and at the University of Pavia, studying at
one point under the future Pope Gregory
XIII. Civil and canon lawyer at
age 21. Cleric at Milan,
taking the habit on 13 October 1547. Abbot commendatario of
San Felino e San Graziano abbey in Arona, Italy,
on 20
November 1547. Abbot commendatario of
San Silano di Romagnano abbey on 10 May 1558. Prior commendatario of
San Maria di Calvenzano abbey on 8 December 1558.
Protonotary apostolic participantium and referendary of the papal court
to Pope Pius IV on 13 January 1560.
Member of the counsulta for the administration of the Papal
States on 22 January 1560.
Appointed abbot commendatario of
Nonatola, San Gallo di Moggio, Serravalle della Follina, San Stefano del Corno,
an abbey in Portugal,
and an abbey in Flanders, Belgium on 27 January 1560.
Created cardinal on 31 January 1560 at
age 22.
Apostolic administrator of Milan, Italy on 8 February 1560. Papal legate to Bologna and
Romandiola for two years beginning on 26 April 1560. Deacon on 21
December 1560.
Vatican Secretary of State. Governor of Civita
Castellana,Italy in 1561. Governor of Ancona on 1 June 1561.
Made an honorary citizen of Rome, Italy on 1 July 1561.
Founded the Accademia Vaticana in 1562. Governor of Spoleto, Italy on 1 December 1562. Ordained on 4
September 1563.
Helped re-open the Council of Trent, and participated in its sessions
during 1562 and 1563.
Named prince of
Orta in 1563.
Member of the Congregation
of the Holy Office. Bishop of Milan on 7 December 1563.
President of the commission of theologians charged
by the pope to
elaborate the Catechismus Romanus. Worked on the revision of the Missal and Breviary.
Member of a commission to reform church music. Archbishop of Milan on 12 May 1564. Governor of Terracina, Italy on 3 June 1564. Archpriest of
the patriarchal Liberian basilica in Rome in
October 1564. Count of
the Palatine in 1564.
Prefect of the Tridentine Council from 1564 until
September 1565. Papal legate in Bologna,
Romandiola, legate a latere, and vicar general in spiritualibus of
all Italy on 17 August 1565.
Grand penitentiary on 7 November 1565.
Participated in the conclave of cardinals in 1565 to 1566 that
chose Pope Pius
V; he asked the new pope to
take the name. Protector of the Swiss Catholic cantons;
he visited them all several times worked for the spiritual reform of both clergy and laymen.
Due to his enforcement of strict ecclesiastical discipline, some
disgruntled monks in
the Order of the Humiliati hired a lay
brother to murder him on the evening of 26 October 1569;
he was shot at, but was not hit. Participated in the conclave in 1572 that
chose Pope Gregory
XIII. Member of the Apostolic Penitentiary in May 1572.
Worked with the sick,
and helped bury the dead during
the plague outbreak
in Milan in 1576.
Established the Oblates
of Saint Ambrose on 26 April 1578. Teacher, confessor and parish priest to Saint Aloysius
Gonzaga, giving him his first communion on 22 July 1580.
To help the Swiss Catholics he
founded the Collegium Helveticum.
Saint Charles
spent his life and fortune in the service of the people of his diocese.
He directed and fervently enforced the decrees of the Council of Trent,
fought tirelessly for peace in the wake of the storm caused by Martin
Luther, founded schools for
the poor, seminaries for clerics, hospitals for
the sick,
conducted synods, instituted children‘s
Sunday school, did great public and private penance, and worked among the sick and dying,
leading his people by example.
Born
morning of Wednesday 2 October 1538 in
the castle at Aron, diocese of Novara, Italy
8:30pm on 3 November 1584 of
a fever at Milan, Italy
his will named the Hospital Maggiore of Milan as
his heir
buried in
the metropolitan cathedral of Milan
relics transferred
to a chapel built
by Count Renato
Borromeo in piazza San Maria Podone, Milan on 21
September 1751
1602 by Pope Clement
VIII
1 November 1610 by Pope Paul V
—
Monterey, California, diocese of
—
cardinal wearing
a cord around
his neck; it symbolizes the cord or halter worn
around his neck during the plague of Milan, Italy in 1575
bishop wearing
a cord around
his neck
coat of
arms bearing the word Humilitas
Additional Information
Book
of Saints, by Father Lawrence
George Lovasik, S.V.D.
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Catholic
Encyclopedia, by William French Keogh
Editae
Saepe, encyclical of Pope Pius
X
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Francis
Xavier Weninger
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
Stories
of the Saints for Children, by Mary Seymour
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other sites in english
1001 Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, Australian
Catholic Truth Society
Cardinals
of the Holy Roman Church
images
audio
Saint Charles Borromeo: A Sketch of the Reforming Cardinal,
by Louise M Stacpoole-Kenny
video
e-books
Life
of Saint Charles Borromeo, volume 1, by John Peter Giussano
Life
of Saint Charles Borromeo, volume 2, by John Peter Giussano
Saint
Charles Borromeo: Sketch of the Reforming Cardinal, by Louise Mary
Stacpoole-Kenny
webseiten auf deutsch
Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz
sitios en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites en français
Abbé Christian-Philippe Chanut
Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse
fonti in italiano
Calendario Francescano Secolare
Dizionario storico della Svizzera
Percorso sulle orme di S. Carlo
nettsteder i norsk
Readings
If we wish to make any progress in the service
of God we
must begin every day of our life with new eagerness. We must keep ourselves in
the presence of God as
much as possible and have no other view or end in all our actions but the
divine honor. – Saint Charles
Borromeo
He who desires to advance in the knowledge of God,
ought to begin each day of his life with renewed vigor; he should hold himself
in the presence of God, as much as possible, and desire no other end, in all
his actions save the glory of God. – Saint Charles
Borromeo
I admit that we are all weak, but if we want help, the
Lord God has given us the means to find it easily. Would you like me to teach
you how to grow from virtue to virtue and how, if you are already recollected
at prayer,
you can be even more attentive next time, and so give God more
pleasing worship? Listen, and I will tell you. If a tiny spark of God‘s love
already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown
out. Keep the stove tightly shut so that it will not lose its heat and grow
cold. In other words, avoid distractions as well as you can. Stay quiet with
God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter. If teaching and preaching is
your job, then study diligently and apply yourself to whatever is necessary for
doing the job well. 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. We
must meditate before, during and after everything we do. The prophet says: “I
will pray, and then I will understand.” This is the way we can easily overcome
the countless difficulties we have to face day after day, which, after all, are
part of our work. In meditation we find the strength to bring Christ to birth
in ourselves and in other men. – Saint Charles
Borromeo
MLA Citation
“Saint Charles Borromeo“. CatholicSaints.Info. 31
October 2021. Web. 4 November 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-charles-borromeo/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-charles-borromeo/
San Carlo Borromeo comunica san Luigi Gonzaga. Arazzo di velluto rosso
ricamato in oro (sec. XIX) nella cappella di San Carlo della chiesa di San Carlo al Corso a Milano. Foto
di Giovanni Dall'Orto, 22-6-2007.
Charles Borromeo gives the holy communion
to Aloysius Gonzaga". Red
velvet tapestry, embroidered in gold (19th century), in Saint Charles' chapel
in the church of San Carlo al Corso church in Milan. Picture
by Giovanni Dall'Orto, June 22 2007.
St. Charles Borromeo
St. Charles Borromeo was the son of Count Gilbert
Borromeo and Margaret Medici, sister of Pope Pius IV. He was born at the family
castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, Italy on October 2. He received the clerical
tonsure when he was twelve and was sent to the Benedictine abbey of SS. Gratian
and Felinus at Arona for his education.
In 1559 his uncle was elected Pope Pius IV and the
following year, named him his Secretary of State and created him a cardinal and
administrator of the see of Milan. He served as Pius’ legate on numerous
diplomatic missions and in 1562, was instrumental in having Pius reconvene the
Council of Trent, which had been suspended in 1552.
Charles played a leading role in guiding and in
fashioning the decrees of the third and last group of sessions. He refused the
headship of the Borromeo family on the death of Count Frederick Borromeo, was
ordained a priest in 1563, and was consecrated bishop of Milan the same year. Before
being allowed to take possession of his see, he oversaw the catechism, missal,
and breviary called for by the Council of Trent. When he finally did arrive at
Trent (which had been without a resident bishop for eighty years) in 1556, he
instituted radical reforms despite great opposition, with such effectiveness
that it became a model see.
He put into effect, measures to improve the morals and
manners of the clergy and laity, raised the effectiveness of the diocesan
operation, established seminaries for the education of the clergy, founded a
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for the religious instruction of children
and encouraged the Jesuits in his see. He increased the systems to the poor and
the needy, was most generous in his help to the English college at Douai, and
during his bishopric held eleven diocesan synods and six provincial councils.
He founded a society of secular priests, Oblates of St. Ambrose (now Oblates of
St. Charles) in 1578, and was active in preaching, resisting the inroads of protestantism,
and bringing back lapsed Catholics to the Church. He encountered opposition
from many sources in his efforts to reform people and institutions.
He died at Milan on the night of November 3-4, and was canonized in 1610. He was one of the towering figures of the Catholic Reformation, a patron of learning and the arts, and though he achieved a position of great power, he used it with humility, personal sanctity, and unselfishness to reform the Church, of the evils and abuses so prevalent among the clergy and the nobles of the times. His feast day is November 4th. He is the patron saint of leaning and the arts.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/saint-charles-borromeo/
St. Charles Borromeo
St. Charles Borromeo — Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal-Priest of
the Title of St. Prassede, Papal Secretary of State under Pius
IV, and one of the chief factors in the Catholic
Counter-Reformation — was born in the Castle of Arona, a town on the
southern shore of the Lago Maggiore in northern Italy,
2 October, 1538; died at Milan,
3 November, 1584. His emblem is the word humilitas crowned,
which is a portion of the Borromeo shield. He is usually represented
in art in
his cardinal's robes,
barefoot, carrying the cross as archbishop;
a rope round his neck, one hand raised in blessing,
thus recalling his work during the plague. His feast is
kept on 4 November.
His father was Count Giberto Borromeo, who,
about 1530, married Margherita de Medici. Her younger brother was
Giovanni Angelo, Cardinal de' Medici, who became pope in
1559 under the title of Pius
IV. Charles was the second son, and the third of six children,
of Giberto and Margherita. Charles' mother died about the
year 1547, and his father married
again.
His early years were passed partly in the Castle of
Arona, and partly in the Palazzo Borromeo at Milan.
At the age of twelve his father allowed
him to receive the tonsure,
and, upon the resignation of his uncle, Julius Caesar Borromeo,
he became titular Abbot of
Sts. Gratinian and Felinus at Arona.
When he received the tonsure he
was sent by his father to Milan,
where he studied Latin under
J.J. Merla. In October, 1552, he left Arona for the University
of Pavia, where he had as his tutor Francesco Alciato,
afterwards cardinal.
His correspondence shows that he was allowed a small sum by his father,
and that often he was in straitened circumstances, which caused him
considerable inconvenience. It was not only that he himself suffered, but that
his retinue also were not suitably clothed. Charles evidently felt
bitterly his humiliation, but he does not seem to have shown impatience.
Leaving Pavia to
meet his uncle, Cardinal de' Medici, at Milan,
he was, within a few weeks called upon to attend the funeral of his father,
who died early in August, 1558, and was buried in
the church of Santa
Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
Fresh responsibilities at once came to Charles,
for though he was not the elder son, yet, at the request of his family,
including even his brother, he assumed charge of all the family business.
The question of possession of the Castle of Arona was one of great
difficulty, as it was claimed by both France and Spain. Charles conducted
the negotiations with great energy and diplomatic skill, and as a consequence
of the Peace of Cambrai (3
April, 1559) the castle was handed over to Count Francesco Borromeo,
in the name of his nephew, Federigo Borromeo, to be held by him for the
King of Spain.
He also did much to restore to their
ancient monastic discipline the religious of his Abbey
of Sts. Gratinian and Felinus. Though his studies were so often
interrupted, yet his seriousness and attention enabled him to complete them
with success, and in 1559 he maintained his thesis for the doctorate of
civil and canon law.
In the summer of 1559, Paul
IV died, and the conclave for
the election of his successor, which began on 9 September, was
not concluded till December, when Cardinal
Giovanni Angelo de' Medici was elected and took
the name of Pius
IV. On the 3rd of January, 1560, Charles received a message by a
courier from the pope,
asking him to proceed at once to Rome.
He started immediately for the Eternal
City, but though he travelled rapidly he was not in time for the pope's coronation (6
January). On 22 January he wrote to Count Guido Borromeo that
the pope had
given him the charge of the administration of all the papal
states. On 31 January he was created cardinal-deacon,
together with Giovanni de' Medici, son of the Duke of Florence,
and Gianantonio Serbellone, cousin of the pope. Charles was
given the title of Sts. Vitus and Modestus, which was in the
August following changed to that of St. Martino-ai-Monti. He wished for no
rejoicings at Milan;
all the celebration was to be at Arona, where were to be said
ten Masses de Spiritu Sancto. At this
time Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, of Ferrara,
resigned the Archbishopric of Milan,
and on 8 February the pope named Charles as administrator of
the vacant see. In succession he was
named Legate of Bologna, Romagna, and the March
of Ancona. He was named Protector of
the Kingdom of Portugal,
of Lower Germany,
and the Catholic cantons
of Switzerland.
Under his protection were placed the orders of St. Francis,
the Carmelites,
the Humiliati,
the Canons
Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra, the Knights
of Jerusalem (or Malta), and those of the Holy
Cross of Christ in Portugal.
By a motu proprio (22 January, 1561) Pius
IV gave him an annual income of 1000 golden crowns from the episcopal mensa of Ferrara.
Charles' office of secretary of state and his care for
the business of the family did
not prevent him from giving time to study, and even to recreations in
the form of playing the lute and violoncello, and a game of ball. He lived
at first at the Vatican, but in July, 1562, removed to the Palazzo Colonna, Piazza Sancti
Apostoli. Soon after his arrival in Rome he
founded at the Vatican an academy, which was a way of providing,
by literary work, a distraction from more serious
occupations. The members, whether ecclesiastics or laymen,
met nearly every evening, and many of their contributions are amongst the works
of Charles as "Noctes Vaticanae". Charles was
very soon occupied as secretary of state in using his influence to bring about
the re-assembling of the Council
of Trent, which had been suspended since 1552. The state of Europe was
appalling from an ecclesiastical point
of view. Many were the difficulties that had to be overcome — with the emperor,
with Philip
II of Spain, and, greatest of all, with France,
where the demand was made for a national council. Still, in spite of
obstacles, the work went on with the view
of re-assembling the council, and for the most part it
was Charles' patience and devotion that accomplished the
object.
It was not until 18 January, 1562, that
the council resumed at Trent,
with two cardinals,
106 bishops,
4 mitred abbots,
and 4 generals of religious orders
present. The correspondence which passed between Charles and
the cardinal legates at Trent is
enormous, and the questions which arose many times threatened to bring about
the breaking-up of the council. Difficulties with the emperor, the
national principles put forward on behalf of France by
the Cardinal Charles of Lorraine, Archbishop of Reims,
required from Charles constant attention and the greatest delicacy
and skill in treatment. The twenty-fifth, and last, session of
the council was held 3 and 4 December, 1563; at it were present
255 Fathers. At a consistory on the 26th of January, 1564, Pius
IV confirmed the decrees of the council, and later
appointed a congregation of eight cardinals to
see to the execution of these decrees. During the sitting of the
re-assembled council Charles' elder brother, Count Federigo, had
died (28 November, 1562). This event had a very determining result as
to Charles, for he immediately resolved to give himself with greater
strictness to spiritual matters, and he looked upon his brother's
death as a warning to him to give up all worldly things. His resolution was
well needed, for, as he was now head of the family,
great pressure was brought to bear upon him to give up the ecclesiastical
state and to marry. This view was even suggested to him by
the pope at
the instance of other relatives. Some months passed in these efforts to
influence Charles, but finally he resolved to definitely fix himself in
the ecclesiastical
state by being secretly ordained priest.
The ordination took
place, by the hands of Cardinal Federigo Cesa, in Santa
Maria Maggiore, on the 4th of September, 1563. He writes that he
celebrated his first Mass on the Assumption, in St.
Peter's, at the altar of the Confession. He said his second Mass at
his house, attached to the Gesu, in an oratory where St.
Ignatius had been accustomed to celebrate. Charles at this time
had as his confessor Father Giovanni Battista Ribera, S.J. On the 7th of
December, 1563, the feast of St.
Ambrose, he was consecrated bishop in
the Sistine Chapel; on the 23rd of March, 1564, he received the pallium,
and was preconized on
the 12th of May. In the following June his title was changed to that of Santa
Prassede.
Meanwhile Charles had provided for
the spiritual wants of his diocese. Antonio Roberti,
in May, 1560, has, as his vicar, taken possession of his archbishopric,
and Charles sent Monsignor Donato, Bishop of Bobbio,
as his deputy for episcopal functions. Monsignor Donato
soon died, and in his
place, Charles commissioned Monsignor Girolamo Ferragato,
O.S.A., one of his suffragans, to visit the diocese,
and to report on its needs. Ferragato entered Milan,
23 April, 1562; on 24 June of the same year Charles sent to Milan Fathers Palmio and
Carvagial, S.J., with the object of preparing the faithful of
the diocese,
both clergy and laity,
for the carrying out of the reforms prescribed by the Council
of Trent. While anxious for the spiritual welfare of his flock,
he was no less solicitous for his own. There came to him the thought of what
was the will of God concerning
him, and whether he was to continue as the spiritual father of
his diocese or
retire to a monastery.
It happened in the autumn of 1563, between the sessions of the Council
of Trent, that the Cardinal of Lorraine went
to Rome,
accompanied by Ven.
Bartholomew of the Martyrs, O.P., Archbishop of Braga,
in Portugal. Bartholomew had
already shown himself to be of a like spirit to Charles, and
when Pius
IV introduced them, and suggested that he should begin the reform of
the cardinals in
the person of Charles, Bartholomew answered
that if the princes
of the Church had all been like Cardinal Borromeo, he would
have proposed them as models for the reform of the rest of the clergy.
In a private interview, Charles opened his heart
to Bartholomew and told him of his thought of retiring to a monastery. Bartholomew applauded
his desire, but at the same time declared his opinion that it was God's will that
he should not abandon his position. Charles was now assured
that it was his duty to
remain in the world; but all the more he felt he ought to visit his diocese,
though the pope always
opposed his departure. Bartholomew counselled patience, and
represented the assistance he could give to the pope and
the whole Church by
remaining in Rome. Charles was
satisfied, and stayed on, doing the great work necessary by
sending zealous deputies.
After the Council
of Trent he was much occupied with the production of the catechism embodying
the teaching of the council, the revision of the Missal and Breviary.
He also was a member of a commission for the reform of church
music, and chose Palestrina to
compose three masses; one of these is the "Missa Papae Marcelli".
Pastoral solicitude, which is the characteristic
chosen for mention in the collect of his feast,
made him ever anxious to have the most suitable representatives in Milan.
He heard of the
excellent qualities of Monsignor Nicolò Ormaneto, of
the diocese of Verona,
and succeeded in obtaining the consent of his bishop to
his transference to Milan. Ormaneto had
been in the household of Cardinal
Pole, and also the principal assistant of the Bishop of Verona.
On the 1st of July, 1564, Ormaneto reached Milan,
and at once carried out Charles' instructions by calling together
a diocesan synod for
the promulgation of
the decrees of the Council
of Trent. There were 1200 priests at
the Synod. It was with the clergy that Charles began
the reform, and the many abuses needed skilful and tactful treatment. Father Palmio
contributed much in bringing the clergy to
a sense of the necessity for reform. The synod was followed
by a visitation of the diocese by Ormaneto.
In September Charles sent thirty Jesuit
Fathers to assist his vicar; three of these were placed over
the seminary,
which was opened on the 11th of November (feast of St.
Martin of Tours). Charles was constantly directing the work of
restoration of ecclesiastical
discipline, and the education of
the young, even down to minute details, was foremost in his thoughts. The
manner of preaching, repression of avaricious priests, ecclesiastical ceremonies,
and church
music are some of the subjects on which Charles wrote many
letters. The revival of strict observance of rule in the convents of nuns was
another matter to which Charles urged Ormaneto's attention;
the setting up of grilles in the convent parlours
was ordered, and, to remove material difficulties, Charles ordered
his agent, Albonese, to pay the cost of this where the convents,
through poverty, were unable to bear the expense. This order brought
difficulties with his own relations. Two of his aunts, sisters of Pius
IV, had entered the Order
of St. Dominic; they resented the setting up of the grilles as casting a
slur on their convent. Charles,
in a letter (28th of April, 1565) displaying much thought and great tact,
strove to bring his aunts to see the good purpose of the order, but
without success, and the pope wrote
on the 26th of May, 1565, telling them that he had given
general orders for the setting up of the grilles, and that it would
be pleasing to him that those united to him by ties of blood and affection
should set a good example to other convents.
Notwithstanding the support
which Charles gave, Ormmaneto was discouraged by the checks with
which he met, and wished to return to his own diocese. Charles pressed
the pope to
allow him to leave Rome,
and at the same time encouraged Ormaneto to remain. At last the pope gave
his consent to Charles visiting his flock and summoning
a provincial council; but, desiring his stay to be short one,
he created Charles legate a
latere for all Italy. Charles prepared
to start, chose canonists to help the council, and wrote to
the Court of Spain and Philip
II. He left Rome 1
September, and, passing through Florence, Bologna, Modena,
and Parma,
he made his solemn entry into Milan on Sunday,
23 September, 1565. His arrival was the occasion of great rejoicings, and the
people did their utmost to welcome the first resident archbishop for
eighty years. On the following Sunday he preached in the Duomo, on the
words: "With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with
you" (Luke
22:15).
On the 15th of October the first provincial
council met. It was attended by ten out of the fifteen bishops of
the province, those absent being represented by their procurators. Three
of these prelates were cardinals,
and one, Nicolò Sfondrato of Cremona,
was afterwards pope with
the title of Gregory
XIV. Charles announced that the reform must begin with the prelates:
"We ought to walk in front, and
our spiritual subjects will follow us more easily." He
commenced by fulfilling all things required in himself, and his wonderful clergy astonished
the prelates.
The council was finished on the 3rd of November,
and Charles sent a minute report to the pope.
On the 6th of November he went to Trent as legate,
to meet the Archduchesses Giovanna and Barbara, who were to
be married to the Prince of Florence and
the Duke of Ferrara. Charles conducted Barbara to Ferrara and
Giovanna to Tuscany,
where at Fiorenzuola, he received the news of the pope's serious
illness. He reached Rome to
find that the pope's condition was hopeless,
and he at once bade the Holy
Father turn all his thoughts to his heavenly home. On the
10th of December Pius
IV died, assisted by two saints, Charles and Philip
Neri. On the 7th of January, 1566, the conclave for
the election of his successor was concluded by
the election of Cardinal Michele Ghislieri, O.P.,
of Alessandria, Bishop of Mondovì,
who, at the request of Charles, took the name of Pius
V. It had been maintained that Charles at first favoured Cardinal
Morone, but his letter to the King of Spain (Sylvain,
I,309) seems to prove that he did his utmost to secure
the election of Cardinal Ghislieri. Pius
V wished to keep Charles to assist him in Rome;
but though Charles delayed his departure for some time, in the
end his earnest representations obtained permission for him to return to Milan,
at least for the summer. He returned to his see,
5 April, 1566, having made a detour to visit the sanctuary of
Our Lady of Loreto. Charles showed admirably how
the Church had
the power to reform from within, and, though the task he had to do was
gigantic, he set about its execution with great calmness and
confidence. He began with his household, gave up much of his property to
the poor,
and insisted that in all that concerned him personally the
greatest economy should be used; for his position as archbishop and cardinal he
required due respect. He practised great mortification,
and whatever the Council
of Trent or his own provincial council had laid down for
the life of the bishops he
carried out, not only in the letter, but also in the spirit.
The rules for the management of his household, both
in spiritual and temporal affairs, are to be found in the "Acta
Ecclesiae Mediolanensis". The result of the care that was taken of
his household was seen in the many members of it who became distinguished bishops and prelates.
More than twenty were chosen while members of the cardinal's household;
one of these was Dr. Owen Lewis, fellow of New College, Oxford,
who taught at Oxford and Douai,
and after being vicar-general to
St. Charles was made Bishop of Cassano in
Calabria.
The administration of the diocese needed
to be perfected; he therefore chose a vicar-general of
exemplary life, learned in law and ecclesiastical
discipline. He also appointed two other vicars, one for civil and the
other for criminal causes. He associated with them other officials, all
chosen for their integrity, and took care that they should be well paid, so as
to preclude all suspicion of venality. Corruption in such matters was
specially distasteful to him. Whilst providing for upright officials, the needs
of the prisoners were
not forgotten, and in time his court was known as
the holy tribunal. He so organized his administration that by means
of reports and conferences with the visitors and the vicars forane,
his pastoral visits were productive of great fruit.
The canons of his cathedral chapter were
in turn the object of his reforming care. He put before them his plan of giving
them definite work in theology and
in connexion with the Sacrament
of Penance. They welcomed his reforms, as he wrote
to Monsignor Bonome: "The result of the way I have taken is very
different to that in vogue today" (27 April, 1566). Pius
V congratulated Charles on his success and exhorted him to
continue the work.
Another great work which was begun at this time was
that of the Confraternity
of Christian Doctrine, in order that the children might be carefully and
systematically instructed. This work was really the beginning of what is now
known as the Sunday school,
and there is a remarkable testimony to this in an inscription under
a statue outside
the Essex Unitarian Church,
Kensington, London, where Cardinal Borromeo is mentioned in
connexion with the work. The visitation of his flock was steadily
carried out and various pious foundations
were made to succour the needy and sinners. In 1567 opposition began
to be made to his jurisdiction.
The officials of the King of Spain announced
that they would inflict severe penalties on the archbishop's officers
if they imprisoned more laymen,
or carried arms. The matter was referred to the king, and finally to the pope,
who counselled the Senate of Milan to
support the ecclesiastical authority.
Peace was not restored; and the bargello, or sheriff, of the archbishop was imprisoned.
The archbishop announced sentence of excommunication on
the captain of justice and
several other officials. Much trouble followed, and again
the matter was laid before the pope,
who decided in favour of the archbishop.
In October, 1567, Charles started to visit
three Swiss valleys,
Levantina, Bregno, and La Riviera. In most parts, indeed, there was much
to reform. The clergy especially
were in many cases so lax and careless, and even living scandalous lives,
that the people had grown to be equally negligent and sinful.
The hardships of this journey were great; Charles travelled on a
mule, but sometimes on foot, over most difficult and even dangerous ground. His
labours bore great fruit, and a new spirit was put into both clergy and laity.
In August, 1568, the second diocesan synod was
held, and it was followed in April, 1569, by the second provincial
council. In August, 1569, matters came to a head in connexion with
the collegiate church of Santa
Maria della Scala. This church had been declared by Clement
VII, in 1531, exempt from the jurisdiction of
the Archbishop of Milan,
provided that the consent of the archbishop was
obtained; but this consent had never been obtained, and consequently
the exemption did not take effect. Now the governor,
the Duke of Albuquerque, had been induced by the opponents of
the archbishop to
issue an edict declaring that all who violated the king's jurisdiction should
receive severe punishment. The canons of La Scala
claimed exemption from the archbishop and
relied on the secular
power to support them. Charles announced
his intention of making his visitation in accordance with
the wishes of the pope,
by sending Monsignor Luigi Moneta to the canons. He
was met with opposition and open insult. Early in
September Charles himself went, vested for a visitation. The
same violent demeanour was again shown. The archbishop took
the cross into
his own hands and went forward to pronounce the sentence of excommunication.
The armed men raised their weapons; the canons closed the
door of the church against Charles, who with eyes fixed on
the crucifix,
recommended himself and these unworthy men to the Divine
protection. Charles was indeed in danger of his life, for
the canons' supporters opened fire, and the cross in
his hand was damaged. His vicar-general then
put up the public notice that the canons had incurred censures.
This act was followed by blows and cries, removal of the notices, and
the declaration that the archbishop was
himself suspended from his office. Pius
V was shocked at this incident, and only with very great difficulty
allowed Charles to deal with these rebellious canons, when
they repented.
In October, 1569, Charles was again in great
danger. The Order
of the Humiliati, of which he was protector, had by his persevering care
been induced to accept certain reforms, in 1567. But some of its
members strove to bring about a return to their former condition.
As Charles would not consent to this, some of the order
formed a conspiracy to take his life. On the 26th of October,
whilst Charles was at evening prayer with
his household, a member of the Humiliati,
dressed as a layman,
having entered with others of the public who were admitted to the chapel,
took his stand four or five yards from the archbishop.
The motet "Tempus
est ut revertar ad eum qui me misit", by Orlando Lasso, was
being sung; the words "Non turbetur cor vestrum, neque formidet"
had just been sung, when the assassin fired his weapon, loaded with
ball, and struck Charles, who was kneeling at
the altar. Charles, thinking himself mortally wounded, commended
himself to God.
A panic arose, which allowed the assassin to escape, but Charles motioned
to his household to finish the prayers.
At their conclusion it was found that the ball had not even pierced his
clothes, but some of the shot had penetrated to the skin, and where the ball
had struck a slight swelling appeared, which remained through his life.
It was seen how far the unruly-minded had gone, and
the serious turn affairs had taken. At once the governor took prompt steps to
assure Charles of his sympathy and his wish to find the
assassin. Charles would not allow this, and asked the governor to use
his efforts to prevent the rights of
the Church being
infringed. In some measure this occurrence led the canons of La Scala
to sue for pardon, and on the 5th of February,
1570, Charles publicly absolved them before the door of
his cathedral.
Notwithstanding his wish to forgive those who had attempted his life, and his
efforts to prevent their prosecution, four of the conspirators (amongst
them Farina, who actually fired) were sentenced to death.
All being of the clergy,
they were handed over to the civil
power (29 July, 1570); two were beheaded; Farina and another
were hanged.
Charles at this time made a second visit to Switzerland,
first visiting the three valleys of his diocese,
then over the mountains to see his half-sister Ortensia,
Countess d'Altemps. Afterwards he visited all the Catholic cantons,
everywhere using his influence to remove abuses both among the clergy and laity,
and to restore religious observance in monasteries and convents.
He visited Altorf, Unterwalden, Lucerne, Saint
Gall, Schwyz, Einsiedeln,
where he said that he nowhere except at Loreto, experienced a
greater religious feeling (10 September, 1570). Heresy had
spread in many of these parts, and Charles sent to them
experienced missionaries to win back those who had embraced it.
At this time Pius
V came to the conclusion that nothing less than the suppression of
the Order
of the Humiliati was adequate. He therefore issued a Bull (7
February, 1571) suppressing the order and providing for its property.
This same year, owing to the short harvest, the
whole province suffered from a terrible famine, during
which Charles worked with unceasing toil to help the starving,
relieving at his own expense as many as 3000 daily for three months. His
example induced others to help, the governor, especially, giving large alms.
In the summer of 1571 Charles was for somme time seriously
ill, in the month of August; having partly recovered, he was making
his visitation when he heard of the serious illness of the governor,
the Duke of Albuquerque. Charles returned to Milan only
in time to console the duchess. He made use of the prayers ordered
by Pius
V for the success of the Christians against
the Turks,
to urge on his flock the necessity of averting God's anger by penance.
Great were the rejoicings at the victory of Lepanto (7
October, 1571). Charles was especially interested in this
expedition by reason of the papal ships
being commanded by Marco Antonio Colonna, whose
son Fabricio was married to his
sister, Anna Borromeo.
The archbishop remained
in bad health, suffering from low fever and catarrh. It
was feared that consumption would set in; in spite of his illness he
prepared for the third diocesan synod,
which was held in his absence in April, 1572. He soon afterwards heard of the
death of Pius
V (1 May, 1572), and, though feeble, he started for the conclave,
which lasted one day and resulted in the election of Cardinal Ugo
Buoncompagni, with the title of Gregory
XIII, 13 May, 1572. As medical treatment had not
restored Charles to health, he now abandoned it and returned to his
ordinary rule of life, with the result that he was before long quite well.
On his homeward journey he again visited Loreto, in November, and
reached Milan on
12 November. He at this time resigned the offices of
Grand Penitentiary, Archpriest of Santa
Maria Maggiore, and other high dignities. In April, 1573, he held his
third provincial council.
The new governor of Milan was
Don Luigi di Requesens, who had known Charles in Rome.
However, as soon as he took office, being urged by the opponents
of Charles, he published some
letters falsely incriminating Charles in questions of the
royal authority and containing much that was contrary to the rights of
the Church. Charles protested
against their publication; with great reluctance, and after much anxious
deliberation, he publicly pronounced, in August, sentence of excommunication explicitly
against the grand Chancellor and implicitly against the governor. As a
consequence of this, libels were
published in the city against Charles. The governor showed his displeasure
by placing restrictions on the meetings of the confraternities, also
depriving Charles of the Castle of Arona. Various rumours were in
circulation of more wicked plans against Charles, but his
tranquillity was maintained, and he carried on his work with his usual care,
despite the fact that the governor had placed an armed guard to watch his
palace. None of the governor's actions succeeding, the governor was
led to ask for absolution,
which he obtained by deception. When Gregory
XIII learned of this, he compelled the governor to make satisfaction
to Charles. This was done, and on 26 November Charles announced
that the governor was absolved from
all penalties and censures. In this
year Charles founded a college for
the nobility at Milan.
In August, 1574, Henry III of France was
passing through the Diocese
of Milan on his way from Poland to
take the French throne. Charles met him at Monza. The
fourth diocesan synod was
in November, 1574. Gregory
XIII proclaimed a jubilee for 1575, and on the 8th of
December, 1574, Charles left for Rome.
He visited many shrines and, having reached Rome,
performed the required devotions and started for Milan,
in February. He assisted at the death-bed of his brother-in-law, Cesare
Gonzaga, and continued the visitation of his province. In 1576
the jubilee was kept in the Diocese
of Milan. It began on the 2nd of February. Whilst the jubilee was
being celebrated, news came of the outbreak of plague in Venice and Mantua.
The fourth provincial council was held in May. In August,
Don John of Austria,
visited Milan. Religious exercises
were being carried out, and his arrival was made the occasion of rejoicings and
spectacular effects. All at once everything was changed, for the plague
appeared in Milan. Charles was
at Lodi,
at the funeral of the bishop.
He at once returned, and inspired confidence in all. He was convinced
that the plague was sent as a chastisement for sin,
abd sought all the more to give himself to prayer.
At the same time he thought of the people. He prepared himself for death,
made his will (9 September, 1576), and then gave himself up entirely
to his people. Personal visits were paid by him to the plague-stricken houses.
In the hospital of St.
Gregory were the worst cases; to this he went, and his presence comforted
the sufferers. Though he worked so arduously himself, it was only after many
trials that the secular
clergy of the town were induced to assist him, but his persuasive
words at last won them so that they afterwards aided him in every way. It was
at this time that, wishing to do penance for his people, he walked
in procession, barefooted, with a rope round his neck, at one time bearing
in his hand the relic of
the Holy Nail.
At the beginning of 1577 the plague began to abate,
and though there was a temporary increase in the number of cases, at last it
ceased. The Milanese vowed to
build a church dedicated to St. Sebastian, if he would
deliver them. This promise was fulfilled. Charles wrote at this time
the "Memoriale", a small work, addressed to his suffragans, which had
for its object to recall the lessons given by the cessation of the plague. He
also compiled books of devotion for persons of
every state of life. By the beginning of 1578 the plague had quite disappeared
from all parts. At the end of 1578 the fifth diocesan synod was
held. It lasted three days. Charles endeavoured at this time to
induce the canons of the cathedral to
unite with himself in community life. In this year, on the 16th of August, he
began the foundation of the congregation of secular
priests under the patronage of Our
Lady and St. Ambrose, giving it the title of
the Oblates of St. Ambrose. Though he had been helped by
various orders of religious, especially by the Jesuits and
the Barnabites,
one of whom (now Bl.
Alexander Sauli) was for many years his constant adviser, yet he felt the
need of a body of men who could act as his assistants and,
living in community, would be more easily impressed by his spirit and
wishes. He was the master mind of this new congregation, and he ever
insisted on the need of complete union between himself and its members. It was
his delight to be with them, and, looking to him as a father, they were ready
to go where he wished, to undertake works of every kind. He placed them
in seminaries, schools,
and confraternities. The remaining synods were
held in 1579 and succeeding years, the last (the eleventh) in 1584.
His first pilgrimage to Turin,
to visit the Holy Shroud, was in 1578. About this time he first visited
the holy mountain of Varallo to meditate on
the mysteries of the Passion in the chapels there.
In 1578-9 the Marquis of Ayamonte, the successor of Requesens as
governor, opposed the jurisdiction of
the archbishop,
and in September of the latter year Charles went to Rome to
obtain a decision on the question of jurisdiction.
The dispute arose in consequence of the governor ordering the carnival to be
celebrated with additional festivities on the first Sunday of Lent,
against the archbishop's orders.
The pope confirmed the decrees of
the archbishop,
and urged the Milanese to
submit. The envoys sent by them were so ashamed that they would not themselves
present the pope's reply. Gregory
XIII had welcomed Charles and rejoiced at his
presence. Charles did much work during his stay for his province,
especially for Switzerland.
In connexion with the rule which Charles drew up for
the Oblates of St. Ambrose, it is to be noted that when in Rome he
submitted it to St.
Philip Neri, who advised Charles to exclude the vow of poverty. Charles defended
its inclusion, so St. Philip said, "We will put it to
the judgment of Brother Felix". This brother was a
simple Capuchin lay
brother at the Capuchins,
close to the Piazza Barberini. St. Philip and St. Charles
went to him, and he put his finger on the article dealing with the vow of poverty,
and said, "This is what should be effaced". Felix was also
a saint,
and is known as St.
Felix of Cantalicio. Charles returned to Milan by Florence, Bologna,
and Venice,
everywhere reviving the true ecclesiastical spirit.
When he reached Milan the joy of
his people was great, for it had been said he would not return. After the
beginning of Lent (1580), Charles began
his visitation at Brescia;
soon after, in April, he was called back to Milan to
assist at the death-bed of the governor, Ayamonte. In this
year Charles visited the Valtelline valley in the Grisons.
In July he was brought to know a
youth who afterwards reached great sanctity.
He was invited by the Marquis Gonzaga to stay with him, and refused, but while
staying at the archpriest's house
he met the eldest son of the marquis, Luigi Gonzaga, then twelve years old, now
raised to the altars of the Church as St.
Aloysius Gonzaga, S.J.. Charles gave him his first Communion.
The next year (1581) Charles sent to the King of Spain a
special envoy in the person of
Father Charles Bascape of the Barnabites,
charging him to endeavour to come to an understanding on the question of jurisdiction.
The result was that a governor, the Duke of Terra Nova, was sent, who was
instructed to act in concert with Charles. After this no further
controversy arose.
In 1582 Charles started on his last journey
to Rome,
both in obedience to the decrees of the Council
of Trent, and to have the decrees of the sixth provincial
council confirmed. This was his last visit, and during it he resided at
the monastery attached
to his titular church of Santa Prassede, where still are shown pieces
of furniture used by him. He left Rome in
January, 1583, and travelled by Sienna and Mantua, where he had
been commissioned by the pope to
pronounce a judgment. A great portion of this year was taken up
by visitations. In November 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 there 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. Charles spent
considerable time in setting right this terrible state of
things. It was his especial care to leave holy priests and good religious to
guide the people. Next he visited Bellinzona and Ascona, working
strenuously to extirpate heresy,
and meeting with much opposition from the Bishop of Coire.
The negotiations were continued into the next year, the last
of Charles on earth. All his work bore fruit, and his efforts in
these part ensured the preservation of the Faith. The heretics spread false reports
that Charles was really working for Spain against
the inhabitants of the Grisons. In spite of
their falsehoods Charles continued to attack them and to
defend Catholics,
who had much to suffer.
At the end of 1584 he had an attack
of erysipelas in one leg, which obliged to
remain in bed. He however has a congress of the rural deans, sixty in
number, with whom he fully discussed the needs of the diocese.
He also made great exertions to suppress the licentiousness of the
carnival. Knowing the needs of the invalids who left the great hospital he
determined to found a convalescent hospital.
He did not live to see it completed, but his immediate successor saw
that the work was executed. During September and early October he was
at Novara, Vercelli,
and Turin.
On the 8th of October he left Turin and
thence travelled to Monte Varallo. He was going to prepare
for death. His confessor, Father
Adorno, was told to join him. On 15 October he began the exercises by
making a general confession. On the 18th the Cardinal of Vercelli summoned
him to Arona to discuss urgent and important business. The night
before Charles spent eight hours in prayer on
his knees. On the 20th he was back at Varallo; on the 24th an attack of
fever came on; he concealed it at first, but suffering from sickness he
was obliged to
declare his state. For five days this state lasted, but still he said Mass and
gave Communion daily,
and carried on his correspondence. He seemed to know that
death was at hand and determined to work as long as he had strength left. The
foundation of the college at Ascona was not completed, and
it was urgent that it should be finished in a short time,
so Charles pressed on and started, in spite of his sufferings, on 29
October, having previously paid a farewell visit to the chapels.
He was found prostrate in the chapel where
the burial of Our
Lord was represented. He rode to Arona, thence went by boat
to Canobbio, where he stayed the night, said Mass on
the 30th, and proceeded to Ascona. He visited the college, and
afterwards set out at night for Canobbio, staying a short time
at Locarno, where he intended to bless a cemetery,
but, finding himself without his pontifical vestments,
he abandoned the idea.
When he reached Canobbio the fever was decreasing, and he was very
weak. The next day he took the boat for Arona and stayed there with the Jesuits,
at the novitiate he
had founded, and on All
Saints' Day he said Mass for
the last time, giving Communion to
the novices and
many of the faithful.
The next day he assisted at Mass and received Holy
Communion. His cousin, Rene Borromeo, accompanied him on the boat, and
that evening he reached Milan.
It was not known there that he was ill. He at once was visited
by doctors,
whose orders he obeyed. He would not allow Mass to be
said in his room. A picture of Our
Lord in the tomb was
before him, together with two others of Jesus at Gethsemani and
the body of the dead Christ. The physicians regarded the danger as
extreme, and though there was a slight improvement, it was not maintained, and
the fever returned with great severity. The archpriest of
the cathedral gave
him the Viaticum,
which he received vested in rochet and stole.
The administration of extreme unction was suggested. "At
once", Charles replied. It was at once given, and afterwards he
showed but little sign of life. The governor, the Duke of Terra Nova,
arrived after great difficulty in getting through the crowds which surrounded
and had entered the palace. The prayers for
a passing soul were
said, the Passion was read, with Father Bascapè and Father
Adorno at the bedside, the words "Ecce venio" (Behold I
come) being the last words he was heard to utter (3 November, 1584). On the 7th
of November his requiem was sung by Cardinal Nicolò Sfondrato, Bishop of Cremona,
afterwards Gregory
XIV. He was buried at
night in the spot which he had chosen.
Devotion to him as a saint was at once shown
and gradually grew, and the Milanese kept
his anniversary as though he were canonized.
This veneration, at first private, became universal, and after
1601 Cardinal Baronius wrote
that it was no longer necessary to
keep his anniversary by a requiem Mass, and that
the solemn Mass of the day should be sung. Then materials
were collected for his canonization,
and processes were begun at Milan, Pavia, Bologna,
and other places. In 1604 the cause was sent to the Congregation of
Rites. Finally, 1 November, 1610, Paul
V solemnly canonized Charles Borromeo,
and fixed his feast for
the 4th day of November.
The position which Charles held in Europe was
indeed a very remarkable one. The mass of correspondence both to and by him
testifies to the way in which his opinion was sought. The popes under
whom he lived — as has been shown above — sought his advice. The sovereigns
of Europe, Henry
III of France, Philip
II, Mary
Queen of Scots, and others showed how they valued his influence. His
brother cardinals have
written in praise of his virtues. Cardinal Valerio of Verona said
of him that he 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".
It is a matter of interest to know that Catholics in England late
in the sixteenth or at the beginning of the seventeenth century had circulated
some life of St. Charles in England.
Doubtless some knowledge of
him had been brought to England by Blessed
Edmund Campion, S.J., who visited him at Milan in
1580, on his way to England,
stopped with him some eight days, and conversed with him every day after
dinner. Charles had much to do with England in
the days of his assistance to Pius
IV, and he had a great veneration for the portrait of Bishop
Fisher. Charles also had much to do with Francis
Borgia, General of the Jesuits,
and with Andrew
of Avellino of the Theatines,
who gave great help to his work in Milan.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by Marie Jutras.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. November
1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal
Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03619a.htm
Agostino Bonisoli,. Saint Charles Borromée (à gauche) et saint Louis de Gonzague priant la Vierge Marie, 1695, Musée de Mantoue
Charles Borromeo B Cardinal (RM)
Born Arona, Italy, October 2, 1538; died night of November 3-4, 1584; canonized
in 1610; feast day formerly on November 5.
More than saints working great miracles, it is harder
to believe that a man born with a silver spoon in his mouth during an age of
decadence that defined nepotism should become a saint. Nevertheless, Charles
Borromeo was a man of great humility though he had received many worldly
benefits very early in life. The patrician with fairy godmothers galore had the
spirit of a hardened ascetic. He gives us hope that we, who also live in a
corrupt age, can successfully run the race like Saint Paul and reach for the
crown of glory God has waiting for each of us.
Charles (Carlo), the second son of Count Gilbert
Borromeo, a talented and pious man, and Margaret de Medici, was born in the
family castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore. As a boy he was sent to Milan, for his
father was determined the his son should receive the education fitting his station
in life even though everyone believed that Charles was retarded because he had
a speech impediment.
Charles showed signs of a vocation early. He received
the tonsure of minor orders at age 12 and was allowed to wear the cassock. He
had an unusual gravity of manner and loved to study. One of his masters said of
him: "You do not know the young man; one day he will be a reformer of the
Church and do wonderful things." This prediction was fulfilled to the
letter.
His uncle, Julius Caesar Borromeo, had the young
cleric assigned the rich Benedictine Abbey of Saints Gratian and Felinus, at
Arona, which had long been enjoyed by his family in commendam. Here he studied
for three years. The abbey provided him with some income and his father made
him subsist on this limited allowance. Charles, it appears, was always short of
money to pay his household expenses for he set a fine table and liked to
entertain.
After studying Latin at Milan, at the age of 15,
Charles was sent to the University of Pavia to study civil and canon law under
Francis Alciati, who was later made a cardinal. By age 22 Charles had earned
his doctorate and both his parents were dead.
In 1559 his mother's younger brother, the Cardinal de
Medici, was elected pope and took the name Pius IV. In 1560, Pius IV called his
nephew Charles to Rome, where the hat of cardinal-deacon awaited him. In his
enthusiasm His Holiness appointed Charles in 1561 to administer the vacant see
of Milan, but refused to allow him to go there. In his avuncular zeal his also
appointed his beloved nephew as the papal legate of Bologna, Romagna, March of
Ancona, and Protector of Portugal, the Low Countries, the Catholic cantons of
Switzerland, and the Orders of Saint Francis, the Carmelites, Knights of Malta,
and others.
Only two years after his arrival in Rome at the age of
22 and still in minor orders, Charles had among his other responsibilities,
duties similar to those of the present-day Secretary of State of the Vatican.
The pope clearly found it easy to make appointments and had a strong sense of
family. Anyone else in this position would have felt that he was one of Saint
Peter's seven gold keys. But Borromeo was made of stronger stuff. Perhaps he
bowed his head under the weight of so many honors, but he certainly didn't bend
his knee. More importantly, he rolled up his sleeves and went to work.
Nevertheless, he led a balanced life. Charles still
managed to find the time to play music and engage in sports; to attend to
family responsibilities, such as finding husbands for his four sisters.
To the consternation of many, Charles soon was
attacking the Roman court. It his eyes it was worthless, with its display of
luxury, its low morals, and its stink of treacherous scheming. Loudly he
declared his contempt for the practices that defiled it, condemning lechery,
praising charity and humility, denouncing abuses and extolling the virtues of a
good example. His daring action earned the hostility of many clerics and the
reputation as a kill-joy.
As a patron of learning, Charles promoted it among the
clergy and laity by instituting a literary academy at the Vatican. The record
of its many conferences and studies can be found in Borromeo's Noctes
Vaticanae.
In 1562, Pope Pius IV reconvened the Council of Trent,
which had opened in 1545 but had been suspended between 1552 and 1562. Charles
is credited with keeping the council going for the next two years and hastening
it to the completion of its work by reconciling opponents.
During the council Charles's older brother, Count
Frederick Borromeo, died, leaving Charles as head of the family. Everyone
assumed he would resign his clerical state and marry. But Charles opted to name
his uncle Julius as successor, and instead was ordained a priest in 1563 and
consecrated archbishop of Milan the following year.
Charles was anxious to travel to Milan and begin
implementing the reforms of Trent in his see, but was forced by the growing
frailty of his uncle to remain in Rome. He supervised writing of the new catechism,
missal, and breviary, and the reform of the liturgy and church music called for
by the council. He even commissioned Palestrina's Mass Papae Marcelli.
At last he received permission to travel to Milan and
convene a provincial synod (the first of six during his administration) because
his see was in great disorder. But in 1565 he was called to the pope's
deathbed, where Saint Philip Neri was also present. The new pope Saint Pius V
asked him to continue his duties in Rome for a time, but Charles resisted
because he wanted to attend to his diocese.
Finally taking over his see in 1566, the 28-year-old
Charles modified the luxurious life style he had in Rome, and set himself to
apply the principles of the Council of Trent in the reformation of a large,
disordered diocese that had been without a resident archbishop for 80 years. At
this time the archdiocese of Milan stretched from Venice to Geneva. It
comprised 3,000 clergy and 600,000 lay men and women in over 2,000 churches,
100 communities of men, and 70 of women--about the size of the Roman Church in
England today.
Born an aristocrat, Charles Borromeo decided he ought
to identify himself with the poor of his diocese. He regulated his household
and sold household plate and other treasures to raise 30,000 crowns. The whole
sum was used to relief the distress of the poor. His almoner was ordered to
give poor families 200 crowns monthly. He confessed himself each morning before
celebrating Mass (generally to Griffith (Gruffydd) Roberts, author of the
well-known Welsh grammar). Borromeo set his clergy an example of virtuous and
selfless living, of caring for the needy and sick, of making Christ a reality
to society.
Charles is described as having a robust and dignified
carriage. His nose was large and aquiline, his color pale, his hair brown, and
his eyes blue. He sported a short, unkempt reddish-brown beard until 1574 when
he ordered his clergy to shave and, as in everything, set the example himself.
He travelled the length and breadth of his huge diocese.
Eventually, Charles overcame his early speech impediment, but his was never
able to preach with ease. Nevertheless, he always spoke convincingly, and
constantly preached and catechized on his visitations.
To help remedy the people's religious ignorance he
established the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) and instituted
'Sunday schools'; seminaries were opened for the training of clergy (he was a
great benefactor of the English College at Douai that Cardinal Allen called him
its founder); the dignity of public worship was insisted upon. It is said he
had 3,000 catechists and 40,000 pupils enrolled in the CCD programs of Milan.
He arranged retreats for the clergy and encouraged the Jesuits in their
educational work. His influence was felt even outside his own diocese and time.
Charles Borromeo was an outstanding figure among
Catholic reformers after the Council of Trent, and has been called a second
Saint Ambrose. His rigorism in some directions and his imperiousness have not
escaped criticism, but such work of his as the religious education of children
has been very widely appreciated.
Charles's uncompromising reforms were not carried out
without opposition, not least from highly-placed laity whose disorderly lives
he curbed with stringent measures. Efforts were made to get him removed from
office. In 1567, he aroused the enmity of the Milan Senate over episcopal
jurisdiction when he imprisoned several laypersons for their evil lives; when
the episcopal sheriff was driven from the city by civil officials, he
excommunicated them and was eventually upheld by King Philip II and the pope.
Again his episcopal rights were challenged. Backed by
governor Arburquerque, the canons of Santa Maria della Scala in Milan one day
refused to allow Borromeo to enter their church. You might imagine the scene:
the clergy all gathered together like commandos opposing a rampart of
pot-bellied prebendaries against their sworn enemy, fulminating and raising
their hands against this godly man. Borromeo pardoned the offense but the pope
and king upheld his rights again.
On October 26, 1569, Archbishop Charles Borromeo of
Milan, was at evening prayer. He had been attempting to bring order to a
corrupt religious group known as the Humiliati, which had no more than 70
members but which possessed the wealth of 90 monasteries. One of the Humiliati,
a priest named Jerome Donati Farina, was hired by three friars with the
proceeds from selling church decorations to assassinate Borromeo.
He shot at the archbishop as he knelt before the altar
during evening prayer. Farina escaped. Charles, thinking himself mortally
wounded, commended himself to God. The bullet, however, only struck his clothes
in the back, bruising him. He calmly ordered the service to continue. Not long
afterwards he obtained a papal bull which dissolved the congregation
permanently. After thanksgiving, Charles retired for a few days to a Carthusian
monastery to consecrate his life anew to God. When it turned out that the wound
was not mortal, Charles Borromeo rededicated himself to the reform of the
Church.
He then travelled to the next three valleys of the
diocese in the Alps, visiting each of the Catholic cantons, removing ignorant
and unworthy clergy, and converting a number of Zwinglians. It is said the
Charles possessed the extraordinary gift of being able to instantaneously
recognize the gifts and capabilities of those around him. He wished to have an
efficient body of priests as auxiliaries to help him in his many works, so
gathered together men of exemplary lives known for the sanctity and learning.
Anyone showing ambition for place or office would not be tolerated by him.
During the famine of 1570 he managed to find food for
3,000 people a day for three months.
Lombardy was under the civil authority of Philip II of
Spain at this time. Tired of the jurisdictional struggles and the political
games being played, in 1573 Charles excommunicated the governor Luis de
Requesens, who was then removed by Philip. The last two governors learned from
this not to mess with the cardinal- archbishop.
In 1575 he went to Rome to gain a jubilee indulgence,
and the following year it was published in Milan. Huge crowds of penitents came
to Milan. Unfortunately, they brought the plague with them. The governor and
other officials fled the city; Charles Borromeo refused, remaining to care for
the stricken.
He assembled the superiors of the religious
communities and begged them for their help. Many religious lodged in his house.
The hospital of Saint Gregory was inadequate and overflowed with the sick and
dead, with too few to care for them. He sent for help from priests and lay
helpers in the Alpine valleys, because the Milanese clergy would not go near
the sick.
As plague choked off commerce, want began. Daily food
had to be found for 60,000 to 70,000 people. Borromeo first sold off his large
estate at Oria, Naples, to raise money to relieve suffering. Having exhausted
his own resources and he began piling up debt to get supplies. Clothes were
made from the flags that had been hung from his house to the cathedral during
processions. Empty houses were used, and shelters were built for the sick.
Altars were set up in the streets so that the sick could attend public worship
from their windows. He himself ministered to the sick, in addition to
supervising care in the city. The plague lasted from 1576-78.
Even during this period, resentful magistrates tried
to make trouble between Charles and the pope. When the plague was over, Charles
wanted to establish anew his cathedral chapter on the basis of a common life,
but the canons refused. This led him to originate his Oblates of Ambrose (who
was also bishop of Milan) (now the Oblates of Saint Charles).
In addition to his connection to the English College
at Douai and his Welsh confessor Fr. Roberts, Borromeo appointed another
Welshman , Dr. Owen Lewis (later bishop of Calabria), to be his vicar general,
and he always had with him a little picture of Saint John Fisher. In 1580, he
met, aided, and entertained for a week twelve young priests going on a mission
to England. Two preached before him--Saint Ralph Sherwin and Saint Edmund
Campion, English martyrs.
A little later the same year, Charles met the
12-year-old Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, to whom he gave his first Communion.
Charles was a martyr in his own way. He travelled
under much strain and without enough sleep. In 1584, his health declined. After
arranging for the establishment of a convalescents' home in Milan, he went to
Monte Varallo to make his annual retreat, accompanied by the Jesuit Father
Adorno. He told several people that he was not long for this world, took ill on
October 24, and arrived back in Milan on All Souls' Day (November 2), having
celebrated Mass for the last time the day before in his hometowm of Arona.
He went to bed, requested the last rites, received
them, and died quietly during the early hours of November 4 in the arms of his
Welsh confessor, Fr. Roberts, in 1584, aged only 46, with the words,
"Behold, I come. Your will be done."
He was buried in Milan Cathedral. A spontaneous cultus
arose immediately. Soon after his death the people agreed to build a monument
to him--a 28-meter statue set upon a 14-meter pedestal. The statue was
called "Carlone" or "Big Charles."
Among Walter Savage Landor's poems is one addressed to
Saint Charles, invoking his pity on Milan at the time of the troubles in 1848.
Another of Charles's confessors, Saint Alexander
Sauli, a Barnabite clerk regular, followed Charles's example and carried out
similar necessary, but unwelcome, religious reforms in Corsica (Attwater,
Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Guissiano, Murray, Orsenigo, Walsh, White,
Yeo).
In art his emblem is a cardinal's hat and crozier.
Normally he is shown as a cardinal praying before a crucifix, generally
barefoot and often with a rope around his neck. Sometimes he is shown (1)
kissing the hand of the Blessed Virgin and blessed by the Christ Child; (2)
weeping over a book with untouched bread and water nearby; or (3) bringing the
Blessed Sacrament to plague victims (Roeder, White).
He is the patron of Roman clergy, seminaries, spiritual directors, catechists, catechumens, and starch makers. Invoked against the plague (Roeder, White).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1104.shtml
Cristoforo Savolini, San
Carlo Borromeo, san Donnino da Fidenza
e sant'Apollonia
EDITAE SAEPE
Venerable Brethren,
Health and the Apostolic Blessing.
1. Sacred Scripture
records the divine word saying that men will remember the just man forever, for
even though he is dead, he yet speaks.[1] Both in word and deed the Church has
for a long time verified the truth of that saying. She is the mother and the
nurse of holiness, ever renewed and enlivened by the breath of the Spirit Who
dwells in us.[2] She alone conceives, nourishes, and educates the noble family
of the just. Like a loving mother, she carefully preserves the memory of and
affection for the saints. This remembrance is, as it were, a divine comfort
which lifts her eyes above the miseries of this earthly pilgrimage so that she
finds in the saints "her joy and her crown." Thus she sees in them
the sublime image of her heavenly Spouse. Thus she shows her children in each
age the timeliness of the old truth: "For those who love God all things
work together unto good, for those who, according to his purpose, are saints
through his call."[3] The glorious deeds of the saints, however, do more
than afford us comfort. In order that we may imitate and be encouraged by them,
one and all the saints echo in their own lives the saying of Saint Paul,
"I beg you, be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."[4]
2. For that reason, Venerable
Brethren, immediately after Our elevation to the Supreme Pontificate We stated
in Our first encyclical that We would labor without ceasing "to restore
all things in Christ."[5] We begged everyone to turn their eyes with Us to
Jesus, "the apostle and high priest of our confession...the author and
finisher of faith."[6] Since the majesty of that Model may be too much for
fallen human nature, God mercifully gave Us another model to propose for your
imitation, the glorious Virgin Mother of God. While being as close to Christ as
human nature permits, she is better suited to the needs of our weak nature.[7]
Over and above that, We made use of several other occasions to recall the
memory of the saints. We emulated these faithful servants and ministers of God's
household (each in his own way enjoying the friendship of God), "who by
faith conquered kingdoms, wrought justice, obtained promises."[8] Thus
encouraged by their example, we would be "now no longer children, tossed
to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine devised in the
wickedness of men, in craftiness, according to the wiles of error. Rather are
we to practice the truth in love, and so grow up in all things in him who is
the head, Christ."[9]
3. We have already
pointed to how Divine Providence was perfectly realized in the lives of those
three great doctors and pastors of the Church, Gregory the Great, John
Chrysostom and Anselm of Aosta. Although they were separated by centuries, the
Church was beset by many serious dangers in each of their respective ages. In
recent years We celebrated all of their solemn centenaries. In a very special
way, however, we commemorated Saint Gregory the Great in the encyclical of
March 12, 1904, and Saint Anselm in the encyclical of April 21, 1909. In these
documents We treated those points of Christian doctrine and morals found in the
example and teaching of these saints which We thought were best suited to our
times.
4. As We have already
mentioned, [10] We are of the opinion that the shining example of Christ's
soldiers has far greater value in the winning and sanctifying of souls than the
words of profound treatises. We therefore gladly take this present opportunity
to teach some very useful lessons from the consideration of the life of another
holy pastor whom God raised up in more recent times and in the midst of trials
very similar to those We are experiencing today. We refer to Saint Charles
Borromeo, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church and Archbishop of Milan, whom Paul
V, of holy memory, raised to the altar of the saints less than thirty years
after his death. The words of Our Predecessor are to the point: "The Lord
alone performs great wonders and in recent times He has accomplished marvelous
things among Us. In His wonderful dispensation He has set a great light on the
Apostolic rock when He singled Charles out of the heart of the Roman Church as
the faithful priest and good servant to be a model for the pastors and their
flock. He enlightened the whole Church from the light diffused by his holy
works. He shone forth before priests and people as innocent as Abel, pure as
Enoch, tireless as Jacob, meek as Moses, and zealous as Elias. Surrounded by
luxury, he exhibited the austerity of Jerome, the humility of Martin, the
pastoral zeal of Gregory, the liberty of Ambrose, and the charity of Paulinus.
In a word, he was a man we could see with our eyes and touch with our hands. He
trampled earthly things underfoot and lived the life of the spirit. Although
the world tried to entice him he lived crucified to the world. He constantly
sought after heavenly things, not only because he held the office of an angel
but all because even on earth he tried to think and act as an angel."[11]
5. Such are the words of
praise Our Predecessor wrote after Charles' death. Now, three centuries after
his canonization, "we can rightly rejoice on this day when We solemnly
confer, in the name of the Lord, the sacred honors on Charles, Cardinal Priest,
thereby crowning his own Spouse with a diadem of every precious stone." We
agree with Our Predecessor that the contemplation of the glory (and even more,
the example and teaching of the saints) will humiliate the enemy and throw into
confusion all those who "glory in their specious errors."[12] Saint
Charles is a model for both clergy and people in these days. He was the
unwearied advocate and defender of the true Catholic reformation, opposing
those innovators whose purpose was not the restoration, but the effacement and
destruction of faith and morals. This celebration of the third centenary of his
canonization should prove to be not only a consolation and lesson for every
Catholic but also a noble incentive for everyone to cooperate wholeheartedly in
that work so dear to Our heart of restoring all things in Christ.
6. You know very well, Venerable
Brethren, that even when surrounded by tribulation the Church still enjoys some
consolation from God. "Christ also loved the Church, and delivered himself
up for her, that he might sanctify her...in order that he might present to
himself the Church in all her glory, not having spot or wrinkle or any such
thing, but that she might be holy and without blemish."[13] When vice runs
wild, when persecution hangs heavy, when error is so cunning that it threatens
her destruction by snatching many children from her bosom (and plunges them
into the whirlpool of sin and impiety) - then, more than ever, the Church is
strengthened from above. Whether the wicked will it or not, God makes even
error aid in the triumph of Truth whose guardian and defender is the Church. He
puts corruption in the service of sanctity, whose mother and nurse is the
Church. Out of persecution He brings a more wondrous "freedom from our
enemies." For these reasons, when worldly men think they see the Church
buffeted and almost capsized in the raging storm, then she really comes forth
fairer, stronger, purer, and brighter with the lustre of distinguished virtues.
7. In such a way God's
goodness bears witness to the divinity of the Church. He makes her victorious
in that painful battle against the errors and sins that creep into her ranks.
Through this victory He verifies the words of Christ: "The gates of hell
shall not prevail against it."[14] In her day-to-day living He fulfills
the promise, "Behold, I am with you all days, even unto the consummation
of the world."[15] Finally, He is the witness of that mysterious power of
the other Paraclete (Who Christ promised would come immediately after His
ascension into heaven), who continually lavishes His gifts upon her and serves
as her defender and consoler in all her sorrows. This is the Spirit Who will
"dwell with you forever, the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot
receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him...he will dwell with you and
be in you."[16] The life and strength of the Church flows forth from this
font. As the ecumenical Vatican Council teaches, this divine power sets the
Church above every other society by those obvious notes which mark her "as
a banner raised up among the nations."[17]
8. In fact, only a
miracle of that divine power could preserve the Church, the Mystical Body of
Christ, from blemish in the holiness of Her doctrine, law, and end in the midst
of the flood of corruption and lapses of her members. Her doctrine, law and end
have produced an abundant harvest. The faith and holiness of her children have
brought forth the most salutary fruits. Here is another proof of her divine
life: in spite of a great number of pernicious opinions and great variety of
errors (as well as the vast army of rebels) the Church remains immutable and
constant, "as the pillar and foundation of truth," in professing one
identical doctrine, in receiving the same Sacraments, in her divine
constitution, government, and morality. This is all the more marvelous when one
considers that the Church not only resists evil but even "conquers evil by
doing good." She is constantly blessing friends and enemies alike. She is
continually striving and ardently desiring to bring about the social and
individual Christian restoration which is her particular mission in the world.
Moreover, even her enemies benefit from it.
9. This wonderful working
of Divine Providence in the Church's program of restoration was seen with the
greatest clarity and was given as a consolation for the good especially in the
century of Saint Charles Borromeo. In those days passions ran riot and
knowledge of the truth was almost completely twisted and confused. A continual
battle was being waged against errors. Human society, going from bad to worse,
was rushing headlong into the abyss. Then those proud and rebellious men came
on the scene who are "enemies of the cross of Christ . . .Their god is the
belly...they mind the things of earth."[18] These men were not concerned
with correcting morals, but only with denying dogmas. Thus they increased the
chaos. They dropped the reins of law, and unbridled licentiousness ran wild.
They despised the authoritative guidance of the church and pandered to the
whims of the dissolute princes and people. They tried to destroy the Church's
doctrine, constitution and discipline. they were similar to those sinners who
were warned long ago: "Woe to you that call evil good, and good
evil."[19] They called this rebellious riot and perversion of faith and
morals a reformation, and themselves reformers. In reality, they were
corrupters. In undermining the strength of Europe through wars and dissensions,
they paved the way for those modern rebellions and apostasy. This modern
warfare has united and renewed in one attack the three kinds of attack which
have up until now been separated; namely, the bloody conflicts of the first
ages, the internal pests of heresies, and finally, in the name of evangelical
liberty, the vicious corruption and perversion of discipline such as was
unknown, perhaps, even in medieval times. Yet in each of these combats the
Church has always emerged victorious.
10. God, however, brought
forth real reformers and holy men to arrest the onrushing current, to
extinguish the conflagration, and to repair the harm caused by this crowd of
seducers. Their many-sided zealous work of reforming discipline was especially
consoling to the Church since the tribulation afflicting her was so great.
Their work also proves the truth that "God is faithful and . . . with the
temptation will also give you a way out ...."[20] In these circumstances
God provided a pleasing consolation for the Church in the outstanding zeal and
sanctity of Charles Borromeo.
11. God ordained that his
ministry would be the effective and special means of checking the rebels'
boldness and teaching and inspiring the Church's children. He restrained the
former's mad extravagances by the example of his life and labor, and met their
empty charges with the most powerful eloquence. He fanned the latter's hopes
and kindled their zeal. Even from his youth he cultivated in a remarkable
manner all the virtues of the true reformer which others possessed only in
varying degrees. These virtues are fortitude, counsel, doctrine, authority,
ability, and alacrity. He put them all in the service of Catholic truth against
the attacks of error (which is precisely the mission of the Church). He revived
the faith that had either become dormant or almost extinct in many by
strengthening it with many wise laws and practices. He restored that discipline
which had been overthrown by bringing the morals of clergy and people alike
back to the ideals of Christian living. In executing all the duties of a
reformer he also fulfilled the functions of the "good and faithful
servant." Later he performed the works of the high priest who
"pleased God in his days and was found just." He is, therefore, a
worthy example for both clergy and laity, rich and poor. He can be numbered
among those whose excellence as a bishop and prelate is eulogized by the
Apostle Peter when he says that he became "from the heart a pattern to the
flock."[21] Even before the age of twenty- three and although elevated to
the highest honors and entrusted with very important and difficult
ecclesiastical matters, Charles made truly wonderful daily progress in the
practice of virtue through the contemplation of divine things. This sacred
retirement perfected him, prepared him for later days, and caused him to shine
forth as "a spectacle to the world, and angels, and men."
12. Then (again borrowing
the words of Our Predecessor, Paul V), the Lord began to work His wonders in
Charles. He filled him with a wisdom, justice, and burning zeal for promoting
His glory and the Catholic cause. Above all, the Lord filled him with a great
concern for restoring the faith in the Church universal according to the
decrees of the renowned Council of Trent. That Pontiff himself, as well as all
future generations, attributed the success of the Council to Charles, since
even before carrying its decrees into action he was its most ardent promoter.
In fact, his many vigils, trials, and labors brought its work to its ultimate
completion.
13. All these things,
however, were only a preparation or sort of novitiate where he trained his
heart in piety, his mind in study, and his body in work (always remaining a
modest and humble youth) for that life in which he would be as clay in the
hands of God and His Vicar on earth. The innovators of that time despised just
that kind of life of preparation. The same folly leads the modern innovators also
to spurn it. They fail to see that God's wondrous works are matured in the
obscurity and silence of a soul dedicated to obedience and contemplation. They
cannot see that just as the hope of the harvest lies in the sowing, so this
preparation is the germ of future progress.
14. As We have already
hinted, this sanctity and industry prepared under such conditions in due time
came to produce a truly marvelous fruit. When Charles, "good laborer that
he was left the convenience and splendor of the city for the field (Milan) he
was to cultivate, he discharged his duties better and better from day to day.
Although the wickedness of the time had caused that field to become overrun
with weeds and rank growths, he restored it to its pristine beauty. In time the
Milanese Church became an example of ecclesiastical discipline."[22] He
effected all these outstanding results in his work of reformation by adopting
the rules the Council of Trent had only recently promulgated.
15. The Church knows very
well that "the imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to
evil."[23] Therefore she wages continual battle against vice and error
"in order that the body of sin may be destroyed, that we may no longer be
slaves to sin."[24] Since she is her own mistress and is guided by the
grace which "is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit," she
is directed in this conflict in thought and action by the Doctor of the
Gentiles, who says, "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind...And be not
conformed to this world, but be transformed in the newness of your mind, that
you may discern what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of
God."[25] The true son of the Church and reformer never thinks he has
attained his goal. Rather, with the Apostle, he acknowledges that he is only
striving for it: "Forgetting what is behind, I strain forward to what is
before, I press on towards the goal, to the prize of God's heavenly call in
Christ Jesus."[26]
16. Through our union
with Christ in the Church we grow up "in all things in him who is the head,
Christ. For from him the whole body...derives its increase to the building up
for itself in love...."[27] For that reason Mother Church daily fulfills
the mystery of the Divine Will which is "to be dispensed in the fullness
of the times: to re-establish all things in Christ."[28]
17. The reformers that
Borromeo opposed did not even think of this. They tried to reform faith and
discipline according to their own whims. Venerable Brethren, it is no better
understood by those whom We must withstand today. These moderns, forever
prattling about culture and civilization, are undermining the Church's
doctrine, laws, and practices. They are not concerned very much about culture
and civilization. By using such high-sounding words they think they can conceal
the wickedness of their schemes.
18. All of you know their
purpose, subterfuges, and methods. On Our part We have denounced and condemned
their scheming. They are proposing a universal apostasy even worse than the one
that threatened the age of Charles. It is worse, We say, because it stealthily
creeps into the very veins of the Church, hides there, and cunningly pushes
erroneous principles to their ultimate conclusions.
19. Both these heresies
are fathered by the "enemy" who "sowed weeds among the
wheat"[29] in order to bring about the downfall of mankind. Both revolts
go about in the hidden ways of darkness, develop along the same line, and come
to an end in the same fatal way. In the past the first apostasy turned where
fortune seemed to smile. It set rulers against people or people against rulers
only to lead both classes to destruction. Today this modern apostasy stirs up
hatred between the poor and the rich until, dissatisfied with their station,
they gradually fall into such wretched ways that they must pay the fine imposed
on those who, absorbed in worldly, temporal things, forget "the kingdom of
God and His justice." As a matter of fact, this present conflict is even
more serious than the others. Although the wild innovators of former times generally
preserved some fragments of the treasury of revealed doctrine, these moderns
act as if they will not rest until they completely destroy it. When the
foundations of religion are overthrown, the restraints of civil society are
also necessarily shattered. Behold the sad spectacle of our times! Behold the
impending danger of the future! However, it is no danger to the Church, for the
divine promise leaves no room for doubt. Rather, this revolution threatens the
family and nations, especially those who actively stir up or indifferently
tolerate this unhealthy atmosphere of irreligion.
20. This impious and
foolish war is waged and sometimes supported by those who should be the first
to come to Our aid. The errors appear in many forms and the enticements of vice
wear different dresses. Both cause many even among our own ranks to be
ensnared, seducing them by the appearance of novelty and doctrine, or the
illusion that the Church will accept the maxims of the age. Venerable Brethren,
you are well aware that we must vigorously resist and repel the enemy's attacks
with the very weapons Borromeo used in his day.
21. Since they attack the
very root of faith either by openly denying, hypocritically undermining, or
misrepresenting revealed doctrine, we should above all recall the truth Charles
often taught. "The primary and most important duty of pastors is to guard
everything pertaining to the integral and inviolate maintenance of the Catholic
Faith, the faith which the Holy Roman Church professes and teaches, without which
it is impossible to please God."[30] Again: "In this matter no
diligence can be too great to fulfill the certain demands of our
office."[31] We must therefore use sound doctrine to withstand "the
leaven of heretical depravity," which if not repressed, will corrupt the
whole. That is to say, we must oppose these erroneous opinions now deceitfully
being scattered abroad, which, when taken all together, are called Modernism.
With Charles we must be mindful "of the supreme zeal and excelling
diligence which the bishop must exercise in combating the crime of
heresy."[32]
22. We need not mention
the Saint's other words (echoing the sanctions and penalties decreed by the
Roman Pontiffs) against those prelates who are negligent or remiss in purging
the evil heresy out of their dioceses. It is fitting, however, to meditate on
the conclusions he draws from these papal decrees. "Above everything
else," he says, "the Bishop must be eternally on guard and
continually vigilant in preventing the contagious disease of heresy from
entering among his flock and removing even the faintest suspicion of it from
the fold. If it should happen to enter (the Lord forbid!), he must use every
means at his command to expel it immediately. Moreover, he must see to it that
those infected or suspected be treated according to the pontifical canons and
sanctions."[33]
23. Liberation or
immunity from this disease of heresy is possible only when the clergy are
properly instructed, since "faith. . . depends on hearing, and hearing on
the word of Christ."[34] Today we must heed the words of truth. We see
this poison penetrating through all the veins of the State (from sources where
it would be the least expected) to such an extent that the causes are the same
as those Charles records in the following words: "If those who associate
with heretics are not firmly rooted in the Faith there is reason to fear that
they will easily be seduced by the heretics into the trap of impiety and false
doctrine."[35] Nowadays facility in travel and communication has proven
just as advantageous for error as for other things. We are living in a perverse
society of unbridled license of passions in which "there is no truth...and
there is no knowledge of God,"[36] in "all the land made desolate,
because there is none that considereth in the heart."[37] For that reason,
borrowing the words of Charles, "we have already emphasized the importance
of having all the faithful of Christ well instructed in the rudiments of
Christian doctrine"[38] and have written a special encyclical letter on
that extremely important subject.[39] However, We do not wish to repeat the
lamentation Borromeo was moved to utter because of his burning zeal, namely,
that "up until now We have received very little success in a matter of
such importance." Rather, moved like him "by the enormity and danger
of the task," We would once again urge everyone to make Charles his model
of zeal so that he will contribute in this work of Christian restoration
according to his position and ability. Fathers and employers should recall how
the holy Bishop frequently and fervently taught that they should not only
afford the opportunity but even consider it their duty to see that their
children, servants, and employees study Christian doctrine. Clerics should
remember that they must assist the parish priests in the teaching of Christian
doctrine. Parish priests should erect as many schools for this same purpose as
the number and needs of the people demand. They should further take care that
they have upright teachers, who will be assisted by men and women of good
morals according to the manner the holy Archbishop Milan prescribed.[40]
24. Obviously the need of
this Christian instruction is accentuated by the decline of our times and
morals. It is even more demanded by the existence of those public schools,
lacking all religion, where everything holy is ridiculed and scorned. There both
teachers' lips and students' ears are inclined to godlessness. We are referring
to those schools which are unjustly called neutral or lay. In reality, they are
nothing more than the stronghold of the powers of darkness. You have already,
Venerable Brethren, fearlessly condemned this new trick of mocking liberty
especially in those countries where the rights of religion and the family have
been disgracefully ignored and the voice of nature (which demands respect for
the faith and innocence of youth) has been stifled. Firmly resolved to spare no
effort in remedying this evil caused by those who expect others to obey them
(although they refuse to obey the Supreme Master of all things themselves), We
have recommended that schools of Christian doctrine be erected in those cities
where it is possible. Thanks to your efforts, this work has already made good
progress. It is, however, very much to be desired that this work spread even
more widely, with many such religious schools established everywhere and
teachers of sound doctrine and good morals provided.
25. The preacher (whose
duty is closely allied to the teacher of the fundamentals of religion) should
also have the same qualities of sound doctrine and good morals. For that
reason, when drawing up the statutes of the provincial and diocesan synods,
Charles was most careful to provide preachers full of zeal and holiness to
exercise "the ministry of the word." We are convinced that this care
is even more urgent in our times when so many men are wavering in the Faith and
some vain-glorious men, filled with the spirit of the age, "adulterate the
word of God" and deprive the faithful of the food of life.
26. We must spare no
pains, Venerable Brethren, in seeing that the flock does not feed on this air
of foolish empty-headed men. Rather, it should be nourished with the
life-giving food of "the ministers of the word." These can truly say,
"On behalf of Christ...we are acting as ambassadors, God, as it were,
appealing through us...be reconciled to God...we avoid unscrupulous conduct, we
do not corrupt the word of God; but making known the truth, we commend
ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God..." We are workmen
"that cannot be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."[41]
Those very holy and fruitful rules the Bishop of Milan frequently laid down for
his people have a similar value for us. They can best be summarized in these
words of Saint Paul: "When you heard and received from us the word of God,
you welcomed it not as the word of man, but, as it truly is, the word of God,
who works in you who have believed."[42]
27. "The word of God
is living and efficient and keener than any two-edged sword."[43] It will
not only preserve and defend the faith but also effectively motivate us to do
good works since "faith...without works is dead."[44] "For it is
not they who hear the Law that are just in the sight of God; but it is they who
follow the Law that will be justified."[45]
28. Now in this also we
see the immense difference between true and false reform. The advocates of
false reform, imitating the fickleness of the foolish, generally rush into
extremes. They either emphasize faith to such an extent that they neglect good
works or they canonize nature with the excellence of virtue while overlooking
the assistance of faith and divine grace. As a matter of fact, however, merely
naturally good acts are only a counterfeit of virtue since they are neither
permanent nor sufficient for salvation. The work of this kind of a reformer
cannot restore discipline. On the contrary, it ruins faith and morals.
29. On the other hand,
the sincere and zealous reformer will; like Charles, avoid extremes and never
overstep the bounds of true reform. He will always be united in the closest
bonds with the Church and Christ, her Head. There he will find not only
strength for his interior life but also the directives he needs in order to
carry out his work of healing human society. The function of this divine
mission, which has from time immemorial been handed down to the ambassadors of
Christ, is to "make disciples of all nations" both the things they
are to believe as well as the things they are to do since Christ Himself said,
"Observe all that I have commanded you."[46] He is "the way, and
the truth, and the life,"[47] coming into the world that man "may
have life, and have it more abundantly."[48] The fulfillment of these
duties, however, far surpasses man's natural powers. The Church alone possesses
together with her magisterium the power of governing and sanctifying human
society. Through her ministers and servants (each in his own station and
office), she confers on mankind suitable and necessary means of salvation.
True reformers understand
this very clearly. They do not kill the blossom in saving the root. That is to
say, they do not divorce faith from holiness. They rather cultivate both of
them, enkindling them with the fire of charity, "which is the bond of
perfection."[49] In obedience to the Apostle, they "keep the
deposit."[50] They neither obscure nor dim its light before the nations,
but spread far and wide the most saving waters of truth and life welling up
from that spring. They combine theory and practice. By the former they are
prepared to withstand the "masquerading of error" and by the latter
they apply the commandments to moral activity. In such a way they employ all
the suitable and necessary means for attaining the end, namely, the wiping out
of sin and the perfecting "the saints for a work of ministry, for building
up the body of Christ."[51] This is the purpose of every kind of
instruction, government, and munificence. In a word, this is the ultimate
purpose of every discipline and action of the Church. When the true son of the
church sets out to reform himself and others, he fixes his eyes and heart on
matters of faith and morals. On just such matters Borromeo based his
reformation of ecclesiastical discipline. Thus he often referred to them in his
writings, as, for example, when he says, "Following the ancient custom of
the holy Fathers and sacred Councils, especially the ecumenical Synod of Trent,
we have decreed many regulations on these very matters in our preceding
provincial Councils."[52] In the same way, when providing for the
suppression of public scandals, he declares that he is following "both the
law and sacred sanctions of the sacred canons, and especially the decrees of
the Council of Trent."[53]
30. However, he did not
stop at that. In order to assure as much as possible that he would never depart
from this rule, he customarily concluded the statutes of his provincial Synods
with the following words: "We are always prepared to submit everything we
have done and decreed in this provincial Synod to the authority and judgment of
the Roman Church, the Mother and Mistress of all the churches."[54] The
more quickly he advanced in the perfection of the active ministry the more
firmly was he rooted in this resolve, not only when the Chair of Peter was
occupied by his uncle, but also during the Pontificates of his successors, Pius
V and Gregory XIII. He wielded his influence in having these latter elected; he
was tireless in supporting their great endeavors; and he fulfilled in a perfect
manner whatever they expected of him.
31. Moreover, he seconded
every one of their acts with the practical means needed to realize the end in
view, namely, the real reform of sacred discipline. In this respect also he
proved that in no wise he resembled those false reformers who concealed their
obstinate disobedience under the cloak of zeal. He began "the
judgment...with the household of God."[55] He first of all restored
discipline among the clergy by making them conform to certain definite laws.
With this same end in view he built seminaries, founded a congregation of
priests known as the Oblates, unified both the ancient and modern religious
families, and convoked Councils. By these and other provisions he assured and
developed the work of reform. Then he immediately set a vigorous hand to the
work of reforming the morals of the people. He considered the words spoken to
the Prophet as addressed to himself; "Lo, I have set thee this day...to
root up and to pull down, and to waste and to destroy, and to build and to
plant."[56] Good shepherd that he was, he personally set out on wearisome
visitation of the churches of the province. Like the Divine Master "he
went about doing good and healing." He spared no efforts in suppressing
and uprooting the abuses he met everywhere either because of ignorance or
neglect of the laws. He checked the rampant perversion of ideas and corruption
of morals by founding schools for the children and colleges for youth. After
seeing their early beginnings in Rome, he promoted the Marian societies. He
founded orphanages for the fatherless, shelters for girls in danger, widows,
mendicants, and men and women made destitute by sickness or old age. He opened
institutions to protect the poor against tyrannical masters, usurers, and the
enslavement of children. He accomplished all these things by completely
ignoring the methods of those who think human society can be restored only by
utter destruction, revolution, and noisy slogans. Such persons have forgotten
the divine words: "The Lord is not in the earthquake."[57]
32. Here is another
difference between true and false reformers which you, Venerable Brethren, have
often encountered. The latter "seek their own interests, not those of
Jesus Christ."[58] They listen to the deceitful invitation once addressed
to the Divine Master, "Manifest thyself to the world."[59] They
repeat the ambitious words, "Let us also get us a name" and in their
rashness (which We unfortunately have to deplore in these days) "some
priests fell in battle, while desiring to do manfully, they went out
unadvisedly to fight."[60]
33. On the other hand,
the true reformer "seeks not his own glory, but the glory of the one who
sent him."[61] Like Christ, his Model, "he will not wrangle, nor cry
aloud, neither will anyone hear his voice in the streets...He shall not be sad
nor troublesome"[62] but he shall be "meek and humble of heart."[63]
For that reason he will please the Lord and bring forth abundant fruit for
salvation.
34. They are
distinguished one from the other in yet another way. The false reformer
"trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm."[64] The true reformer
places his trust in God and seeks His supernatural aid for all his strength and
virtue, making his own the Apostle's words: "I can do all things in him
who strengthens me."[65]
35. Christ lavishly
communicates these aids, among which are especially prayer, sacrifice and the
Sacraments, which "become...a fountain of water, springing up into life
everlasting."[66] Since the Church has been endowed with them for the
salvation of all men, the faithful man will look for them in her. False
reformers, however, despise these means. They make the road crooked and, so
wrapped up in reforming that they forget God, they are always trying to make
these crystal springs so cloudy or arid that the flock of Christ will be
deprived of their waters. In this respect the false reformers of former days
are even surpassed by their modern followers. These latter, wearing the mask of
religiosity, discredit and despise these means of salvation, especially the two
Sacraments which cleanse the penitent soul from sin and feed it with celestial
food. Let every faithful pastor, therefore, employ the utmost zeal in seeing
that the benefits of such great value be held in the highest esteem. Let them
never permit these two works of divine love to grow cold in the hearts of men.
36. Borromeo conducted
himself in precisely that way. Thus we read in his writings: "Since the
fruit of the Sacraments is so abundantly effective, its value can be explained
with no little difficulty. They should, therefore, be treated and received with
the greatest preparation, deepest reverence, and external pomp and
ceremony."[67] His exhortations (which We have also made in Our decree,
Tridentina Synodus[68]) to pastors and preachers concerning the ancient
practice of frequent Holy Communion is most worthy of notice. "Pastors and
preachers," the holy Bishop writes, "should take every possible
opportunity to urge the people to cultivate the practice of frequently
receiving Holy Communion. In this they are following the example of the early
Church, the recommendations of the most authoritative Fathers, the doctrine of
the Roman Catechism (which treats this matter in detail), and, finally the
teaching of the Council of Trent. The last mentioned would have the faithful
receive Communion in every Mass, not only spiritually but
sacramentally."[69] He describes the intention and affection one should
have in approaching the Sacred Banquet in the following words: "The people
should not only be urged to receive Holy Communion frequently, but also how
dangerous and fatal it would be to approach the Sacred Table of Divine Food
unworthily."[70] It would seem that our days of wavering faith and
coldness need this same fervor in a special way so that frequent reception of
Holy Communion will not be accompanied by a decrease in reverence toward this
great mystery. On the contrary, by this frequency a man should "prove
himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the cup."[71]
37. An abundant stream of
grace will flow from these fonts, strengthening and nourishing even natural and
human means. By no means will a Christian neglect those useful and comforting
things of this life, for these also come from the hands of God, the Author of
grace and nature. In seeking and enjoying these material and physical things,
however, he will be careful not to make them the end and quasi-beatitude of
this life. He will use them rightly and temperately when he subordinates them
to the salvation of souls, according to Christ's words: "Seek first the
kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be given you besides."[72]
38. This wise evaluation
and use of means is not in the least opposed to the happiness of that inferior
ordering of means in civil society. On the contrary, the former promotes the
latter's welfare - not, of course, by the foolish prattle of quarrelsome
reformers, but by acts and heroic efforts, even to the extent of sacrificing
property, power, and life itself. We have many examples of this fortitude
during the Church's worst days in the lives of many bishops who, equaling
Charles' zeal, put into practice the Divine Master's words: "The good
shepherd lays down his life for his sheep."[73] Neither vainglory, party
spirit, nor private interest is their motive. They are moved to spend
themselves for the common good by that charity "which never fails." This
flame of love cannot be seen by the eyes of the world. It so enkindled
Borromeo, however, that, after endangering his own life in caring for the
victims of the plague, he did not rest with merely warding off present evils
but began to provide for the dangers the future might have in store. "It
is no more than right that a good and loving father will provide for his
children's future as well as their present by setting aside the necessities of
life for them. In virtue of our duty of paternal love, we are also prudently
providing for the faithful of our province by setting aside those aids for the
future which the experience of the plague has taught us are most
effective."[74]
39. These same loving
plans and considerations can be put into practice, Venerable Brethren, in that
Catholic Action We have so often recommended. The leaders of the people are
called to engage in this very noble apostolate which includes all the works of
mercy[75] which will be prepared and ready to sacrifice all they have and are for
the cause. They must bear envy, contradiction, and even the hatred of many who
will repay their labors with ingratitude. They must conduct themselves as
"good soldiers of Jesus Christ."[76] They must "run with
patience to the fight set before us; looking towards the author and finisher of
faith, Jesus Christ."[77] Without a doubt, this is a very difficult
contest. Nevertheless, even though a total victory will be slow in coming, it
is a contest that serves the welfare of civil society in a most worthy manner.
40. In this work we have
the splendid example of Saint Charles. From his example each one of us can find
much for imitation and consolation. Even though his outstanding virtue, his
marvelous activity, his never failing charity commanded much respect, he was
nonetheless subject to that law which reads, "All who want to live piously
in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution."[78] His austere life, his
defense of righteousness and honesty, his protection of law and justice only
led to his being hated by rulers and tricked by diplomats and, later,
distrusted by the nobility, clergy and people until he was eventually so hated
by wicked men that they sought his very life. In spite of his mild and gentle
disposition he withstood all these attacks with unflinching courage.
41. He yielded no ground
on any matter that would endanger faith and morals. He admitted no claim (even
if it was made by a powerful monarch who was always a Catholic) that was either
contrary to discipline or burdensome to the faithful. He was always mindful of
Christ's words: "Render...to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to
God the things that are God's."[79] He never forgot the Apostles'
declaration: "We must obey God rather than men."[80] Thus he was
religion's and society's chief benefactor. In his time civil society was paying
the price of almost certain destruction because of its worldly prudence. It was
practically shipwrecked in the seditious storms it had stirred up.
42. The Catholics of our
days, together with their leaders, the Bishops, will deserve the same praise
and gratitude as Charles as long as they are faithful to their duties of good
citizenship. They must be as faithful in their loyalty and respect to
"wicked rulers" when their commands are just, as they are adamant in resisting
their commands when unjust. They must remain as far from the impious rebellion
of those who advocate sedition and revolt as they are from the subservience of
those who accept as sacred the obviously wicked laws of perverse men. These
last mentioned wicked men uproot everything in the name of a deceitful liberty,
and then oppress their subjects with the most abject tyranny.
43. This is precisely
what is happening today in the sight of the whole world and in the broad light
of modern civilization. Especially is this the case in some countries where
"the powers of darkness" seem to have made their headquarters. This
domineering tyranny has suppressed all the rights of the Church's children.
These rulers' hearts have been closed to all feelings of generosity, courtesy,
and faith which their ancestors, who gloried in the name of Christians,
manifested for so long a time. It is obvious that everything quickly lapses
back into the ancient barbarism of license whenever God and the Church are
hated. It would be more correct to say that everything falls under that most
cruel yoke from which only the family of Christ and the education it introduced
has freed us. Borromeo expressed the same thought in the following words:
"It is a certain, well- established fact that no other crime so seriously
offends God and provokes His greatest wrath as the vice of heresy. Nothing
contributes more to the down fall of provinces and kingdoms than this frightful
pest."[81] Although the enemies of the Church completely disagree among
themselves in thought and action (which is a sure indication of error), they
are nevertheless united in their obstinate attacks against truth and justice.
Since the Church is the guardian and defender of both these virtues, they close
their ranks in a unified attack against her. Of course, they loudly proclaim
(as is the custom) their impartiality and firmly maintain they are only
promoting the cause of peace. In reality, however, their soft words and avowed
intentions are only the traps they are laying, thus adding insult to injury,
treason to violence. From this it should be evident that a new kind of warfare
is now being waged against Christianity. Without a doubt it is far more
dangerous than those former conflicts which crowned Borromeo with such glory.
44. His example and
teaching will do much to help us wage a valiant battle on behalf of the noble
cause which will save the individual and society, faith, religion, and the
inviolability of public order. Our combat, it is true, will be spurred on by bitter
necessity. At the same time, however, we will be encouraged by the hope that
the omnipotent God will hasten the victory for the sake of those who wage so
glorious a contest. This hope increases through the fruitfulness of the work of
Saint Charles even down to our own times. His work humbles the proud and
strengthens us in the holy resolve to restore all things in Christ.
45. We can now conclude,
Venerable Brethren, with the same words with which Our Predecessor, Paul V
(whom We already mentioned several times), concluded the letter conferring the
highest honors on Charles. "In the meantime," he wrote, "it is
only right that we return honor, glory, and benediction to Him Who lives for
all ages, for He blessed Our fellow servant with every spiritual gift in order
to make him holy and spotless in His sight. The Lord gave him to us as a star
shining in the darkness of these sins which are Our affliction. Let us beseech
the Divine Goodness both in word and deed to let Charles now assist by his
patronage the Church he loved so ardently and aided so greatly by his merits
and example, thus making peace for us in the day of wrath, through Christ Our
Lord."[82]
46. May the fulfillment
of our mutual hope be granted through this prayer. As a token of that fulfillment,
Venerable Brethren, from the depth of Our heart We impart to you and the clergy
and people committed to your care, the Apostolic Blessing.
Given at Saint Peter's,
Rome, on May 26, 1910, in the seventh year of Our Pontificate.
PIUS X
1. Cf. Ps. 111:7; Prov.
10:7, Heb. 11:4.
2. Rom. 8: 11.
3. Rom. 8:28.
4. I Cor. 4:16.
5. Cf. E Supremi.
6. Heb. 3:1; 12:2.
7. Cf. Ad diem illum.
8. Heb. 11:33.
9. Eph. 4:11 ff
10. Cf. encyclical E
Supremi Apostolatus.
11. Paul V, Papal bull of
November 15, 1610, Unigenitus.
12. Ibid.
13. Eph. 5:25 ff.
14. Matt. 16:18.
15. Matt. 28:20.
16. John 14:16 ff., 26,
59; 16:7 ff.
17. Sessio III, c. 3.
18. Phil. 3:18-19.
19. Is. 5:20.
20. I Cor. 10:13.
21. I Pet. 5:3.
22. Paul V, Papal bull Unigenitus.
23. Gen. 8:21.
24. Rom. 6:6.
25. Eph. 4:23; Rom. 12:2.
26. Phil. 3:13-14.
27. Eph. 4:15-16.
28. Eph. 1:10.
29. Matt. 13:25.
30. Conc. Prov. I, sub
initium.
31. Conc. Prov. V, Pars I.
32. Ibid.
33. Conc. Prov. V, Pars
I.
34. Rom. 10:17.
35. Conc. Prov. V, Pars
I.
36. Osee 4:1.
37. Jer. 12:11.
38. Conc. Prov. V, Pars I.
39. Cf. Acerbo nimis.
40. Conc. Prov. V, Pars
I.
41. II Cor. 5:20; 4:2; II
Tim. 2:15.
42. I Thess. 2:13.
43. Heb. 4:12.
44. James 2:26.
45. Rom. 2:13.
46. Matt. 28:18, 20.
47. John 14:6.
48. John 10:10.
49. Col. 3:14.
50. I Tim. 4:20.
51. Eph. 4:12.
52. Conc. Prov. V, Pars I.
53. Ibid.
54. Conc. Prov. VI, sub
finem.
55. I Pet. 4:17.
56. Jer. 1:10.
57. III Kings 19:11.
58. Phil. 2:21.
59. John 7:4.
60. I Mac. 5:57, 67.
61. Cf. John 7:18.
62. Matt. 12:19; Is. 42:2
ff.
63. Matt. 11:29.
64. Jer. 17:5.
65. Phil. 4:13.
66. John 4:14.
67. Conc. Prov. I, Pars
II.
68. December 20, 1905.
69. Conc. Prov. III, Pars
I.
70. Conc. Prov. IV, Pars
II.
71 . I Cor. 11:28.
72. Matt. 6:33; Luke
12:31.
73. John 10:11.
74. Conc. Prov. V, Pars
II.
75. Cf. Matt. 25:34 ff.
76. II Tim. 2:3.
77. Heb. 12:1-2.
78. II Tim . 3:12.
79. Matt. 22:21.
80. Acts 5:29.
81. Conc. Prov. V, Pars
I.
82. Paul V, Papal bull Unigenitus.
Copyright © Dicastery for
Communication
SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_26051910_editae-saepe.html
November 4
St. Charles
Borromeo, Cardinal, Archbishop of Milan, Confessor
His life was originally and accurately written by
three eminent persons, who had all had the happiness of living some time with
him; by two in Latin, Austin Valerio, afterwards cardinal and bishop of Veronâ,
and Charles Bascapè, or a Basilicâ S. Petri, general of the Barnabites,
afterwards bishop of Novara; and more in detail in Italian, by Peter Giussano,
a priest of the Congregation of the Oblates at Milan. Many others have since
compiled lives of this saint, principally Ripamont, (who, in his history of
Milan, employs eight books chiefly about St. Charles.) Ciaconius speaks of him,
(In vitis Pontif. et Cardin. t. 3, p. 891,) and the eloquent Godeau, bishop of
Vence, who wrote the life of this saint at the request of the French clergy, to
whom he dedicated that performance, which is less useful than that of Giussano,
because the history of public transactions leaves too little room for a just
detail of the saint’s private actions and virtues, in which his spirit chiefly
shines. See also Vagliano, Sommario delle vite degli arcivescovi di Milano. (In
Milano, an. 1715, c. 126, p. 340.) And his life by John Baptist, Possevini,
priest of Mantua. Likewise Lettera di Agata Sfondrata, priora di S. Paolo in
Milano alla priora de Angeliche di S. Marta di Cremona, per la morte di San
Carlo. Inter sermones S. Caroli per Saxium, t. 5, p. 292. Lades S. Carolo
tributæ, ib. p. 299. And Oltrocchi, Not. in Giuss. printed at Milan, 1751.
A.D. 1584.
ST. CHARLES BORROMEO, the model of
pastors, and the reformer of ecclesiastical discipline in these degenerate
ages, was son of Gilbert Borromeo, count of Arona, and his lady, Margaret of
Medicis, sister to John James of Medicis, marquis of Marignan, and of Cardinal
John Angelus of Medicis, afterwards Pope Pius IV. The family of Borromeo is one
of the most ancient in Lombardy, and has been famous for several great men,
both in the church and state. The saint’s parents were remarkable for their
discretion and piety. Count Gilbert behaved in such a manner in the wars
between the French and Spaniards in Lombardy, as to preserve the favour of both
courts; and the Emperor Charles V., when he was left in quiet possession of the
duchy of Milan, made him senator of the city, and colonel, and honoured him
with other considerable posts. The count was so pious that he communicated
every Sunday, said every day the office of the church on his knees, and often
shut himself up for many hours together, in a little retired chapel which he
made in the castle of Arona, where, covered with sackcloth, in the habit of a
penitent, he spent a considerable part of his time alone at his devotions. By
much praying his knees became hard and brawny. He was a tender father to all
his tenants and vassals, took care of all orphans, and was so charitable that
his friends often told him he injured his children. To whom he made answer: “If
I have care of the poor, God will have care of my children.” It was a custom
with him never to take any meal without first giving some alms. His
abstemiousness and rigorous fasts were not less remarkable than his charities.
The countess was, by her pious deportment, a living rule to all the ladies in
Milan, and to cut off all dangerous visits, scarcely ever went out of doors but
to some church or monastery. Their family consisted of six children, Count
Frederick, who afterwards married the sister of the Duke of Urbino, and our
saint, and four daughters: Isabel, who became a nun in the monastery called of
the Virgins, in Milan; Camilla, married to Cæsar Gonzaga, prince of Malfetto;
Jeronima, married to Fabricio Gesualdi, eldest son to the Prince of Venosa; and
Anne, married to Fabricio, eldest sort of Mark-Antony Colonna, a Roman prince,
and viceroy of Sicily. All these children were very virtuous: Anne, though
engaged in the world, imitated all the religious exercises and austerities of
her brother Charles, prayed many hours together with a recollection that
astonished every one; and in order to increase the fund of her excessive
charities, retrenched every superfluous expense in her table, clothes, and
house-keeping. By her virtue and the saintly education of her children, she was
the admiration of all Italy and Sicily, and died at Palermo in 1582
St. Charles was born on the 2nd of October, in 1538,
in the castle of Arona, upon the borders of Lake-Major, 1 fourteen
miles from Milan. The saint in his infancy gave proofs of his future sanctity,
loved prayer, was from the beginning very diligent in his studies; and it was
his usual amusement to build little chapels, adorn altars, and sing the divine
office. By his happy inclination to piety and love of ecclesiastical functions,
his parents judged him to be designed by God for the clerical state, and
initiated him in it as soon as his age would allow him to receive the tonsure.
This destination was the saint’s earnest choice; and though by the canons he
was not yet capable of taking upon him an irrevocable obligation, both he and
his father were far from the sacrilegious abuse of those who determine their
children, or make choice of the inheritance of Christ, with a view merely to
temporal interest, or the convenience of their family. Charles was careful,
even in his childhood, that the gravity of his dress and his whole conduct
should be such as became the sanctity of his profession. When he was twelve
years old, his uncle, Julius Cæsar Borromeo, resigned to him the rich
Benedictin abbey of SS. Gratinian and Felin, martyrs, in the territory of
Arona, which had been long enjoyed by some clergymen of that family in
commendam. St. Charles, as young as he was, put his father in mind, that the
revenue, except what was expended on his necessary education at his studies,
for the service of the church, was the patrimony of the poor, and could not be
applied to any other uses, or blended with his other money. The father wept for
joy at the pious solicitude of the child; and though during his son’s non-age
the administration of the revenues was committed to him, he gave this up to the
young saint that he might himself dispose of the overplus in alms; which he did
with the most scrupulous fidelity in his accounts. St. Charles learned Latin
and humanity at Milan, and was afterwards sent by his father to the university
of Pavia, where he studied the civil and canon law under Francis Alciat, the
eminent civilian, who was afterwards promoted, by St.Charles’s interest, to the
dignity of cardinal, and who had then succeeded in the professorship to Andrew
Alciat, whom De Thou commends for banishing barbarism of style out of the
schools and writings of lawyers. In a judicious course of the canon law,
the articles of our holy faith and the condemnation of heresies are expounded,
and often a fuller resolution of practical cases, and of Christian duties,
enforced, not only from the canons, but also from scriptures, tradition, and
the law of nature or reason, than is found in courses of moral theology; and
this study, which presupposes some acquaintance with the civil or imperial law,
is of great importance for the care of souls, especially in the chief pastors.
St. Charles, though on account of an impediment in his speech, and his love of
silence, was by some esteemed slow, yet by the soundness of his judgment, and a
diligent application, made good progress in it; and the prudence, piety, and
strictness of his conduct rendered him a model of the youth in the university,
and proof against evil company, and all other dangers which he watchfully
shunned. Such was the corruption of that place that several snares were laid
for his virtue; but prayer and retirement were his arms against all assaults,
and the grace of God carried him through difficulties which seemed almost
insurmountable. He communicated every eight days, after the example of his
father; and shunned all connexions or visits which could interrupt his regular
exercises, or hours of retirement: yet was he very obliging to all who desired
to speak to him. His father’s death brought him to Milan in 1558; but when he
had settled the affairs of his family with surprising prudence and address, he
went back to Pavia, and after completing his studies took the degree of doctor
in the laws towards the end of the year 1559.
A little before this, his uncle, the cardinal of
Medicis, resigned to him another abbey and priory; but the saint made no
addition to his private expenses, so that the poor were the only gainers by
this increase of his fortune. It was only with a view to the foundation of a
college at Pavia that he accepted these benefices. When he had taken the degree
of doctor he returned to Milan, where he soon after received news that his
uncle, the cardinal of Medicis, by whom he was tenderly beloved, was chosen
pope on the 25th of December, in 1559, in the conclave held after the death of
Paul IV. The new pope being a patrician of Milan, that city made extraordinary
rejoicings, and complimented his two nephews in the most pompous and solemn
manner. St. Charles gave no signs of joy on the occasion; but only persuaded
his brother Frederic to go with him to confession and communion; which they
did. Count Frederic went to Rome to compliment his holiness; but St.
Charles staid at Milan, living in the same manner he did before, till his uncle
sent for him, and on the last day of the same year created him cardinal, and on
the 8th of February following nominated him archbishop of Milan, when he was in
the twenty-third year of his age. The pope, however, detained him at Rome,
placed him at the head of the consult or council, with power to sign in his
name all requests, and intrusted him with the entire administration of the
ecclesiastical state. St. Charles endeavoured as much as possible to decline
these posts, and absolutely refused the camerlingate, the second and most lucrative
dignity in the Roman court; but after he was made priest, he accepted the
office of grand penitentiary, wherein he was to labour for God and the people.
He was also legate of Bologna, Romaniola, and the marquisate of Ancona, and
protector of Portugal, the Low Countries, the Catholic cantons of Switzerland,
and the Orders of St. Francis, the Carmelites, the Knights of Malta, and
others. By the entire confidence which his uncle reposed in him, he may be said
to have governed the church during his pontificate; and, as he received from
him daily the most sensible tokens of the strongest and most sincere affection,
so, full of the most tender sentiments of gratitude, he constantly made him the
best return of duty, tenderness, and affection he was able; and studied by his
fidelity and diligence in all affairs to be to him a firm support, and to ease
and comfort him in all difficulties and perplexities. The sole end which he
proposed to himself in all his actions and undertakings was the glory of God,
and the good of his church: and nothing was more admirable in him than his
perfect disinterestedness, and the little regard he had for the most pressing
human considerations. For fear of ever deceiving himself, he had about him
several persons of approved wisdom and virtue, without whose advice he took no
resolution, and to whom he listened with great humility and prudence. In the
government of the ecclesiastical state he was very careful that provisions
should be every where plentiful and cheap, and that all judges and magistrates
should be persons of consummate prudence and inflexible integrity. His patience
in bearing contradictions, and hearing the complaints of persons of all ranks,
was a proof of his sincere charity. It is incredible what a multiplicity of business
he despatched without ever being in a hurry, merely by the dint of unwearied
application, by his aversion to idle amusements, and being regular and
methodical in all that he did. He always found time, in the first place, for
his devotions and sacred studies, and for conversing with himself by reflection
and pious reading. He read also some of the ancient Stoic philosophers, and
reaped much benefit from the Enchyridion of Epictetus, as he frequently
expressed. He was a great patron of learning, and promoted exceedingly all its
useful branches among the clergy; and among other establishments for this end,
having also in view to banish idleness out of the pope’s court, he instituted
in the Vatican an academy of clergymen and seculars whose conferences and
studies tended to enforce the practice of virtue, and to promote sacred
learning. 2 This
academy produced many bishops and cardinals, and one pope, who was Gregory
XIII. By the conferences which St. Charles made in this public assembly, he,
with much difficulty, overcame a natural bashfulness, and a great imperfection
in his speech when he harangued, and he acquired a habit of delivering himself
slowly and distinctly, by which he qualified himself to preach the word of God
with dignity and fruit: the object of his most earnest desires. 3 To
fashion and perfect his style he read diligently the philosophical works of
Cicero, in which he took great delight. 4
St. Charles judged it so far necessary to conform to
the custom of the court as to have a magnificent palace well furnished, to keep
a sumptuous equipage, and a table suitable to his rank, and to give
entertainments. Yet he was in his heart most perfectly disengaged from all
these things, most mortified in his senses, humble, meek, and patient in all
his conduct. Honoured and caressed by the whole Christian world, having in his
power the distribution of riches and honours, and enjoying himself whatever the
world could bestow, he considered in all this nothing but dangers; and far from
taking any delight herein, watched with trembling over his own heart lest any
subtle poison of the love of the world should insinuate itself, and in all
things sought only the establishment of the kingdom of God. Many are converted
to God by adversity; but St. Charles, in the softest gale of prosperity, by
taking a near view of the emptiness, and arming himself against the snares of
the world, became every day more and more disentangled from it, and more an
inhabitant of heaven. He sighed after the liberty of the saints, and trembled
at the sight both of the dangers, and of the obligations of his situation; he
also considered that obedience to the chief pastor fixed him for a time at a
distance from the church of Milan, the charge of which he had taken upon
himself. And though he had provided for its government and the remedying of its
disorders in the best manner he was able, by excellent regulations, by a
suffragan bishop named Jerom Ferragata, (whom he sent thither to make the
visitation and to officiate in his place,) and by a vicar-general of great
experience, learning, and piety, called Nicholas Ormanetto, (who had formerly
been grand vicar of Verona, had afterwards attended Cardinal Pole in his
legation in England, and been there his chief assistant, and after his return
would take upon him no other charge but that of a single curacy in the diocess
of Verona,) yet St. Charles considered the duty of personal service and residence,
neither did the command of the pope, by which he was obliged to attend for some
time the government of the universal church for a greater good and necessity,
make him easy.
It happened that Bartholomew de Martyribus, the most
pious and learned Archbishop of Braga, came from Trent to Rome to wait upon his
holiness. To him as to a faithful servant of God, enlightened by him, and best
able to direct others in perplexing circumstances, the saint opened his heart,
in the manner following: “For this long time I have begged of God, with all the
earnestness I am able, to enlighten me with regard to the state in which I
live. You see my condition. You know what it is to be a pope’s nephew, and a
nephew most tenderly beloved by him: nor are you ignorant what it is to live in
the court of Rome. The dangers which encompass me are infinite. I see a great
number; and there are a great many more which I do not discern. What then ought
I to do, young as I am, and without experience; and having no part or ingredient
of virtue but through the divine grace, an earnest desire of obtaining it?” The
holy cardinal proceeded to explain his difficulties and fears; then added: “God
has inspired me with a vehement ardour for penance, and an earnest desire to
prefer his fear and my salvation to all things: and I have some thoughts of
breaking my bonds, and retiring into some monastery, there to live as if there
were only God and myself in the world.” This he said with an amiable sincerity
which charmed the director; who, after a short pause, cleared all his doubts,
assuring him by solid reasons, that he ought not to quit his hold of the helm
which God put into his hands for the necessary and most important service of
the universal church, his uncle being very old; but that he ought to contrive
means to attend his own church as soon as God should open him a way to it. St.
Charles rising up embraced him, and said God had sent him thither for his sake,
and that his words had removed a heavy weight from his heart; and he begged
that God, who by his grace had shown him the station in which it was his will
that he should labour in his service, would vouchsafe to support him in it by
his divine grace. 5 The
Chrysostoms, the Austins, and the Gregories trembled at the charge of one soul,
a burden which would appear dreadful even to angels; he who does not tremble is
undone by his presumption. This fear makes the pastor humble, solicitous,
always watchful, and earnest in prayer. But this distrust of himself, is no
longer humility, but abjection and pusillanimity, if it weaken the necessary
confidence he ought to have in God, when called to undertake any thing for his
glory. He chooses the weak and the things that are not, to confound and beat
down the wise and the strong. I can do all things in him who strengthens me,
said the apostle. In the same sentiments St. Charles spared not himself, but
humbly having continual recourse to God, did wonders for the advancement of his
honour.
In November, 1562, the saint’s elder and only brother
was carried off in the bloom of life and the most flourishing fortune, by a
sudden fever. St. Charles, who had never forsaken him during his illness, bore
his death, which overwhelmed all other friends with consternation and grief
with surprising resignation; the sentiments of a lively faith being stronger in
him than those of flesh and blood. In profound recollection he adored the
decrees of Providence, and was penetrated more seriously than ever with a sense
of eternity, and of the instability of human things. All his friends, and the
pope himself, pressed him to resign his ecclesiastical dignities, and marry to
support his family; but more effectually to rid himself of their solicitations,
he made more haste to engage himself in orders, and was ordained priest before
the end of that year. The pope soon after created him grand-penitentiary, and
arch-priest of St. Mary Major. St. Charles founded at that time the noble
college of the Borromeos at Pavia, for the education of the clergy of Milan,
and obtained several bulls for the reformation of many abuses in ecclesiastical
discipline. The council of Trent, 6 which
had been often interrupted and resumed, was brought to a conclusion in 1563,
the last session being held on the 5th of December, in which the decrees of all
the former sessions under Paul III., Julius III., and Pius IV., were confirmed,
and subscribed by two hundred and fifty-five fathers; viz. four legates of the
holy see, two cardinals, three patriarchs, twenty-five archbishops, one hundred
and sixty-eight bishops, thirty-nine deputies of absent prelates, seven abbots,
and seven generals of religious Orders. Difficulties which seemed
insurmountable had been thrown in the way, sometimes by the emperor, sometimes
by the king of France, sometimes by the king of Spain, or others; and it was
owing to the unwearied zeal and prudence, and doubtless to the prayers of St.
Charles Borromeo, that they were all happily removed; who informing the
prelates and princes of his uncle’s sickness, engaged them by his pressing
solicitations to hasten the close of that venerable assembly. No sooner was it
finished but St. Charles began strenuously to enforce the execution of all its
decrees for the reformation of discipline. At his instigation, the pope pressed
earnestly all bishops to found seminaries according to the decree of the
council, and set the example by establishing such a seminary at Rome, the care
of which was committed to the Jesuits. 7 In
opposition to the new errors his holiness published, in 1564, the Creed which
bears his name, and commanded all who are preferred to ecclesiastical livings,
dignities, &c., to subscribe the same. 8 The
council had recommended to the pope 9 the
revisal of the Missal and Breviary; likewise the composition of a catechism. To
compile this last work Charles detained at Rome for some time F. Francisco
Foreiro, a very learned and pious Dominican, who had attended the council in
quality of theologian from the king of Portugal. Foreiro was assisted in this
work by Leonardus Marini, archbishop of Lanciano, and Giles Forscarari, bishop
of Modena, all three Dominicans. The work was revised by Cardinal Sirlet.
Paulus Manutius is said to have corrected the style. 10 This
is the catechism called of Trent, or the Roman, or ad Parochos; which
is recommended both by the erudition, exactness, and conciseness with which it
is written, and by the neatness and elegance of the style, as an excellent
judge and master of the Latin style observes. 11 He
says the same of the acts of the church of Milan, or St. Charles’s councils. A
barbarous and half Latin language disgraces and derogates from the dignity of
the sublime oracles of religion, which by the dress they wear, appear quite
different things, as Secretary Lucchesini elegantly shows. 12 The
Roman catechism was published in 1566. 13
St. Charles had always about him several very learned
and virtuous persons: his spiritual director in Rome was F. Ribera, a learned
Jesuit, and by his advice he regulated his retreats and devotions. He had the
greatest confidence in F. Foreiro during the year that he detained him in Rome
before he returned to Portugal; and the saint conversed much with other pious
and religious men, and was assisted by some in reviewing a course of
theological studies. He retrenched his retinue, discharging the greatest part
of his domestics, after handsomely recompensing every one of them; he neither
wore any silk, nor allowed any in his family to do it; he banished all
superfluities from his house and table, fasted once a week on bread and water,
and made every day two meditations of an hour. Full of tenderness for his
flock, he wrote every week long and most zealous and affectionate letters to
his grand-vicar, and sent some learned Jesuits thither to preach, whom he
settled in the church of St. Vitus. Ormanetto began to build a seminary,
published the council of Trent, held a diocesan synod, in which twelve hundred
persons were assembled, and made the visitation of the churches and monasteries
of the city, and part of the country. But finding it impossible to reform all
abuses, he wrote to St. Charles begging leave to return to his curacy and
representing to him that no other but himself could put things upon a proper
footing. This advice pierced the good pastor to the quick, and he renewed his
solicitations with his uncle with so much earnestness that he obtained leave to
go to Milan, but only to hold a provincial council, and make his visitation.
King Philip II. had settled upon St. Charles a yearly
pension of nine thousand crowns, and confirmed to him the gift of the
principality of Oria, which he had before bestowed on his elder brother,
Frederic. The pope before his departure created him legate a latere through
all Italy. The saint left Rome on the 1st of September, in 1565, stopped some
days at Bologna where he was legate, and was received at Milan with the utmost
joy and pomp that can be imagined, the people calling him in their acclamations
a second St. Ambrose. After having prayed a long time prostrate before the
blessed sacrament in the great church, he went to his palace, and received
visits, but made this necessary ceremony of civility as short as possible. On
Sunday he made a pathetic sermon, and soon after opened his first provincial
council, at which assisted two foreign cardinals, and eleven suffragan bishops,
among whom were Bernardin Scoti, cardinal of Trani, bishop of Placentia, Guy
Ferrier, bishop of Vercelli, (to whom St. Charles gave the cardinal’s hat in
this council, by his uncle’s deputation,) Jerom Vida, the famous bishop of
Alba, 14 and
Nicholas Sfondrat, bishop of Cremona, afterwards Pope Gregory XIV. Five
suffragan bishops (of whom two were cardinals) sent deputies, being themselves
hindered from making their appearance; the suffragan see of Ventimil was
vacant. The dignity, majesty, and piety with which this council was celebrated
by a young cardinal, only twenty-six years of age, and the excellence of its
regulations for the reception and observance of the council of Trent, for the
reformation of the clergy, the celebration of the divine office, the
administration of the sacraments, the manner of giving catechism in all parish
churches on Sundays and holydays, and many other points, surprised every one;
and the pope wrote to St. Charles a letter of congratulation. 15 When
the council was broken up, St. Charles set about the visitation of his diocess;
but went through Verona to Trent, by the pope’s orders, to receive the two
sisters of the Emperor Maximilian II., Barbara, married to Alphonsus of Esti,
duke of Ferrara, and Jane, married to Francis of Medicis, duke of Florence. The
former he attended to Ferrara, and the latter as far as Fiorenzola in Tuscany,
where he received news by an express that the pope lay dangerously ill. He
hastened to Rome, and being informed by the physicians that his uncle’s life
was despaired of, he went into his chamber, and showing him a crucifix which he
held in his hand, said to him: “Most holy father, all your desires and thoughts
ought to be turned towards heaven. Behold Jesus Christ crucified, who is the
only foundation of our hope; he is our mediator and advocate; the victim and
sacrifice for our sins. He is goodness and patience itself; his mercy is moved
by the tears of sinners, and he never refuses pardon and grace to those who ask
it with a truly contrite and humbled heart.” He then conjured his holiness to
grant him one favour, as the greatest he had ever received from him. The pope
said, any thing in his power should be granted him. “The favour which I most
earnestly beg,” said the saint, “is, that as you have but a very short time to
live, you lay aside all worldly business and thoughts, and employ your strength
and all your powers in thinking on your salvation, and in preparing yourself to
the best of your power for your last passage.” His holiness received this
tender advice with great comfort, and the cardinal gave strict orders that no
one should speak to the pope upon any other subject. He continued by his
uncle’s bed-side to his last breath, never ceasing to dispose him for death by
all the pious practices and sentiments which his charity could suggest; and
administering himself the viaticum and extreme unction. Pope Pius IV. was also
assisted in his last moments by St. Philip Neri, and died on the 10th of
December, in 1565, being sixty-six years and nine months old, and having sat
six years wanting sixteen days. His last words as he expired were: “Lord, now
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.” In the conclave, in which St.
Charles had much the greatest sway, our saint’s conduct was such as convinced
his colleagues that he had nothing but the glory of God and the good of the
church at heart, and that the most subtle passions which so often blind men in
their views, and insinuate themselves into their actions, had no place in his
heart. At first he had thoughts of preferring Cardinal Morone, whose
moderation, zeal, and experience had recommended him at Trent, or the most
pious Cardinal Sirlet; but finding obstacles raised, he concurred strenuously
to the promotion of St. Pius V., though he was a creature of the Caraffas, and
consequently esteemed no friend to his uncle and his family. The saint in his
letter to Cardinal Henry of Portugal, giving an account of this election, says,
that entering into the conclave, he had looked upon it as his principal duty
and care to watch over himself with great circumspection, and examined narrowly
his heart for fear of being seduced by any personal affection or interest which
might have any secret influence, and infect the purity of his views and
intention. St. Pius V., who was chosen on the 7th of January, in 1566, did all
in his power to engage St. Charles to stay at Rome, and accept of the same
employments which he had enjoyed under his predecessor. But the holy archbishop
feared that even to resign his church without having remedied the disorders
which had taken root in it, would have been to abandon it; and pressed his
return to his people with such zeal that the pope, after having taken his
advice for several days, dismissed him with his blessing.
St. Charles arrived at Milan in April, 1566, and went
vigorously to work for the reformation of his diocess. He began by the
regulation of his own family, considering that the task would be easier when
all he could prescribe to others was already practised at home. He laboured, in
the first place, for the most perfect sanctification of his own soul, the
episcopal character being a state of the greatest perfection and sanctity, and
was most severe towards himself. The austerities which he practised amidst the
incredible fatigues of his apostolic life seem almost excessive. His fasts were
at first moderate, that he might inure his body by degrees to greater
severities; but for a long time he continued every week to increase them out of
an earnest desire of practising every means of advancing in the path of
Christian perfection. Yet his austerities were discreet, and even at the end of
his life his strength seemed never to fail him for his functions; it seemed to
redouble through his zeal when extraordinary fatigues presented themselves, so
that he never sunk under any burden. To exclude the imperfection of secretly
seeking his own will in his austerities, (which he said was to corrupt our
penance,) he treated his body with an entire indifference, and ate either
wheat, or black bread, or chestnuts; and drank either clear, dirty, or snow
water, such as he met with where he came. For several years before his death he
fasted every day on bread and water, Sundays and holydays only excepted, on
which he took with his bread some pulse, herbs, or apples; but never touched
any flesh, fish, eggs, or wine; nor would he allow the water he drank to have
been warmed. In Lent he abstained even from bread, and lived on dried figs and
boiled beans; in Holy Week his food was only a small bitter sort of peas which
he ate raw. The whole year he never ate oftener than once a day. From a violent
cold and long sickness which he had contracted whilst he was a student at
Pavia, in the twentieth year of his age, he was for many years troubled with
phlegm, which caused frequent disorders in his health; and which no remedies
could cure, till, by this excessive abstemiousness, it was perfectly removed. Whence
it became a proverb to call a long and rigorous abstinence, “The remedy of
Cardinal Borromeo.” 16 The
archbishop of Valentia, in Spain, and F. Lewis of Granada, for whom the saint
had the highest esteem, both wrote to him in the strongest manner, insisting
that such excessive rigours were incompatible with the labours of the episcopal
charge. St. Charles answered the former, that he found the contrary by experience;
and that, as to the fatigues of the ministry, a bishop must look upon it as the
greatest happiness that could befal him if he lost his life in serving his
church, for which Christ died: therefore he ought not too nicely to spare
himself in the discharge of his functions. To F. Granada the saint answered,
that the Chrysostoms, the Spiridions, the Basils, and many other bishops of
very extensive sees, lived in the practice of perpetual watchings and fasts,
yet many of them arrived at a very advanced age. Pope Gregory XIII. commanded
him by a brief to moderate his austerities. The saint received this order after
he had passed the Lent to the last week without any other food than dried figs;
and, in compliance, mitigated some little of his intended rigours in Holy Week.
He wrote to his holiness,
declaring his readiness to obey, but assuring him that he found by experience
that a spare diet was conducive to his health. Whereupon the pope left him to
his discretion; and the same rigid life he continued to his death. St. Charles
constantly wore a rough hair shirt; took very little rest; and before great
festivals passed the whole night in watching. When others advised him to allow
more to the necessity of nature, he used to say, his uncle, John James of Medicis,
a famous captain, and many other generals only slept a short time in a chair in
the night: “and ought not a bishop who is engaged in a warfare against hell,”
said he, “to do as much?” The saint only slept sitting in a chair, or lying
down upon a rough bed in his clothes, till, at the earnest request of the
bishops of his province, he consented to alter this custom. From which time he
lay on a bed of straw, having for his pillow a sack filled with straw, without
any other covering than a poor counterpane stuffed with straw, and two coarse
sheets laid on a straw bed.
His patience in
bearing cold and all other hardships he carried to a like excess. When one
would have had a bed aired for him, he said with a smile: “The best way not to
find the bed cold is to go colder to bed than the bed is.” The bishop of Asti,
in his funeral oration, said of him: “Out of his revenues he expended nothing
for his own use except what was necessary for buying a little bread and water
for his diet, and straw for his bed. When I attended him in making a visitation
in the valley Mesolcina, a very cold country, I found him studying in the night
in a single black tattered old gown. I entreated him, if he would not perish
with cold, to put on some better garment. He answered me smiling: ‘What will
you say if I have no other? The robes which I am obliged to wear in the
day belong to the dignity of cardinal: but this garment is my own and I will
have no other either for winter or summer.’” Out of the most scrupulous love of
purity he would never suffer any servant to see his arm, or foot, or any other
part of his body that was usually covered, bare; neither would he speak to any
woman, not even to his pious aunt, or sisters, or any nun, but in sight at
least of two persons, and in as few words as possible. Seeing one of his
chaplains drink once out of meals, he severely chid him, saying: “It is better
to suffer thirst than to gratify sensuality.” His austerities are not mentioned
as imitable; yet ought to excite all to the constant practice of some
mortification, in order to keep the senses in due subjection, and to make our
lives a constant martyrdom of penance. But the essential mortification is that
of the will and the passions, to which this exterior is a great help. How
eminently St. Charles excelled herein appears by his humility, meekness, and
entire disengagement from all earthly things. So deeply was he grounded in the
knowledge and contempt of himself, that the highest honours which he enjoyed
under his uncle made no impression upon his mind; he regarded them as burdens,
and declined all except those which he was obliged to accept for the good of
the Church and the salvation of souls. In his undertakings he never suffered
any thing to be ascribed to himself but faults. At Milan he removed out of his
palace the fine sculptures, paintings, and hangings, and especially the arms of
his family, which some had put up before his arrival: nor would he suffer his
name, or the arms of his family, but only those of his bishopric, to be set up upon
any edifices which he raised. Under his robes he wore a very poor garment which
he called his own, and which was so mean, and usually so old and ragged, that
once a beggar refused to accept of it. His servants he chiefly employed in
other affairs, but did everything for himself that he could, and it was his
delight even to serve others: though he did this in such a manner as never to
do anything unbecoming his dignity, being sensible what he owed to his rank.
The least shadow of praise or flattery was most hateful to him. All
supernatural favours and interior graces and consolations which he received in
prayer, he was most careful to conceal; and he had a little cell in the garrets
of his palace at a distance from the chambers of others, to which he often
retired. He never spoke of his own actions unless to ask advice or to condemn
himself. It was an extreme pleasure to him to converse with, and to catechise
the poor, which he did among the poor inhabitants of the wildest mountains. The
bishop of Ferrara coming to meet him when he was occupied in the visitation of
a poor valley, found him sick of an ague, lying on a coarse bed in a very poor
cottage. At the sight, he was so struck, as to be scarcely able to speak. St.
Charles perceiving his confusion, told him he was treated very well, and much
better than he deserved. The accent with which he spoke this astonished the
bishop much more than what he saw. If he was put in mind of any fault, he
expressed the most sincere gratitude; and he gave a commission to two prudent
and pious priests of his household to put him in mind of everything they saw
amiss in his actions, and he often begged that favour of strangers. The
sweetness and gravity with which he reproved or exhorted others was the fruit
of his sincere humility and charity. From his childhood mildness seemed to form
his character, and even in his youth he seemed never to feel any emotion of
anger against schoolfellows or others. This virtue was daily more and more
perfected in him as he advanced in the victory over himself. The most atrocious
injuries, even accusations sent to the king of Spain against him, and the
blackest actions of ingratitude never discomposed his mind: and defamatory
libels published against him he burnt without reading them, or inquiring after
the authors. A certain priest who took delight in finding fault with his
actions he kept constantly in his family, treated him with the greatest regard,
and in his will left him a pension for life upon his estate. The saint’s tongue
was always the interpreter of his heart: his candour and sincerity appeared in
all his words and transactions, and his promises were inviolable. The
confidence which every one on this account reposed in him showed the
incomparable advantage which a character of strict sincerity and veracity gives
over lying and hypocrisy, which the saint could never bear in any one. He
refused dispensations and grants which seemed unjust, with invincible firmness,
but with so much sweetness as to make the parties themselves enter into his
reasons. Thus when a lady, of great quality desired leave to go into a
monastery to see her daughter who lay dying, the saint represented to her, that
such a visit would be a very short satisfaction: but that the edification of
her example, in preferring the rule of inclosure, would be of great advantage
to the church: in which the lady voluntarily acquiesced.
The management of
his temporalities he left entirely to stewards of approved probity and
experience, whose accounts he took once a-year. To inspire his clergy with the
love of holy poverty he severely reproved even bishops who discovered a spirit
of interestedness; and he used to repeat to them the prayer of St. Austin, who
often begged of God that he would take from his heart the love of riches, which
strangely withdraws a man from the love of God, and alienates his affections
from spiritual exercises: certainly nothing can be baser in a minister of the
altar, or more unworthy, and more contrary to his character than that foul
passion. When others told him he ought to have a garden at Milan to take the
air in, his answer was, that the holy scriptures ought to be the garden of a
bishop. If any spoke to him of fine palaces or gardens, he said, We ought to
build and to think of eternal houses in heaven. When he came to reside at
Milan, though his revenues when he left Rome amounted to above one hundred
thousand crowns a-year, including his legations or governments, he reduced them
to twenty thousand crowns, for he reserved nothing besides the income of his
archbishopric, the pension which the king of Spain had granted him, and a
pension upon his own estate. His other benefices he resigned, or converted into
colleges and seminaries for the education of youth. He made over the marquisate
of Romagonora to Frederic Ferrier his kinsman, and his other estates in the
Milanese to his uncles the counts of Borromeo, those estates being feoffments
or perpetual entails in the family, though his for life. The principality of
Oria in the kingdom of Naples, which yielded him ten thousand ducats a-year for
his life, he sold for forty thousand crowns: which sum was brought to his
palace, according to the terms of the sale. But he could not bear the thought
of a treasure lodged in a bishop’s house, and ordered his almoner to distribute
the whole without delay among the poor and the hospitals. When the list which
the almoner showed him for the distribution, amounted by mistake to forty-two
thousand crowns, the saint said the mistake was too much to the advantage of
the poor to be corrected, and the forty-two thousand crowns were accordingly
distributed in one day. When the officers of king Philip II. seized the castle
of Arona for the crown, in which a garrison was always kept, and which was the
most honorable title of the family of Borromeo, and of the whole country, the
saint could not be prevailed upon to send any remonstrances to the court, or to
make interest to recover it. Upon the death of his brother Frederic, he caused
the rich furniture, jewels, paintings, and other precious effects to be sold at
Rome, Milan, and Venice, and the price which amounted to thirty thousand
crowns, he gave to the poor. When he came first to reside at Milan, he sold
plate and other effects to the value of thirty thousand crowns, and applied the
whole sum for the relief of distressed families in that diocess. Count
Frederic’s widow, Virginia of Rouera, left him by will a legacy of twenty
thousand crowns; which he made over to the poor without touching a farthing of
it. His chief almoner, who was a pious priest named Julius Petrucci, was
ordered to give among the poor of Milan, of whom he kept an exact list, two
hundred crowns a month, besides whatever extraordinary sums he should call upon
the stewards for, which were very frequent, and so great that they were obliged
to contract considerable debts to satisfy them, of which they often complained
to St. Charles, but could not prevail with him to moderate his alms. The saint
would never suffer any beggar to be dismissed without some alms, wherever he
was.
Hospitality the
saint looked upon as a bishop’s indispensable duty, and he was most obliging
and liberal in entertaining princes, prelates, and strangers of all ranks, but
often at the table at which his upper family ate all together, and without dainties
or luxury; and he endeavoured as much as possible to conceal his own
abstemiousness; of which he would not suffer the least sign to be given or
notice taken, every one being free to eat as he pleased at his table. His
liberality appears in many monuments which yet remain at Rome, Milan, and in
many parts of that diocess. The church of St. Praxedes at Rome, which gave him
the title of cardinal, was magnificently repaired and almost rebuilt by him. He
adorned the church of St. Mary Major, of which he was arch-priest. At Bologna,
whilst he was legate there, he built the public schools in a stately and
finished manner, with a beautiful fountain in the middle of the city. At Milan
he did many things to adorn the metropolitical church, and built houses for all
the canons of an admirable architecture, with a subterraneous passage for them
to go to the church without being seen by any one; also a dwelling place for
the rest of the clergy of that church: and the archiepiscopal palace, chapel,
prisons, and stables; the great seminary at Milan, and two other seminaries
there: three more in other parts of the diocess: the convent of capuchins,
(whom he established at Milan,) with apartments for his clergy to make retreats
there, near one of his seminaries. He settled at Milan the Theatins: also the
Jesuits, whose college of Brera he founded at Milan, and to whom he made over
for the foundation of their novitiate, his abbey of St. Gratinian at Arona. It
would be tedious to enumerate the pious settlements he made for his oblats, and
the churches, hospitals, and other public buildings which he repaired or
adorned. The revenues of his archbishopric he divided into three parts, one of
which was appropriated to his household, another to the poor, and the third to
the reparation of churches: and the account of these revenues, to the last
farthing, he laid before his provincial councils, saying he was no more than
the administrator and steward. Though he tenderly loved his relations, he
visited them only twice or thrice a-year; and if they sent him any
recommendations he was more scrupulous and severe in examining the affairs or
parties than in any others, fearing the danger of any bias upon his mind. He
employed no clergyman of his kindred in the government of his diocess, and
resigned none of the benefices which had been conferred on him in his youth to
any of them. He indeed educated his cousin-german Frederic Borromeo in the
college he had founded in Pavia, and he became one of the greatest ornaments of
the church. 17
The saint
expressed always a particular joy when he found any opportunity of serving his
enemies, or of returning good for evil. This watchfulness over his heart against
all inordinate affections made him also watchful in his words, in which he was
very sparing, and careful never to say anything superfluous. Fearing to
mispend, or rob from the great obligations of his charge, one moment of his
time, he laid it all out in serious employments: at table, or whilst his hair
was cutting, he listened to some pious book that was read to him, or he
dictated letters or instructions. When he fasted on bread and water, and dined
in private, he ate and read at the same time, and on his knees when the book
was the holy scripture; and, at the same time, his cheeks were often watered
abundantly with his tears. After dinner he gave audience to his country vicars 18 and curates, instead of conversing. In his
journeys he always either prayed or studied on the road, and in the regular
distribution of his time allowed himself none for recreation, finding in the
different employments of his charge both corporal exercise and relaxation of
the mind sufficient for maintaining the vigour of the mind and health of body.
He said, that “A bishop ought never to take a walk either alone or with
others.” Certain persons telling him, that a very experienced and pious
director said, a person ought generally to allow himself seven hours for rest
every night, he said bishops must be excepted from that rule. When some persons
told him, he ought to read some newspapers in order to be acquainted with
certain public transactions, for his own conduct on certain occasions, and
might spare now and then three or four minutes for this, he made answer, that a
bishop ought totally to employ his mind and heart in meditating on the law of
God: which he cannot do who fills his soul with the vain curiosities of the
world: and he attends more easily to God who hears least of them. To make
recreations an employ, or to give to them any considerable time, or to indulge
an eagerness or passion after hearing news is a vicious and vain curiosity,
sloth and dissipation of mind, most pernicious to the spirit of devotion, and
particularly contrary to the gravity and sanctity of a clerical state. Motives
of charity to ourselves or others may sanctify some small degree of such
amusements or actions which St. Charles’s great dignity and authority allowed
him the happy liberty of entirely retrenching, and
practising in the world a virtue no less severe than that of the most austere
penitential religious Order.
It was a
rule, which he inviolably observed, to go every morning to confession, before
he said mass, and to make a spiritual retreat twice every year, in each of
which he made a general confession for the time since his last spiritual
exercises. After employing many hours on his knees in astonishing sentiments of
compunction, he accused himself of the least failings and omissions with
abundance of tears. His confessors at Milan were F. Francis Adorno, a very
pious Jesuit, and an interior man whom he had invited from Genoa; under whose
direction he most frequently made his retreats; but sometimes under F.
Alexander Saulo, a Barnabite (afterwards bishop of Pavia), of whose virtue and
prudence he had from experience the highest opinion. The first retreat and general
confession which he made with this holy director in 1568, the saint ever after
called his conversion to God: so great was the spiritual profit which he reaped
from it; but St. Charles’s ordinary confessor was Mr. Gryffydh Roberts, 19 a Welchman, a canon and theologal of the great
church. A priest, from once hearing the saint’s confession, might learn the
most perfect lessons of his duties in all his actions: nor could those who had
any acquaintance with his interior, sufficiently admire the purity of his
conscience, the wonderful light with which he discerned the least failings, or
the fervour of his compunction, and the sincerity of his humility, by which he
esteemed himself the last of creatures, and of all others the most unfaithful
and ungrateful to God. It happened once that in giving the holy communion at
Brescia, by the fault of him who served at mass, he let the host fall: for
which, in the deepest compunction and humiliation, he fasted most rigorously
eight days, and abstained four days from saying mass. Except on this occasion
he never omitted to say mass every day, even in his journeys and greatest
hurries of business, unless in extreme fits of illness, and then he at least
received every day the holy communion. Out of respect and devotion to the
adorable sacrifice he always kept a rigorous silence (unless some important
business intervened) from the evening prayer and meditation till the next day after
mass, and his long thanksgiving. He prepared himself to offer the sacrifice by
the sacrament of penance, and by many vocal and mental prayers; and used to say
that it was unbecoming a priest to apply his mind to any temporal business
before that great duty.
He always recited
the divine office on his knees with his head bare, and his soul seemed all the
while absorbed in God. The better to fix his attention, he never said any part
of it by heart, but read it all in the breviary: which practice he recommended
to all his clergy. He never would be excused from any part of it in any
sickness, how grievous soever, except the day before he died; and on that would
have his chaplain recite it by him upon his knees, and attended to it with
great devotion. He always said each part as near as might be to the canonical
hour to which it corresponded; but on Sundays and holidays sung it all in choir
in the great church, and passed there the greatest part of those days after the
public office on his knees before a private altar. He had an extraordinary
devotion to the Blessed Virgin, under whose patronage he put all his colleges:
he had a singular devotion to St. Ambrose and the other saints of his church,
and had a great veneration for holy relics. He carried always about him, among
others in a gold cross, a particle of the true cross of Christ, and a small
image of St. Ambrose. He always kept with great respect a little picture of
Bishop Fisher, who was put to death for his religion under Henry VIII. in
England. 20 The passion of Christ was a constant object of
his devotions and meditations. At Rome he frequently spent five hours together
on his knees in the chapel of the holy pillar, in the church of St. Praxedes,
and so in other places of devotion; sometimes whole days or nights. Having once
passed the night in the church of St. Sebastian at the Catacombs, he spent the
day following in that of St. Agnes. But what was most astonishing and edifying
was the extraordinary exterior and interior recollection with which he prayed.
His extreme care that neither persons nor business (unless in some pressing
necessity) should interrupt or disturb him at that time, and his strict watchfulness
over his eyes and all his senses, made it easy for his soul to remain totally
absorbed in the divine presence: and condemned those, who, by neglecting these
precautions, and the due preparation of their souls, present themselves before
God rather to mock him than to pray. The foot of the altar was the centre of
this saint’s delights, as he sometimes called it. When he was drawn away he
left his heart there in desire to continue paying to God without interruption
the homage of praise and love, and imploring his mercy. He never said any
prayer, or performed any religious ceremony with precipitation, whatever
business of importance he had upon his hands, how much soever he was pressed
for time, or how long soever his functions continued, which was sometimes from
morning till late in the night. In giving audience, and in the greatest hurry
of exterior affairs, his very countenance, all his words, and his modesty
showed his mind to be perfectly recollected in God, the centre of his heart,
his repose, strength, and comfort. From this spirit of prayer, and the ardent
love of God which burned in his breast, his words infused a certain spiritual
joy into others, gained their hearts, and kindled in them a strong desire of
persevering in virtue, and cheerfully suffering all things for its sake. One
word spoken by him frequently so animated slothful or desponding priests, that
they counted labours their gain, and braved dangers without fear. St. Philip
Neri testified that he once saw the saint’s countenance shining with a heavenly
brightness. The practice of always walking in the divine presence he strongly
recommended as the principal means of attaining to Christian virtue. To a
gentleman who begged he would prescribe him the rules of advancing in piety, he
gave this answer: “He who desires to make any progress in the service of God
must begin every day of his life with new ardour, must keep himself in the
presence of God as much as possible, and must have no other view or end in all
his actions but the divine honour.”
The saint, who
laboured so strenuously for the sanctification of his own soul, began the
reformation of his diocess by the regulation of his own family: including the
vicars and the officers of their courts, it consisted of about a hundred
persons, the greater part being clergymen whom he employed in his own affairs,
and in those of his diocess. All the priests were obliged to go to confession
once a week, the others at least once a month, and to communicate at the
archbishop’s hands. The priests said mass every day: all assisted every day at
regular prayers at night and morning, meditations, and pious reading: abstained
from flesh all Wednesdays, and all Advent: fasted many vigils besides those of
precept; and on fast-days had no regular collation; but those that called for
it were allowed to take an ounce and a half of bread. No person in his family
was ever to expect any benefice from him; so much did he dread the danger of
simony stealing into any one’s intention in serving him. When one of them had
obtained a small benefice from his grand vicar, St. Charles discharged him;
though he had a good opinion of his learning and virtue, and afterwards
recommended him to another bishop. All were allowed handsome salaries, and were
strictly forbidden to receive presents from any one. Idleness was banished his
house, and those who at any time were not employed, were obliged to read the
lives of saints or other pious books. St. Charles had about him persons of the
greatest learning and piety, whose advice he sought in all matters of moment:
and he took no resolution of importance without having earnestly implored the
light of heaven by his own and others’ prayers; whence his resolutions were
most prudent and happy. His household was a most regular community, and all dined
together in a common refectory. Out of the clergy that composed his family,
twelve became eminent bishops, and many were employed by popes in quality of
nuncios, and in other great posts in the government of the church. Ormanetto,
his grand vicar (who was afterwards bishop of Padua), had two other assistants
who were also grand vicars; for St. Charles established a vicariat, that things
might be done with deliberation and counsel, which many other bishops imitated.
He also appointed sixty foraneous or country vicars (whose authority and
commission was limited by particular mandates); these were mostly the rural
deans: they held frequent conferences, and inspected the behaviour of the
curates under their jurisdiction, admonished them of their faults, and, if
necessary, informed the archbishop or vicar-general.
The diocess of
Milan, when the saint arrived in it, with regard to ignorance and disorders,
was in the most deplorable condition. The great truths of salvation were little
known or understood, and religious practices were profaned by gross abuses, and
disgraced by superstition. The sacraments were generally neglected, the priests
scarcely knew how to administer them, and were slothful, ignorant, and
debauched; and the monasteries were full of disorder. St. Charles, by six
provincial councils, and eleven diocesan synods, also by many pastoral
instructions and mandates, made excellent regulations for the reformation of
the manners both of the clergy and people, which all zealous pastors have since
regarded as a finished model, and have studied to square their conduct by them.
The first part of these, St. Charles collected into one volume in folio; which
work, that his name might not be mentioned in it, he, out of humility, entitled
The Acts of the Church of Milan. The rest were gathered into a second volume
after his death. 21 Partly by the most tender and zealous entreaties
and remonstrances, and partly by an inflexible firmness in the most rigorous
execution of these most wholesome decrees, without favour, distinction of
persons, or regard to rank or pretended privileges, the saint overcame the most
obstinate and broke through difficulties which would have daunted the most
courageous. Preaching being the means established by God for the conversion of
souls, and the principal obligation of a pastor, St. Charles applied himself to
it with an unwearied zeal, though every thing in this function cost him much
time and pains. A natural impediment in his speech seemed to disqualify him for
it: yet this he overcame by much labour and attention. 22 By his disputations and harangues in the Vatican
palace he perfectly overcame a natural bashfulness and timidity, which at first
gave him great difficulty. It was a more painful task still to break a custom
of speaking his discourses too fast, and of conquering o thickness of speech, and
other impediments. But his pains were at length crowned with incredible
success. The composition also cost him a great deal of study; though an
excellent judgment compensated this difficulty. That liveliness of genius,
those sprightly thoughts, witty turns, and beautiful flowers, which we admire
in the Basils and Chrysostoms, seemed not to be his talent. But zeal, sincere
piety, and a thorough acquaintance with the lessons and motives of Christian
virtue, could not fail to qualify him for this function. His sermons were solid
and pathetic, and he spoke with a vehemence which strongly affects a soul, and
with an unction which always penetrates the heart. Whilst those preachers who
tickle the ears with the harmonious turn of their periods were dry and barren,
the saint’s sermons produced, wherever he came, infinite fruits among all ranks
of people. He preached every Sunday and holiday, and often in his visitations
two or three times a day. F. Charles Bascape assures us, that hearing him
preach he was so strongly affected with the excellent things he said, and the
holy energy with which he spoke them, that though he desired to take notice of
the preacher and his manner of delivery, it was not in his power to do it; but,
in spite of his endeavours, he forgot the sacred orator, being wholly
transported and possessed with the great truths he preached; thought his
longest sermons short, and was very sorry when he concluded his discourse, that
it was over. Possevinus and others assure us of the same. The saint’s zeal in
procuring that all children and others throughout his diocess should be
perfectly instructed in the catechism or Christian doctrine, was fruitful in
expedients to promote and perpetuate this most important duty of religion. Not
content with strictly enjoining all parish priests to give public catechism
every Sunday and holiday, he established everywhere, under admirable
regulations, schools of the Christian doctrine, which amounted to the number of
seven hundred and forty, in which were three thousand and forty catechists, and
forty thousand and ninety-eight scholars, as Giussano testifies.
The congregation
of regular clerks called Barnabites, in Milan, abounding at that time with
spiritual and interior men, the saint conceived a particular esteem and affection
for this Order, and employed very much these good religious men in the most
important spiritual functions. To supply his diocess with good pastors he
founded many colleges and seminaries, and with the same view instituted, in
1578, the congregation of secular priests, called Oblats of St. Ambrose,
because they voluntarily offer themselves to the bishop, making a simple vow of
obedience to him, and being ready at his discretion to be employed in any
manner whatever in labouring for the salvation of souls. 23 St. Charles made excellent regulations for their
frequent conferences in all parts of the diocess under proper superiors, who
assembled them together; also for their exercises, private conduct, and
government. For their chief house he gave them the church of the Holy
Sepulchre, with a convenient contiguous building, where a certain number always
reside to be ready for any commission or emergency. Out of these Oblats he
chose his ablest curates and vicars, and employed others in particular missions
and other important services. His great seminary, which he had first committed
to the care of the Jesuits, he took from them with their free consent, and put
it in the hands of the Oblats. He associated several pious ladies of Milan in
regular exercises of devotion and Christian perfection, by whose examples
others were engaged to spend much time devoutly in churches, to assist at all
the sermons they could, and to be always taken up with serious employments, and
withdrawn from that fatal sloth and round of dangerous amusements which many
seem to look upon as a privilege of their rank; as if this could make void the
maxims of the gospel, or exempt any Christian from the obligation of his
baptismal engagements. These sacred vows, made by every one at the font, St.
Charles often inculcated, and induced persons to renew them frequently in a
solemn manner with incredible fruit.
Immediately after
his first provincial council he began the visitation of his diocess with the
churches of Milan. Several monasteries, especially of nuns, that were subject
to the superiors of their own Order, refused to give him admission, and opposed
the rules of reformation which he prescribed them. It cost him infinite trouble
to effect his good designs amongst them; but no entreaties or interest could
soften him, nor were dangers and difficulties which would have discouraged any
other person, able to slacken his vigorous endeavours, which were at length
crowned everywhere with success. Some nunneries which before were under the
obedience of their Order only, by special bulls which he procured, he subjected
to the archiepiscopal jurisdiction. Every one of these undertakings was a work
of time and much labour, and cost the holy prelate many prayers and tears. The
reformation of his chapter was his first essay, and he established the divine
service in the metropolitical church with the most edifying devotion, and in
the utmost splendour, and obliged the canons to give constant attendance in the
choir. The saint founded in it three new prebends, each of which proved
singularly useful; the first was given to a theologian, who was to preach every
Sunday, and to read lectures in divinity twice a week. The second to a
penitentiary, whose business it was to absolve penitents from reserved cases,
to be assiduous in hearing confessions, and to hold every week a meeting with
four sub-penitentiaries that were under him, and with certain other able
divines and canonists, in order to decide difficult cases, upon which curates
or others from all parts of the diocess should consult them. The third prebend
called the Doctoral was bestowed on a doctor in laws, whose duty it was to
instruct young clergymen in the canon law. St. Charles repaired the choir of
the great church with great magnificence and decency, forbade any layman, of
whatever rank, to come within the chancel during the divine office, removed the
escutcheons of noble families and whatever was profane, and took care that all
persons were hindered from making the churches a passage in going from one
place to another.
In 1567, the saint
had a contest with the officers of justice. Certain lay-persons who lived in
public adultery, or kept concubines, and could not be reclaimed by
remonstrances, were imprisoned by his order. The senate threatened the
serjeants of the archiepiscopal court for this action; and one of the king’s
judges caused their barigel or provost to be apprehended, and punished in a
public square with three strappados. The archbishop treated with the
magistrates with great calmness and meekness; but, after much deliberation,
declared the judge, the king’s fiscal, the notary, and jailer excommunicated,
for having seized and punished an officer of the ecclesiastical court. Philip
II. to whom both parties made their complaint, ordered the affair to be left to
the pope’s decision; to whom a senator was sent as deputy to plead the cause,
and the duke of Albuquerque, governor of Milan, expressed an extreme
displeasure at the treatment of the archbishop’s officer. In the mean time, St.
Charles set out in October to perform the visitation of the three vallies of
Levantine, Bregno, and Riparie, subject to the three Swiss cantons of Uri,
Switz, and Underwald; for the see of Milan is extended in the Alps, as far as
Mount St. Goddard’s. Not to give umbrage to the temporal sovereignties he
entreated each to send a deputy to accompany him through their territories,
which they did in a very obliging manner. These vallies had been, as it were,
abandoned by former archbishops, were full of disorders, and the priests there
were more corrupt than the laity. The saint travelled through snows and
torrents, and over rocks which were almost inaccessible, having iron spikes on
his shoes to climb them, and suffering with joy, cold, hunger, thirst, and
continual weariness. He preached and catechised everywhere, displaced the
ignorant and scandalous priests, and put in their room others endowed with
learning, zeal, and piety, who were capable of restoring the faith and morals
of the people to their original purity. In some corners of his diocess the
Zuinglian heresy had got footing; to them he made his way through incredible
difficulties, reconciled many to the church, and settled all this northern part
of his diocess in very good order. His method of making his visitation was as
follows: He always travelled on horseback or on foot; had never more than six
horses with him, and every one carried his own little necessaries on his own
horse before him. He had no mules, but was followed by a horse loaded with a
sack full of books. He called at no houses of noblemen or gentlemen, and lodged
in those of the curates, how mean soever they were, often lying himself on some
table, and yielding the beds to those that attended him. At dinner he would
only allow a pottage, some fruit, and one dish of meat to be served up; though
he never touched the meat himself, and in the last years of his life subsisted
only on bread and water which he took privately in his chamber, and did not
make his appearance at table. Certain priests went before him to prepare the
people to receive the holy communion, which he gave to all himself; he allowed
himself no interval of repose from his functions except a short time in the
night; and he inquired into the necessities, both corporal and spiritual, even
of particular persons in every parish, took down some account of them, and
afterwards would be informed how the evils he had observed had been remedied.
In 1568, he took
in hand the reformation of the Humiliati, a religious Order of which he was the
protector. Their institute was founded by certain gentlemen of Milan in 1134,
who, with the consent of their wives, made religious vows. They adopted the
rule of St. Bennet, with certain particular constitutions, and their Order was
approved by Innocent III. in 1200. In the beginning of the sixteenth century
they fell into such relaxations that in ninety monasteries they had only a
hundred and seventy monks; the superiors, who were called provosts, spending
the revenues, and living at discretion. St. Charles procured two briefs from
the pope, by which he was empowered to ordain and execute what he thought
necessary for their reformation; and he published regulations for that purpose
in a general chapter of the Order which he assembled at Cremona. The monks
received them willingly; but the provosts and lay-brothers obstinately refused
to submit to them. Our saint also assembled the Franciscans called Conventuals,
in their convent at Milan, and published decrees for the reformation of certain
abuses among them, for which he was authorized by Pope Pius V. Upon hearing his
new regulations, some of the friars got up, and, by their outrageous clamours
and running to the bells, raised a furious uproar, threatening the cardinal
himself if he proceeded. 24 He therefore calmly withdrew for the present,
but afterwards carried every point into execution, and united their several
branches into one body. In many particular commissions of popes to reform
abuses in distant cities or in religious bodies, he showed such prudence and
disinterested piety and zeal as to seem rather an angel than a man. In 1568 he
held a diocesan synod. His method was first to inform himself of the
necessities of every part of his diocess by previous assemblies of sixty
country vicars. The synod continued three days, in which he published several
regulations, and preached to the curates twice every day, whom he always
wonderfully inflamed with sincere piety, disinterested zeal, and ardent
charity. In 1569 he assembled his second provincial council, and obliged a
bishop of his province, who was a cardinal, and excused himself upon various
pretences, to assist at it. On another occasion he obliged a bishop to come
from an embassy, in which he was employed by his prince, to the council, and even
to quit his secular embassy and reside in his diocess. Hearing that one of his
suffragans had said in company that he had nothing to do, the saint sent to him
a prefect of his household to represent to him the necessities of his flock and
the obligations of his charge. The bishop answered him, coldly, that cardinal
Borromeo required too much. The saint was extremely grieved at his
insensibility and neglect, and wrote him a letter of several leaves, in which
he summed up various obligations of the episcopal charge, repeating almost
after each of them, “Shall a bishop ever say that he has nothing to do?”
Hearing a cardinal, who was bishop of a small diocess, say, it was too little
to require constant residence, he found himself pierced to the quick, and strongly
represented to his colleague that such is the price of one soul, as to deserve
the residence and whole time of the greatest man in the world.
The tranquillity
which St. Charles had for some time enjoyed, stirred up the malice of the enemy
of souls, and the storms which were formerly raised against the saint were
renewed with greater fury than ever, upon the following occasion. The
collegiate church of St. Mary de la Scala, so called from the foundress,
Beatrice de la Scala, wife of Barnaby Visconti, lord of Milan, enjoyed great
privileges and exemptions, which had been obtained from the apostolic see by
Francis Sforza II. duke of Milan, a munificent benefactor. The conduct of some
of these canons not being comformable to their state, St. Charles consulted
able canonists at Milan, and the pope himself, who all answered him that he had
a right, in quality of archbishop, to make the visitation of this church, and,
in case of misdemeanours, to proceed against any of the clergy belonging to it.
The archbishop therefore went to the church in solemnity to make a canonical
visitation: but was thrust from the door by the canons, and the cross which was
carried before him, and which, in the tumult, he had taken into his own hands,
was shot at. One of their party caused a bell to be rung; then declared that
the archbishop had incurred suspension and other censures for having violated
the privileges of their church. The grand vicar upon the spot pronounced a
sentence of excommunication against the authors of this insult; which the
archbishop confirmed the next day in the great church, after having spent a
long time in prayer at the foot of the altar. Most of the king’s judges and the
senate warmly espoused the cause of these canons, and sent the most virulent
invectives against the archbishop to the king of Spain, accusing him of
ambition and high treason in invading the king’s rights, this church being
under the royal patronage. The governor of Milan wrote to Pope Pius V. in the
strongest terms, threatening to banish the cardinal as a traitor. The pope
answered him, that nothing could be more glorious to the cardinal than to
suffer banishment and death in the faithful discharge of his duty, and in
labouring to exterminate vice and abuses from the sanctuary, and that the devil
had stirred up this persecution to hinder the good effect of the archbishop’s
zealous endeavours and unright intentions. Nevertheless, his holiness was very
reserved in declaring in favour of the cardinal, and it is incredible how
virulent and outrageous his enemies at Milan were in their invectives. The
saint never spoke of any of them but with regard and tenderness; and in
justifying his conduct to the pope and king of Spain, discovered his charity
towards his persecutors. All this time he ceased not to pray and weep for them,
and to beg of God that no resentment might find place in his heart. At length
the king wrote to the governor, ordering him to repeal an edict which he had
published injurious to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and to support the
archbishop; saying he was much obliged to him for the trouble he took for the
reformation of the canons of Scala, which undertaking he begged he would
accomplish. Hereupon the governor was reconciled to the saint; and the provost
of the canons, who had been the least guilty, begged and received absolution
from his censures. The canons persisted some time obstinate; but at length
submitted, and were absolved by the saint. The pope insisted that the most
guilty persons, who had shot at the cross, should be punished in an exemplary
manner; but by many earnest solicitations the saint at length obtained their
pardon.
Before this affair
was concluded by the king’s letter to the governor, an attempt was made upon
the life of the saint, whose preservation was owing to a visible miracle. The
Humiliati, amongst whom St. Charles had established a reform, employed the
interest of princes and every other means to prevail upon the pope to annul the
regulations which our saint had made for their order, but in vain. In the rage
of their despair, three provosts of that Order entered into a diabolical
conspiracy to murder the archbishop, and drew some others into the plot. To
such excess of phrenzy and malice do passions which are not restrained, lead
men. A priest of the same Order, named La Farina, engaged for a sum of money to
execute this horrid design, imagining that the suspicion would rather fall upon
some of the king’s officers who were then at variance with the prelate. On
the 26th of October, 1569, the villain found means to post himself at the door
of the chapel in the archbishop’s palace, whilst the prelate with his family
was at his devotions, which lasted an hour every evening, from six to seven
o’clock. An anthem was then singing at these words, Non turbetur cor meum
neque formidet, and the prelate was upon his knees, before the altar, when
the assassin, who was not above five or six paces from him, discharged at him a
blunderbuss, with a large bullet. At the report the music ceased, and every one
got up in the utmost consternation; but the saint, without stirring from his
place, made them a sign to kneel down again, and finished his prayer with the
same sweetness and tranquillity in his countenance as if nothing had happened.
This gave the murderer an opportunity of escaping. St. Charles, imagining
himself mortally wounded, lifting up his hands and eyes to God offered his life
to him. But after the prayer was finished, rising up he found that the ball had
only struck upon his rochet, near the middle vertebræ of the back, and leaving
a mark upon the rochet had fallen down at his feet. Some small shot had pierced
his clothes, but stopped at his skin: and his cassock was pierced with small
shot in several places. When he was retired to his chamber, and the part that
was struck examined, a light bruise was discovered with a small swelling on his
skin, which mark continued even after his death. At the same time that he was
wounded, some small shot penetrated a table of hard wood as thick as a finger
that was close by him, and struck the wall with a great force and noise. 25 The duke of Albuquerque, governor of Milan, came
immediately to see the saint, and earnestly begged that he might be allowed to
make a search in his family, and examine his servants in order to discover the
author of so black an attempt; but to this St. Charles would never consent.
After a solemn thanksgiving to God and a procession, he shut himself up for some
days in the chartreuse of Carignan, to consecrate his life anew to God. The
world knew not which to call the greater miracle, his serenity of mind under
such an accident, or his wonderful preservation, by which all pastors were
taught not to fear the world in the discharge of their pastoral duties. St.
Charles’s rochet became a proverb in Italy for a thing impenetrable. It is
preserved at the chartreuse at Bourdeaux; and the ball in the church of the
Oblats at Milan. Some of the Humiliati discovered enough to St. Charles for him
to trace the crime to its authors; but he never disclosed it; and always
answered with simplicity that so many had taken offence at his regulations,
that it was not possible to know who carried their resentment so far. Certain words
which some persons of that Order let fall, gave suspicions to the public, so
that they were examined, and the four authors convicted. They all confessed the
crime with marks of sincere repentance; two provosts who were of noble families
were beheaded; the third provost and the assassin were hanged, though St.
Charles did every thing in his power that their lives might be spared, and took
care of their relations. The punishment of a fifth, who was only condemned to
the galleys, was mitigated, to content the saint in some measure, and he was
confined for some time in a monastery, and afterwards set at liberty. In
execration of this crime Pope Pius V. abolished the Order of the Humiliati,
applying their revenues to other pious uses, notwithstanding the intercession
which St. Charles made in their favour. It never appeared more clearly than
under these dangers and persecutions, how much this great saint was beloved by
his people, and reverenced by princes and the whole church. Nor did it seem
possible that an Ignatius or a Chrysostom could love their flocks with a more
tender and ardent affection than St. Charles did the people of his diocess, for
whose sake all labours and dangers were sweet: and he looked upon it as nothing
to lay down his life to procure them the least spiritual advantage, as the
whole tenour of his conduct showed.
Before the
execution of the assassins he returned to three vallies of his diocess situated
in the Alps, and took that opportunity of paying a visit to the states of each
of the Catholic cantons, whose breasts he by his exhortations warmed with an
ardent love of virtue and zeal against all disorders which are a scandal to
religion. The harvest having failed in 1569, the country was afflicted the
following year with great scarcity: under which calamity St. Charles, by his
care and immense charities, procured abundant supplies for the relief of the
poor throughout his whole diocess. That year he assisted the Duke of
Albuquerque at his death; and at length succeeded in almost abolishing the
disorders of the Carnival or Shrovetide, and turning the attention of the
people to religious processions, prayer, and compunction at that season. To
extirpate the custom of profaning the holy name of God, or sentences of the
holy scripture, the saint armed himself with all his zeal, and had recourse to
various pious institutions. Upon the death of St. Pius V. in 1572, St. Charles
concurred strenuously to the election of Cardinal Buoncampagno, who took the
name of Gregory XIII., is famous for the institution of many colleges for the
propagation of the faith, and surpassed, if possible, his two predecessors in
his esteem of our saint, whom he detained some time at Rome to take his advice;
and he appointed him apostolic visitor of the diocesses of all his suffragans.
In 1575, St. Charles went to Rome with the most edifying devotion to gain the
jubilee, and in the following year, opened it at Milan. With all his zeal, he
was not able to hinder the exhibition of profane diversions of tilts and
tournaments that very year. Whilst the people were taken up in them he
clearly foretold the plague which broke out before they were over. The news of
this calamity reached the saint at Lodi, whither he was gone to assist the
bishop of that see at his death, as it was his custom to do towards all his
suffragans. The governor fled to Vigevano, and all the rest of the nobility
left the town. St. Charles made haste thither, visited the pesthouse whither
the infected were sent by the magistrates, and provided both the sick and the
poor with every succour spiritual and corporal. According to his custom in all
difficulties, he consulted his vicars and canonists, whether he was obliged to
remain with the infected, or to withdraw to some other part of his diocess.
They answered him with warm solicitations in the negative, entreating him not
to expose his life, which was at that time of infinite importance, both to the
sick and to those parts of his diocess which were not visited with that
calamity. But St. Charles proved to them that a pastor, who is obliged to lay
down his life for his flock, must not abandon them in the time of danger. All
granted this was the more perfect. And is not a bishop, said the saint, obliged
to choose what is most perfect? Sin being the cause of scourges, he strongly
exhorted the people to have recourse to the divine mercy by humble penance, and
he redoubled his prayers and austerities. In three general processions he
walked barefoot, having on a purple cope, as in times of penance, with a halter
about his neck, and a crucifix in his hands, from which he seemed never to turn
his eyes, which were drowned in tears. Thus he offered himself a victim for the
sins of the people. He preached almost every day, and never ceased admonishing
his fellow-labourers to contemn life in such a cause, himself exhorting the
sick and administering the sacraments. For the relief of those that were
destitute, he melted down all his plate, and gave all his furniture, even the
straw bed on which he lay, taking his rest on the boards. The number of priests
chiefly of his own clergy, whom he at first appointed to attend the sick, not
being sufficient, he assembled the superiors of the religious communities, and
begging their concurrence, made them a most pathetic discourse, in which he
shows how great a happiness it was for any to lose their lives (which are
always uncertain and short) in such a cause of the most noble charity, though
the danger was not so great as was commonly imagined, and they were under the
divine protection. 26 Such was the effect of this zealous discourse,
that about twenty-eight priests immediately presented themselves out of that
body, and the saint allotted to them their diet and lodgings in his own palace.
The magistrates found fault with his numerous processions and assemblies of
devotion, for fear of spreading the contagion. The saint justified his conduct
by the example of St. Gregory, St. Mammertus, and other great prelates,
alleged, that all human remedies failing, it was more necessary to have
recourse to those which are divine, and assured them that those devotions, far
from increasing, would remove the calamity; which seemed a prophecy: for though
four score died in the procession which St. Gregory made, no one caught the
infection in those of St. Charles, nor any one of those that attended him in
his visits of the sick: only two of his family died who never went to the
infected houses. So abandoned to iniquity were some persons, that this scourge
itself was not able to reclaim them. Persuading themselves that mirth, jollity,
pleasure, and high living, were the best means to preserve them from the
contagion, they lived together in a pleasant row of houses near the town, in
debauchery and intemperance, and despised the serious admonitions of their holy
pastor; but they were more severely visited with the pestilence than any other
part, so that not one of their houses escaped it. This dreadful distemper,
after raging four months, began to abate in November, and quite ceased about
the beginning of the ensuing year. The saint appointed a public solemn
thanksgiving, and three days’ prayer for such as had died during the
pestilence. The two governors who had succeeded Albuquerque gave the saint much
to suffer, chiefly on account of his abolishing the extravagances of
Shrovetide, and of the first Sunday in Lent; and, on account of the processions
he had made during the pestilence; to which they were stirred up by incorrigible
sinners, and persons who were enemies to all reformation of manners, as
Giussano shows at large. 27 After the death of the latter of these
governors, in 1580, the king of Spain did the saint justice, and Pope Gregory
XIII. full of admiration at the wisdom and apostolic spirit which appeared in
his whole conduct, approved of all his regulations, and commended his zeal;
also the duke of Terra Nuova, the fourth governor of Milan, from the time of
our saint’s promotion, lived constantly in good intelligence with the saint,
and often assisted at his sermons.
St. Charles made
twice the visitation of his whole diocess, and once of his province: he took a
journey into the Valteline, and into the country of the Grisons, where he
animated the Catholics to the practice of piety, and converted many
Zuinglianists. The diocess of Milan is filled with monuments of his charity and
zeal, and in that city itself he founded a convent of Capuchinesses, (in which
a daughter of his uncle, John Baptist Borromeo, embraced that austere Order,
and died in the odour of sanctity,) one of Ursulines, for the instruction of
poor girls, who were educated there gratis; an hospital for beggars, into which
all the poor were received; another of Convalescents who were dismissed out of
the great hospital, &c. After he had established the college of the Jesuits
at Milan, in which grammar, philosophy, and theology are taught, he committed a
college which he founded for the Switzers, his six seminaries, (three in the
city, and three in other parts of his diocess,) and all the other houses which
he instituted, to the care of his Oblats; except a house at Pavia, which he
gave to the regular clerks of Somascha, so called from a place of that name
between Bergamo and Milan, where their founder, St. Jerom Æmiliani, a nobleman
of Venice, established their chief seminary. 28 Though the saint preferred public and general
duties, as preaching, to those which regarded only private persons; yet he
spent much time in the direction of particulars, in which his prudence was most
remarkable. He was very severe in examining and much upon his guard in
believing visions and ecstacies, especially in women, whose imagination is
easily susceptible of impressions: on such occasions he recommended the
practice of humility and solid virtues. When a young woman in Milan, who was
one of those who, making a vow of chastity, are called Devotes, (in
Italy Beates,) was much spoken of on account of extraordinary favours
which it was pretended she had received from God; though F. Adorno, who
examined her, judged them real, the saint would not be prevailed upon by any
entreaties so much as to go to see her, but ordered her to be shut up in a
nunnery, sufficiently testifying that he looked upon the whole as an illusion;
as was made manifest some time after the saint’s death. He was no less strict in
the scrutiny of miracles and relics, and exploded all those that were not
authentic; but visited other holy relics with singular devotion, and translated
and adorned the shrines of many saints. It was to him, as he often expressed, a
singular pleasure to assist dying persons. In 1583, hearing the Duke of Savoy
had fallen sick at Vercelli, and was given over by his physicians, he posted
thither, and found him, as it was thought, at the last gasp. The duke seeing
him come into his chamber, cried out: “I am cured.” The saint gave him the holy
communion the next day, and ordered the forty hours’ prayer for his recovery.
The duke was restored to his health, as he was persuaded by the prayers of St.
Charles, and after the saint’s death, sent a silver lamp to be hung up at his
tomb in memory of this benefit.
For closer
solitude St. Charles sometimes used to make his retreats at Camaldoli and other
places; but none seemed so agreeable to his devotion as Mount Varalli, situate
in the diocess of Novara, upon the borders of Switzerland, a famous place of
devotion to the sufferings of Christ, the mysteries of which are curiously
carved in thirty-eight chapels of good architecture, besides the great church,
which is served by Franciscans. Thither St. Charles went in 1584, to make his
annual retreat and confession, having with him F. Adorno, who proposed to him
the points of his meditations. He had before clearly foretold to several
persons that he should not remain long with them; and in this retreat redoubled
his fervour in his austerities and devotions, and seemed more than ordinarily
absorbed in God, and disengaged from his body and all earthly ties. The
abundance of his tears obliged him often to stop in saying mass; and a bishop
deposed, that he saw his countenance one day at the altar darting a ray of
bright light, which seemed to proceed from that interior light which filled his
soul, and to be a presage of that glory with which he was going to be crowned.
He spent most time in the chapel, called, Of the prayer in the garden, and in
that, Of our Redeemer in the sepulchre, endeavouring to put himself in a state
of death with him, by a perfect renunciation of all sentiments and thoughts of
self-love; and praying that whatever remained in him of the life of Adam, might
be entirely destroyed by the death of the Son of God. On the 24th of October,
he was taken ill of a tertian ague; but concealed it; on the 26th he had a
second fit, and by the order of F. Adorno, abridged the hours of his prayers,
had a little straw laid on the boards on which he lay, and took a panado,
suffering the bread to be toasted, which he ate with water, but would not use
any salt or butter. On the fifth day of his retreat he spent eight hours on his
knees with such fervour and compunction, that he could not be persuaded he had
been near so long; after this he made his annual confession, and the next day,
it being the 29th of October, he went to Arona, and there alighted at the
curate’s according to his custom, not at the palace, which had been seized by
the governors, but was afterwards restored to him without his solicitations.
Having taken a mess of panado he went, though it was night, across the lake to
Ascona, to finish the foundation of a college there, though the plague was then
in that town. He took a little rest in the boat, and despatched his business
the next morning; he returned by water to Conobbio, though in a fit of the
ague. The next day he went to Arona; but it being the eve of All-Saints, fasted
as usual; except that he took the drugs prescribed him by his physician. His
cousin Renatus Borromeo could not induce him to lodge at the castle, but he lay
at the Jesuits, and rested well that night; and rose to his prayers at two in
the morning. After his confession he said mass at seven; his physicians
persuaded him not to set out, that being the day of the return of his ague, and
they ordered him to drink a great quantity of ptisan. He obeyed them; but the
ptisan had a contrary effect to what they expected it, being too strong for a
constitution accustomed to no other fare than bread and water, or pulse. His
ptisan and drugs were to him cordials, instead of coolers, and his fever was
much increased by them, so that it became from that time continued, and never
after left him.
On All-Souls’ day
he arrived at Milan in a litter, called in the ablest physicians, and gave
himself up to their direction, which he scrupulously followed in every point.
They declared his distemper very dangerous; but the next day, finding his fever
much abated, had great hopes of his recovery. The saint gave no signs of joy at
this news, and continued his pious exercises, chiefly on the passion of Christ
sometimes by himself, sometimes with F. Adorno, F. Charles Bascape, and other
devout persons. In the next paroxysm of his fever the physicians found the
state of his health desperate; he received the news with a surprising serenity,
received the viaticum and extreme-unction with great devotion, and with these
words, Ecce venio, Behold I come, expired in the first part of the
night between the 3rd and 4th of November. He left by his will his plate to his
cathedral, his library to his canons, and his manuscripts to the bishop of
Vercelli, and declared the general hospital his heir. His funeral he ordered to
be made as privately as might be, and chose for his burial-place a vault near
the choir, with this inscription, which remains there to this day, in a small
marble stone: “Charles, cardinal of the title of St. Praxedes, archbishop of
Milan, desiring to be recommended to the frequent prayers of the clergy,
people, and the devout sex, living, chose for himself this monument.” There
follows this addition: “He lived forty-six years, one month, and one day;
governed this church twenty-four years, eight months, twenty-four days, and
died November the 4th, in 1584.” F. Adorno soon after his departure, in a
slumber, saw him in great light and glory, and the saint said to him; “I am
happy; you will soon follow me.” This F. Adorno told several friends with great
comfort, and once affirmed it publicly in a sermon. He returned to Genoa, his
own country, and died there very soon after in the odour of sanctity. 29 Several instantaneous miraculous cures were
wrought by this saint’s relics and intercession. 30 In 1601, the venerable cardinal Baronius,
confessor to Clement VIII. sent to the clergy of Milan an order of his
holiness, to change the anniversary mass de Requiem, which the saint
had founded to perpetuity in the great hospital, into a mass of the saint: and
St. Charles was solemnly canonized by Paul V. in 1610. His sacred remains are
now deposited in a rich subterraneous chapel just under the cupola in the great
church, and laid in a crystal shrine of an immense value. The altar in this
chapel is of solid silver; plates of silver cover the walls of a considerable
part of the vault, and a great number of large silver and gold lamps burn there
night and day, not to mention the great images and other donaries of gold and
silver, with which this chapel is filled by the devotion of many distant
princes, cardinals and bishops. Besides the richest vestments and like
ornaments Giussano tells us, that in eight years the donaries here amounted to
above the value of one hundred and fifty thousand crowns of gold. 31 Thus is he honoured on earth who despised the
whole world for Christ.
St. Charles was
raised by God to revive an ecclesiastical spirit in the clergy. Priests are
called by our Blessed Redeemer the salt of the earth. Through them the world is
to be seasoned, as it were, with the Christian spirit of perfect humility,
meekness, patience, charity, devotion, and contempt of the world. How can they
infuse these virtues into others who are themselves unacquainted with this
spirit? For this, much more is required than barely to know the names of
virtues. To be disengaged from the world, and dead to themselves; to love
retirement, and to be always employed in the business of their heavenly Father,
is the characteristic of the ministers of the altar. Such were the pastors who
formed so many saints. The reformation of the manners of the people depends
very much upon that of the clergy. Judgment must begin from the house of
God. 32 A clergyman is one separated from the people, as
his name and office imply: separated not only in his education and ministry,
but, in some degree, in his life and conversation. How much soever he is filled
with the spirit of his profession, this will be soon extinguished, and the
contagion of the world or love of vanity, pleasure, riches, and honour,
insensibly contracted by too great familiarity with it. It shall be as
with the people, so with the priest. 33
Note 1. In
this great lake, which is thirty-nine miles long and five or six broad, in a
beautiful island, is the fine villa of Borromeo, belonging to this
family. [back]
Note 2. See
these conferences of the saint published by Saxius, the learned keeper of the
Ambrosian library at Milan in 1548, under the title of S. Caroli Noctes
Vaticanæ. The saint gave them this title, because, being occupied the whole day
in public affairs, he held these conferences in the night; the principal
objects of which were difficult points of morality and theology. At first he
admitted several points of philosophy, natural history, and other branches of
literature, to be discussed: but after his brother Frederic’s death, he would
have the conferences turn entirely on religion; and they were continued during
the five years he spent at Rome. Those which are published, treat of the eight
beatitudes, of abstinence, of the remedies against impurity, sloth, vanity,
&c., with an admirable discourse on the love of God, entitled De
Charitate. [back]
Note 3. See
Carolus a Basilicâ Petri in vitâ S. Car. Borrom. l. 1, c. 3, et Saxius in
Præfat. [back]
Note 4. See
Saxius, Præf. in Hom. S. Caroli, t. 1. [back]
Note 5. See Ripamont, de vitâ Caroli, l. 2, c. 2; Giussano, l. 1, c. 2; Sacy, Vie de Barthol. des Martys, l. 2, c. 23, p. 263; Touron, Hommes Illustr. t. 4, p. 638. [back]Note 6. The bull of Paul III. for the convocation of the general council of Trent in order to condemn new errors that were broached against faith, and to reform the manners and discipline by enforcing ancient canons and establishing new wholesome regulations, was dated the 22d of May, 1542, and the council was opened in the cathedral church at Trent on the 13th of December, 1545. Matters were discussed in particular congregations; and, lastly, defined in the sessions. After some debates, it was agreed that points of faith and matters of discipline should be jointly considered, and the condemnation of errors, and the decrees for the reformation of manners carried on together; there being abuses in practice relative to most points of doctrine. The doctrine of faith is first explained in chapters; then the contrary errors are anathematized, and the articles of faith defined in canons. This faith is in no point new, but the same which the apostles delivered, and which the church in all ages believed and taught. When F. Bernard Lami, the Oratorian, had advanced that the chapters or exposition of doctrine in this council are not of equal authority with the canons, Bossuet, in a few words, charitably convinced him of this mistake, which the other readily corrected, and recalled, as Archbishop Languet relates. The decrees for the reformation of manners, and ecclesiastical discipline, particularly in the clergy, follow the chapters and canons of doctrine in the several sessions. Points relating to the holy scriptures, original sin, free-will, justification, the sacraments in general, and those of baptism and confirmation in particular, are examined in the seven first sessions held under Paul III. On account of an epidemical distemper at Trent, he had consented that the prelates might remove the council to Bologna; this was decreed in the eighth session, and the ninth and tenth were held at Bologna, but no business done; the emperor and some of the prelates being displeased at the translation, so that the pope suspended the council on the 15th of September, and died November the 10th, 1549. His legates a latere in the council were Cardinal Del Monte, bishop of Palestrino, Cardinal Marcellus Cervinus, and Cardinal Reginald Pole. The first of these was chosen pope after the death of Paul III. took the name of Julius III. and reassembled the council of Trent in 1551. His legates there were Cardinal Marcellus Crescenti, legate a latere, and Sebastian Pictini, archbishop of Manfredonia, and Aloysius Lippomannus, bishop of Verona. The eleventh and twelfth sessions were preparatory: in the thirteenth and fourteenth the eucharist, penance, and extreme unction were explained: in the fifteenth the Protestants were invited under a safe-conduct; and in the sixteenth the council was suspended on account of the wars in Germany. Julius III. died March the 23d, 1555, and Cardinal Marcellus Cervinus, an excellent, courageous, and pious man, was chosen pope, and took the name of Marcellus II. but died within twelve days. Cardinal Caraffa was chosen pope, May the 23d, 1555, and called Paul IV. The surrender of the empire by Charles V., a war between France and Spain, and some difficulties which arose between the Emperor Ferdinand and Paul IV. protracted the suspension of the council, and this pope died the 18th of August, 1559. Pius IV. who succeeded, obtained the concurrence of the emperor and Catholic kings to restore the council, and published a bull for the indiction of the same, November 25, 1560. At the head of five papal legates at Trent, was the Cardinal of Mantua, Hercules Gonzaga, and after his death Cardinal Marone. In the seventeenth session, held on the 18th of January, 1562, the council was opened. In the following, the prohibition of books was treated of, and letters of safe-conduct sent to the Protestants. In the twenty-first, the question about communion in both kinds: in the twenty-second the holy mass; and in the twenty-third and twenty-fourth, the latter sacraments were treated of; in the twenty-fifth and last, held on the 14th of December, 1563, the doctrine of purgatory, images, invocation of saints, and indulgences was handled, and the council concluded with the usual acclamations and subscriptions. After the fathers had subscribed, the ambassadors of Catholic kings subscribed as witnesses in a different schedule.
The council was confirmed by the pope on the 26th of January, 1564,
first in the Roman chancery, then by a bull dated the same day, and subscribed
by his holiness and all the cardinals then at Rome. Besides Italian, French,
and Spanish bishops, there were present at the council only two Germans, (the
rest excusing themselves on account of the public disturbances,) three
Portuguese, six Grecian, two Polish, two Hungarian, three Illyrican, one
Moravian, one Croate, two Flandrican, three Irish, and one English bishop. (The
three Irish were Thomas O’Herlihy, bishop of Ross in Munster, who died in 1579:
Donat Mac-Congail, bishop of Ross in Munster, who died in 1579: Donat
Mac-Congail, bishop of Raphoe in Ulster, who died in 1589; and Eugene O’Hart, a
Dominican, bishop of Achonry in Connaught, who died in 1603, at the age of one
hundred. The Englishman was Thomas Goldwell, bishop of St. Asaph’s). These
prelates were looked upon by their absent colleagues as representatives of the
rest, who were not able to come, and all the absent acquiesced in the doctrinal
decisions of the general council. Its decrees were solemnly received by the
senate of Venice, the diet of Poland, August the 17th, 1564, and the king of
Portugal; but published by the king of Spain, in Spain, the Low-Countries,
Sicily, and Naples, with a proviso, as to certain laws of discipline, to save
the right of the king and kingdom. In France, queen Catherine of Medicis
alleged, that the council forbade commendams and several other customs allowed
by the discipline of that kingdom, and therefore put off the legal publication.
(Pallavicini, l. 24, c. 11. Thuam. l. 35 et 37.) The clergy of France, in their
general assembly, in 1567, demanded the publication and execution of the
decrees of this council. (See Recueil Gén. des Affaires du Clergé
de Fr. in 4to. chez Vitrè, 1636, t. 2. p. 14, and Acta Cleri Gallicani.) It repeated these solicitations in 1596, 1597, 1598,
1600, 1602, 1605, 1606, 1679, &c. King Henry IV. sent an edict to that
purpose to the parliament of Paris; which nevertheless refused to enregister
it. But this regarded only certain decrees of discipline, in which particular
churches often follow their own jurisprudence. As to this council’s doctrinal
decisions in matters of faith, these have been always received in France with
the same respect as the doctrinal definitions of all former general councils
are; as the writings of all bishops and others in that kingdom demonstrate, and
as the French theologians invincibly prove. Charles Du-Moulin, the most learned
French lawyer, (who first leaned to Calvinism, afterwards to Lutheranism; but
long before his death was brought back to the Catholic faith, by Claude
d’Espense, the learned doctor of Sorbonne and controvertist, in whose arms he
died in 1566,) in his very counsel concerning the reception of the council of
Trent in France, allows that no exception was made or could be made to the
decrees relating to faith, doctrine, the constitutions of the church, and
reformation of manners. The objections of Du-Moulin to this council are
answered by the learned Peter Gregory of Toulouse, professor in laws at
Pont-a-Mousson, author of the syntagma Juris Universi, &c. This answer is
prefixed to the work in the edition of Du-Moulin’s writings in five volumes
folio, at Paris, in 1681. Among the fathers who composed this council, and whom
Fra-Paolo and Courayer traduce by the name of Scholastics, &c., were a
great number, eminent for learning in the scriptures, fathers, antiquities, and
languages, and many for their extraordinary virtue. Cardinal Pole’s learning,
humility, temper, and virtue are much extolled by Burnet himself. Cardinal
Stanislas Hosius, bishop of Warmia in Poland, was one of the ablest polemical
writers that any age ever produced, he was the most dreaded by the heretics,
says Du-Pin; and his works are a proof how well skilled he was in the
scriptures and fathers, how clear his understanding, and how sound his judgment
was. Antony Augustinus, bishop of Lerida, afterwards archbishop of Tarragona,
“was one of the greatest men that Spain ever bred,” says Du-Pin (Bibl. p. 131,)
“and his piety and wisdom were equal to his learning. His Tr. Of Corrections
upon Gratian, is a work of prodigious labour, of wonderful exactness, and of
very great use.” Not to mention Bartholomew de Martyribus, archbishop of Braga,
Barth. Carranza, archbishop of Toledo, Tho. Campegius, bishop of Feltri,
(brother to cardinal Laurence Campegius,) Aloysius Lippomannus, bishop of
Verona, Fr. Commendon, bishop of Zacynthus, afterwards cardinal, (see his
excellent life by Gratian, translated by Flechier,) Didacus Covarruvias, and
many others; the proofs of whose erudition are transmitted down to us in their
writings. Besides the prelates, above a hundred and fifty theologians, some of
the ablest of all Catholic nations, attended the council, and discussed every
point in the conferences. From Paris came Nic. Maillard, dean of the faculty,
Claude de Sanctes, famous for his learned work on the eucharist, and other
polemical writings; the most learned Dr. Claude d’Espense and ten others;
several from other parts of France, Flanders, Spain, Italy; many of all the
principal religious Orders, as Peter Soto and Dominic Soto, Spanish Dominicans,
Andrew Vega, the learned Spanish Franciscan, &c. The canonists of the
council were not less eminent; among these Scipio Lancelotti was afterwards
cardinal; as was also Gabriel Paleota, the intimate friend and pious imitator
of St. Charles Borromeo. Being made archbishop of Bologna he published
excellent regulations for the reformation of discipline, which, in esteem, hold
the second place after those of St. Charles, though inferior in style.
Neither is
the authority of these theologians to be considered single, but as united with,
and bearing testimony for, all other absent Catholic doctors, who agreed in all
doctrines there approved. If any person should have advanced some exotic
opinions, we must, (as Maldonat, the Spanish Jesuit, in 1565, the first
professor in Clermont College at Paris, one of the most learned and judicious
writers of the sixteenth century, speaking of Hesychius and Gregory Nyssen
says,) apply to him the rule of Vincentius Lirinensis. That the church conforms
not to the sentiments of private men, but these are obliged to follow the
sentiments of the church. It is objected, that we are told by historians, that
several kings and prelates had often private views, and employed intrigues in
this council which could not be inspired by the Holy Ghost. True it is that
passions easily disguise themselves; and ambition, envy, and the like vices may
insinuate themselves into the sanctuary under false cloaks. In the first
general council of Nice, and in the next succeeding councils which Protestants
usually receive, there seems mere colour for bringing such a charge against
some of the prelates, than appeared at Trent. This council was an assembly of
prelates and theologians eminent for learning and piety; though, had it been
otherwise, notwithstanding the weakness or wickedness of men, God has engaged
to lead the pastors of his church into all truth, and preserve its faith
inviolate through all ages by the succour and special protection he has
promised to afford it, but which no way necessarily implies an inspiration. The
very contests among the prelates and kings prove the liberty which the council
enjoyed: Pius IV. testifies in his bull for the confirmation of the council,
that he left to them the discussion even of points of discipline peculiarly
reserved to the holy see. The promises of God to his church are the anchor of
the Catholic faith, which is handed down the same through all ages. See the
ingenious Mr. Abraham Woodhead’s treatise on the Council of Trent; Mr. Jenkes
on the same; also Mr. Philips in his Life of Cardinal Pole, sect. 6; and the
History of the Council of Trent, elegantly written in Italian by Cardinal
Pallavicini, in quarto, against that of Fra-Paolo Sarpi, provincial of the
Servites at Venice, counsellor and theologian of that republic, during their
quarrel with Paul V. This pope having laid that state under an interdict on
account of certain laws concerning ecclesiastical matters, Fra-Paolo’s warmth
carried him so far in his writings that the pope excommunicated him. He died in
1625. Many reflections which he inserted in his History of the Council,
demonstrate him to have been in many points a Calvinist: of which many other
proofs are produced. F. Courayer translated this history into French, in two
volumes quarto; and has interspersed several new errors in the notes. An
eminent French prelate declared that he had discovered in them a number of
heresies. See Cardinal Tencin’s Pastoral Instruction against this work. It is
manifest from the Life of Bishop Bedel, and from several letters of Fra-Paolo
himself, that he was in his heart a Calvinist, and only waited to gain the
republic had he been able to do it, before he declared himself; though, in the
mean time, he continued to say mass to his death. From Courayer’s Life of this
author, prefixed to his translation of this work, Fra-Paolo’s Calvinism
undeniably appears, howsoever the translator labours to palliate it. Though a
Calvinist he might have been a sincere historian; but his duplicity in
dissembling his religious sentiments contrary to his principles, must weaken
his credit; and that he has retailed notorious slanders to misrepresent the
transactions of the popes, &c. is clearly proved upon him by Pallavicin.,
as Dr. Fiddes, in his Life of Cardinal Wolsey, acknowledges, and shows in an
important instance. [back]
Note
7. Ciaconius, vit. Pontif. t. 3, p, 880. [back]
Note
8. Labbe, Conc. t. 14, p. 944. [back]
Note 9. Sess. xvii. in princ. et sess. 25. [back]
Note 10. See Bibliothèque choisie de Colomies,
avec les notes de Bourdelot, de la Monnoye, &c. Guerin. 1731, p. 47. [back]
Note
11. Philip Buonamici, de claris Pontificiarum Litterarum Scriptoribus, ad
Bened. XIV. an. 1753. [back]
Note
12. Ib. [back]
Note 13. Some
recommend this catechism and the Acts of the church of Milan, with Melchior
Cano, De Locis Theologicis, to the diligent study of young theologians, to form
their Latin style on ecclesiastical subjects. The charge of polishing the style
of the catechism was intrusted to the learned Julius Poggiani; not to Paul
Manutius, son of the famous Aldus, as is proved by Logomarsini, Not. in
Gratiani ep ad Card. Commend. Romæ, 1756, against Graveson, Hist. Eccl. t. 7,
p. 146, ed. Venet. 1740; and Apostol. Zen. Annot. in Bibl. eloq. Ital. t. 11,
p. 131, ad. Venet. 1733, Poggiani wrote in Latin with as much elegance as
Bembo, Sadolet, or Manutius; he was secretary to St. Charles, accompanied him
to Milan, and translated into Latin the acts of the first council which the
saint held there; but died soon after at the age of forty-six. Next to the holy
scripture, and canons, Cardinal Rezzonico (afterwards Pope Clement XIII.)
recommends to ecclesiastics the assiduous reading of the Discourses of the
ancient fathers, especially St. Chrysostom and St. Charles Borromeo, with the
Acts of the church of Milan, and the Roman catechism. See Breve Notizie per
Buona Direzione dell anime, Trent, 1759, in 12mo. The same pope, in the brief
by which he condemned, in 1761, Mezengui’s Exposition of the Christian
Doctrine, earnestly exhorts all pastors to read attentively the Roman Catechism
on every article, which they are to explain to the faithful.
St. Charles
took care of the new edition of the Roman Missal and Breviary. The Rubrics (or
prescriptions and directions relating to the rites observed in the liturgy)
formerly were comprised in books apart. Burchard, master of ceremonies to
Innocent VIII., compiled the most correct collection, which was printed at Rome
in the first edition of the Pontifical, in 1485, and inserted in a missal
printed at Venice, in 1542. At the suggestion of St. Charles, Pope Pius V.
caused them to be reduced into better order, and printed in all missals, in
1570. The original or first edition of St. Charles’s Councils, or Acta Ecclesia
Mediol. is in two vols. folio, Mediolani, 1599. [back]
Note 14. Vida, the delight of Christian poets, was born at
Cremona, in 1470, was made bishop of Alba in the Montferrat, in 1533, and died
on the 27th of September, in 1566, in the ninety-sixth year of his age. His
poem On the Art of Poetry is excellent; that On the Game at Chess, and his
Christiados, and some of his hymns and pastorals are justly admired; but the
Silk-worm is his masterpiece. See De Thou. Hist. 1. 38, Baillet, Jugem. des
Sçavans, t. 3, and his Life prefixed to his works. [back]
Note 15. Giussano, l. 1, c. 11, Raynald. ad an. 1565, n. 26,
Ciaconius, t. 3, p. 892. [back]
Note 16. Lewis Cornaro, a nobleman of Venice, was cured of a
complication of diseases, and protracted a life which was despaired of at
forty, to a hundred years, by taking to a spare diet; his daily allowance of
bread and other eatables being only twelve ounces, and of drink fourteen. He
died at Padua in 1566. His book On the Advantages of Temperance, or of an
Abstemious Sober Life, was translated into Latin by Lessius, who, by the same
method, restored a weak broken constitution, and died in 1623, sixty-nine years
old. [back]Note 17. Cardinal Frederic Borromeo (younger son of Count
Julius Cæsar, brother to Count Gilbert, our saint’s father,) walked in the
steps of St. Charles, was consecrated archbishop of Milan in 1595, and died in
1632. He celebrated the seventh council of Milan in 1609, wrote several pious
works, and founded the famous Ambrosian Library at Milan, which is said now to
contain thirty-eight thousand volumes, including fourteen thousand manuscripts,
with many excellent pictures, and literary curiosities and monuments. [back]
Note 18. Vicarii Foranei. [back]
Note 19. St. Charles received with open arms many English
clergymen who were voluntary exiles for their faith. Hugh Gryffydh, a Welch
priest, nephew to Dr. Owen Lewis, also a Welchman, St. Charles’s last grand
vicar, (and after his death bishop of Cassano, in Italy,) was afterwards
provost of our Lady’s at Cambray, and alive in 1600. He gave Saint Charles’s
cardinal’s cap to Mr. Harley, provost of St. Gery’s, who, in 1616, gave it to
the English secular college at Douay, where it is preserved in a decent
reliquary. Bishop Owen Lewis was sent by Gregory XII. in quality of nuncio to
the Switzers, and died at Rome in 1595. See Ughelli, Ital. Sacra. t.
9. [back]
Note 20. Pope Benedict XIV. expressed on every occasion the
highest veneration for the memory of those great men and holy martyrs, Bishop
Fisher and Sir Thomas More. See L. de Canoniz. SS., &c. The life of the
former by Dr. Bailey is very defective. His manuscript life in the Norfolk
Library, belonging to the Royal Society, furnishes other
memoirs. Sir Thomas More’s life by his grandson is justly esteemed;
also that written by Dr. Stapleton is well executed; but even the former is
capable of very great improvements, both from our own and foreign writers, and
from his own works.
Cardinal Pole,
equally great in prosperity and in adversity, whom many trials of the severest
kind seem to have equalled to martyrs, was not a less honour to his age and
country than the two foregoing great men. His life is well written in English,
in two volumes, by Mr. Thomas Philips, canon of Tongres. It was printed at
Oxford, and reprinted in Dublin in 1765. [back]Note 21. The clergy of France, in their general assembly, in
1657, ordered St. Charles’s instructions to confessors to be printed at their
common expense; and with the highest commendations of the holy author, and of
the wisdom of the regulations which they contain, strongly recommended them to
all their colleagues. St. Charles caused a great number of his sermons to be
translated into Latin by another hand. These were preserved in manuscripts in
the Ambrosian Library, till the learned keeper thereof, Joseph Antony Saxius,
published them in a most elegant edition, in five volumes in folio, at Milan,
in 1747. By these it sufficiently appears that the saint was a good orator,
that his discourses were elegant and methodical; that the genuine simplicity of
his style never sunk into conceptions or expressions that were flat or low, and
that by a sweet and natural vein of piety they were strongly affecting. In the
sermons which he made to his clergy in his synods, the style is more elegant
and lofty. Cardinal Frederic Borromeo (De Episcopo concionante, p. 133.)
observes, that the excellence to which this saint attained by the dint of pains
and assiduity, in spite of natural impediments, is the condemnation of slothful
pastors. [back]
Note 22. Helyot, Hist. des Ord. Relig., t. 8, p. 29. Giussano.
l. 5, c. 24, p. 417. [back]
Note
23. Helyot, Hist. des Ord. Relig., t. 8, p. 29. Giussano. l. 5, c. 24, p.
417. [back]
Note 24. Helyot, Hist. des Ord. Relig., t. 6, c. 20, l. 21.
Giussano, 14. [back]
Note 25. Giussano, l. 2, c. 23. Oltrocchi, Not.
ib. Ciacon. Vit. Pontif. t. 3, p. 893, Ripamont, &c. [back]
Note 27. Giussano, l. 5, c. 1, p. 402. L. 5, c. 7, p. 444. L.
6, c. 2, p. 471. L. 6, c. 5. L. 6, c. 9 et 10. [back]
Note 28. See the life of this saint on the 20th of July. Also
his life written in Latin by Aug. Turtua, printed at Milan in 1620, octavo; and
Helyot, Hist. des Ord. Rel. t. 4, c. 33. [back]
Note
29. Giusanno, l. 7, c. 14. [back]
Note
31. Ib. l. 7, c. 18, p. 556. [back]
Note
32. 1 Pet. iv.
17. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume
XI: November. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/11/041.html
Orazio
Borgianni, San Carlo Borromeo, circa 1610, 152.5 x123, Hermitage Museum
San Carlo Borromeo Vescovo
Arona, Novara, 1538 - Milano, 3 novembre 1584
Nato nel 1538 nella Rocca dei Borromeo, sul Lago Maggiore, era il secondo figlio del Conte Giberto e quindi, secondo l'uso delle famiglie nobiliari, fu tonsurato a 12 anni. Studente brillante a Pavia, venne poi chiamato a Roma, dove venne creato cardinale a 22 anni. Fondò a Roma un'Accademia secondo l'uso del tempo, detta delle «Notti Vaticane». Inviato al Concilio di Trento, nel 1563 fu consacrato vescovo e inviato sulla Cattedra di sant'Ambrogio di Milano, una diocesi vastissima che si estendeva su terre lombarde, venete, genovesi e svizzere. Un territorio che il giovane vescovo visitò in ogni angolo, preoccupato della formazione del clero e delle condizioni dei fedeli. Fondò seminari, edificò ospedali e ospizi. Utilizzò le ricchezze di famiglia in favore dei poveri. Impose ordine all'interno delle strutture ecclesiastiche, difendendole dalle ingerenze dei potenti locali. Un'opera per la quale fu obiettivo di un fallito attentato. Durante la peste del 1576 assistette personalmente i malati. Appoggiò la nascita di istituti e fondazioni e si dedicò con tutte le forze al ministero episcopale guidato dal suo motto: «Humilitas». Morì a 46 anni, consumato dalla malattia il 3 novembre 1584. (Avvenire)
Patronato: Catechisti, Vescovi
Etimologia: Carlo = forte, virile, oppure uomo libero, dal tedesco arcaico
Emblema: Bastone pastorale
Martirologio Romano: Memoria di san Carlo Borromeo, vescovo, che, fatto cardinale da suo zio il papa Pio IV ed eletto vescovo di Milano, fu in questa sede vero pastore attento alle necessità della Chiesa del suo tempo: indisse sinodi e istituì seminari per provvedere alla formazione del clero, visitò più volte tutto il suo gregge per incoraggiare la crescita della vita cristiana ed emanò molti decreti in ordine alla salvezza delle anime. Passò alla patria celeste il giorno precedente a questo.
(3 novembre: A Milano, anniversario della morte di san Carlo Borromeo, vescovo, la cui memoria si celebra domani).
Fu uno dei protagonisti
della riforma cattolica del XVI secolo e una figura decisiva per l'applicazione
del Concilio di Trento. Nato ad Arona nel 1538, entrò giovanissimo nella
carriera ecclesiastica e, grazie anche al legame familiare con papa Pio IV,
assunse responsabilità di primo piano nella Curia romana. Ordinato sacerdote e
consacrato vescovo nel 1563, scelse poi di risiedere stabilmente a Milano, dove
promosse una trasformazione capillare delle istituzioni ecclesiastiche, della
formazione sacerdotale e della cura pastorale. Istituì seminari, convocò
concili provinciali e sinodi, visitò un territorio vastissimo e si impegnò nel
rinnovamento della catechesi. La sua azione, segnata anche da conflitti con
autorità civili e comunità religiose, divenne particolarmente nota durante la
peste del 1576-1577, quando organizzò soccorsi e assistenza. Morì a Milano il 3
novembre 1584 e fu canonizzato da Paolo V nel 1610. La memoria liturgica
ricorre il 4 novembre.
Biografia
A cura di Giampietro
Cattini
Carlo nacque nella rocca di Arona il 2 ottobre 1538, da Gilberto Borromeo e Margherita Medici, sorella del futuro papa Pio IV. Apparteneva dunque a una famiglia aristocratica inserita nelle reti politiche e patrimoniali della Lombardia cinquecentesca. La condizione familiare contribuì alla precocità del suo inserimento nelle istituzioni ecclesiastiche: già da ragazzo ricevette benefici e responsabilità legati al sistema commendatizio, allora largamente diffuso. Questo elemento, tipico della società ecclesiastica del tempo, è essenziale per comprendere la distanza tra gli inizi della sua carriera e l'indirizzo riformatore assunto in seguito.
Studiò a Pavia, dove approfondì il diritto civile e canonico, conseguendo nel
1559 il dottorato in entrambe le discipline. La formazione giuridica influì sul
suo modo di governare: decreti, procedure, visite, raccolte normative e
strumenti di controllo divennero componenti centrali della sua azione
pastorale. Il rigore amministrativo che contraddistinse l'episcopato milanese
si comprende anche alla luce di questa preparazione.
Il cardinal nipote di Pio IV
L'elezione dello zio materno Giovanni Angelo Medici al pontificato, con il nome di Pio IV, nel dicembre 1559 trasformò rapidamente la posizione di Carlo. Chiamato a Roma, fu creato cardinale nel gennaio 1560 e ricevette la responsabilità dell'amministrazione dell'arcidiocesi di Milano, pur non avendo ancora ricevuto l'ordinazione sacerdotale. Nella corte pontificia assunse incarichi di notevole rilievo, agendo come collaboratore strettissimo del papa negli affari diplomatici ed ecclesiastici.
L'istituzione del cardinal nipote assicurava al pontefice un uomo di fiducia
nella gestione degli affari della Santa Sede, ma si fondava su legami di
parentela oggi considerati problematici. Nel caso di Carlo, il potere acquisito
attraverso tali legami divenne in seguito uno strumento per promuovere riforme
che richiedevano risorse, corrispondenza internazionale e capacità di
mediazione. A Roma partecipò inoltre a iniziative culturali e religiose, in un
ambiente nel quale la discussione sulla disciplina ecclesiastica si intrecciava
con il confronto confessionale europeo.
La rete romana e la politica pontificia
Il giovane cardinale svolse incarichi di segreteria e coordinamento politico in una Curia nella quale le relazioni familiari avevano un peso decisivo. La fiducia di Pio IV gli permise di intervenire nella corrispondenza diplomatica e negli affari ecclesiastici di diverse regioni. La sua carriera rappresenta dunque anche un caso significativo del nepotismo pontificio del Cinquecento: la parentela aprì l'accesso agli uffici, mentre la successiva azione pastorale diede a quegli incarichi un orientamento che superò la semplice promozione dinastica.
Il completamento del Concilio di Trento dipese da una complessa mediazione fra la Santa Sede, i sovrani cattolici e i padri conciliari. Borromeo operò soprattutto da Roma, in collegamento con i legati pontifici. Dopo la chiusura del concilio nel dicembre 1563, sostenne il passaggio dai decreti alla loro applicazione concreta. La riforma non consisteva soltanto nella formulazione di norme dottrinali, ma richiedeva strumenti di governo, formazione del clero e capacità di controllare la vita religiosa sul territorio.
La scelta di ricevere gli ordini sacri nel 1563 modificò anche la sua posizione
personale. La morte del fratello Federico aveva posto il problema della
continuità familiare; Carlo non abbandonò lo stato ecclesiastico. Questa
decisione fu interpretata dai primi biografi come una svolta ascetica, ma va
collocata anche nella progressiva maturazione del suo ideale episcopale.
I primi interventi nel governo milanese
La sede ambrosiana era stata per lungo tempo governata attraverso rappresentanti e amministratori. Carlo volle rendere effettiva la presenza del vescovo, senza rinunciare agli strumenti amministrativi necessari a una diocesi di grandi dimensioni. Il territorio comprendeva città, campagne, valli alpine e comunità soggette a differenti autorità politiche. Le distanze, le lingue e le consuetudini locali rendevano complessa l'uniformazione della disciplina.
Il suo ingresso nella vita milanese fu accompagnato da una ricognizione delle condizioni del clero, degli edifici, delle istituzioni caritative e delle pratiche liturgiche. Le visite pastorali non furono semplici cerimonie: comprendevano interrogazioni, controlli, prescrizioni e verifiche successive. Esse produssero una vasta documentazione amministrativa, importante anche per la storia sociale delle comunità visitate.
L'arcivescovo mirò a rafforzare la figura del parroco residente, a disciplinare
la predicazione e ad assicurare una più regolare amministrazione dei
sacramenti. Il progetto investiva la condotta del clero e dei fedeli, ma anche
gli orari del culto, l'istruzione dei bambini, le confraternite e l'uso dei
beni ecclesiastici. La riforma borromaica fu perciò capillare e, non di rado,
avvertita come un'ingerenza in abitudini consolidate.
Concili provinciali, sinodi e legislazione
Fra il 1565 e il 1582 Carlo promosse sei concili provinciali, affiancati da undici sinodi diocesani durante il suo episcopato. I concili provinciali coinvolgevano la struttura ecclesiastica della provincia milanese e traducevano le decisioni tridentine in norme applicabili alle realtà locali. I sinodi consentivano di precisare ulteriormente obblighi e procedure del clero diocesano.
Le disposizioni riguardavano la predicazione, l'istruzione catechistica, l'amministrazione dei sacramenti, la cura delle chiese, la moralità pubblica e la formazione ecclesiastica. La loro efficacia dipendeva dalla capacità di farle conoscere, di controllarne l'osservanza e di affrontare le opposizioni. Gli atti conciliari e sinodali furono raccolti negli Acta Ecclesiae Mediolanensis, opera che circolò come modello di organizzazione della riforma cattolica anche fuori dalla Lombardia.
La legislazione non fu priva di tensioni. Le norme interferivano talvolta con
privilegi capitolari, autonomie religiose, diritti patronali e competenze delle
magistrature. L'idea di una disciplina uniforme si scontrava con una società
fondata su molteplici giurisdizioni. Il valore storico del progetto risiede
tanto nella sua forza organizzativa quanto nelle resistenze che ne rivelano i
limiti.
Seminari e formazione sacerdotale
La formazione del clero occupò un posto centrale nel programma dell'arcivescovo. I decreti tridentini avevano previsto l'istituzione dei seminari; a Milano Carlo promosse strutture destinate alla preparazione dottrinale, spirituale e pratica dei futuri sacerdoti. Non si trattava soltanto di accrescere le conoscenze teologiche, ma di formare ministri capaci di predicare, amministrare i sacramenti e risiedere stabilmente nelle comunità affidate loro.
La disciplina quotidiana, lo studio e l'educazione religiosa erano considerati parti inseparabili di questa formazione. Accanto ai seminari, Borromeo sostenne collegi e istituzioni destinate a specifiche esigenze educative. L'interesse per la scuola e per la catechesi dei laici si collegava allo stesso obiettivo: rendere più sistematica la trasmissione della dottrina cristiana.
Le scuole della dottrina cristiana e le confraternite furono strumenti
essenziali per raggiungere famiglie e giovani. L'attività catechistica,
sostenuta da sacerdoti e laici, si diffuse attraverso una rete di iniziative
parrocchiali. La formazione religiosa assunse così un carattere istituzionale che
avrebbe segnato a lungo la pastorale cattolica.
Il primo concilio provinciale e l'organizzazione della riforma
Il primo concilio provinciale milanese, celebrato nel 1565, costituì una tappa fondamentale nel trasferimento delle decisioni tridentine alla pratica ecclesiastica. Seguirono i concili del 1569, 1571, 1576, 1579 e 1582. Questa sequenza, affiancata da undici sinodi diocesani, consentì di correggere progressivamente le disposizioni e di affrontare questioni emerse nell'applicazione concreta. L'attività legislativa non fu episodica, ma il centro di un programma di governo continuativo.
Le norme riguardavano anche la tenuta dei registri parrocchiali, la
preparazione dei candidati al sacerdozio, la vigilanza sui benefici, la cura
delle anime, la disciplina dei monasteri e la celebrazione del culto.
Attraverso la stampa e la circolazione degli atti, l'esperienza milanese
divenne un riferimento per altri vescovi cattolici. Le raccolte normative
permettono di seguire non soltanto le intenzioni dell'arcivescovo, ma anche i
problemi concreti che incontrava: resistenze, privilegi, abitudini liturgiche e
difficoltà di controllo delle comunità periferiche.
Il Collegio Borromeo e il Collegio elvetico
Tra le iniziative educative di Carlo si distingue il Collegio Borromeo di Pavia, istituito per sostenere la formazione universitaria di studenti meritevoli, e il Collegio elvetico di Milano, legato alla preparazione del clero destinato alle regioni svizzere. Quest'ultima istituzione si inseriva in un contesto confessionale complesso, nel quale la presenza cattolica conviveva e si confrontava con comunità riformate e con differenti ordinamenti politici.
La rete educativa promossa dall'arcivescovo non si limitò ai futuri sacerdoti.
Collegi, scuole di dottrina cristiana e confraternite rappresentavano modalità
differenti di formazione religiosa. I risultati furono diseguali secondo i
territori e le risorse, ma la continuità dell'impegno contribuì a trasformare
la preparazione del clero e la catechesi in funzioni stabili del governo
diocesano.
Le visite pastorali nelle città e nelle valli
Carlo percorse ripetutamente l'arcidiocesi e le aree della provincia ecclesiastica, raggiungendo anche comunità alpine difficili da visitare. Le sue visite nelle Tre Valli ambrosiane e in territori oggi appartenenti alla Svizzera testimoniano la dimensione sovraregionale della diocesi cinquecentesca. In queste zone le tensioni confessionali e le differenti appartenenze politiche rendevano particolarmente delicata l'azione dell'arcivescovo.
L'ispezione degli altari, degli arredi, dei registri e della condotta dei ministri si accompagnava all'incontro con le comunità. Le prescrizioni successive potevano imporre riparazioni, mutamenti nella disciplina liturgica o interventi sull'organizzazione parrocchiale. Questo metodo, sostenuto da vicari e collaboratori, trasformò la visita in un dispositivo permanente di governo.
La ricca documentazione delle visite conserva informazioni sulla vita
religiosa, sull'edilizia, sulle pratiche comunitarie e sui rapporti fra
istituzioni ecclesiastiche e società locale. Non ogni prescrizione fu eseguita
immediatamente; la distanza fra norma e prassi rimane un elemento fondamentale
per valutare l'effettiva portata delle riforme.
Il governo nelle terre svizzere e le tensioni confessionali
L'arcidiocesi milanese si estendeva oltre i confini dell'attuale Italia, comprendendo comunità delle valli oggi svizzere. Qui le visite e gli interventi disciplinari si svolgevano in un ambiente segnato dalla Riforma protestante, dalle autonomie locali e dalla sovrapposizione di competenze civili ed ecclesiastiche. L'obiettivo di rafforzare la confessione cattolica si accompagnò a provvedimenti di controllo delle pratiche religiose e della moralità pubblica.
L'azione borromaica in queste zone non può essere interpretata unicamente come
riorganizzazione amministrativa. Essa partecipò anche al processo di
definizione delle identità confessionali dell'Europa moderna. Alcuni interventi
contro le pratiche ritenute superstiziose, e i procedimenti connessi alle
accuse di stregoneria, costituiscono aspetti controversi che la storiografia
valuta alla luce delle strutture giudiziarie e delle convinzioni religiose del
XVI secolo.
Architettura, liturgia e rito ambrosiano
La riforma investì anche gli spazi sacri. Carlo attribuiva alla disposizione degli edifici, alla custodia dell'eucaristia e alla dignità degli arredi una funzione educativa. Le Instructiones fabricae et supellectilis ecclesiasticae offrirono indicazioni per la costruzione e l'allestimento delle chiese, divenendo un testo di riferimento per l'architettura religiosa dell'età post-tridentina.
L'attività di architetti come Pellegrino Tibaldi si inserì in questo programma, che cercava di coniugare esigenze liturgiche, visibilità dell'altare e ordinamento degli spazi. L'intervento sugli edifici non fu dunque una semplice scelta estetica: esprimeva la volontà di rendere riconoscibile il rinnovamento ecclesiale nella vita quotidiana dei fedeli.
Borromeo difese inoltre la specificità della tradizione liturgica ambrosiana,
pur operando nel quadro dell'unificazione disciplinare della Chiesa latina. La
conservazione di tale patrimonio mostra che la riforma tridentina non comportò
necessariamente l'abolizione di ogni tradizione locale.
Il rito ambrosiano e la difesa di una tradizione locale
Pur essendo un protagonista dell'attuazione delle riforme tridentine, Carlo sostenne la conservazione del rito ambrosiano, patrimonio liturgico proprio della Chiesa milanese. L'operazione richiese revisione di libri, confronto con usi consolidati e definizione di una disciplina liturgica più coerente. La conservazione del rito non significò rinuncia alla riforma, ma tentativo di accordare la tradizione locale con la nuova organizzazione ecclesiastica.
La pubblicazione di libri liturgici e l'attenzione all'ordinamento delle
celebrazioni contribuirono a rafforzare l'identità della Chiesa ambrosiana. La
riforma non eliminò tutte le divergenze tra le comunità: alcuni luoghi
conservarono consuetudini proprie, mostrando che l'unificazione disciplinare
incontrava limiti storici e istituzionali.
Conflitti giurisdizionali e opposizioni
Il governo borromaico incontrò la resistenza di capitoli, comunità religiose e magistrature. Nel ducato di Milano il potere civile dipendeva dalla monarchia spagnola, e la delimitazione delle competenze ecclesiastiche generava dispute sulle immunità, sui tribunali e sulle modalità di esercizio della disciplina. L'arcivescovo difese energicamente le prerogative della propria giurisdizione, contribuendo a conflitti che coinvolsero anche la Santa Sede.
Il caso degli Umiliati fu particolarmente grave. Il tentativo di sottoporre l'ordine a una riforma più rigorosa incontrò opposizioni interne; il 26 ottobre 1569 Gerolamo Donato, detto Farina, sparò contro Carlo mentre questi pregava. L'arcivescovo sopravvisse. La repressione della congiura e la successiva soppressione pontificia dell'ordine nel 1571 mostrano quanto la riforma coinvolgesse interessi patrimoniali, privilegi e rapporti di forza.
L'azione di Carlo non può essere descritta soltanto come assistenza e
istruzione. La disciplina religiosa si estese al controllo dei comportamenti e
alla repressione di pratiche giudicate superstiziose o incompatibili con
l'ortodossia. Gli interventi nell'area alpina, anche nei procedimenti contro
persone accusate di stregoneria, appartengono agli aspetti più severi e
problematici del suo governo e richiedono una valutazione nel contesto delle
istituzioni giudiziarie del tempo.
La peste, l'assistenza e la città
L'epidemia del 1576-1577 costituisce uno degli episodi più studiati della vita di Carlo. In una città attraversata da paura, mortalità e difficoltà economiche, l'arcivescovo intervenne nell'organizzazione dei soccorsi e nella cura religiosa della popolazione. Visitò malati, mobilitò risorse ecclesiastiche e promosse forme di assistenza rivolte ai più vulnerabili.
La risposta combinò misure materiali e pratiche religiose. L'assistenza negli ospedali e nei luoghi destinati agli appestati si accompagnò a predicazione, penitenza e processioni. Alcune di queste pratiche riflettevano una concezione provvidenzialistica dell'epidemia, propria della cultura religiosa del Cinquecento, e devono essere distinte dalle moderne conoscenze sulla trasmissione delle malattie.
La presenza personale dell'arcivescovo ebbe un forte significato pubblico, soprattutto quando una parte delle autorità e della popolazione cercava di sottrarsi al pericolo. La memoria collettiva associò a tal punto il suo nome all'evento da tramandare l'espressione 'peste di san Carlo'. Tale denominazione appartiene alla storia della memoria cittadina, non alla terminologia medica.
Le spese sostenute per l'assistenza e l'impiego di beni personali e
istituzionali contribuirono alla sua fama. Il suo ruolo non elimina tuttavia il
contributo di medici, funzionari, religiosi, confraternite e altri soggetti
impegnati nella gestione dell'emergenza. La crisi mise in evidenza la capacità
di mobilitazione della Chiesa milanese e i limiti delle risorse disponibili.
L'azione caritativa e le scelte durante la peste
L'epidemia del 1576-1577 mise a dura prova la struttura urbana di Milano. L'assistenza richiedeva denaro, cibo, personale, luoghi di isolamento e coordinamento fra istituzioni religiose e civili. Carlo contribuì a mobilitare risorse e collaboratori, impegnandosi personalmente nella visita ai malati e nella celebrazione dei riti religiosi. La sua figura rimase associata alla crisi al punto che l'epidemia passò nella memoria cittadina come 'peste di san Carlo'.
Le processioni, le preghiere pubbliche e le pratiche penitenziali, promosse in
quel contesto, esprimevano una lettura religiosa del contagio tipica
dell'epoca. Non coincidono con i criteri sanitari moderni e devono essere
distinte dall'organizzazione concreta dell'assistenza. La fama caritativa del
Borromeo è storicamente legata all'impegno durante l'epidemia, ma l'opera di
soccorso coinvolse una pluralità di religiosi, laici e funzionari.
Gli Oblati di Sant'Ambrogio e la continuità del governo
La congregazione degli Oblati di Sant'Ambrogio, costituita nel 1578 e dotata di regole definite negli anni successivi, fu concepita come un corpo di sacerdoti diocesani particolarmente disponibili al servizio dell'arcivescovo. Non si trattava di un ordine religioso monastico: la sua fisionomia rispondeva alle esigenze di una diocesi vasta e articolata, nella quale erano necessari collaboratori preparati per incarichi, missioni e attività pastorali specifiche.
La fondazione rappresentò una delle eredità organizzative più caratteristiche
del Borromeo. La centralità attribuita alla figura episcopale, alla disciplina
comune e alla formazione permanente del clero divenne un modello influente, pur
suscitando talvolta opposizioni per la concentrazione delle decisioni nelle
mani dell'arcivescovo.
Gli ultimi anni e la memoria immediata
Dopo l'epidemia Carlo proseguì la riforma delle istituzioni, le visite e la promozione di forme di vita sacerdotale più strettamente legate al servizio diocesano. La congregazione degli Oblati di Sant'Ambrogio, organizzata negli ultimi anni del suo episcopato, rispondeva all'esigenza di disporre di sacerdoti disponibili per incarichi pastorali e missioni particolari.
Nel 1578 compì il pellegrinaggio a Torino per venerare la Sindone, trasferita da Chambéry per volontà dei Savoia. L'episodio testimonia il rapporto fra devozione, diplomazia dinastica e prestigio delle reliquie nella cultura cattolica dell'epoca.
Nell'autunno del 1584, dopo un soggiorno al Sacro Monte di Varallo, una febbre
aggravò condizioni di salute già provate. Morì a Milano il 3 novembre. Il culto
sviluppatosi attorno alla sua sepoltura nel Duomo ricevette il riconoscimento
della beatificazione nel 1602 e della canonizzazione il 1 novembre 1610. La sua
esperienza continuò a influenzare la formazione del clero, la disciplina
parrocchiale e la figura del vescovo residente, pur rimanendo oggetto di
interpretazioni storiche differenti per il carattere rigoroso del suo governo.
Milano,
Università Statale (ingresso), Statua di san Carlo Borromeo
Biografia
A cura di Mario Scudu sdb
Nella storia civile e anche in quella della Chiesa troviamo vari personaggi cui i posteri hanno decretato il titolo di Magno. Non li enumero qui perché sono facili da ricordare e poi non sono moltissimi. Al santo che vi presento, San Carlo Borromeo, non è stato dato il titolo di Grande, ma secondo me lo meriterebbe, almeno nell’ambito della storia ecclesiastica. È un personaggio centrale del 1500, una delle figure più eminenti, la cui opera, specialmente per Milano, ha superato la forza dell’oblio.
Carlo nacque ad Arona, sul Lago Maggiore, nel 1538, in una nobile e ricca famiglia. Il padre, Gilberto, era noto per la profonda religiosità e per la sua generosità verso i poveri. Anche la madre, Margherita, era piissima: purtroppo morì quando Carlo aveva solo nove anni. Questo influsso dei genitori rimarrà fondamentale nella sua educazione.
A 12 anni, Carlo fu nominato commendatario di un’abbazia benedettina di Arona, che fruttava una rendita di 2000 scudi.
Una cifra considerevole. Nonostante l’età, però, il ragazzo aveva già le idee chiare.
Infatti, appena ricevuta l’investitura, corse dal padre per dirgli che aveva deciso di spendere quei soldi in aiuto dei poveri. Non c’è male per un dodicenne. I suoi pari di oggi sono anni luce lontano da lui.
Arrivati i 14 anni si recò a studiare prima a Milano poi a Pavia, portando con sé solo un piccola somma di denaro. Ma a lui questa condizione di strettezza economica (relativamente al suo rango) non pesava più di tanto. Nella condizione di studente rivelò ben presto i suoi numerosi talenti: grande intelligenza, carattere tenace e riflessivo, era portato all’essenziale, a non perdersi cioè in tante banalità ed esperienze superficiali, non infrequenti a quell’età. Nel 1559, diventò dottore “in utroque jure” ed aveva solo 21 anni.
A Roma, intanto, alla fine dello stesso anno ci fu il cambio di guardia in
Vaticano. Era stato eletto un nuovo Papa, Pio IV, nella persona di Gianangelo
de’ Medici, suo zio materno. Questo fatto impresse una svolta alla sua vita. Fu
infatti chiamato dallo stesso Papa nella Città Eterna insieme al fratello
Federico.
Carriera ecclesiastica a Roma
Nel caso di Pio IV ci troviamo davanti ad un raro caso di nepotismo positivo per la Chiesa. Il Papa promosse immediatamente i due nipoti: Federico (1561) ebbe la carica di capitano generale della Chiesa, Carlo non ancora ventiduenne, fu nominato cardinale con un incarico che oggi potremmo chiamare di Segretario di Stato. Poco dopo gli affidò anche l’amministrazione della diocesi di Milano con l’obbligo di restare però... a Roma. E questa non era l’unica carica. Ne ebbe parecchie altre con l’inevitabile cumulo anche dei rispettivi benefici economici. Gli storici dicono che l’accordo tra Papa e nipote fu sempre perfetto. Carlo nonostante le cariche rimaneva sempre un uomo di cultura.
Al tal fine fondò un’accademia a carattere umanistico-letterario, composta da
amici, chiamata Notti Vaticane. Si era anche comprato un fastoso palazzo con
servitù a seguito, in cui organizzava fastosi e festosi ricevimenti. Erano i
tempi: il tutto non per vanità ma perché lo riteneva opportuno per la carica
che ricopriva e per la fama e decoro della famiglia da cui proveniva.
L’evento decisivo
L’improvvisa morte del fratello Federico (1562) gli fece cambiare radicalmente vita. La interpretò come un segno da parte di Dio per riformare la propria vita ancor più in senso evangelico. Così cambiò radicalmente: addio ai festosi ricevimenti, addio ai divertimenti anche moralmente leciti, addio alle Notti Vaticane che divennero un cenacolo di cultura religiosa. Ridusse il proprio tenore di vita, intensificando la penitenza, i digiuni e le rinunce. Riprese inoltre, con più impegno, la propria formazione teologica e pastorale. Era pur sempre vescovo di una diocesi anche se non esercitava direttamente.
Il Papa vide perplesso la trasformazione in senso ascetico del prezioso nipote (che qualche volta chiamava “il mio occhio destro”). Scosse la testa: il tutto gli sembrava esagerato. Giunse persino a sgridarlo (addebitando l’eccessivo zelo ascetico ai consigli dei suoi direttori spirituali e all’influsso di personaggi contemporanei del calibro di Ignazio di Loyola, Gaetano da Thiene, Filippo Neri: guarda caso tutti Santi dichiarati tali dalla Chiesa). Il Papa lo scoraggiò, lo rimproverò, ma lo lasciò fare, e alla fine lo... imitò.
Ma il più grande merito di Carlo Borromeo fu che convinse il Papa a riconvocare il Concilio di Trento sospeso nel 1555. Se questo lavorò tanto e bene e se finì gloriosamente e proficuamente per la Chiesa (1563) il grande merito fu di Carlo. Egli ne fu la mente organizzatrice e l’ispiratore.
Nel luglio 1563, fu ordinato sacerdote e poco tempo dopo vescovo. Voleva fare il pastore di anime nella sua diocesi di Milano e ne aspettava l’occasione.
Il Concilio era finito ma bisognava assicurarsi che anche il successore di Pio IV avesse l’intenzione di continuare la riforma che ne era scaturita. Carlo credeva nell’azione dello Spirito Santo nella direzione della Chiesa, ma, nello stesso tempo, faceva umanamente quello che lui stesso pensava utile. Al vecchio e ammalato zio infatti suggerì i nomi dei nuovi cardinali del futuro conclave: doveva promuovere solo quelli favorevoli alla riforma della Chiesa voluta dal Concilio di Trento. Fatto questo gli chiese di poter presiedere, come legato papale, il consiglio provinciale che si teneva a Milano (la sua diocesi) per attuare le disposizioni conciliari. Lo zio Papa acconsentì. E Carlo partì. Ma poco tempo dopo dovette in tutta fretta fare ritorno a Roma (in compagnia di Filippo Neri) perché il Papa era ormai alla fine. Pio IV infatti morì tra le sue braccia il 9 dicembre 1565.
Morto un Papa, se ne fa un altro, così dice il proverbio. E così fu. Il 7
gennaio 1566, il Nostro avrebbe potuto farsi eleggere Papa con facilità, la sua
“lobby” infatti era fortissima. Ed inoltre, era degnissimo. Ma lo Spirito Santo
e lui non vollero. Fu eletto il Card. Michele Ghislieri, domenicano, favorevole
all’attuazione del Concilio di Trento. E Carlo fu uno dei suoi “sponsor”.
Un pastore “di ferro” che dà la sua vita
Nell’aprile del 1566, raggiunse Milano, dove iniziò subito la grande opera di riforma secondo il Concilio di Trento. Fu un organizzatore geniale e un lavoratore instancabile tanto che Filippo Neri esclamò: “Ma quest’uomo è di ferro”.
Organizzò la sua diocesi in 12 circoscrizioni, curò la revisione della vita della parrocchia obbligando i parroci a tenere i registri di archivio, con le varie attività e associazioni parrocchiali. Si impegnò molto nella formazione del clero creando il seminario maggiore e minore. Fu soprattutto instancabile nel visitare le popolazioni affidate alla sua cura pastorale e spirituale, iniziando la sua prima visita nel 1566 subito dopo l’arrivo a Milano.
La sua visita in una parrocchia era preparata spiritualmente con la preghiera e con la predicazione che doveva portare ai sacramenti. Il vescovo all’inizio faceva una riunione con i notabili del paese ai quali chiedeva tra l’altro: “Come si comportano in chiesa i parrocchiani? Ci sono eretici, usurai, concubini, banditi o criminali? Ci sono seminatori di discordia, parrocchiani che non osservano la Quaresima?... I padri di famiglia educano bene i propri figli? Non c’è lusso esagerato nel vestire da parte degli uomini e delle donne? Se ci sono delle istituzioni di beneficenza e di aiuto sociale, sono ben amministrate?”. E altre domande simili. Come si vede concrete.
Tutto bene quindi nella sua opera di riforma? Non proprio. Incontrò difficoltà e talvolta anche ostilità. Come nel caso dell’attentato che subì il 26 ottobre 1569 ad opera di quattro frati dell’Ordine degli Umiliati. Uno di questi gli sparò mentre era in preghiera nella sua cappella privata. Motivo? Il Borromeo voleva riformare quell’ordine religioso ormai decaduto. Ma le riforme proposte furono viste dagli Umiliati come umiliazioni. La pallottola gli forò il rocchetto, ma lui rimase illeso miracolosamente ed il popolo lo interpretò come un segno dall’alto della bontà delle sue riforme. E gli Umiliati, di nome, furono umiliati anche di fatto e per sempre con la loro cancellazione definitiva.
Ma lo spessore della sua personalità di pastore e del suo amore più grande che “dona la vita per i suoi amici”, la mostrò in occasione della peste del 1576. Assente dalla città perché in visita pastorale, rientrò subito, mentre il governatore spagnolo e il gran cancelliere fuggivano via.
Fece subito testamento sapendo che la peste non aveva riguardo per nessuno, nemmeno per l’alto clero: organizzò l’opera di assistenza, visitò personalmente e coraggiosamente i colpiti dal terribile morbo, aiutò tutti instancabilmente fino al punto da meritarsi un rimprovero dal Papa di Roma.
Nonostante tutta l’attività pastorale, il Borromeo fece quattro viaggi a Roma e quattro a Torino. Era molto devoto della sacra Sindone. Fu proprio nel 1578 che i duchi di Savoia la portarono a Torino perché al vescovo di Milano, che aveva chiesto di venerarla personalmente, fosse risparmiato il difficile e pericoloso attraversamento delle Alpi (motivo ufficiale), ma anche per difenderla dalle brame dei Francesi (motivo politico). L’esposizione della reliquia fatta a Torino nel 1978 fu per ricordare questo suo arrivo nella città.
A causa della sua attività pastorale senza sosta, dei frequenti viaggi, delle continue penitenze, la sua salute peggiorò rapidamente. La morte lo colse preparatissimo il 3 novembre del 1584, ed il suo culto si diffuse rapidamente fino alla canonizzazione fatta nel 1610 da Paolo V.
Carlo Borromeo moriva fisicamente ma la sua eredità, fatta di santità personale
e di azione instancabile per la Chiesa era più viva che mai, e sarebbe
continuata nei secoli. Fino ad oggi.
Biografia
A cura di Mariella
Lentini
«Le anime – dice San Carlo Borromeo – si conquistano con l’umile preghiera». Lui, infatti, è un grande conquistatore di anime. Nato nel 1538 nel castello di Arona (Novara), sul Lago Maggiore, figlio del conte Gilberto, Carlo a nove anni, purtroppo, perde la mamma, Margherita Medici di Marignano. Per le usanze dell’epoca, essendo il terzo figlio, Carlo a dodici anni veste l’abito talare. Le sue rendite le destina subito ai poveri. Nonostante fin da bambino abbia difficoltà nel parlare, Carlo è un brillante studente e si laurea a Pavia. Viene chiamato a Roma dove papa Pio IV, suo zio per parte di madre, lo nomina cardinale e segretario di Stato a soli ventidue anni.
Partecipa da protagonista al Concilio di Trento e avvia l’istituzione dei seminari per formare bravi sacerdoti. A venticinque anni viene nominato arcivescovo e destinato alla guida dell’arcidiocesi di Milano, un vastissimo territorio abbandonato a se stesso, che comprende Lombardia, Veneto, Genova e Svizzera. Terre che lui visita instancabile, occupandosi della condizione dei fedeli e, soprattutto, dell’educazione religiosa dei bambini. Fa costruire ospedali e ospizi, elargendo anche le proprie ricchezze.
Durante la peste che colpisce Milano nel 1576, il cardinale si prodiga personalmente ad assistere i malati, celebra continue Messe, organizza processioni. Ripristina la disciplina nei conventi con tanto rigore da spingere un frate degenere a sparargli contro mentre prega. Carlo Borromeo, prodigiosamente, non viene colpito. Per la sua attività, Milano in quel periodo primeggia sulle altre città italiane. I vescovi, ammirati dalle sue iniziative, lo prendono a modello, ma la sua fibra, anche se robusta, non sopporta tutte queste fatiche. Il cardinale ammalato, con la febbre alta, va ugualmente in giro senza mangiare né dormire, continuando la sua opera pastorale, pregando e aiutando i bisognosi.
A quarantasei anni, il 3 novembre 1584, si spegne a Milano stroncato
dall’immane fatica, lasciando alla città un bellissimo ricordo della sua
generosa opera. È patrono di sacerdoti, vescovi, direttori spirituali,
catechisti, insegnanti, maestri, librai, legatori di libri. Per il grande aiuto
dato agli ammalati è invocato dai sofferenti contro il vaiolo e le epidemie. In
suo onore è stata costruita una statua gigantesca di bronzo, alta trenta metri,
denominata amichevolmente “San Carlone” che sorge ad Arona, nei pressi del Lago
Maggiore, meta di pellegrinaggio e turismo.
Fonte: Santi
San
Carlo Borromeo in adorazione di fronte alla Sindone
Approfondimenti
La riforma tridentina nella diocesi ambrosiana
Il modello borromaico univa normativa, formazione, visite e controllo della
vita parrocchiale. I decreti dei concili provinciali milanesi circolarono ben
oltre l'arcidiocesi. L'attività legislativa contribuì alla ricezione del
Concilio di Trento e influenzò la fisionomia del cattolicesimo moderno.
L'insistenza sull'istruzione religiosa dei laici accompagnava il tentativo di
rendere più omogenee pratiche e conoscenze in una diocesi linguisticamente e
territorialmente articolata.
Architettura e culto
L'azione di Carlo si estese agli spazi del culto, alla decorazione
ecclesiastica e alla funzionalità degli edifici religiosi. Il nome di
Pellegrino Tibaldi è strettamente associato a numerosi interventi
architettonici del suo episcopato. Le prescrizioni sulle chiese e sugli arredi
riflettono l'importanza attribuita alla visibilità della liturgia e alla
distinzione degli spazi sacri.
La memoria nella città di Milano e ad Arona
Lo Scurolo del Duomo conserva il luogo principale della venerazione delle sue
spoglie. Ad Arona il grande monumento seicentesco, comunemente detto
Sancarlone, testimonia l'ampiezza della devozione successiva alla
canonizzazione. Il suo culto è rimasto particolarmente radicato nella Chiesa
ambrosiana.
Curiosità
- Il monumento noto come Sancarlone, ad Arona, è una colossale statua in rame e ferro realizzata nel XVII secolo e visitabile all'interno.
- Il motto della famiglia Borromeo, Humilitas, è divenuto un elemento caratteristico delle rappresentazioni di san Carlo.
- L'attentato del 1569 con un'arma da fuoco è uno degli episodi più noti dei
conflitti provocati dalla riforma degli Umiliati.
Cronologia
- 2 ottobre 1538 - Nascita ad Arona.
- 1559 - Dottorato in diritto civile e canonico a Pavia.
- 1560 - Nomina cardinalizia e affidamento dell'amministrazione milanese.
- 1562 - Morte del fratello Federico; fase conclusiva del Concilio di Trento.
- 1563 - Ordinazione sacerdotale e consacrazione episcopale; conclusione del Concilio di Trento.
- 1565 - Avvio della residenza stabile a Milano dopo la morte di Pio IV.
- 1569 - Attentato nel contesto del conflitto con gli Umiliati.
- 1576-1577 - Assistenza durante la peste di Milano.
- 1578 - Pellegrinaggio a Torino per la Sindone.
- 1581 - Fondazione della congregazione degli Oblati.
- 3 novembre 1584 - Morte a Milano.
- 1602 - Beatificazione sotto Clemente VIII.
- 1 novembre 1610 - Canonizzazione da parte di Paolo V.
Valutazione
storico-critica
- La vita e l'attività episcopale sono ampiamente documentate da atti ecclesiastici, disposizioni sinodali e testimonianze storiche.
- La nomina cardinalizia precedette l'ordinazione sacerdotale, secondo la disciplina e le consuetudini dell'epoca.
- Il ruolo nel Concilio di Trento fu soprattutto di coordinamento e promozione presso la Curia romana; non equivale a una presenza personale continuativa alle sessioni.
- La tradizione agiografica ha accentuato alcuni aspetti edificanti della vita; la sua attività istituzionale è verificabile anche indipendentemente da tali racconti.
- Le controversie con autorità civili e religiose fanno parte integrante della vicenda storica del suo episcopato.
- La canonizzazione del 1610 e la memoria del 4 novembre sono documentate
ufficialmente.
Fonti e bibliografia
essenziale
- Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Treccani, voce Carlo Borromeo, santo.
- Giovanni Paolo II, Omelia per il quarto centenario della morte di san Carlo Borromeo, Milano, 4 novembre 1984.
- Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi, elenco delle canonizzazioni del 1610.
- Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi, Carlo Borromeo, profilo biografico e dati della canonizzazione.
- Arcidiocesi di Milano, San Carlo Borromeo, vescovo, profilo storico-liturgico.
- Enciclopedia Treccani, Dizionario di Storia, voce Carlo Borromeo, santo, 2010.
- Benedetto XVI, Messaggio all'arcivescovo di Milano per il IV centenario della
canonizzazione di san Carlo Borromeo, 4 novembre 2010.
Patronati
Acquarica del Capo (LE)
Catechisti
Catechistiche Opere
Maestri della Dottrina
Cristiana
Milano
Milano, Diocesi di
Nizza Monferrato (AT)
Peschiera Borromeo (MI)
Peste, contro la
Portomaggiore (FE)
Rocca di Papa (RM)
Salò (BS)
Voltri (GE)
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/24950
Duomo
di Milano, Scurolo di san Carlo. La bara di san Carlo Borromeo. Foto di
Giovanni Dall'Orto, 29-jan-2007
Venerabili fratelli,
salute ed apostolica benedizione
Ciò che la parola divina
ricorda più volte nelle sacre Scritture, come il giusto vivrà in memoria eterna
di lodi e ch'egli parla anche defunto [1], si avvera sopra tutto per la voce e
l'opera continuata della Chiesa. Questa, infatti, quale madre e altrice di
santità, ringiovanita sempre e fecondata dal soffio dello Spirito Santo, che
inabita in noi [2], come è sola a generare, nutrire ed
allevare nel suo seno la nobilissima figliuolanza dei giusti, così è la più
sollecita, quasi per istinto di amore materno, a conservarne la memoria e a
ravvivarne l'amore. Da tale ricordanza ella riceve quasi un divino conforto, e
ritrae lo sguardo dalle miserie di questo pellegrinaggio mortale, mentre già
vede nei santi la sua gioia e la sua corona, riconosce in essi la immagine
sublime del suo Sposo celeste, e inculca ai suoi figli con nuova testimonianza
il detto antico: Per quanti amano Dio, per quelli che secondo il proposito
divino sono stati chiamati santi, le cose tutte si rivolgono in bene [3]. Né le loro opere gloriose riescono solo
di conforto alla memoria, ma di luce all'imitazione e di forte incitamento alla
virtù per quella eco unanime dei santi che risponde alla voce di Paolo : Siate
miei imitatori, come io sono di Cristo [4].
Per queste ragioni,
Venerabili Fratelli, mentre Noi, appena assunto il Sommo Pontificato,
significavamo il proposito di adoperarci costantemente perchè « le cose tutte
fossero instaurate in Cristo », con la prima nostra Lettera enciclica [5] ci studiammo vivamente di fare che tutti
rivolgessero con Noi i loro sguardi a Gesù, apostolo e pontefice della nostra
confessione... autore e consumatore della fede [6]. Ma poiché la nostra debolezza è tanta
che facilmente restiamo sbigottiti dalla grandezza di tanto esemplare, per
benefizio della Provvidenza divina un altro modello Noi avemmo da proporre, che
pur essendo prossimo a Cristo quanto a natura umana è possibile, è meglio
confacevole alla debolezza nostra, cioè la Beatissima Vergine, Augusta Madre di
Dio [7]. Infine, cogliendo varie occasioni di
ravvivare la memoria dei santi, proponemmo alla comune ammirazione questi servi
e dispensatori fedeli nella casa di Dio, e secondo il grado proprio di
ciascuno, amici e domestici di lui, come quelli che per la fede vinsero i
regni, operarono la giustizia, ottennero le promesse [8], affinché dai loro esempi spronati non
siamo più bambini vacillanti e trasportati. da ogni vento di dottrina per
raggiri degli uomini, per astuzia usata a circonvenire nell'errore; ma
seguitando la verità nella carità, andiamo crescendo per ogni parte in lui, che
è il capo, Cristo [9].
Questo consiglio
altissimo della Provvidenza divina mostrammo attuato in tre personaggi
massimamente, che quali grandi pastori e dottori fiorirono in età ben diverse
ma quasi del pari calamitose per la Chiesa : Gregorio Magno, Giovanni Crisostomo
e Anselmo di Aosta, dei quali occorsero in questi ultimi anni solenni feste
centenarie. Così più specialmente nelle due Lettere Encicliche, date il 12 di
marzo 1904 e il 21 aprile 1909, spiegammo quei punti di dottrina e precetti di
vita cristiana, quali ci parvero opportuni ai nostri giorni, che si raccolgono
dagli esempi e dagli insegnamenti dei santi.
E poiché Noi siamo
persuasi che gli esempi illustri dei soldati di Cristo valgono assai meglio a
scuotere gli animi e a trascinarli che non le parole o le alte trattazioni [10], profittiamo ora volentieri di un'altra
felice opportunità che ci si porge per commendare gli utilissimi documenti di
un altro santo Pastore, suscitato da Dio in tempi a noi più vicini e quasi in
mezzo alle medesime tempeste, Cardinale della Santa Romana Chiesa e arcivescovo
di Milano, da Paolo V di santa memoria ascritto nel novero dei santi, Carlo Borromeo.
E non meno a proposito; poiché - per usare le parole dello stesso nostro
Antecessore - « il Signore, che fa maraviglie grandi egli solo, ha operato con
noi cose magnifiche in questi ultimi tempi, e con opera mirabile della sua
dispensazione, ha eretto sopra la rocca dell'Apostolica pietra un grande
luminare, eleggendo dal seno della sacrosanta Romana Chiesa, Carlo sacerdote
fedele, servo « buono, modello del gregge e modello dei pastori. Egli infatti,
con molteplice fulgore di opere sante illustrando la Chiesa tutta, brilla
innanzi ai sacerdoti ed al popolo, quale un Abele « per l'innocenza, un Enoch
per la purezza, un Giacobbe per la sofferenza delle fatiche, un Mosè per la
mansuetudine, un Elia per lo zelo ardente. Egli in sé mostra da imitare, fra
l'abbondanza delle delizie l'austerità di Girolamo, nei gradi più alti l'umiltà
di Martino, la sollecitudine pastorale di Gregorio, la libertà di Ambrogio, la
carità di Paolino, e finalmente ci dà a vedere con gli occhi nostri, a toccare
con le nostre mani, un uomo che, mentre il mondo gli sorride con le maggiori
blandizie, vive crocifisso al mondo, vive dello spirito, calpestando le cose
terrene, cercando continuamente le celesti, ne solo per officio sostituito in
luogo di Angelo, ma emulo in terra nei pensieri e nelle opere della vita degli
Angeli » [11].
Così il nostro
Antecessore, trascorsi cinque lustri dalla morte di Carlo. E ora, trascorsi tre
secoli dalla glorificazione a lui decretata, « meritamente è pieno il nostro
labbro di gaudio e la nostra lingua di esultanza nell'insigne giorno della
nostra solennità, quando col decretare i sacri onori a Carlo prete cardinale
della Santa Romana Chiesa, alla quale Noi per disposizione del Signore
presediamo, fu aggiunta una corona ricca di ogni pietra preziosa all'unica sua
Sposa ». Così Noi abbiamo comune col nostro Antecessore la confidenza, che
dalla contemplazione della gloria, ma più ancora dagli insegnamenti e dagli
esempi del Santo, si possa vedere umiliata la protervia degli empi e confusi
tutti quelli che « si gloriano dei simulacri degli errori » [12]. Quindi la rinnovata glorificazione di
Carlo, modello del gregge e dei pastori nei tempi moderni, propugnatore e
consigliere indefesso della verace riforma cattolica contro quei novatori recenti,
il cui intento non era la reintegrazione, ma piuttosto la deformazione e
distruzione della fede e dei costumi, riuscirà dopo tre secoli per tutti i
cattolici di singolare conforto ed istruzione, come di nobile incitamento a
tutti per cooperare strenuamente all'opera che tanto Ci sta a cuore della
ristaurazione di tutte le cose in Cristo.
Certamente è a voi ben
noto, Venerabili Fratelli, come la Chiesa, quantunque tribolata continuamente,
non è mai lasciata da Dio priva di ogni consolazione. Poiché Cristo l'amò e
dette se stesso per lei, affine di santificarla e farsela comparire innanzi
gloriosa, senza macchia nè ruga nè altra cosa tale, ma perchè sia santa e
immacolata [13]. Anzi, quando più sbrigliata la licenza
dei costumi, più feroce l'impeto della persecuzione, più astute le insidie
dell'errore sembrano minacciare a lei rovina estrema, fino a strapparle dal
seno non pochi dei suoi figliuoli, per travolgerli nel vortice dell'empietà e
dei vizi, allora la Chiesa sperimenta più efficace la protezione divina.
Perocchè Iddio fa che l'errore stesso, vogliano o no i malvagi, serva al
trionfo della verità, di cui la Chiesa è vigile custode; la corruzione serva
all'incremento della santità, di cui essa è altrice e maestra, la persecuzione
ad una più mirabile liberazione dai nostri nemici. Così avviene che quando la
Chiesa appare agli occhi profani sbattuta da più fiera tempesta e quasi
sommersa, allora n'esca più bella, più vigorosa, più pura, rifulgendo nello
splendore delle maggiori virtù.
In questo modo la somma
benignità di Dio viene confermando con nuovi argomenti, che la Chiesa è opera
divina; sia perchè nella prova più dolorosa, quella degli errori e delle colpe
che s'infiltrano nelle stesse sue membra, le fa superare il cimento; sia perchè
le mostra attuato il detto di Cristo : Le porte dell'inferno non prevarranno
contro di lei [14]; sia perchè comprova di fatto la
promessa : Ecco io sarò con voi tutti i giorni sino alla consumazione del
secolo [15]; sia infine perchè testimonia di quella
misteriosa virtù per cui un altro Paraclito, promessole da Cristo nel suo sollecito
ritorno al cielo, continuamente in lei effonde i suoi doni, e la difende e la
consola in ogni tribolazione; spirito che rimane con lei in eterno; spirito di
verità che il mondo non può ricevere, perchè non lo vede, nè lo conosce, perchè
egli dimorerà fra voi e sarà con voi [16]. Da questa fonte sgorga la vita e il
nerbo della Chiesa; e da questa pure il distinguersi da ogni altra società,
come insegna il Concilio Ecumenico Vaticano, per le note manifeste, ond'è
segnalata e costituita « quasi un vessillo sollevato fra le nazioni » [17].
E infatti, solo per un
miracolo della potenza divina può succedere che tra l'innondare della
corruzione e la frequente deficienza delle membra, la Chiesa in quanto è il
corpo mistico di Cristo, si mantenga indefettibile nella santità della
dottrina, delle leggi, del suo fine; dalle cause stesse tragga del pari
fruttuosi effetti; dalla fede e dalla giustizia di molti suoi figliuoli
raccolga frutti copiosissimi di salute. Né meno chiaro apparisce il sigillo
della sua vita divina in ciò che fra tanta e così turpe colluvie di perverse
opinioni, fra così grande numero di ribelli, fra il tanto multiforme variare
degli errori, essa persevera immutabile e costante, quale colonna e sostegno
della verità, nella professione di una stessa dottrina, nella comunione degli
stessi sacramenti, nella sua divina costituzione, nel governo, nella morale. E
ciò tanto più è mirabile, perchè ella non solamente resiste al male, ma vince
il male col bene, e mai non resta dal benedire e agli amici e ai nemici, mentre
tutta si affatica ed anela a operare la rinnovazione cristiana della società
non meno che dei singoli individui. Poichè questa è la sua missione propria nel
mondo, e di questa gli stessi suoi nemici sentono i benefizi.
Un tale mirabile influsso
della Provvidenza divina nell'opera ristauratrice promossa dalla Chiesa appare
splendidamente in quel secolo che vide sorgere a conforto dei buoni S. Carlo
Borromeo. Allora, spadroneggiando le passioni, travisata quasi del tutto e
oscurata la cognizione della verità, eravi lotta continua con gli errori, e
l'umana società, precipitando al peggio, sembrava correre all'abisso. Fra
questi mali insorgevano uomini orgogliosi e ribelli, nemici della croce di
Cristo... uomini di sentimenti terreni, il Dio de' quali è il ventre [18]. Costoro, applicandosi non a correggere
i costumi, ma a negare i dogmi, moltiplicavano i disordini, allargavano a sè ed
agli altri il freno della licenza, o certo sprezzando la guida autorevole della
Chiesa, a seconda delle passioni dei principi o dei popoli più corrotti, con
una quasi tirannide ne rovesciavano la dottrina, la costituzione, la
disciplina. Indi, imitando quegli iniqui, a cui è rivolta la minaccia : Guai a
voi che chiamate male il bene e bene il male [19], quel tumulto di ribellione e quella
perversione di fede e di costumi chiamarono riforma e se stessi riformatori.
Ma, in verità, essi furono corrompitori, sicchè, snervando con dissensioni e
guerre le forze dell'Europa, prepararono le ribellioni e l'apostasia dei tempi
moderni, nei quali si rinnovarono insieme in un impeto solo quei tre generi di
lotta, prima disgiunti, da cui la Chiesa era uscita sempre vincitrice : le
lotte cruente della prima età, indi la peste domestica delle eresie, infine,
sotto nome di libertà evangelica, quella corruzione di vizi e perversione della
disciplina, a cui forse non era giunta l'età medievale.
A questa turba di
seduttori Iddio oppose veraci riformatori e uomini santi, sia per arrestare
quella corrente impetuosa ed estinguere quel bollore, sia per riparare i danni
già recati. Quindi l'opera loro assidua e molteplice nella riforma della
disciplina fu di tanto maggiore conforto alla Chiesa, quanto più grave era la
tribolazione che l'angustiava, e comprovò il detto: Fedele è Iddio, che... darà
con la tentazione il vantaggio [20]. In siffatte circostanze veniva ad
accrescere consolazione alla Chiesa, per disposizione provvidenziale,
l'operosità e la santità singolare di Carlo Borromeo.
Senonchè il ministero di
lui, così disponendo Iddio, ebbe una forza ed efficacia tutta propria, nè solo
per fiaccare l'audacia dei faziosi, ma per ammaestrare ed infervorare i
figliuoli della Chiesa. Di quelli, infatti, egli reprimeva i folli ardimenti e
confutava le futili accuse, con l'eloquenza più potente, con l'esempio della
sua vita e della sua operosità; di questi rialzava le speranze e ravvivava
l'ardore. E fu certo cosa mirabile com'egli accolse in sè riunite fino dalla
sua giovinezza tutte quelle doti di un verace riformatore, che in altri vediamo
disperse e distinte: virtù, senno, dottrina, autorità, potenza, alacrità; e
tutte le fece servire unitamente alla difesa commessagli della verità cattolica
contro le invadenti eresie, com'era pure la missione propria della Chiesa,
risvegliando la fede sopita in molti e quasi estinta, corroborandola con
provvide leggi ed istituzioni, rialzando la scaduta disciplina e riconducendo
strenuamente i costumi del clero e del popolo ad un tenore di vita cristiana.
Così, mentre adempie le parti tutte del riformatore, non meno adempie per tempo
a tutti gli uffici del servo buono e fedele, e più tardi quelle del sacerdote
grande, che piacque a Dio nei giorni suoi e fu trovato giusto, degno perciò di
prendersi ad esempio da tutte le classi di persone, siano del clero o dei
laici, siano ricchi o poveri; come quegli la cui eccellenza va compendiata in
quella lode propria del vescovo e del prelato, per la quale ubbidendo ai detti
dell'Apostolo Pietro, egli si era fatto di cuore modello del gregge [21]. Né di minore ammirazione è il fatto
che Carlo, non ancora compiuti i suoi ventitré anni di età, benché sollevato a
sommi onori, e messo a parte di negozi grandi e difficilissimi della Chiesa,
veniva ogni dì meglio avanzandosi nell'esercizio più perfetto della virtù,
mediante quella contemplazione delle cose divine, che nel sacro ritiro già
l'aveva rinnovato, e risplendeva spettacolo al mondo, agli angeli ed agli
uomini.
Allora veramente, per
usare le parole del già ricordato nostro Antecessore Paolo V, cominciò il
Signore a mostrare in Carlo le sue meraviglie; sapienza, giustizia, zelo
ardentissimo in promuovere la gloria di Dio e del nome cattolico, e cura sopra
tutto per quella opera di ristaurazione della fede e della Chiesa universale
che si agitava nell'augusto Consesso Tridentino. Della celebrazione di questo
Concilio gli dà merito lo stesso Pontefice e la posterità tutta, in quanto
egli, prima di esserne l'esecutore più fedele, ne fu il più efficace
sostenitore. Nè certo senza molte sue veglie, stenti e fatiche ebbe quell'opera
il suo ultimo compimento.
Eppure queste cose tutte
non erano altro che una preparazione e un tirocinio di vita, nel quale
educavasi il cuore con la pietà, la mente con lo studio, il corpo con la
fatica, serbandosi quel modesto e umile giovane quasi argilla nelle mani di Dio
e del suo Vicario in terra. E una tale vita di preparazione appunto era quella
che disprezzavano allora i fautori di novità, per la stoltezza medesima onde la
disprezzano i moderni, non avvertendo che le opere meravigliose di Dio si
maturano nell'ombra e nel silenzio dell'anima dedita all'ubbidienza ed alla
preghiera, e che in questa preparazione sta come il germe del futuro progresso,
come nella seminagione la speranza della raccolta.
La santità, nondimeno, e
l'operosità di Carlo, che si preparava allora con sì splendidi auspici, si
svolse poi e diede frutti prodigiosi, come accennammo sopra, quando egli « da
buon operaio, lasciata la splendidezza e la maestà di Roma, si ritirò nel campo
che aveva preso a coltivare (Milano), e adempiendovi « ogni giorno meglio le
sue parti, ricondusse quel campo, per la tristizia dei tempi già bruttamente
guasto da sterpi e inselvatichito, a tale splendore che fece della Chiesa di
Milano un chiarissimo esemplare di ecclesiastica disciplina » [22].
Tanti e così preclari
effetti egli ottenne conformando la sua opera di riforma alle norme proposte
poco avanti dal Concilio Tridentino.
La Chiesa, infatti, bene
intendendo quanto i sentimenti e i pensieri dell'animo umano sono proclivi al
male [23], mai non cessa di combattere contro i
vizi e gli errori, perchè sia distrutto il corpo del peccato e più non serviamo
al peccato [24]. E in questa lotta, come ella è maestra
a se stessa e guidata dalla grazia che è diffusa nei nostri cuori mediante lo
Spirito Santo, così prende norma al pensare e all'operare dal Dottore delle
genti, che dice : Rinnovatevi nello spirito della vostra mente [25]. - E non vogliate conformarvi a questo
secolo, ma riformatevi nel rinnovamento della mente vostra, per accertare quale
sia la volontà di Dio buona, accettevole e perfetta [26]. Né il figliuolo della Chiesa e
riformatore sincero mai si persuade di avere toccato la meta, ma ad essa
protesta solo di tendere insieme con l'Apostolo : Dimenticando quel che sta
dietro e stendendomi verso ciò che mi sta davanti, mi avanzo verso il segno,
verso il premio della vocazione superna di Dio in Cristo Gesù [27].
Quindi avviene che noi
uniti con Cristo nella Chiesa cresciamo per ogni cosa in lui che è il Capo,
Cristo, dal quale il corpo tutto prende l'accrescimento proprio per la
perfezione di se stesso nella carità [28], e la Chiesa madre viene sempre più ad
avverare quel mistero della volontà divina, di ristaurare nella ordinata
pienezza dei tempi tutte le cose in Cristo [29].
A queste cose non
pensavano i riformatori, a cui si oppose Carlo Borromeo, presumendo riformare a
loro capriccio la fede e la disciplina; nè meglio le intendono i moderni,
contro cui abbiamo noi da combattere, o Venerabili Fratelli. Anche costoro
sovvertono dottrina, leggi, istituzioni della Chiesa, avendo sempre su le
labbra il grido di cultura e di civiltà, non perchè stia loro troppo a cuore
questo punto, ma perchè con questi nomi grandiosi possono più agevolmente
celare la malvagità dei loro intendimenti.
E quali in realtà sieno
le loro mire, quali le loro trame, quale la via che intendono battere, nessuno
di voi lo ignora, e i loro disegni furono già da Noi denunziati e condannati.
Si propongono essi un'apostasia universale dalla fede e dalla disciplina della
Chiesa,. apostasia tanto peggiore di quell'antica che mise in pericolo il
secolo di Carlo, quanto più astutamente serpeggia occulta nelle vene stesse
della Chiesa, quanto più sottilmente trae da principii erronei le conseguenze
estreme.
Di ambedue, tuttavia, una
stessa è l'origine : l'uomo nemico, cioè, che sempre desto a perdizione degli
uomini soprasseminò la zizzania in mezzo al grano [30]: del pari soppiatte e tenebrose le vie;
simile il processo e l'esito finale. Perocchè, a quel modo che nel passato la
prima apostasia voltandosi dove la fortuna secondava, veniva aizzando l'una
contro l'altra o la classe dei potenti o dei popolani, per travolgere poi l'una
e l'altra nella perdizione, così questa moderna apostasia esaspera l'odio
vicendevole dei poveri e dei ricchi, acciocchè scontento ognuno della sua sorte
tragga sempre più misera la vita e paghi il fio imposto a quelli che tutti
fissi nelle cose terrene e caduche, non cercano il regno di Dio e la sua
giustizia. Anzi il presente conflitto è fatto anche più grave da ciò che, dove
i turbulenti novatori dei tempi andati ritenevano per lo più qualche resto del
tesoro della dottrina rivelata, i moderni sembra che non vogliano darsi pace
finché non lo abbiano veduto interamente disperso. Ora, così rovesciato il
fondamento della religione, si scioglie necessariamente anche il vincolo della
società civile. Spettacolo triste al presente, minaccioso per l'avvenire; non
perchè vi sia da temere per l'incolumità della Chiesa, di cui non permettono
dubbio le promesse divine, ma per i pericoli che sovrastano alle famiglie ed
alle nazioni, massimamente a quelle che o fomentano con più studio o tollerano
con più indifferenza questo pestifero soffio di empietà.
Fra una sì empia e
stolida guerra, mossa talora e propagata con l'aiuto di quei medesimi che più
dovrebbero appoggiarci e sostenere la nostra causa; fra un trasformarsi così
molteplice degli errori e un blandire di vizi così vario, che dagli uni e dagli
altri anche molti dei nostri si lasciano lusingare, sedotti dall'apparenza di
novità e di dottrina, o dalla illusione che la Chiesa possa amichevolmente
accordarsi con le massime del secolo, voi bene intendete, Venerabili Fratelli,
che noi tutti dobbiamo opporre vigorosa resistenza e ribattere l'assalto dèi
nemici con quelle armi stesse, di cui un tempo usò il Borromeo.
E anzitutto, poiché
attentano alla rocca stessa che è la fede, o con l'aperta negazione, o con
l'ipocrita impugnazione, o col travisarne le dottrine, ricorderemo quello che
S. Carlo spesso inculcava : « La prima e più grande cura dei Pastori deve
essere intorno alle cose che riguardano il conservare integra e inviolata la
fede cattolica, quella fede che la Santa Romana Chiesa professa ed insegna, e
senza la quale è impossibile piacere a Dio » [31]. E di nuovo : « in questa parte nessuna
diligenza può essere così grande, quanto senza dubbio è richiesta dal
bisogno » [32]. Quindi è necessario di opporsi con la
sana dottrina al fermento dell'eretica pravità, che non represso corrompe tutta
la massa, opporsi cioè alle perverse opinioni che s'infiltrano sotto mentite
sembianze e che raccolte insieme sono professate dal modernismo; ricordando con
S. Carlo, « quanto sommo debba essere lo studio e diligentissima sopra ogni
altra la cura del vescovo nel combattere il delitto dell'eresia » [33]
Nè occorre, per verità,
ricordare le altre parole del santo che allega le sanzioni, le leggi, le pene
poste dai Romani Pontefici contro quei prelati che fossero negligenti o rimessi
nel purgare dal fermento dell'eretica pravità la loro diocesi. Ma bene
convenevole sarà riandare con attenta meditazione ciò che egli ne conchiude : «
Perciò deve il vescovo anzi tutto persistere in questa sollecitudine perenne e
vigilanza continua, acciocché non solo il morbo pestilentissimo dell'eresia non
si infiltri mai nel gregge a lui commesso, ma ne vada lontanissimo qualsiasi
sospetto. E se poi, il che tolga Cristo Signore per la sua pietosa
misericordia, s'infiltrasse, allora sopra tutto si adoperi con ogni sforzo
perchè sia ricacciato prestissimamente, e quelli che di tale pestilenza sono
infetti o sospetti siano trattati a norma dei canoni e delle sanzioni
pontificie » [34]
Ma nè la liberazione, nè
la preservazione dalla peste degli errori è possibile, se non con una retta
istruzione del clero e del popolo; poiché la fede dall'udito, e l'udito poi per
la parola di Cristo [35]. E la necessità d'inculcare la verità a
tutti s'impone tanto maggiormente ai nostri giorni, mentre per tutte le vene
dello Stato, e anche donde meno si crederebbe, vediamo infiltrarsi il veleno, a
segno tale che per tutti valgono oggimai le ragioni addotte da S. Carlo con
queste parole : « Quei che confinano con gli eretici ove non fossero stabili e
fermi nei fondamenti della fede, darebbero moltissimo a temere che non si
lasciassero ( troppo facilmente tirare da essi in qualche inganno di empietà e
di guasta dottrina » [36]. Ora infatti, per la facilità dei vi
aggi, sono cresciute le comunicazioni, come delle altre cose tutte, così anche
degli errori,. e per la sfrenata libertà delle passioni, viviamo in mezzo ad
una società pervertita, ove non è verità... e non esiste cognizione di Dio [37]; in una terra che è desolata... perchè
ninno vi è che pensi di cuore [38]. Perciò Noi, volendo usare le parole di
S. Carlo, « abbiamo adoperato finora molta diligenza perchè tutti e singoli i
fedeli di Cristo fossero bene istruiti nei rudimenti della fede cristiana » [39]; e ne abbiamo anche scritto speciale
lettera enciclica, come di argomento della più vitale importanza [40]. Ma, sebbene non vogliamo ripetere ciò
che ardendo di zelo insaziabile deplorava il Borromeo cioè, « di avere finora
ottenuto troppo poco in cosa di tanta rilevanza », pure, come lui, « indotti
dalla grandezza del negozio e del peri« colo », vorremmo anche maggiormente
infiammare lo zelo di tutti; perchè, prendendo Carlo a modello, concorrano,
ciascuno secondo il grado e le forze, a quest'opera di ristaurazione cristiana.
Ricordino i padri di famiglia e i padroni con quale fervore ad essi inculcava
il santo vescovo costantemente. che ai figliuoli, ai domestici, ai servi, non
solo dessero facoltà, ma imponessero l'obbligo d'imparare la dottrina
cristiana. I chierici si ricordino l'aiuto che in questo insegnamento debbano
prestare al parroco, e questi procuri che siffatte scuole si moltiplichino
secondo il numero e la necessità dei fedeli, e siano commendevoli per la
probità dei maestri, ai quali siano dati per aiutatori uomini o donne di
provata onestà, a quel modo che prescrive lo stesso santo arcivescovo di Milano
[41].
Di tale cristiana
istruzione appare evidentemente cresciuta la necessità sia da tutto l'andamento
dei tempi e dei costumi moderni, sia specialmente da quelle pubbliche scuole,
prive di ogni religione, dove si tiene quasi per sollazzo il deridere tutte le
cose più sante, e del pari sono aperte alla bestemmia e le labbra dei maestri e
le orecchie dei discepoli. Parliamo di quella scuola che si chiama per somma
ingiuria neutra o laica, ma non è altro che tirannide prepotente di una setta
tenebrosa. Un siffatto nuovo giogo di ipocrita libertà voi già denunciaste ad
alta voce e intrepidamente, o Venerabili Fratelli, massime in quei paesi dove
più sfrontatamente furono calpestati i diritti della religione e della
famiglia, anzi soffocata la voce stessa della natura che vuole rispettata la
fede e il candore dell'adolescenza. A rimediare, per quanto era in Noi, a un sì
gran male, recato da quelli stessi che, mentre pretendono dagli altri
obbedienza, la negano al Padrone supremo di tutte le cose, abbiamo raccomandato
che si istituissero per le città opportune scuole di religione. E sebbene
quest'opera, mercè i vostri sforzi, abbia fatto finora assai buoni progressi,
tuttavia è sommamente da desiderare che sempre più largamente si propaghi, cioè
che siffatte scuole si aprano da per tutto numerose e fioriscano di maestri
commendevoli per merito di dottrina e per integrità di vita.
Con tale insegnamento
utilissimo dei primi elementi va strettamente congiunto l'ufficio dell'oratore
sacro, nel quale a più forte ragione si ricercano le doti ricordate. Quindi le
diligenze e i consigli di Carlo nei Sinodi provinciali e nei diocesani miravano
con una cura specialissima a formare predicatori tali che si potessero
adoperare santamente e con frutto nel ministero della parola. Ora la cosa
stessa, e forse più fortemente, sembra richiesta a noi dai tempi che corrono, mentre
la fede vacilla in tanti cuori, né mancano di quelli che, per vaghezza di
gloria vana, assecondano la moda, adulterando la parola di Dio, e sottraendo
alle anime il cibo della vita.
Con somma vigilanza,
pertanto, noi dobbiamo guardare, Venerabili Fratelli, che il nostro gregge da
uomini vani e frivoli non sia pasciuto di vento, ma sia nutrito del cibo vitale
da ministri della parola ai quali si applicano quelle sentenze : Noi facciamo
le veci di ambasciatori a nome di Cristo, quasi esortando Iddio per mezzo di
noi: riconciliatevi con Dio [42]; - da ministri e legati che non
camminano nell'astuzia, nè corrompono la parola di Dio, ma si rendono
commendevoli presso ogni coscienza degli uomini innanzi a Dio per la
manifestazione della verità [43]; - operai che non possono essere
confusi e con rettitudine maneggiano la parola di verità'. E non meno utili ci
saranno quelle norme santissime e sommamente fruttuose che il vescovo di Milano
soleva raccomandare ai fedeli, e sono compendiate da quelle parole di S. Paolo
: Avendo ricevuto da noi la parola della predicazione di Dio, voi
l'accoglieste. non come parola umana, ma (qual'è veramente) parola di Dio, la
quale opera in voi che avete creduto [44].
Così la parola di Dio
viva, efficace, più penetrativa di ogni spada [45] opererà non solo a conservazione
e a difesa della fede, ma ad efficace impulso delle buone opere : giacché la
fede senza le opere è morta [46]; e non saranno giustificati innanzi a
Dio quelli che ascoltano la legge, ma quei che la legge mettono in esecuzione [47] .
Ed è questo un altro
punto in cui si vede quanto immenso è il divario della vera dalla falsa
riforma. Poiché quelli che propugnano la falsa, imitando la incostanza degli
stolti, sogliono correre agli estremi, o esaltando la fede per modo da
escludere la necessità delle buone opere, o collocando nella sola natura tutta
la eccellenza della virtù, senza gli aiuti della fede e della grazia divina.
Onde segue che gli atti provenienti dalla sola onestà naturale, non sono altro
che simulacri di virtù, nè durevoli in sè, nè sufficienti alla salute. L'opera
dunque di siffatti riformatori non è valevole a ristaurare la disciplina, ma
esiziale alla fede ed ai costumi.
Al contrario, quelli che,
ad esempio di Carlo, sinceramente e senza raggiri cercano la vera e salutare
riforma, evitano gli estremi, nè mai trascorrono oltre quei limiti fuori dei
quali non può sussistere riforma alcuna. Poichè, uniti essi fermissima-mente
alla Chiesa ed al suo Capo Cristo, non solo di qui attingono forza di vita
interiore, ma anche ricevono norma di azione esteriore, per accingersi con
sicurezza all'opera sanatrice della umana società. Ora di questa divina
missione, trasmessa perpetuamente in quelli che debbono fare da legati di
Cristo, è proprio l'insegnare a tutte le genti, nè solamente le cose da
credere, ma quelle da operare, cioè, come pronunziò Cristo stesso: osservare
tutte quelle cose che io vi ho comandato [48]. Egli infatti è via, verità e vita [49], ed è venuto perchè gli uomini abbiano
la vita e l'abbiano con esuberanza [50]. Ma poiché l'adempiere quei doveri
tutti con la sola guida della natura è molto al di sopra di ciò che possano per
sè conseguire le forze dell'uomo, perciò la Chiesa ha, insieme col suo
magistero, congiunto il potere di governare la società cristiana e quello di
santificarla, mentre per mezzo di quelli che nel loro proprio grado ed officio
le sono ministri o cooperatori, viene comunicando gli opportuni e necessarii
mezzi della salute.
Il che bene intendendo i
veraci riformatori, non soffocano essi i germogli per porre in salvo la radice,
cioè dire non disgiungono la fede dalla santità della vita, ma l'una e l'altra
alimentano e riscaldano al soffio della carità, la quale è vincolo della
perfezione [51]. Così pure, ubbidendo all'Apostolo,
essi custodiscono il deposito [52], non già per impedirne la
manifestazione e sottrarne la luce alle genti, ma per diramare anzi con più
larga vena le acque saluberrime di verità e di vita che sgorgano da quella
sorgente. E in ciò congiungono la teoria alla pratica, di quella valendosi a
prevenire ogni circonvenzione dell'errore, di questa ad applicare i precetti
alla morale ed all'azione della vita. Perciò anche procurano i mezzi tutti od
opportuni o necessarii al fine, sia per la estirpazione del peccato, sia per la
perfezione dei santi, per l'opera del ministero, l'edificazione del corpo di
Cristo [53]. E a questo mirano appunto gli statuti,
i canoni, le leggi dei Padri e dei Concilii; a questo i mezzi tutti
d'insegnamento, di governo, di santificazione, di beneficenza d'ogni fatta; a
questo insomma la disciplina e l'operosità intera della Chiesa. A tali maestri
della fede e della virtù tiene rivolto l'occhio e l'animo il vero figlio della
Chiesa, mentre si propone la riforma di sè e degli altri. E a tali maestri pure
si appoggia il Borromeo nella sua riforma della disciplina ecclesiastica, e
spesso li ricorda, come quando scrive : « Noi, seguendo l'antica consuetudine
ed autorità dei santi Padri e dei sacri Concilii, principalmente del Sinodo
ecumenico di Trento, abbiamo stabilito intorno a questi punti stessi nei nostri
precedenti Concilii provinciali molte disposizioni ». - Similmente, nel
prendere provvedimenti di repressione dei pubblici scandali, egli si professa
guidato « e dal diritto e dalle sacrosante sanzioni dei sacri canoni, e del
Concilio Tridentino sopra tutto » [54]. Nè contento di ciò, per meglio
assicurarsi di non avere mai a dipartirsi dalla regola suddetta, così di solito
conchiude gli statuti dei suoi Sinodi provinciali: « Tutte e singole quelle
cose che da noi in questo Sinodo provinciale furono decretate e fatte,
sottomettiamo sempre, perchè sieno emendate e corrette, all'autorità ed al
giudizio della Santa Romana Chiesa, « di tutte le Chiese madre e maestra » [55]. E questo suo proposito egli mostrò
sempre più fervido, quanto più si avanzava a gran passo nella perfezione della
vita attiva; né solo finché occupava la cattedra di Pietro il pontefice suo
zio, ma anche sotto i costui successori, Pio V e Gregorio XIII, dei quali,
com'egli potentemente suffragò l'elezione, così nelle maggiori imprese fu
valido aiuto, corrispondendo interamente alla loro aspettazione.
Ma sopra tutto li secondò
nell'attuare i mezzi pratici per il fine propostosi, cioè per la vera riforma
della sacra disciplina. Nel che, di nuovo, si mostrò egli più che mai lontano
dai riformatori falsi che mascherano di zelo la loro disubbidienza ostinata.
Quindi, cominciando il giudizio della casa di Dio [56], si applicò anzitutto a riformare con
leggi costanti la disciplina del clero; e a questo fine eresse seminarii per
gli alunni del sacerdozio, fondò congregazioni di sacerdoti, che ebbero nome di
oblati, chiamò famiglie religiose e antiche e recenti, radunò concilii e con
ogni sorta di provvedimenti assicurò e crebbe l'opera incominciata. Indi, senza
ritardo, pose mano egualmente vigorosa a riformare i costumi del popolo,
ritenendo per detto a sè quello che già fu eletto al profeta : « Ecco io ti ho
stabilito oggi... perchè tu sradichi e distrugga, perchè disperda e dissipi,
edifichi e pianti » [57]. Perciò, da buon pastore, visitando
personalmente le chiese della provincia, non senza gran fatica, a somiglianza
del divino Maestro, passò beneficando e sanando le ferite del gregge; si
affaticò con ogni sforzo a sopprimere e sradicare gli abusi, che da per tutto
s'incontravano, provenienti sia dall'ignoranza sia dalla trascuranza delle
leggi; alla perversione delle idee ed alla corruzione dei costumi straripante
oppose, quasi argine, scuole e collegi, ch'egli aprì per l'educazione dei
fanciulli e dei giovinetti, congregazioni mariane, che egli accrebbe, dopo
averle conosciute al loro primo fiorire qui in Roma, ospizi, ch'egli schiuse
alla gioventù orfana, ricoveri, che aperse alle pericolanti, alle vedove, ai
mendici o impotenti per malattia o per vecchiaia, uomini e donne; la tutela
ch'egli prese dei poveri contro la prepotenza dei padroni, contro le usure,
contro la tratta dei fanciulli, e simili altre istituzioni in gran numero. Ma
tutto ciò egli operò aborrendo totalmente dal metodo di coloro che, nel
rinnovare a loro senno la cristiana società, mettono tutto sossopra e in
agitazione, con vanissimo strepito, dimentichi della parola divina : nella
commozione non è il Signore [58].
E questo appunto un nuovo
distintivo dei veri riformatori dai falsi, come più volte voi avete conosciuto
a prova, Venerabili Fratelli. I riformatori falsi cercano i proprii interessi,
non quelli di Gesù Cristo [59], e dando orecchio all'invito insidioso
già fatto al divino Maestro : Va e mostrati al mondo [60], ripetono anch'essi le parole ambiziose
: Facciamoci anche noi un nome. Per la quale temerità, come pur troppo
deploriamo anche ai nostri giorni, caddero dei sacerdoti in guerra, nell'atto
che pretendevano fare cose grandi, e uscivano alla mischia senza prudenza [61].
Al contrario il
riformatore sincero non cerca la sua gloria, ma la gloria di Colui che lo ha
mandato [63]; e come Cristo, suo esemplare, non
contenderà né griderà né alcuno udirà la sua voce per le piazze; non sarà
torbido nè irrequieto [63] ma sarà dolce e umile di cuore [64]. Quindi egli piacerà al Signore e
riporterà frutti copiosissimi di salute.
Per un altro distintivo
ancora si differenziano l'uno dall'altro, mentre quegli, appoggiato solo alle
forze umane, confida nell'uomo e pone la sua fortezza nella carne [65]; questi invece mette in Dio tutta la
sua speranza; da lui e dai mezzi soprannaturali aspetta ogni forza e virtù,
esclamando con l'Apostolo : Ogni cosa io posso in colui che mi conforta [66].
Questi mezzi, che Cristo
comunicò in larga copia, il fedele cerca nella Chiesa stessa a comune salvezza,
e primi fra essi la preghiera, il sacrificio, i sacramenti, i quali divengono
quasi fonte di acqua che sale alla vita eterna [67]. Ma di tutti questi mezzi mal
sofferenti coloro che per vie traverse e dimentichi di Dio si affannano intorno
all'opera della riforma, mai non cessano di intorbidare quelle fonti purissime,
se non del tutto disseccarle, per tenerne lontano il gregge di Cristo. Nel che
certo fanno anche peggio i loro moderni seguaci, che sotto una certa maschera
di più alta religiosità, hanno in niun conto quei mezzi di salute e li mettono
in discredito, particolarmente i due sacramenti, coi quali o si perdonano i
peccati alle anime pentite o si fortificano le anime col cibo celeste. Ogni
fedele pertanto procurerà con sommo studio che benefizi di così gran pregio
siano tenuti nel massimo onore, nè soffrirà che l'affetto degli uomini
illanguidisca verso queste due opere della carità divina.
Così appunto si adoperò
il Borromeo, del quale fra le altre cose leggiamo scritto : « Quanto maggiore e
più copioso è il « frutto dei sacramenti di quello che se ne possa spiegare
facilmente il valore, con tanto più diligenza e intima pietà dell'anima ed
esterno culto e venerazione si devono trattare e ricevere » [68]. Del pari degnissime di essere
ricordate sono le raccomandazioni ond'egli esorta i parrochi e altri sacri
predicatori di richiamare alla pratica antica la frequenza della santa
Comunione, il che pure Noi abbiamo fatto col Decreto che incomincia :
Tridentina Synodus. « I parrochi e i predicatori, dice il santo vescovo,
esortino quanto più spesso il popolo alla pratica salutarissima di ricevere
frequentemente la sacra Eucaristia, appoggiandosi alle istituzioni ed agli
esempi della Chiesa nascente, alle raccomandazioni dei Padri più autorevoli,
alla dottrina del catechismo romano, in questo stesso punto più distesamente
spiegata, e alla sentenza infine del Concilio Tridentino, il quale vorrebbe che
in ogni messa i fedeli comunicassero non solo con ricevere l'Eucaristia
spiritualmente, ma anche sacramentalmente » [69]. Con quale intenzione poi, con quale
affetto si debba frequentare questo sacro convito, lo insegna con queste parole
: « Il popolo non solo dev'essere spronato alla pratica di ricevere
frequentemente il santissimo Sacramento, ma pure ammonito quanto sia pericoloso
ed esiziale l'accostarsi indegnamente alla sacra mensa di quel cibo « cavino »
[70]. E una simile diligenza sembra
richiesta massimamente dai tempi nostri di fede vacillante e di carità
illanguidita, acciocchè dalla cresciuta frequenza non venga sminuita la
riverenza debita a tanto mistero, ma piuttosto se ne tragga motivo a far che
l'uomo provi se stesso e così mangi di quel pane e beva del calice [71].
Da queste fonti sgorgherà
una ricca vena di grazia, e da essa trarranno vigore ed alimento anche i mezzi
naturali ed umani. Nè l'azione del cristiano disprezzerà punto le cose utili e
di conforto alla vita, venendo anch'esse dal medesimo Iddio, autore della
grazia e della natura; ma eviterà con gran diligenza che in cercare e godere le
cose esterne e i beni del corpo, si riponga il fine e quasi la felicità di
tutta la vita. Chi vuole pertanto usare di questi mezzi con rettitudine e
temperanza, li ordinerà alla salute delle anime, ubbidendo al detto di Cristo :
Cercate prima il regno di Dio e la sua giustizia e tutte queste cose vi saranno
date per giunta [72].
Un siffatto uso dei mezzi
ordinato e sapiente tanto è lungi che mai venga ad opporsi al bene di ordine
inferiore, cioè proprio della società civile, che anzi ne promuove in gran
maniera gli interessi; nè già con vana iattanza di parole, com'è il costume dei
faziosi riformatori, ma coi fatti e col sommo dello sforzo, fino al sacrifizio
delle sostanze, delle forze e della vita. Di tale fortezza ci dànno esempio
sopra tutto molti vescovi, i quali, in tempi tristi per la Chiesa, emulando lo
zelo di Carlo, avverano le parole del divino Maestro : Il buon pastore dà la
sua vita per le sue pecorelle [73]. Essi non da bramosia di gloria, non da
spirito di parte, non da stimolo di alcun privato interesse sono tratti a
sacrificarsi per la salvezza comune, ma da quella carità che mai non viene
meno. Da questa fiamma, che sfugge agli occhi profani, acceso il Borromeo, dopo
essersi esposto a pericolo di vita nel servire agli appestati, non contento di
avere sovvenuto ai mali presenti, così mostravasi ancora sollecito dei futuri :
«É affatto conforme ad ogni ragione che, in quel modo « onde un ottimo padre,
il quale ama di amore unico i suoi figliuoli, provvede ad essi sia per il
presente come per il futuro, preparando le cose necessarie alla vita, così noi,
mossi dal debito dell'amore paterno, provvediamo ai fedeli della nostra
provincia con ogni precauzione e prepariamo per l'avvenire quegli aiuti che nel
tempo della peste abbiamo conosciuto per esperienza essere salutari » [74]
I medesimi disegni e
propositi di affettuosa provvidenza, Venerabili Fratelli, trovano una pratica
applicazione in quell'azione cattolica che spesse volte abbiamo raccomandato. E
a parte di questo apostolato nobilissimo, il quale abbraccia tutte le opere di
misericordia da premiarsi col regno eterno [75], sono chiamati gli uomini scelti del
laicato. Ma essi, accogliendo in sé questo peso, devono essere pronti e
addestrati a sacrificare interamente se stessi e tutte le cose loro per la
buona causa, a sostenere l'invidia, la contraddizione e anche l'avversione di
molti che ricambiano d'ingratitudine i benefizi, a faticare ognuno come buon
soldato di Cristo [76], a correre per la via della pazienza al
certame propostoci, riguardando all'autore e consunimatore della fede Gesù [77]. Lotta certamente ben dura, ma
efficacissima al benessere stesso della società civile, anche quando ne sia
ritardata la piena vittoria.
Anche per questo ultimo
punto ora menzionato, si possono ammirare esempi splendidi di S. Carlo, e da
essi prendere, ciascuno secondo la propria condizione, di che imitare e
confortarsi. Benchè, infatti, e la virtù singolare e l'operosità maravigliosa e
la profusa carità lo facessero tanto ragguardevole, neppure egli, tuttavia,
andò esente da questa legge : Tutti quelli che vogliono per ciò stesso ch'egli
seguiva un tenore di vita più austero, che vivere piamente in Cristo Gesù,
patiranno persecuzioni [78]. Quindi sosteneva sempre la rettitudine
e l'onestà, che sorgeva vindice incorrotto delle leggi e della giustizia, si
guadagnò l'avversione di uomini potenti; si trovò esposto a raggiri di
diplomatici; venne talora in diffidenza ai nobili, al clero ed al popolo, e in
fine si trasse addosso l'odio mortale dei malvagi, e ne fu cercato a morte. Ma
a tutto egli resistette con animo invitto, sebbene d'indole mite e soave.
Nè solo non cedette mai a
cosa che fosse esiziale alla fede ed ai costumi, ma neppure a pretensioni
contrarie alla disciplina e gravose al popolo fedele, ancorchè attribuite a un
monarca potentissimo e nel resto cattolico. Memore della parola di Cristo :
Rendete a Cesare quello che è di Cesare e a Dio quello che è di Dio [79], come pure della voce degli Apostoli :
« Meglio è obbedire a Dio che agli uomini [80], egli si rese benemerito al sommo, non
della causa della religione solamente, ma della stessa civile società, la
quale, pagando il fio della sua stolta prudenza e sommersa quasi dalle tempeste
delle sedizioni da sè eccitate, correva a morte certissima.
La medesima lode e
gratitudine sarà dovuta ai cattolici del nostro tempo e ai loro valorosi
condottieri, i vescovi, mentre né gli uni né gli altri verranno mai a mancare
in parte alcuna ai doveri che sono proprii dei cittadini, sia che trattisi di
serbare fedeltà e rispetto ai dominanti anche discoli quando comandino cose
giuste, sia di ripugnare ai loro comandi quando siano iniqui, tenendo lontana
del pari e la procace ribellione di quelli che corrono alle sedizioni ed ai
tumulti, e la servile abiezione di quelli che accolgono quasi leggi sacrosante
gli statuti manifestamente empii di uomini perversi, i quali col mentito nome
di. libertà sconvolgono ogni cosa e impongono la tirannide più dura. Ciò
avviene al cospetto del mondo e alla piena luce della moderna civiltà, in
qualche nazione specialmente, ove il potere delle tenebre sembra che abbia
messo la sua sede principale. Sotto quella prepotente tirannide vanno
calpestati miseramente i diritti tutti dei figliuoli della Chiesa, spento
affatto nei governanti ogni senso di generosità, di gentilezza e di fede, onde
per tanto tempo splenderono i loro padri, insigni del titolo di cristiani.
Tanto è evidente che, entrato l'odio di Dio e della Chiesa, si torna addietro
in ogni cosa, e si corre a precipizio verso la barbarie dell'antica libertà, o
piuttosto giogo crudelissimo, da cui la sola famiglia di Cristo e l'educazione
da lei introdotta ci ha sottratti. Ovvero, come esprimeva la cosa stessa il
Borromeo, tanto è « cosa certa e riconosciuta, che da nessun'altra colpa
è Dio più gravemente offeso, da nessuna provocato a maggiore sdegno
quanto dal vizio delle eresie, e che a sua volta nulla può tanto a rovina delle
provincie e dei regni quanto può quell'orrida peste » [81]. Senonchè molto più funesta si deve
stimare l'odierna congiura di strappare le nazioni cristiane dal seno della
Chiesa, come dicemmo. I nemici infatti, sebbene discordissimi di pensieri e di
volontà, ciò che è contrassegno certo dell'errore, in una cosa solo si
accordano, nell'oppugnazione ostinata della verità e della giustizia; e poichè
dell'una e dell'altra custode e vindice è la Chiesa, contro la Chiesa sola,
strette le loro file, muovono all'assalto. E benché vadano dicendo di essere
imparziali o di promuovere la causa della pace, altro in verità non fanno, con
dolci parole ma non dissimulati propositi, se non tendere insidie, per
aggiungere al danno lo scherno, il tradimento alla violenza. Con un nuovo
metodo di lotta è ora dunque assalito il nome cristiano; e una guerra si muove
di gran lunga più pericolosa che non le battaglie prima combattute, dalle quali
raccolse tanta gloria il Borromeo.
Di qui noi tutti
prendendo esempio ed istruzione, ci animeremo a combattere da forti per i più
grandi interessi, da cui dipende la salvezza degl'individui e della società,
per la fede e la religione, per l'inviolabilità del pubblico diritto;
combatteremo sforzati certo da una amara necessità, ma confortati insieme da
una soave speranza che la onnipotenza di Dio affretterà la vittoria a chi
combatte in così gloriosa battaglia. A tale speranza aggiunge vigore
l'efficacia potente, perpetuata fino ai nostri giorni, dell'opera di S. Carlo,
sia per fiaccare l'orgoglio delle menti, sia per assodare l'animo nel proposito
santo di ristaurare ogni cosa in Cristo.
Ed ora, Venerabili
Fratelli, noi possiamo conchiudere con le parole stesse, onde il Nostro
Antecessore, Paolo V, più volte menzionato, conchiudeva le lettere che
decretavano a Carlo i supremi onori : « E giusto, per tanto, che noi rendiamo
gloria e onore e benedizione a Colui che vive nei secoli dei secoli, il quale
benedisse il nostro conservo in ogni benedizione spirituale, perchè fosse santo
e immacolato innanzi a lui. E avendocelo dato il Signore come una stella
fulgente in questa notte di peccati, di tribolazioni nostre, ricorriamo alla
divina clemenza, con la bocca e con l'opera supplicando, acciocché Carlo alla
Chiesa che egli amò tanto ardentemente, giovi altresì coi meriti e con
l'esempio, assista col patrocinio e nel tempo dello « sdegno si faccia
riconciliazione per Cristo nostro Signore » [82].
Si aggiunga a questi voti
e ponga il colmo alla comune speranza l'auspizio della benedizione Apostolica,
che a Voi, Venerabili Fratelli, al clero ed al popolo di ciascuno di Voi, con
vivo affetto impartiamo.
Dato a Roma, presso San
Pietro, il giorno 26 Maggio 1910, settimo del nostro Pontificato.
PIO PP. X
*AAS, vol. II (1910), n.
9, pp. 381-403.
[1] Ps. CXI, 7; Prov. X, 7; Hebr.
XI, 4.
[2] Rom. VIII, 11.
[3] Rom. VIII, 28.
[4] I Cor. IV, 16. 4.
[5] Litt. Encycl. « E supremi » die IV m.
octobr. MCMIII.
[6] Hebr. III, 1; XII, 2-3.
[7] Litt. Encycl. « Ad diem illum », die II m.
Februar. MCMIV.
[8] Hebr. XI, 33.
[9] Eph. IV, 11 seg.
[10] Encycl. « E supremi ».
[11] Ex Bulla « Unigenitus » Cal. Nov. anno
MDCX.
[12] Ex eadem Balla « Unigenitus ».
[13] Eph. v, 25 sqq,
[14] Matth. XVI, 18.
[15] Matth. XXVIII, 20.
[16] Ioan. XIV, 16 sqq. - 26, sqq. - XVI, 7
sqq.
[17] Sessio III, Const. Dei Filius, cap. 3.
[18] Philip. III, 18, 19.
[19] Isai. V, 20.
[20] I. Cor. X, 13.
[21] I Petr. V, 3.
[22] Ex Bulla « Unigenitus ».
[23] Gen. VIII, 21.
[24] Rom. VI, 6.
[25] Eph. 1 v, 23.
[26] Rom. XII, 2.
[27] Philip. III, 13, 14.
[28] Ephes. IV, 15, 16.
[29] Ephes. I, 9, 10.
[30] Matth. XIII, 25.
[31] Conc. Prov. I, sub initium.
[32] Conc. Prov. V, Pars. I.
[33] Conc. Prov. V, Pars. I.
[34] Ibid.
[35] Rom. X, 17.
[36] Conc. Prov. V, Pars. 1.
[37] Os. IV, 1.
[38] Ierm. XII, 11.
[39] Conc. Prov. V, Pars. I.
[40] Encycl. « Acerbo nimis » die XXV m.
Aprilis MDCCCCV.
[41] Conc. Prov. V, Pars I.
[42] II Cor. V, 20.
[43] II Cor. IV, 2.
[44] II Tim. II, 15.
[45] I Thess. II, 13.
[46] Hebr. VI, 12.
[47] Iacob. II, 26. Rom. II, 13.
[48] Matth.. XXVIII, 18-20.
[49] Ioan. XIV, 6.
[50] Ioan. X, 10.
[51] Coloss. III, 14.
[52] I Tim. VI, 20.
[53] Eph. IV, 12.
[54] Conc. Prov. V, Pars I.
[55] Conc. Prov. VI, sub finem.
[56] I Petr. IV, 17.
[57] Ier. I, 10.
[58] III Reg. XIX, 11.
[59] Philip. II, 21.
[60] Ioan. VII, 4.
[61] I Machab. V, 57, 67.
[62] Ioan. VII, 18.
[63] Isai. XLII, 2 sq. - Matth. XII, 19.
[64] Matth. XI, 29.
[65] Ier. XVII, 5.
[66] Philip. IV, 13.
[67] Ioan. IV, 14.
[68] Conc. Prov. I, Pars II.
[69] Conc. Prov. III, Pars I.
[70] Conc. Prov. IV, Pars II.
[71] I Cor. XI, 28.
[72] Luc. XII 31;— Matth. VI, 33.
[73] Ioan. X, 11.
[74] Conc. Prov. V, Pars II.
[75] Matth. XXV, 34. sq. 3
[76] II Tim. II, 3.
[77] Hebr. XII, 1, 2.
[78] II Tim. III, 12.
[79] Matth. XXII, 21.
[80] Act. V, 29.
[81] Conc. Prov. V, Pars I.
[82] Bulla « Unigenitus ».
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione
SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-x/it/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_26051910_editae-saepe.html
Matteo Rosselli, Gloria di san Carlo Borromeo con la
trinità, angeli e santi, 1616, San Carlo dei Lombardi
CARLO Borromeo, santo
di Michel De Certeau - Dizionario Biografico degli
Italiani - Volume 20 (1977)
CARLO Borromeo, santo. - Nato il 2 ottobre 1538
nel castello di Arona, ai bordi del lago Maggiore, terzogenito di Gilberto,
conte di Arona, e di Margherita de' Medici, apparteneva ad un'antica e ricca
famiglia originaria di Padova. Alle origini c'è una famiglia e un nome (la cui
forma primitiva, "Buon Romeo", è la firma che adottò C. in parecchie
lettere di gioventù). Tutti e due sono sempre stati preziosi a questo cadetto
di buona famiglia. La nobiltà e antichità dei Borromeo gli erano care. Le
dignità ecclesiastiche e la fulminante carriera le dovette d'altronde alla
famiglia e soprattutto allo zio materno, il cardinale Giov. Angelo de' Medici,
eletto papa il 25 dic. 1559 con il nome di Pio IV: un mese dopo, il 31 genn.
1560, il papa fece cardinale il nipote di ventidue anni accorso a Roma,
affidandogli la segreteria di Stato e (l'8 febbr. 1560) l'amministrazione
perpetua dell'arcidiocesi di Milano. Nello stesso tempo nominò Federico,
fratello maggiore di C., al comando dell'esercito pontificio. Una strategia
famigliare organizza il gioco delle posizioni e delle forze che legano ogni
membro agli altri. Il cardinale restò fedele a questi vincoli di sangue,
impiegando molte energie per "difendere gli interessi della
famiglia", per sposare le tre sorelle a dei principi (Camilla a Cesare
Gonzaga, Geronima a Fabrizio Gesualdo e Anna a Fabrizio Colonna), per dotare la
nipote Margherita Gonzaga grazie ad un prestito di 25.000 scudi del duca di
Toscana, per sistemare i cugini Carlo e Federico, ecc.
La rete delle alleanze famigliari costituiva una unità
di potere. Questo referente clanico restò una costante dell'azione di C., così
abile nella scelta dei "fedeli" e nella formazione di una
"clientela" sul modello della "familia", da organizzare una
"milizia ecclesiastica" intesa come "un manipolo di pastori
pronti a tutto… per le anime… sotto la direzione del vescovo" (G.
Maioli, Temi di spiritualità… in s. C. B., in La
scuola cattolica, XCIII[1965], p. 467).L'ideale presbiterale di C.
consisteva nel creare un "corpo", distinto dagli altri, le cui parti
si collegavano organicamente e obbedivano tutte a una testa. "Voi siete i
miei occhi, le mie orecchie, le mie mani" diceva loro: le metafore
organiche, così frequenti nei suoi discorsi, avevano in lui valore letterale.
Esse indicavano il modello biologico e clanico al quale si riferiranno con
particolare attaccamento tanti vescovi (nobili) della Controriforma. Si
trattava di trasformare le diocesi in storie di famiglia sacerdotali, storie
d'altronde parallele a quelle di molte congregazioni religiose e loro
concorrenti. La famiglia è dunque, nell'opaco della storia, il fondamento di
questa milizia costantemente mobilitata e unita in ragione della sua
eccezionale "nobiltà" e "grandezza".
L'ascesa famigliare dei Borromeo s'inscrive anche nel
movimento di una espansione e quasi di una "conquista" milanese di
Roma. Era il tempo in cui milanesi e lombardi affluivano a Roma: architetti,
scultori, fonditori, orefici, armaioli, ecc. La Confraternita dei milanesi,
fondata a Roma nel 1471, prosperava. Uomini d'azione venuti dal Nord
partecipavano efficacemente alla trasformazione del Papato rinascimentale e
mediceo in capitale della Controriforma trionfante sotto Sisto V e Clemente
VIII. Uno stile nuovo si impose, amministrativo e tecnico, costruttore e
pragmatico. Come al tempo di s. Ambrogio, Milano, i cui cittadini acquistarono
al Sud una nuova influenza, divenne un centro rivale di Roma. Della sua
residenza a Milano, la prima effettiva dopo un secolo, l'arcivescovo Borromeo
farà un atto politico. Lavorerà alla gloria della sua patria milanese:
l'installazione di questo arcivescovo e quasi papa rafforzerà il nazionalismo
lombardo che del resto gli frutterà bene.
Tonsurato e nominato abate commendatario dell'abbazia
dei SS. Graziano e Felino di Arona (13 ottobre e 20 nov. 1545, a soli sette
anni), a partire dal novembre del 1552 studente di diritto a Pavia sotto la
direzione di Francesco Alciati, dottore inutroque iure il 6 dic.
1559, C., votato alla prelatura in quanto cadetto, era portato più alle lettere
che alle armi. La sua passione per la caccia era solo un diversivo. Ricevette
una formazione classica. Il diritto l'orientò forse verso quelle tecniche
dell'azione e dell'"occasione" che postulavano allora un primato
della produzione e della "meccanica" sociali sulla
"natura"; esso si congiungeva in ogni caso al suo gusto per la
precisione, per la meticolosità del dettaglio.
Lo studente leggeva molto. Nel 1551 lamentava già una
deficienza di libri e chiedeva al padre di inviargli un Plinio, il De animalibus di
Aristotele e un Sallustio. Arcivescovo di Milano, avrà una ricchissima
biblioteca e persino un museo privato importante. Ma se nella giovinezza
scrisse Rime diverse, si tratta di poesie perdute, lirismo effimero,
svanito. A Roma fondò l'Accademia delle Notti Vaticane: per tre anni
(1562-1565)un'assemblea di futuri vescovi e cardinali discusse di Cicerone,
Tito Livio, Lucrezio, Virgilio (Georgiche), Varrone (De re rustica), Aristotele
(Retorica), ecc., ma abbandonò a poco a poco questa letteratura profana
per soggetti più sacri, scritturali e patristici. Una tradizione umanistica del
Rinascimento, venerata come una reliquia, si rivolse verso il riformismo
religioso. Se C. leggerà sempre e dappertutto, portandosi appresso casse di
libri nel corso delle visite pastorali, egli accentuò questa evoluzione verso
una cultura destinata all'utilizzazione pastorale: i Padri della Chiesa
(soprattutto quei modelli che sono Ambrogio e Cipriano) e gli esegeti e
commentatori della Scrittura. Come la sua stessa esistenza, i suoi libri
dovevano servire l'azione programmata dal concilio.
Francesco di Sales giudica il suo collega milanese con
un certo distacco e persino alterigia savoiardi, quando scrive, a proposito
della sua predicazione: "il beato Carlo Borromeo aveva una scienza assai
mediocre e tuttavia faceva meraviglie" (Oeuvres, XII, Annecy
1902, pp. 301, 324). "Mediocre" significa "onesto" nel suo
francese, ma significa anche giudicare il discorso di C., dalla superficie un
po' compassata ed austera, adorna solo di riferimenti biblici e priva della
ricchezza lirica di citazioni, allusioni e perifrasi letterarie che animano la
prosa di Francesco di Sales. Non è tuttavia meno vero che, al contrario del
vescovo di Annecy, al "papa" milanese mancava ogni passione dottrinale
o teorica: egli utilizzava ciò che era detto e ben detto e che ormai occorreva
fare o rifare.
A Roma, a partire dal 1560, le cariche e i beni si
accumulano. Abate commendatario di una dozzina di abbazie, legato di Romagna,
protettore del regno di Portogallo e dei Paesi Bassi, arciprete di S. Maria
Maggiore, gran penitenziere, amministratore della diocesi di Milano,
soprattutto segretario di Stato, sistemato alla testa di una "casa"
di 150 persone (che egli voleva tutte vestite di velluto nero), il cardinale
aveva come compito essenziale quello di trattare con i diplomatici accreditati
presso la S. Sede e di regolare gli affari correnti con lettere, istruzioni,
ordinanze. Il suo segretario intimo, Tolomeo Gallio, futuro cardinale di Como,
garantiva il servizio e redigeva i testi.
Sebbene negli affari di politica generale prevalessero
i consigli dei cardinali Morone e Hosius, e Morone svolgesse la parte decisiva
nella conclusione del concilio di Trento (1562-1565), dopo la morte dei
cardinali Gonzaga e Seripando, Pio IV riponeva intera fiducia in questo giovane
"di natura freddo e per consuetudine timido al papa" secondo
Francesco Tonina, agente mantovano. Non lo sospettava affatto di minacciare la
sua autorità o di intervenire negli affari per il tramite di potenze straniere.
Aveva d'altronde detto di volere "un segretario e non un maestro di
palazzo".
I numerosi interventi di C. erano di tipo
amministrativo e diplomatico. Così nella corrispondenza con il nunzio di Napoli
(1560-63), moltiplicò i consigli sui cento e più modi di indurre i vescovi
vecchi del Sud a fare il viaggio di Trento (promesse di grazie, invio di
monitori, immagini minacciose del rancore pontificio, ecc.), senza fidarsi dei
certificati medici presentati dai vescovi. In ciò era fedele esecutore di Pio
IV, che espresse nel 1561 al delegato di Venezia il suo desiderio di
"haver de nostri Italiani per ogni rispetto quel maggiore numero che
potemo" (ConciliumTridentinum, ed. Soc. Goerresiana, VIII, Friburgi
Br. 1919, p. 241). La sua fortuna era considerevole, come risulta
dall'inventario che ne fece nel 1563 l'ambasciatore veneziano C. Soranzo. Ma la
sua stima sembra anche troppo debole: Bascapé, biografo di C., parlo di 90.000
scudi. Se ci si attiene invece ai calcoli di Soranzo, il cardinale disponeva di
un entrata annua di circa 52.000 scudi; nel 1565, di 57.000 scudi (dei quali
16.000 provenienti dai territori spagnoli sarebbero stati in sofferenza).
Tratto caratteristico: a parte quattro galere, queste rendite erano di origine
fondiaria. C. era un grande proprietario. La sua economia pastorale ne portò il
segno. Essa consisterà nel distribuire "terre" a buoni fittavoli (i
pastori), a visitarli e controllarli. Era geografica e territoriale, mirava ad
un miglior rendimento (in termini di raccolti e di "frutti") dei
terreni (le parrocchie) affidati ad economi zelanti. La gestione dei beni
fondiari restò il modello della amministrazione ecclesiastica.
Una "conversione" indusse C. a farsi
ordinare prete (17 luglio 1563) e farsi consacrare vescovo il 7 dicembre
seguente, "giorno di Sant'Ambrogio", come scrisse alla sorella
monaca, Corona. Vari elementi ebbero parte in questa decisione: la morte
improvvisa e per lui sconvolgente del fratello maggiore Federico (1562), che
egli avrebbe dovuto sostituire nella carriera delle armi e alla testa della
famiglia; le sue relazioni con i gesuiti (faceva gli esercizi spirituali sotto
la direzione del padre Giovanni Battista Ribera) e con i teatini (gli si
rimproverò di essersi "dato… quasi a una vita theatina" e il
cardinale Altemps parlò delle sue "theatinerie"); la conoscenza del
domenicano Bartolomeo de Martiribus, arcivescovo di Braga, venuto a Roma nel
settembre del 1563 per la fine del concilio e al quale C. scrisse: "la
vostra figura è costantemente davanti ai miei occhi, io vi ho preso per
modello" (P. Broutin, La réforme pastorale en France au XVIIe
siècle, Paris 1956, p. 96).
Per questo giovane che ieri, dimentico del passato,
galoppava allegramente attraverso l'Italia per raggiungere il nuovo papa (vedi
la sua lettera del 6 genn. 1560), l'insieme dei testi votati dal concilio di
Trento nel 1562-63 presentava lo ideale, offerto ad un'ambizione più alta e
legato all'urgenza dei tempi, della eminente dignità e dei doveri del vescovo.
Per tutta la vita i canones reformationis generalis di Trento ebbero
per C. il valore di una rivelazione decisiva. Egli assistette e collaborò alla
produzione di questa immagine del vescovo, eroe mitico della riforma attesa
dalla cristianità. Ma C. era uomo d'azione: "huomo di frutto et non di
fiore, de' fatti et non di parole" a dire del cardinal Seripando. Voleva
"applicare" e passò all'azione.
Di C. è difficilissimo scoprire il volto, celato
dietro la funzione che egli esercitava e quindi il movimento di conversione che
ve lo condusse. Ma questa riservatezza sembra la conversione stessa. Venendo
dopo tanti Specchi del vescovo, genere letterario che faceva furore,
ma confermandoli e universalizzandoli, i canoni di Trento produssero la
"immagine" che C. rese effettuale. Egli s'identificò con questa
immagine, la nutrì con la sua vita, sapendo che il discorso passa nel reale a
prezzo del sangue: sanguinis ministri, erano per lui i veri preti.
Egli realizzò dunque l'immagine perdendovisi. Mise tutta la sua
"passione" a riprodurla, a fare del suo corpo il sacramento del
ritratto episcopale, ad essere il martire del modello, prima di divenirne a sua
volta la rappresentazione agiografica. Una regola data ai preti dal concilio
era: "se componere" (ConciliumTridentinum, VIII, p. 965),
conformarsi al ruolo, trasformarsi alla lettera.
Questo movimento si ripeterà nella concezione che C.
ebbe della retorica: passare dal modello al volere, dal dire al fare. Che il
"testo prenda corpo", ecco il principio essenziale che ispirò non
solo un'arsconcionandi, ma un'esistenza. Fare avvenire ciò che è già
detto, questa la spiritualità, meticolosa e accanita, dell'arcivescovo
lentamente trasformato in quel ritratto prestigioso che a Roma si era già
soddisfatti di avere alla fine dipinto. Nel momento in cui il testo si conclude
felicemente e trionfa per lungo tempo, C. inizia la sua opera. Prende questo testo
alla lettera per scriverlo con il suo corpo e non per inventarne altri: io lo
farò, io lo sarò. Egli scrisse al cardinale di Como, il 4 dic. 1563, tre giorni
prima della sua consacrazione: "è tanto il desiderio mio che hormai
s'attenda ad exequir poi che sarà confirmato questo santo concilio conforme al
bisogno che ne ha la christianità tutta e non più a disputare" (Jedin, pp.
14 s.). Dopo il tempo dei teologi, grandi disputatori, che condussero per mano
i padri conciliari, ecco il tempo dei pastori, che è quello dell'esecuzione.
Nonimato arcivescovo di Milano (12 maggio 1564), C. vi
inviò nel giugno Niccolò Ormaneto "per governare la mia chiesa di Milano e
supplire alla mia assenza". Aveva conosciuto a Roma questo consigliere di
vescovi, prete di notevole levatura che si era formato presso monsignore Gian
Matteo Giberti (vescovo di Verona dal 1524 al 1543 e il primo boni
pastoris exemplum della riforma cattolica) ed era stato poi compagno del
cardinale Pole in Inghilterra. L'arcivescovo di Milano lo tolse alla diocesi
vicina di Verona per il servizio della sua. Pratica tipicamente sua. Più tardi,
Filippo Neri scriverà francamente che egli aveva fama di essere non solo
"sensuale" ma anche "ladro". Come avvenne spesso (C. sapeva
scegliere i "suoi" uomini), la nomina fu felice.
Ormaneto fece miracoli: per ingiunzione del suo
cardinale ventiseienne, organizzò a tamburo battente un sinodo diocesano. Se ne
erano già avuti a Vigevano, Brescia, a Cremona, a Verona. Occorreva fare presto
a Milano. Il sinodo si aprì il 29 ag. 1564: milleduecento preti erano presenti
per ascoltare, dettato da Roma da C., un programma di applicazione dei decreti
tridentini e una serie di misure disciplinari (residenza, riduzione del numero
dei benefici, moralità, studi ecclesiastici, pratiche pastorali). Si levarono
proteste, ma invano. Ottenendo dal papa un breve che l'autorizzava ad imporre
tasse sui titolari di benefici, C. già preparava la creazione di un seminario,
affidato ai gesuiti e inaugurato nel dicembre dello stesso anno, del quale
l'occhio del cardinale sorvegliava i minimi dettagli (l'orario, il vestiario,
ecc.). Si iniziarono anche la campagna per costringere i detentori di più
benefici ecclesiastici a contentarsi solo di uno e le visite pastorali. Tutto
il programma conciliare si mise in moto. Queste procedure ugualmente impopolari
presso il clero milanese furono condotte da monsignor Ormaneto con l'aiuto di
monsignor Goldwell, nominato vescovo ausiliario. Riducendo il suo tenore di
vita e distribuendo una parte dei suoi beni per costruzioni e fondazioni, C.
conduceva da lontano queste operazioni pionieristiche e discusse, prima di
ottenere dal papa l'autorizzazione di abbandonare Roma.
Con un corteggio di un centinaio di persone e la
scorta di una compagnia di cavalleggeri - di che sostenere la dignità dei
vescovi, "in militia Christi imperatores" (ActaEcclesiae
Mediolanensis, a cura di A. Ratti, III, Mediolani 1897, p. 857) -,giunse
infine a Milano nel settembre del 1565, poco prima di essere privato, nel 1566,
"della sua mano destra", Ormaneto, creato vescovo di Padova e
destinato a partire come nunzio per la Spagna.
è l'ora del confronto con la diocesi. Il tempo anche
di una sorta di solitudine. Pio IV, lo zio papa, morì il 9 dic. 1565 e gli
successe il 7 genn. 1566 il domenicano Michele Ghislieri sostenuto dai Farnese
e amico dei Carafa - un altro clan - che prese il nome di Pio V. C., che
ritornò a Roma per il conclave, non uscirà più dal suo Milanese che in rare
occasioni: per i conclavi, per l'anno santo del 1575, durante il conflitto con
il governatore di Milano (1579, 1580 e autunno 1582), per delle visite in
Svizzera (1570) e a Venezia (1580), per dei pellegrinaggi a Loreto (1566, 1572,
1579, 1583) e alla Sacra Sindone trasportata da Chambéry a Torino nel 1578
(1578, 1581, 1582, 1584).
Per diciotto anni dal 1566 alla morte, l'arcivescovo
si chiuse nella sua provincia ecclesiastica, nella più stretta osservanza dei
canoni e della cura animarum. "Noi vorremmo avere osservato
diligentemente tutto ciò che è stato prescritto in tutti i sinodi
precedenti" disse nel 1584. E ancora: "la vita di un vescovo deve
regolarsi… unicamente secondo le leggi della disciplina
ecclesiastica". Leitmotiv di una esistenza sacrificata alla
sopraeminente dignità della quale era stata rivestita. "La consacrazione
episcopale ci ha posto su un trono elevato": questa dichiarazione
all'apertura del secondo concilio provinciale di Milano (1569) poneva nello
stesso tempo diritti e doveri.
"Ah! città di Milano, nuova Ninive inebriata dei
tuoi piaceri, superba nelle tue pompe, cieca nelle tue vanità, insaziabile
nelle tue dissolutezze…". L'eloquenza di Bossoet (Oeuvres oratoires, a
cura di J. Lebarq, II, Paris 1926, p. 581) procede speditamente: gli occorreva
lo sfondo nero della città corrotta per schizzarvi la silhouette di
s. Carlo. Di fatto, non è sicuro che C. abbia giudicato in questo modo la sua
capitale. Ceduto dalla Francia a Carlo V con il trattato di Madrid (1525) dopo
la battaglia di Pavia, il Milanese dipendeva dal 1556 da Filippo II di Spagna,
che designava il governatore dello Stato. Molteplici questioni opposero
l'arcivescovo a questo "potere temporale".
Il primo riguardò l'introduzione dell'Inquisizione
spagnola a Milano (1563). Da una trentina d'anni un riformismo evangelico si
infiltrava a Milano, dapprima presso i religiosi (agostiniani, francescani,
domenicani) sotto forma di tendenze luterane, calviniste, zwingliane ed infine
anabattiste, e non senza il veicolo costituito dall'università di Pavia. Nel
1547le autorità milanesi avevano cacciato un gran numero di questi
ecclesiastici, molti dei quali si rifugiavano in Svizzera. Dei laici ne presero
il posto a Milano. Verso il 1554letterati, medici, borghesi formarono focolai
importanti, legati a quella Chiesa di Cremona che fra tutte le città italiane
fornì il più gran numero di rifugiati a Ginevra. Contro questi
"novatori" che disegnavano intorno al crocevia milanese la geografia
delle future campagne di C., la repressione s'intensificò negli anni 1558-60, tenuta
in mano dalla corte di Spagna. Filippo II intavolò trattative con la corte di
Roma per impiantare l'Inquisizione nella capitale lombarda. Meno reticente dei
rappresentanti della città, il papa si oppose non alla istituzione ma alle sue
procedure spagnole e allo sconfinamento del potere civile in campo religioso.
Era il punto di vista di C., che nella sua qualità di giurista rifiutò "la
maniera spagnola" (per esempio le denunce anonime) e in quanto uomo di
Chiesa una ingerenza dello Stato. Nel 1566egli scrisse: "il popolo
milanese ha il sospetto che con questa bolla si cerchi di mettere in questo
Stato l'Inquisizione alla foggia di Spagna, non tanto per zelo di religione
quanto per interesse di Stato" (in M. Bendiscioli, Penetrazione
protestante e repressione controriformistica in Lombardia all'epoca di C. e
Federico Borromeo, in Festgabe Y. Lortz, I, Baden-Baden
1958, p. 376).Indipendentemente dal nazionalismo milanese, il problema era di
sapere se una questione religiosa dipendeva ormai da una giurisdizione
politica, nella misura in cui era considerata sotto la formalità dell'ordine
pubblico, e non più immediatamente della fede. Questa era la convinzione di
Filippo II, anche se per ragioni diplomatiche (i rapporti con Roma) e di pietà
personale era portato ad una maggiore moderazione dei suoi ministri, educati
secondo un diritto che già includeva la religione nella politica.
Nella sua logica, questo diritto inscriveva il
"visibile" nel campo "naturale" della politica e riservava
Dio alla mistica. Si opponeva così direttamente alla volontà tridentina di
restaurare una visibilità istituzionale, sacramentale e giuridica, cioè
ecclesiale, della grazia e della verità. Per C., che ebbe certamente "una
concezione quasi medioevale del rapporto tra i due poteri laico ed
ecclesiastico" (Jedin, p. 32), ma che era perfettamente consapevole della
posta in gioco in questi conflitti di giurisdizione, si trattava di una
questione essenziale: questi casi particolari erano "d'interesse generale
per tutta la Chiesa cattolica".
La caccia agli eretici egli la condusse come
arcivescovo della diocesi di Milano. Facendo di ogni erba un fascio (bisogna,
scriveva ai legati nel 1562 a proposito di Trento, "trovar via e forma…
senza entrar più oltre"), utilizzò l'aiuto, riprovevole, dei crocesignati,
una congregazione milanese di una quarantina di nobili "crociati" che
avevano giurato lo sterminio degli eretici. Sostegno dei più discutibili, anche
se raramente impiegato. Il cardinale disponeva anche di una propria polizia
(del resto legale), la sua "famiglia armata", per fare eseguire le
sentenze del tribunale vescovile. Ma contro le ribellioni, le sette, i
carnevali e le concussioni - i suoi principali avversari - preferiva i rigori
della predicazione o della legge ecclesiastica, fino a "fulminare" la
scomunica contro i canonici di S. Maria della Scala (che gli interdissero lo
ingresso nella loro chiesa) o contro il governatore dello Stato, don Luis de
Zuñiga y Requesens, vincitore a Lepanto, grande di Spagna (che nel 1573 voleva
limitare il numero degli annati al servizio del vescovo). Davanti alle proteste
del governatore, che il papa sollevò in privato dalla scomunica, l'arcivescovo
ricorse all'appoggio di Gregorio XIII che gli raccomandò maggiore cautela. A
sua volta il successore di Requesens, il marchese di Ayamonte, in seguito ai
conflitti occasionati dalle feste di quaresima, chiese al papa l'allontanamento
dell'arcivescovo: una ambasciata pontificia presso Filippo II guidata dal
barnabita Carlo Bascapé (futuro biografo di C.) dovette risolvere il conflitto
(1579-80). è certo che in tutti questi casi la materialità dei fatti era meno
importante dei rapporti di forza ideologici. Queste questioni di precedenza
mettevano in causa una guerra simbolica, cioè la relazione che dei poteri
concorrenti intrattenevano ciascuno con una credibilità o una
"autorità". Ma C. privilegiava ancora l'immagine, s'appoggiava di
preferenza su di un linguaggio, interveniva in termini di "autorità",
mentre i suoi avversari facevano giochi di potere e accusavano il vescovo di
compromettere la stabilità che assicurava ai loro calcoli, di potere la
manipolazione del simbolico. Due ottiche inconciliabili, ma fra le quali una
discriminazione storica si andava già operando in favore di chi deteneva il
controllo effettivo dell'ordine pubblico.
Il vescovo sapeva bene del resto che solo una
organizzazione coerente della sua diocesi poteva resistere davanti al potere
temporale. A tal fine impiegò i suoi stessi metodi, per creare una milizia,
sebbene ecclesiastica. Il suo obiettivo era di trasformare il clero in un
"corpo", articolando l'una sull'altra una tecnica organizzatrice e
una ideologia religiosa mobilizzatrice: la prima costituiva una
amministrazione, la seconda riguardava la predicazione. Forse occorre
individuare il genio di C. nella costanza con la quale egli seppe assicurare
praticamente, fino al minimo dettaglio, la stretta connessione tra una gestione
istituzionale e una capacità di credere o di far credere, tra un managetnent e
una retorica, modo con il quale egli alleava indissolubilmente politica e
spiritualità.
Per l'organizzazione della sua diocesi i metodi gli
furono dettati dal concilio; ma la sua pratica li precisò e ne provò e confermò
le possibilità. La sua prima opzione concerneva l'istituzione di un potere
locale, il Milanese, sulla base del quale egli ritenne possibile più tardi di
elargire la riforma alla Curia e alla diocesi dalla "testa" della
cattolicità (1575), o di tentare la espansione verso i Cantoni svizzeri
(1583)Se il discorso doveva essere romano, "universale", la sua
esecuzione non poteva partire cheda punti di forza, dunque circoscritti, nei
quali l'azione si sarebbe concentrata. A C. occorrevano i mezzi per un tale
disegno. Chiese e ottenne dai papi che si susseguirono (Pio IV, Pio V, ecc.)
poteri molto estesi, persino esorbitanti, di arcivescovo, di legato, di
visitatore apostolico, ecc.: il diritto di erigere confraternite di dare
indulgenze plenarie, di assolvere nei casi riservati, di tenere in sospeso le
parrocchie e le chiese, di disporre dei benefici vacanti, ecc. Tolse ogni
facoltà di resistenza giuridica al clero secolare e regolare, esattamente come
ai laici. Impossibile o inutile ricorrere a Roma: lo si sapeva onnipotente. Se
egli così lusingava la fierezza milanese, ne soffocava anche l'opposizione. Tutto
doveva essere al servizio della diocesi che dipendeva dalla sua persona, essa
stessa sacrificata ai "diritti del vescovo", questa parola magica di
Carlo. Lo disse chiaramente: "Io desidero che tutto stia nella mia
volontà, non altro volendo fare che un sodalizio di uomini pronti ad ogni mio
cenno" (Deroo, p. 344). In base a ciò il "quasi papa"
(Possevino) interpose tra il potere romano e i vescovi il corpo intermedio
della provincia. Indubbiamente la struttura politica di allora favoriva questa
unità. Già il concilio di Trento, che designava come francesi o spagnoli i
vescovi stranieri, non conosceva per l'Italia che il Venetus, il Neapolitanus o
il Bononiensis.La pastorale di C. consolidò il provincialismo
amministrativo. La convocazione di concili provinciali triennali (previsti del
resto dal concilio di Trento) nel 1566, 1569, 1571, 1576, 1579 e 1582,
l'attività di visitatore apostolico nelle diocesi suffraganee (Cremona e
Bergamo, nel 1575; Vigevano, nel 1578; Brescia, nel 1580; ecc.), la
centralizzazione milanese (rafforzata dal prestigio del vescovo, dalla
creazione di istituzioni modello e persino dalla "fuga dei cervelli"
verso Milano) ed anche la restaurazione nel 1575 del rito ambrosiano (epurato
da Pietro Galesino in modo assai fanatico e poco critico): tutti elementi che
nello stesso tempo unificavano un territorio e distinguevano la sua capitale.
Nel momento in cui le nazioni si sostituivano
lentamente alla cristianità, questa Chiesa lombarda s'inscriveva nello stesso
movimento delle Chiese gallicana o spagnola. Certo con la sua azione e i suoi
poteri, che gli erano stati conferiti come ai missi dominici di ieri,
C. serviva il centralismo pontificio, applicando dappertutto nella sua
provincia i decreti che avevano segnato una tappa decisiva verso la
"monarchia romana", ma, all'interno stesso di questo sistema, dava
consistenza giuridica e storica a una mediazione necessaria, a una pertinenza
amministrativa, a una differenza dei luoghi. La legge universale era frenata da
determinazioni geografiche. Donde le tensioni tra Roma e questo vescovo tanto
"temuto" quanto ammirato: a proposito dei suoi conflitti con i
governatori spagnoli (che imbarazzavano la diplomazia pontificia), a proposito
del rito ambrosiano (che a Roma sembrò ledere l'uniformità liturgica o che,
nelle diocesi lombarde come Monza nel 1576, sembrò divenire lo strumento di un
colonialismo milanese contro il quale si ricorreva al papa), o a proposito del
quarto concilio provinciale (che la Curia romana si rifiutò a lungo di
approvare). In quest'ultimo caso in particolare, C. ebbe l'impressione che si
toglieva ai vescovi tutta l'autorità che derivava loro dai concili: appello ai
concili contro gli "eccessi" romani.
Una stretta osservanza doveva regnare nel corpo
sacerdotale diocesano. La delimitazione stessa di questa unità territoriale
permise di dare esecuzione ad un programma disciplinare che comportò un piccolo
numero di punti essenziali: i concili e sinodi periodici (una legislazione), la
redistribuzione dei benefici (una lotta contro tutti coloro che erano
privilegiati ed esenti), la conformazione dei costumi e del sapere alla legge
conciliare (una esemplarità delle condotte e una ortodossia della dottrina), le
visite pastorali (un controllo che era nello stesso tempo una conoscenza delle
situazioni particolari), infine e soprattutto il seminario (che assicurò il
reclutamento e costruì in spazi "ideali" e controllabili l'avvenire
della riforma postridentina).
Il seminario era la scuola dei quadri. Già centrale
nella propaganda protestante o gesuita, la scuola qui si specializzò. Era
riservata al clero e non più destinata a tutti. C. concentrò sulla formazione
ecclesiastica e dunque multipla, riducendo il suo campo, il potere che ha la
scuola "moderna" di forgiare una società, di esserne ormai non solo
il rito iniziatico per eccellenza ma il laboratorio produttore. Egli mirava a
creare così un corpo, corpo distinto e corpo d'élite, grazie a istituzioni modello
in cui tutti i metodi applicati nella diocesi potevano funzionare in modo
esemplare: "Nihil magis necessarium aut salutare videri ad restituendum
veterum ecclesiasticorum disciplinam quam seminarii institutionem" (ActaEcclesiae
Mediolanensis, III, Mediolani 1897, p. 930). Questa dichiarazione del 1565
annunzia una serie di fondazioni supplementari: S. Giovanni alle Case Rotte (a
Milano, per le vocazioni tardive), Beatae Mariae alla Canonica (a Milano per
formare curati di villaggio), i piccoli seminari di Celana (1579) e d'Inverigo
(1582), una filiale del seminario milanese ad Arona, il Collegio elvetico
(1579, a Milano per gli Svizzeri e i Grigioni), il collegio per i Grigioni ad
Ascona (1584), ecc. L'élite che vi si formava non era quella della
ricchezza o della nobiltà né quella del sapere. I poveri vi erano largamente
ricevuti e finanziariamente aiutati. I "saggi" e gli intelligenti non
ne erano gli eroi. La "disciplina", condotta corporale e spirituale
del volere messa al servizio del vescovo in vista della cura
animarum, vinceva su ogni altro criterio.
Lo stesso principio si applicava alla riforma del
clero. Per C., grande vegliatore, il nemico era la lethargia dei
preti e dei vescovi. Vi oppose l'ascesi. Tre termini sembravano designare, nel
suo linguaggio, l'obiettivo e l'impulso: servi, patres, angeli.Servitori
del vescovo nel suo servizio dei fedeli. Padri delle "anime", nella
riproduzione dei Padri della Chiesa antica e dei loro successori vescovili.
Angeli, infine, per l'imitazione di un ordine gerarchizzato, per la castità che
vale loro una posterità spirituale e simbolica, e per il loro statuto di esseri
separati. Su questo modello troppo "religioso" per essere facilmente
accettato a Milano, egli fondò nel 1578 gli oblati di S. Ambrogio, congregazione
diocesana di preti votati al vescovo e alla sua pastorale, che, approvata nel
1581, contava quasi duecento membri nel 1584 e fu accompagnata da una
congregazione di oblati laici.
A questo movimento che organizzava concentricamente
una gerarchia di "corpi" vescovili, dagli oblati fino alla
"famiglia armata" secolare, corrispondeva il movimento reciproco
contro i preti recalcitranti e, contro gli Ordini religiosi indipendenti e
corrotti. In particolare tentò di riformare gli umiliati, antico Ordine
arricchito del quale egli designò autoritariamente il superiore, visitò le
case, controllò le finanze, finché Farina, membro del convento di Brera a
Milano, tentò di assassinare il cardinale a colpi di archibugio, il 26 ott.
1569. Il Farina, estradato dalla Savoia dove si era rifugiato arruolandovisi
nell'esercito, fu impiccato nell'agosto del 1570 insieme con quattro suoi
complici, la Congregazione fu sciolta dal papa nel 1571 e i suoi beni furono
messi a disposizione dell'arcivescovo.
La lotta contro le "superstizioni" non fu
meno severa: così nel 1583 a Roveredo (nella Val Mesocco) undici streghe furono
condannate al rogo, e il prevosto D. Quattrino degradato: l'arcivescovo,
commosso, restò implacabile.
La carità e la dedizione straordinaria di C., durante
la peste del 1576 gli valsero una popolarità che rispose alla sua passione di
servire il suo popolo e che ispirò anche la "baraka" del capo che non
viene colto né dalla peste né dal moschetto di Farina, che dorme e mangia
appena, attraversa le montagne invalicabili l'inverno e si trova dappertutto.
Dietro questa popolarità, che per C. non riguardava la sua persona ma rendeva
solo omaggio alla sua funzione, c'era anche l'effetto di una attitudine, nello
stesso tempo politica e cordiale, a integrare la religiosità popolare. I balli
o le superstizioni che egli soppresse le sostituì non con discorsi, ma con
gesti: guidò egli stesso le processioni di reliquie, si professò pubblicamente
devoto dei santi, si fece pellegrino della S. Sindone a Torino o della Vergine
a Varallo, Varese, Saronno, Rho, Tirano o Loreto. La sua religione non era
quella teologica, "astratta" e spoglia, che prevarrà mezzosecolo più
tardi fra gli spirituali francesi. Essa si congiungeva indubbiamente con la
spiritualità italiana, ma si conformò anche con la volontà tridentina di
rendere il visibile del mondo al Dio inaccessibile e una "fisica della
gloria" alla Parola. Essa attesta inoltre qualcosa come ima tenerezza,
quasi infantile, che nessuna "dottrina" aveva sfiorato e che abitava
in segreto la volontà armata dai "diritti e doveri" vescovili. Le
devozioni popolari corrispondevano in C. a degli appuntamenti e feste del cuore
in mezzo alla folla dalla quale lo separava la sua carica. Là egli sembrava
veramente felice. In questa felicità devota in prossimità del suo popolo il
vescovo trovò la morte, il 3 nov. 1584 a Milano, al termine di un ultimo
pellegrinaggio alla S. Sindone.
Il segreto spirituale di C. sta tutto qui, I ritratti
in piedi, come la statua colossale di 28metri ad Arona, il Carlone, presentano
la "rigidità d'acciaio" del vescovo (Pastor), l'eroica e stoica virtù
del legislatore, il "santo dall'anima di inquisitore, macerato
dall'astinenza e dallo studio" (H. Hauser) e che, come dirà il nipote e
successore nella sede milanese, "mai non si scardinalava, ed… era un
vescovo che mai non si svescovava" (cfr. Deroo, p. 229).Ma non sono
identici al personaggio nel quale egli volle perdersi. Il santo si indovina nel
fervore e in qualche modo nell'innocenza di un'anima, alla quale le forme popolari
della devozione danno un linguaggio comune. Questo è il senso della sua
predicazione.
Insieme con un modello amministrativo egli creò uno
stile. Il discorso di C. è certo percorso dalla nostalgia dei riformatori della
sua epoca, dal sogno di un ritorno ai Padri della Chiesa primitiva e all'antica
disciplina. Ma sono questioni presenti che si articolano in questo sogno. E
resta l'interrogativo se la Parola ritroverà quella "potenza" che gli
attribuiva s. Paolo e alla quale s. Ambrogio, davanti al popolo e all'imperatore,
aveva dato la sua maestà oratoria.
La predicazione affronta questa temibile questione. Da
una parte doveva assicurare al discorso conciliare o scritturale una efficacia
sulle condotte e sulle credenze. Dall'altra doveva restaurare l'alleanza tra i
Padri antichi e la folla attuale. Alla congiunzione di questi termini separati
c'è l'"azione" dell'oratore, la presenza mediatrice della sua voce,
il suo corpo fatto sacramento "re-ligioso", cioè capace di ri-legare.
Questa concezione eucaristica della rhetorica ecclesiastica pone la
predicazione al centro dell'attività episcopale - "praedicatio est
praecipuumepiscoporum munus" (Concilium Tridentinum, II, Friburgi
Br. 1911, p.242) - o sacerdotale - i preti sono "velut perpetuum quoddam
praedicandi genus" (ibid., IX, ibid. 1924, p. 1086). I trattati
contemporanei lo ripetono a gara, così il cap. VII del famoso Stimulus
pastorum di Bartolomeo de Martiribus, del quale C. aveva nella sua
biblioteca il manoscritto e due edizioni. Data l'importanza ulteriore della
retorica di C. se ne possono rilevare alcuni tratti che disegnano anche, in una
relazione stretta tra l'oratio pubblica e l'oratio segreta, tra
l'atto oratorio e l'orazione, la sua spiritualità pastorale. Questa retorica
rinvia in primo luogo a un problema politico del quale i trattati contemporanei
sono pieni: mentre i discorsi tecnici o letterari si sviluppano nel campo
chiuso di una élite, all'interno di un ordine sociale stabile, la
retorica intrattiene un rapporto necessario con il linguaggio comune e ritorna
nei momenti d'instabilità politica, quando occorre restaurare con il popolo dei
contratti sostitutivi a quelli che si dissolvono. Con le volontà che esso
commuove, seduce o istruisce, il discorso "persuasivo" deve
ristabilire un ordine che dipende ormai dalla loro adesione. Esso si inscrive
in una politica da e per la parola che è fondamentale nella pastorale
postridentina e della quale i due libri di Giovanni Botero, discepolo di C.,
esplicitano i due poli (Ragione di Stato, 1589; De praedicatore Verbi
Dei, 1585).Sitratta, tra le élites e il popolo lentamente
separati da due secoli, di uscire dalla specializzazione dialettica per
instaurare dei contratti di linguaggio tra "cattolici" (questa parola
dappertutto sostituisce quella di "cristiano"): lo scopo della
predicazione è dunque di produrre l'istituzione. La retorica è istituzionale e
istituzionalizzatrice, proprio come l'istituzione è retorizzante. Per ciò la
predicazione trasforma il rapporto con la verità. è una arte del "relativo",
cioé di stabilire la relazione, legata all'occasione (alla natura del pubblico,
alle circostanze, ecc.). A una scienza degli affari e una scienza delle
situazioni: gli uni e gli altri non conoscono verità definitive ma il sottile
adeguamento della intelligenza a dei "casi" concreti. è una tattica
della manipolazione nella misura in cui essa confronta senza sosta una tecnica
del far credere e dell'affectus (un "commuovere" che è
"muovere") alle volontà dei destinatari. Questa forza di convincere,
stabilendo una "società", prova anche la sua verità per e nella sua
operazione stessa o, come si dice, con "l'azione" (oratoria). Essa
poggia sul probabile piuttosto che sul certo, supponendo così l'impossibilità
di una conoscenza perfetta che trionfa sull'"ombra delle idee" (G.
Bruno). La produzione dei legami sociali si sostituisce al riconoscimento delle
verità stabilite.
Se nell'ecclesiasticarhetorica, cara a C., a Luis
de Granada e a tanti altri, il privilegio dei metodi è patente; se del resto
sotto questo riguardo il modus o ratioconcionandi, ormai
base di una cultura clericale, corrisponde all'arsorandi o al modus
loquendi degli spirituali, insomma se il rapporto con la rivelazione si
esplicita concretamente come una pratica del linguaggio in vista di una
produzione di effetti, essa si riferisce con tutta la sua organizzazione
all'idea, insieme mitica e necessaria, di una potenza della Parola - che
riconduce al "Christus orator perfectissimus" (Giovanni Botero).
Quando questa parola è efficace nell'oratore, si ha l'orazione, quando lo è per
mezzo suo, si ha la predicazione. La questione è di sapere come la parola,
essenzialmente "voce", possa essere "azione". Il problema
del mistico e quello dell'oratore si congiungono strettamente nella retorica di
Carlo. Possono tradursi tutti e due nella ricerca dell'impetus, della
fonte motrice o di ciò che dà alla parola il suo potere di muovere, ma a
partire da una fonte autentica. La soluzione, a doppia faccia, concerne
l'enunciazione: il suo soggetto, con l'inspiratio, e il suo luogo, con
la missio. L'affectus o la devozione del predicatore darà forza al
suo discorso; la sua "missione" (la sua designazione da parte del
vescovo che è nella posizione ideale di eletto e di "inviato")
costituirà la legittimità di questa forza. Donde le esigenze di C. in materia
di orazione ("la forza viene dal cuore") e la sua intransigenza nel
volere designare e controllare i "suoi" predicatori. è anche
l'articolazione tra la devozione "popolare", cordiale e affettiva,
del santo e la sua sicurezza autoritaria di vescovo-predicatore.
Di questo equilibrio instabile che privilegia
l'enunciazione sull'enunciato, ma compensa il relativismo in materia di verità
con un rigore amministrativo in materia di delegazione, si può riconoscere un
effetto nel rapporto tra l'esegesi letterale dei testi conciliari e l'esegesi
accomodante o indefinitamente allegorizzante dei testi scritturali. Le
"parole" evangeliche, sovrabbondanti, forniscono, mediante
qualsivoglia senso, un impetus di pietà, ma nel quadro stretto di
norme giuridiche che gerarchizzano le posizioni e specificano le pratiche. Lo
stile oratorio di C. - "un certo gonfiore spagnolesco del periodare, le
antitesi o troppo vive o troppo tirate, le distinzioni poco logiche o
minuziose" (A. Novelli, S. C. B. oratoresacro, in La
scuola catt., LXI [1935], pp. 313-322, specie p. 321) - corrisponde in lui a
ciò che sono le "follie" e i "sogni" in Teresa d'Avila, o
il "poema" in Giovanni della Croce: deriva e delirio del cuore,
infanzia vagabonda della pietà all'interno stesso di quella carica vescovile
della quale C. è stato il martire. Questa è in effetti la fonte del suo potere
e della devozione popolare che dalla sua morte ha preceduto la canonizzazione
nel 1610. Ma quando questa voce spariva per lasciare solo il modello vescovile,
un violino senza anima, il personaggio vescovile si faceva di marmo, teatro o
strumento giuridico e narrativo di una istituzione.
La "leggenda" postridentina di C. è il
fenomeno che s'impone allo storico. L'anno stesso della sua morte (1584), le
"vite" di lui si diffussero nell'Occidente cattolico. Così, mons. A.
Canigiani, arcivescovo di Aix-en-Provence, trasmise subito una necrologia a
César de Bus che la tradusse in francese per darne larga diffusione. La
Controriforma ha il suo eroe: passa le montagne, precede e introduce i canoni
del concilio di Trento molto prima che siano effettivamente ammessi (in Francia
essi saranno ufficialmente riconosciuti solo nel 1615).Le "vite" di
Agostino Valerio (in latino, Verona 1586; Colonia 1587; trad. ital., Milano
1587), di Gian Francesco Bonomi (Milano 1587), di Giovanni Battista Possevino
(Roma 1591; trad. franc., 1611), di Carlo Bascapé (Ingolstadt 1592; Venezia
1596; Brescia 1602; Parigi 1643; Lodi 1658; ecc.), di Giovanni Pietro Giussano
(Milano 1610; Roma 1610; Brescia 1612; Venezia 1613; trad. franc., di N. de
Soulfour con una introduz. di P. de Bérulle, Paris 1615; di E. Cloyscault, Lion
1685; trad. lat., Milano 1751; otto altre traduzioni in tedesco, inglese,
spagnolo), di Antoine Godeau (Brusselle 1684), ecc. Una letteratura prolifera;
di essa la parte pubblicata dà solo pochi dati ufficiali, accanto ad una folla
di notizie desunte da ogni sorta di fonti manoscritte, o alle
"storie" orali che emergono frammentariamente dalle corrispondenze
epistolari. Più della vita della sua contemporanea Teresa d'Avila (morta nel
1582, prima edizione 1588) nel campo mistico che essa narrativizza, le vite di
C. costituiscono un "racconto", unico ma con infinite varianti, che
mette in circolazione il programma pastorale e sacerdotale della riforma
tridentina.
Potenza del racconto. Esso si costruì su uno spazio
che assunse valore utopico ed esemplare, l'unità biografica, e vi schizzò la
figura di un principe nel quale si realizzò il sogno di un secolo di
cristianità, la reformatio in capite, alla testa della Chiesa. Sotto
questo sogno reverenziale e nello stesso tempo "meraviglioso", esso
descrisse pratiche amministrative in sequenze che la santità e l'efficacia
dell'eroe convalidavano. Exemplum seduttore, questa actio retorica
mobilitò gli ecclesiastici, valorizzati da una storia della quale essi furono i
principali propagatori: esso enunciò e selezionò i loro desideri. Tuttavia,
come la vita teresiana presenta anche metodi oratori nel romanzo biografico nel
quale si dicono le meraviglie e le "follie" d'una questua d'amore, le
vite di C. precisano tecniche pastorali, raccontando come il diritto
ecclesiastico prevale sul potere della nascita, come la parola del prete
trasforma ciò che Bossuet chiamerà la "Babilonia" milanese, e come la
potenza dell'eletto sacerdotale trionfa dei suoi avversari
"temporali", laici o mondani. Il linguaggio del desiderio e della
promozione simbolica si articola sul linguaggio dei metodi.
Questa narrazione dipendeva dalla retorica
ecclesiastica alla quale Agostino Valerio (biografo e discepolo di C.) con il
suo De rhetorica ecclesiastica (Verona 1574)0 Luis de Granada (amico
del santo) con le sue Ecclesiasticae rhetoricae… libri sex (Lisbona
1576)consacrarono interi trattati, posti esattamente sotto l'egida dell'eroe
(per Luis de Granada si tratta dell'edizione di Venezia 1576).Essa obbedì ai
due criteri di ciò che allora si designava come una "azione"
oratoria: "movere [commuovere e muovere] et docere" (insegnare).
Questi discorsi miravano a suscitare nel destinatario le pratiche che
descrivevano; avevano valore di "azioni": il racconto dottrinale,
generatore di movimenti, faceva ciò che diceva. Per di più, narrando rendeva
credibile ciò che esponeva conferendo alla Controriforma una credibilità.
Infine, evidenziava, metteva in vista e popolarizzava un trasformatore della
società, il vescovo secondo il concilio di Trento. Da tutti questi punti di
vista, "produceva storia". Conformi o no a quello che una erudizione
oggi ricostruisce dietro di essa, queste "finzioni" più o meno
agiografiche determinavano una credibilità postridentina e modificarono
realmente la storia illustrando un nome proprio: Carlo Borromeo. è questo nome
storicizzato che plasmerà tanti altri agenti della Controriforma, cosicché per
esempio in Francia monsignore Potier de Gesvres sarà chiamato "il Borromeo
di Beauvais", monsignor de Grammont "il Borromeo della Franca
Contea" e monsignor de Solminihac "il san Carlo della Francia" -
tracce fra mille altre della produttività del racconto della vita di Carlo.
Fonti e Bibl.: Ampie indicaz. bibliogr. sono offerte
in calce all'art. di R. Mols, in Dict. d'Hist. et de Géogr. Ecclés., XII, Paris
1953, coll. 530-534e al libretto di H. Jedin C. B., Roma 1971, pp.
63-71. Da aggiungere P. Sposato, Ivescovi del Regno di Napoli e la bulla
"Ad Ecclesiam Regime" (29 nov. 1560) per la riapertura del
concilio di Trento, in Arch. stor. per le prov. nap., n.
s., XXXV (1956), pp. 375-391; A. Derpo, Saint Charles Borromée
cardinal réformateur, docteur de la pastorale (1583-1584), Paris 1963; M.
Fumaroli, Jésuites et Gallicans. Recherches sur la genèse et la
signification des querelles de rhétorique en France, sous les règnes d'Henri IV
et de Louis XIII, Paris 1976(tesi di dottorato, inedita).
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/santo-carlo-borromeo_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
Karl Borromäus
Version vom 27.08.2021
Der heilige Karl
Borromäus im Gebet. Ölgemälde des Tessiner Künstlers Giuseppe
Antonio Petrini, um 1750 (Pinacoteca cantonale Giovanni Züst, Rancate;
Fotografie Bibliothèque de Genève, Archives A. & G. Zimmermann). […]
Autorin/Autor: Pablo
Crivelli Übersetzung: Michèle Stäuble-Lipman Wulf
2.10.1538 Arona, 3.11.1584 Mailand, aus
Mailand. Sohn des Gilberto, Gf. von Arona, und der Margherita de Medici.
Mütterlicherseits Neffe des Giovanni Angelo de Medici, dem späteren Papst Pius
IV., und Cousin des Mark Sittich von Hohenems. Cousin
des Federico Borromeo. B. wurde schon
sehr früh für die kirchl. Karriere bestimmt; kaum zwölfjährig wurde ihm der
Titel eines Kommendatarabts zuerkannt. Privatlehrer in Arona und Mailand
vermittelten ihm seine Grundausbildung. Anschliessend studierte er weltl. und
kirchl. Recht in Pavia und doktorierte 1559. Im gleichen Jahr bestieg sein
Onkel mütterlicherseits als Pius IV. den Papstthron. Dieser berief B. nach Rom,
wo er - zum Kardinalsdiakon und 1560 zum Staatssekr. ernannt - einer seiner
engsten Mitarbeiter wurde. 1560 wurde B. auf Lebenszeit die Verwaltung des
Erzbistums Mailand verliehen. Da er aber bis Sept. 1565 in Rom bleiben musste,
übertrug er diese Aufgabe den Weihbf. Sebastiano Donati (1561) und Gerolamo
Ferragata (1562). In die Römer Epoche fiel ein geistiger Reifungsprozess (der
vielleicht im Zusammenhang mit dem Tod seines Bruders 1562 steht), der ihn
zuerst zur Priester- und 1563 zur Bischofsweihe führte. Ein Jahr darauf wurde
er Kardinal von S. Prassede in Rom. Ab 1566 residierte er im Erzbistum Mailand
und ging sofort daran, die Beschlüsse des Konzils von Trient sorgfältig in die Tat
umzusetzen.
Ausschnitt aus dem 21-teiligen Wandgemäldezyklus über
das Leben des heiligen Karl Borromäus in der ihm geweihten Kapelle
in Uors, Mitte 17. Jahrhundert (Denkmalpflege Graubünden, Chur).
Seine besondere Aufmerksamkeit galt den kath. Orten
der Eidgenossenschaft, v.a. den Tessiner Vogteien, die der geistl.
Gerichtsbarkeit Mailands unterstanden und die er im Laufe seines Episkopats
mehrmals besuchte. Auf Antrag der kath. Orte war er schon 1560 zum Protector
Helvetiae ernannt worden. Seine Hirtenbesuche und diplomat. Reisen in die kath.
Orte erlaubten es B., sich ein persönl. Bild von den kläglichen moralischen und
materiellen Lebensumständen des Klerus und der Bevölkerung zu machen und die
Grundlagen für eine weit greifende geistige Erneuerung zu legen. Um die
Ausbildung und Disziplin des Klerus zu verbessern und gleichzeitig der
Verbreitung des Protestantismus Einhalt zu gebieten, regte B. 1579 die
Errichtung einer ständigen Nuntiatur in der Schweiz an; da die röm. Kurie aber
zögerte, wurde diesem Begehren erst 1586 entsprochen. Er schlug auch die
Gründung eines Jesuitenkollegs und eines Priesterseminars vor. Er selbst
engagierte sich auf diesem Gebiet, indem er 1579 in Mailand das Collegium Helveticum gründete, das den
Schweizer Klerus ausbilden sollte und das mit 50 Stipendien ausgestattet war;
zudem unterstützte er die Gründung des Collegio Papio in Ascona (1584). Durch
diese Beispiele ermutigt, liessen sich die Jesuiten in Luzern, später auch in
Freiburg und Pruntrut nieder. Dank der Unterstützung durch den apostol. Nuntius
in der Schweiz, Giovanni Francesco Bonomi, eröffneten die Kapuziner ihre
Missionen in der Innerschweiz (Altdorf, Stans, Luzern). B. galt als
Modellbischof im Sinne des Tridentinums. Er wurde am 1.11.1610 heilig
gesprochen und ist Schutzpatron der kath. Schweiz.
SOURCE : https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/010211/2021-08-27/
.jpg)
Luca Giordano: San Carlo Borromeo bacia le mani a
San Filippo Neri, olio su tela 210 x 155, Quadreria dei Girolamini di Napoli
Den hellige Karl Borromeus (1538-1584)
Minnedag: 4.
november
Skytshelgen for Milano og bispedømmene Lugano og
Basel; for Karl-Borromeus-søstrene og Ambrosianerne; for Universitetet i
Salzburg, presteskapet i Roma, sjelesørgere og åndelige veiledere, kateketer og
katekumener; for stivelsesmakere; for seminarer; mot pest
Den hellige Karl Borromeus (it: Carlo Borromeo; lat:
Carolus) ble født den 2. oktober 1538 på familieslottet i Arona på sørvestsiden
av Lago Maggiore i bispedømmet Novara og regionen Piemonte i Nord-Italia. Han
ble døpt i sognekirken i Arona. Carlone, som var hans kjælenavn, var den tredje
av seks barn og den andre av to sønner. Hans far var grev Giberto II Borromeo,
en både god og talentfull mann som rundt 1530 giftet seg med Margherita
de'Medici fra Milano (ikke Firenze). Hun var eldre søster av Giovanni Angelo
de'Medici, den senere pave Pius IV (1559-65). Hun døde rundt 1547, da Karl var
ni år, og faren giftet seg på nytt.
Karls første år ble tilbrakt på slottet i Arona og
delvis i Palazzo Borromeo i Milano. Han viste allerede som barn en sterk vilje
og en skarp forstand. Allerede da han var syv år overførte hans onkel, Julius
Caesar Borromeo, klosteret Ss Gratiniano e Felino i Arona til ham in
commendam, et privilegium familien lenge hadde hatt. For å sikre ham inntektene
fra klosteret, mottok han tonsuren den 13. oktober 1547 fra biskop Giovanni
Simonetta av Lodi. Karl fikk tre års skolegang i klosteret. Som tolvåring ble
han utnevnt til abbed uten embetsforpliktelser og fikk tillatelse til å bære
prestekjole, men i motsetning til det som var vanlig, understreket den unge
geistlige overfor sin far at bortsett fra det som skulle til for å betale hans
utdannelse, ga han avkall på det meste av inntektene til fordel for de fattige.
Faren tok ham slik på ordet at Karl under hele studietiden var i pengenød.
Som tiåring ble
han sendt til Milano, for faren var fast bestemt på at sønnen skulle få en
utdannelse som var hans rang verdig, selv om alle mente gutten var
tilbakestående siden han hadde en talefeil. I Milano studerte han
latin under p. Giacomo Merula, og som 14-åring dro han i oktober 1552 til
universitetet i Pavia for å studere jus – ikke teologi.Der studerte han under
Frans Alciati, som senere ble utnevnt til kardinal på grunn av Karls
innflytelse. Mens de andre studentene var mest opptatt av det glade studentliv,
levde Karl fromt og anstendig. Men han arbeidet så hardt at hans helse led
under det, og han måtte flere ganger avbryte studiene. Denne tiden brukte han
til å forvalte familiens eiendommer. Han gjorde også mye for å gjenskape den
gamle monastiske disiplinen blant munkene i klosteret Ss Gratiniano e Felino.
Hans far døde tidlig i august 1558 og ble gravlagt i kirken
Santa Maria delle Grazie i Milano. Til tross for avbruddene i studiene gjorde
Karls seriøsitet og flid at han som 21-åring den 6. desember 1559 kunne ta sin
doktoreksamen i sivil- og kirkerett med beste karakter. Han vendte tilbake til
Milano. Selv om han ikke var eldste sønn, tok han over forvaltningen av
familiens forretninger etter anmodning fra familien, inkludert den eldre
broren. Spørsmålet om eiendomsretten til familieslottet Arona var svært
vanskelig, ettersom både Spania og Frankrike gjorde krav på det. Karl ledet
forhandlingene med stor energi og diplomatisk dyktighet, og som en konsekvens
av freden i Cambrai av 3. april 1559 ble slottet overgitt til grev Francesco
Borromeo i navnet til hans nevø Federigo Borromeo (Karls bror) for å holdes av
ham for kongen av Spania.
Den 18. august 1559 døde pave Paul IV (1555-59), og
konklavet for å velge hans etterfølger varte fra 9. september til 25. desember
1559. Da ble Karls onkel, kardinal Giovanni Angelo de'Medici, valgt til ny pave
som Pius IV (1559-65). Den 3. januar 1560 mottok Karl beskjed fra onkelen om å
komme straks til Roma, men selv om han reiste på raskeste måte, nådde han ikke
frem til kroningen den 6. januar. Paven betrodde sin begavede yndlingsnevø
ansvarsfulle kirkelige embeter, først som pavens privatsekretær. Kort tid etter
ble han i en alder av bare 22 år den 31. januar 1560 kreert til kardinaldiakon
sammen med Giovanni de'Medici, sønn av hertugen av Firenze, og Gianantonio
Serbellone, pavens fetter. Karl fikk den 14. februar som titularkirke Ss Vitus
og Modestus, noe som den 4. september samme år ble byttet til San Martino ai
Monti.
På denne tiden trakk kardinal Ippolito d'Este seg fra
erkebispesetet i Milano, og i sin entusiasme utnevnte paven Karl den 8. februar
til administrator av det ledige erkebispesetet, selv om han ikke var
presteviet. Men Karl fikk ikke tillatelse til å reise til Milano, for deretter
ble han i rask rekkefølge utnevnt til legat til Bologna, Romagna og Marche og
protektor for Portugal, Nederlandene, de katolske kantonene i Sveits, for
fransiskanerne og karmelittene, Humiliati, De regelbundne kannikene av Det
hellige Kors av Coimbra, Malteserridderne og ridderne av Kristi hellige Kors i
Portugal. På grunn av disse embetene måtte han bo i Roma, og han utnevnte en fullmektig
i Milano. Antonio Roberti tok som hans vikar erkebispedømmet i besittelse i mai
1560, og Karl sendte biskop Donato av Bobbio som sin fullmektig for
biskoppelige funksjoner. Den 21. desember 1560 ble han viet til subdiakon og
diakon. Ved et motu proprio av 22. januar 1561 ga pave Pius IV Karl en årlig
inntekt på 1000 gullkroner fra det biskoppelige mensa i Ferrara.
Karl tok seg også av familiens affærer, blant annet å
finne ektemenn til sine fire søstre, men han fant også tid til studier. I
fritiden var han opptatt av musikk, og han spilte lutt og violoncell, men også
fysisk aktivitet (ballspill). Fra begynnelsen gjorde han mye for å heve
presteskapets kunnskapsnivå. Blant andre tiltak grunnla han i Vatikanet et
litterært akademi for geistlighet og legfolk, og noen av talene og
avhandlingene finnes i hans etterlatte arbeider som Noctes Vaticanae.
Karl bodde først i Vatikanet, men i juli 1562 flyttet
han til Palazzo Colonna på Piazza Sancti Apostoli. I henhold til sin posisjon i
samfunnet hadde han et strålende palass og holdt seg med en stor og ødsel
husholdning som alle kirkefyrster på den tiden. Denne ekstravagansen uroet ham,
medvirkende var også fiendtligheten han ble møtt med etter å ha fordømt
utskeielser og misforhold blant tjenestemenn i den romerske kurien.
Da erkebiskopen av Braga, den ærverdige Bartolomeus de
Martyribus OP, besøkte Roma, la Karl frem sine problemer for ham: «Du ser min
situasjon. Du er klar over hva det innebærer å være pavens nevø – hans høyt
elskede nevø. Farene er uendelige. Jeg er ung, og jeg har ingen erfaring. Hva
skal jeg gjøre? Gud har gitt meg en kjærlighet til bot, og jeg tenker noen
ganger på å gå inn i et kloster og leve som om det bare var Gud og meg i hele
verden». Erkebiskopen klarte å overbevise ham om at Gud hadde gitt ham en
oppgave i Kirkens tjeneste, og at han ikke skulle oppgi den. Men han la til at
han burde finne en måte å dra til Milano så snart som mulig.
Som pavens sekretær fikk Karl i økende grad gunstig
innflytelse over sin verdslige onkel i favør for reform ved pavehoffet, og han
brakte paven nærmere den katolske reform. Som leder for Consulta innehadde
han i praksis embetet som kardinalstatssekretær, selv om den tittelen ble
innført først senere. Karl var en av de viktigste pådriverne for å få paven til
å åpne den fjerde og avsluttende sesjonen av konsilet i Trient (Trento), som
hadde blitt suspendert i 1552. Den 18. januar 1562 kunne konsilet gjenåpnes i
nærvær av to kardinaler, 106 biskoper, fire abbeder og fire ordensgeneraler.
Det var i den siste sesjonen av dette store reformkonsilet at mange av de
viktigste dogmatiske og disiplinære dekretene ble vedtatt. Konsilet ble
avsluttet den 4. desember 1563.
Karl spilte en viktig rolle på reformkonsilet, og det
var hans innflytelse som fikk paven til å godkjenne vedtakene og sette dem ut i
livet. I et konsistorium den 26. januar 1564 stadfestet pave Pius IV dekretene
fra konsilet, og senere oppnevnte han en kommisjon av åtte kardinaler for å
gjennomføre dem. Selv var Karl spesielt fremtredende i utarbeidelsen av
katekismen, Cathecismus Romanus. Han var også ansvarlig for å reformere
liturgiske bøker og for kirkemusikken, hvor han var en beskytter av Palestrina
og bestilte fra ham Missa «Papae Marcelli» (til minne om pave
Marcellus II, som styrte i tyve dager i 1555).
Den 28. november 1562 døde Karls eldre bror, grev
Federigo (Fredrik) Borromeo, som han hadde stått svært nær, og Karl fant seg
som overhode for sin store adelsfamilie. Alle tok det for gitt at siden han
ikke var ordinert, ville han forlate Kirkens tjeneste og gifte seg, og dette
ble til og med foreslått for ham av paven etter anmodning av andre slektninger.
Men Karl bestemte seg i stedet for å holde seg strengt til åndelige spørsmål og
overførte sin familiestilling til onkelen Julius.
Den 4. september 1563 ble han i hemmelighet
presteviet, 25 år gammel, av kardinal Federigo Cesi i basilikaen Santa Maria
Maggiore. Den 7. desember samme år ble han bispeviet i Det sixtinske kapell av
kardinal Gianantonio Serbelloni, og paven utnevnte ham til erkebiskop av Milano
og kardinalprest. Den 23. mars 1564 mottok han palliet, og i juni 1564 fikk han
som titularkirke Santa Prassède. «Humilitas et Caritas» (ydmykhet og
kjærlighet) sto det i hans bispevåpen. Han la av sin aristokratiske livsførsel
og levde heretter et asketisk liv med tunge botsøvelser, fastet ofte og sov
lite. Han fikk ikke pavens tillatelse til å forlate Roma, men han fikk
tillatelse til å reise til Milano for å holde en provinssynode, den første av
seks i hans regjeringstid.
Karl forlot Roma den 1. september 1565, og den 23.
september 1565 gjorde han sitt høytidelige inntog i Milano. Han ble offisielt
innført i embetet som erkebiskop av Milano av erkebiskop Bartolomeus de
Martyribus av Braga gjennom skriftet Stimulus pastorum. Den 15. oktober møttes
provinssynoden i Milano med ti av femten suffraganbiskoper til stede. Tre av
dem var kardinaler, og en av dem, Nicolò Sfondrato av Cremona, skulle senere
bli pave som Gregor XIV (1590-91). Karl ville bruke prinsippene fra
Tridentinerkonsilet i et forsøk på å reformere sitt store bispedømme, hvor
behovet var stort, fordi det var preget av stor uorden. Det handlet om
presteskapets disiplin og utdannelse, feiringen av messen, administreringen av
sakramentene, katekismeundervisning på søndager og mange andre temaer. Karl
fikk et gratulasjonsbrev fra paven. Synoden var slutt den 3. november.
Senere samme år var han på vei tilbake til Roma via
Toscana, der han hadde plikter som legat a latere, da han fikk beskjed om
at paven var alvorlig syk. Han skyndte seg til Roma til pavens dødsleie, hvor
også den hellige Filip Neri var
til stede. Den 10. desember døde pave Pius IV. I det påfølgende konklavet var
Karl aktiv i valget den 7. januar 1566 av onkelens etterfølger, kardinal
Michele Ghislieri OP, den hellige Pius V (1566-72).
Den nye paven ville at Karl skulle bli en stund i Roma
og fortsette i sine embeter. Men Karl så nå den muligheten han hadde ventet på,
og ga så sterkt uttrykk for at han ville tilbake til sitt folk, at paven ga
Karl tillatelse til å bosette seg i sitt bispedømme og ga ham sin velsignelse.
Karl kom endelig til Milano den 5. april 1566 og han startet straks gjennomføringen
av sine reformer. Han fant at tilstanden var trøstesløs. På åtti år hadde ingen
biskop bodd i byen, og selv om hans vikar, hjulpet av en gruppe jesuitter,
hadde prøvd å innføre reformer der, var det langt fra tilstrekkelig. Karl fant
at bispedømmet hadde forfalt, kirkene var vanskjøttet, prestene forsømte sine
embetsplikter og var late og umoralske. Folket gikk ikke lenger fast til messe
og mottok sakramentene og var smittet av vranglære. Korrupsjon og overtro
hersket.
Utrettelig kjempet erkebiskopen fra nå av for å få
folkets tillit. Han startet med å redusere sin egen husholdning og solgte
dekketøy og annet utstyr for 30.000 kroner, og han ga hele summen til
hjelpetrengende familier. Hans almisseutdeler fikk beskjed om å gi fattige 200
kroner i måneden. Hver søndag og helligdag besteg han selv prekestolen, selv om
han fra sine unge år led av en talefeil, som han til slutt overvant, men han
var ute av stand til å preke utvungent. Ikke desto mindre ble han en av de
største predikanter i sitt århundre.
Karl foretok stadige visitasjonsreiser, og reiste
rundt i sitt store bispedømme til fots eller til hest, helt opp i fjerne
Alpedaler. Bispedømmet strakte seg på den tiden fra Venezia til Genève, og det
hadde 3.000 geistlige og 600.000 legmenn og -kvinner i over 2.000 kirker, 100
kommuniteter for menn og 70 for kvinner. Over alt ordnet han opp i det
kirkelige liv, avsatte uverdige prester, ga presteskapet enhetlige drakter og
sjekket registrene over dåp og giftermål. Han vant også tilbake noen som hadde gått
over til protestantene (zwinglianerne).
Blant de ordenene som hjalp Karl i hans reformer, var
jesuittene og barnabittene. Han arrangerte retretter for sitt presteskap og dro
selv på retrett to ganger i året. Han hadde som regel å skrifte hver morgen før
han feiret messe. Hans skriftefar var dr. Griffith (Gruffydd) Roberts, waliser
fra bispedømmet Bangor, forfatter av en berømt walisisk grammatikk. Karl
utnevnte en annen waliser, dr. Owen Lewis til en av sine generalvikarer; han
ble senere biskop av Cassano i Calabria. Karl ga sjenerøs støtte til det
engelske kollegiet i Douai, og det i en slik grad at kardinal Allen kalte ham
dets grunnlegger, og han holdt den hellige John Fisher svært
høyt og hadde alltid hans bilde med seg.
For å avhjelpe folkets religiøse uvitenhet opprettet
Karl «søndagsskoler» og dannet et «Brorskap for Kristen lære» (CCD) for å stå
for undervisningen der. De skulle på det meste ha hatt 740 skoler med 3.000
kateketer og 40.000 elever. For egne penger åpnet han som en av de første
biskoper mange seminarer for å utdanne prester, blant annet Collegium
Helveticum i Milano i 1570 for prester som skulle sendes til Sveits, og
det berømte Brera, jesuittkollegiet i Milano. Han utga en katekisme, grunnla
skoler, hjem for falne jenter, barnehjem, gamlehjem, fattigsykehus og innførte
fri rettshjelp for ubemidlede. Han ledet sitt bispedømme strengt, men
rettferdig, og han insisterte på en verdig feiring av messen. Han ga selv sine
prester et eksempel på et godt og uselvisk liv ved å ta seg av de fattige og
syke. Han gjorde Kristus til virkelighet i hverdagen, og hans innflytelse
strakte seg ut over hans eget bispedømme.
Karl er beskrevet som robust og med en verdig
holdning. Hans nese var stor og krum, han hadde en blek ansiktsfarge, brunt hår
og blå øyne. Han hadde et kort og uflidd rødbrunt skjegg til 1574, da han
beordret sine prester til å barbere bort skjegget, og som i alle saker, gikk
han selv foran med et godt eksempel.
Karl hadde en spesiell kjærlighet for liturgien og tok
seg alltid god tid med den, samme hvor travelt han hadde det. Han tok også
initiativ som førte til bevaring og fornyelse av den ambrosianske liturgien i
Milano. I tillegg stiftet han et brorskap for tilbedelse av Det hellige
Sakrament. Han var også trofast i å praktisere indre bønn, og en gang fortalte
han sitt presteskap at ingenting er mer nødvendig for dem enn å praktisere
indre bønn; den skulle komme før, under og etter deres gode gjerninger. I løpet
av sine 19 år i Milano avholdt han femten bispedømmesynoder og fem
provinssynoder. Dokumentene derfra ble trykt som Acta Ecclesiae
Mediolanensis og spredt i hele Europa som mønstereksempel på en kirkelig
embetsførsel fra preken og sakramentsforvaltning til kirkeutsmykninger og
formuesforvaltning.
Karl var en fremtredende skikkelse blant
reformkatolikkene etter Trient-konsilet, og er blitt kalt «en annen St. Ambrosius». Men
hans strenghet og bydende holdning har ikke unngått kritikk. Hans
kompromissløse reformer ble da heller ikke gjennomført uten motstand, og mange
forsøkte å få ham fjernet fra sitt embete. Dette var på den tiden spanjolene
hersket i Lombardia, og fremfor alt var den spanske stattholder i Milano hans
motstander. Karl satte inn hele den innflytelse hans stilling ga ham mot de
umenneskelige spanske inkvisisjonsmetodene, og han fremmet italienske
interesser mot de fremmede makthaverne. I 1567 pådro han seg senatet i Milanos
vrede og strid om hans episkopale jurisdiksjon da han fengslet flere
legpersoner for deres onde liv, og da den episkopale sheriff i 1569 ble drevet
ut av byen av sivile tjenestemenn, ekskommuniserte han dem. Begge gangene ble
saken rapportert til pave Pius V og kong Filip II av Spania, men begge gangene
var dommene i erkebiskopens favør.
Men hans biskoppelige rettigheter ble utfordret igjen
i kollegiatskirken Santa Maria della Scala i Milano. Denne kirken var i 1531
erklært av pave Klemens VII (1523-34) eksempt fra erkebiskopen av Milanos
jurisdiksjon, forutsatt at erkebiskopens samtykke forelå. Men noe samtykke var
aldri innhentet, så derfor var eksempsjonen aldri trådt i kraft. Støttet av
senatet og guvernøren, hertugen av Albuquerque, erklærte kannikene i Santa Maria
della Scala seg eksempt fra erkebiskopen og stolte på at den verdslige makt
ville støtte dem. Tidlig i september 1569 dro erkebiskopen for å visitere
kirken, men kannikene nektet ham å komme inn. Karl tilga dem denne
fornærmelsen, men igjen opprettholdt paven og kongen hans rettigheter.
Den 26. oktober 1569 var Karl til stede ved
kveldsbønnen i erkebiskopens kapell. Han hadde forsøkt å legge en demper på en
korrupt religiøs gruppe som var kjent som Humiliati. De hadde blitt færre
og færre og hadde nå ikke mer enn 70 medlemmer, men de disponerte verdiene til
90 klostre. Et medlem av Humiliaterordenen, presten Hieronymus Donati Farina,
var til stede i kapellet, forkledd som legmann. Han skjøt mot erkebiskopen der
han knelte ved alteret. Han hadde fått 40 gullstykker av tre munker for udåden,
som var skaffet til veie ved å selge utsmykningen i en kirke. Farina kom seg
unna i forskrekkelsen som oppsto. Da det viste seg at såret ikke var dødelig,
holdt Karl en høytidelig takksigelse og prosesjon. Deretter lukket han seg inne
i et karteuserkloster i noen dager for å vie sitt liv til Gud på ny. Humiliaterne
ble oppløst med en bulle fra pave Pius V den 7. februar 1571. Selv om Karl
ønsket å tilgi dem som prøvde å drepe ham, ble fire av konspiratørene dømt til
døden. Alle var geistlige og ble overlevert til den verdslige makt den 29. juli
1570. To ble halshogd, mens to ble hengt, inkludert Hieronymus Donati Farina.
Da høsten slo feil i 1570, brøt det ut en stor
hungersnød i Milano. Da forsto folket endelig hva som bodde i deres erkebiskop.
I flere måneder bespiste han hver dag 3000 fattige og fikk adelen og de rike
med og organiserte avhjelping av den verste nød. Han brukte hele livet store
deler av sin egen formue til slikt arbeid, men sa selv «Det er bedre for en biskop
å ha gjeld enn formue».
Den 1. mai 1572 døde pave Pius V, og Karl dro til Roma
for å delta i konklavet. Det varte i bare en dag, og den 13. mai 1572 ble
kardinal Ugo Buoncompagni valgt som Gregor XIII (1572-85). Etter at hertugen av
Albuquerque var død ble stillingen som guvernør overtatt av Don Luis de
Requesens, som hadde kjent Karl i Roma. Men tilskyndet av Karls motstandere
offentliggjorde han noen brev som med urette diskrediterte Karl i spørsmål om
kongelig autoritet. Trett av kampene om jurisdiksjon og det politiske spillet
ekskommuniserte Karl i 1573 guvernør Luis de Requesens, som deretter ble
fjernet av kong Filip II. De to siste guvernørene lærte av dette at de ikke
skulle komme på kant med kardinalen.
I 1575 ble det feiret hellig år, og over 400.000
pilegrimer valfartet til Roma. Karl Borromeus dro til fots gjennom Appenninene,
en botsvandring på 14 dager. I 1576 ble jubileumsavlaten forkynt i Milano, og
enorme folkemengder kom til byen. Dessverre brakte de pesten med seg til
Milano. Stattholderen Don Antonio de Guzmán flyktet, mens erkebiskopen, som
befant seg utenbys, straks vendte tilbake til byen og satte i verk de
nødvendige tiltak for å bekjempe sykdommen. Uten frykt for smitte trøstet han
de syke, bygde sykehus og forbedret de gamle og brukte enda mer av sin formue
på mat og klær for de syke, og gikk selv til og med som tigger rundt til de
rike i byen. Han sendte bud på prester og legfolk fra Apledalene, for
presteskapet i Milano ville ikke nærme seg de syke. For å bekjempe pesten ga
han en rekke nye forskrifter.
Pesten fikk handelen til å bryte sammen, og det måtte
finnes mat til 60.000-70.000 mennesker daglig. Karl solgte først sin store
eiendom i Oria i Napoli for å skaffe penger til å lindre lidelsene. Da han
hadde brukt opp sine egne ressurser, måtte han ta opp lån for å få tak i
forsynbinger. Klær ble laget av de flaggene som hadde hengt fra hans hus til
katedralen under prosesjoner. Tomme hus ble tatt i bruk og det ble bygd
tilfluktssteder for de syke. Altere ble satt opp i gatene slik at de syke kunne
delta i offentlige gudstjenester fra sine vinduer. Da pesten nådde sitt
høydepunkt, gikk Karl i botsgang gjennom byen, barføtt med et kors i hånden,
med alle tegn på sin verdighet lagt av. Og Gud hørte ham: Etter et år var
pesten over i 1578. Som ved et under var erkebiskopen og hele hans hus
forskånet.
Da stattholderen kom tilbake, klagde han erkebiskopen
inn for Roma, fordi han hadde satt seg mot de verdslige forordninger ved selv å
gå inn i de sykes hus og sendt sine prester dit. Men nå sto folket opp for sin
biskop. Overalt hvor han kom ble han hyllet som hellig. Også i Roma fant han
bare anerkjennelse, og da han til tross for ryktene om at han ville bli igjen i
Roma, kom tilbake til Milano, fikk han en storslått mottagelse. Han var
imidlertid radmager og avkreftet, og selv om han fortsatte å være like streng
mot seg selv, var hans vesen så mildt at alle anså ham som hellig. En
protestant mente at hvis alle prester hadde vært som ham, ville Kirken aldri ha
blitt splittet.
I 1578 nektet noen av kannikene ved katedralen å
samarbeide i noen av hans reformer av kapitlet på basis av et fellesliv. Da
startet han en kongregasjon av sekularprester, Oblatene av St. Ambrosius, som
avla enkelt lydighetsløfte til biskopen. Den eksisterer ennå som «Oblatene av
St. Ambrosius og St. Karl» (Ambrosianere). Våren 1580 hadde Karl i en uke
besøkt av et dusin unge engelskmenn på vei til hjemlandet. Blant dem var de
hellige Ralph
Sherwin og Edmund Campion,
som 18 måneder senere skulle lide martyrdøden ved Tyburn. Senere samme år møtte
Karl den hellige Aloisius Gonzaga,
som da var tolv år, og ga ham den første kommunion. På slutten av 1583 ble Karl
utnevnt til apostolisk visitator til Sveits, hvor han i Grisons måtte ta seg av
både hekseri og trolldom i tillegg til konsekvensene av Calvins og Zwinglis
lære.
Karl var utrettelig og energisk og alltid på farten,
men han slet seg helt ut, og hans helse ble verre. I 1584 ble han angrepet av
erysipelas (rosen) i en fot, noe som tvang ham til sengs. I oktober 1584 dro
han til Mante Varallo for sin årlige retrett. Med seg hadde han jesuittpateren
Adorno. Han sa til flere at han ikke ville bli lenge i denne verden, og den 24.
oktober ble han syk med feber. Den 29. oktober dro han mot Milano, på
Allehelgensdag 1. november feiret han sin siste messe i Arona, sitt fødested,
og dagen etter kom han til Milano. Han gikk rett til sengs og ba om de siste
sakramentene. Disse fikk han av erkepresten i katedralen. Om kvelden den 3.
november 1584 døde han fredelig, bare 46 år gammel, i armene på sin walisiske
skriftefar Griffith Roberts. Hans siste ord var: «Se, Herre, jeg kommer. Skje
din vilje».
Da kirkeklokkene i domkirken forkynte budskapet om
overhyrdens død, brøt det ut en så stor forvirring som om en fiende hadde
besatt byen. Overalt lød klageskrik og tårer. Særlig de fattige, som Karl hadde
vært som en far for, var utrøstelige. Det var en så stor trengsel for å se den
døde at man måtte slå i stykker veggene for å gi massene en utgang.
Rekviemmessen ble feiret av kardinal Nicolò Sfondrato den 7. november. Selv
hadde Karl angitt begravelsesstedet og en enkel gravskrift, og han ble bisatt
om natten i krypten i domkirken i Milano. I kirken San Carlo i Arona er det et
relikvar med en kopi av hans dødsmaske. Snart etter ble folket enige om å bygge
et monument for ham, en 28 m høy statue på en 14 m høy sokkel. Statuen ble kalt
«Carlone» eller «Store Karl».
Det oppsto straks en spontan kult, og på ettårsdagen
for hans død feiret folket allerede dagen som en stor fest, og den helliges
kult økte fra år til år, og oppsiktsvekkende undre skjedde på hans grav. Tilstrømningen
til graven var så stor at steinen som dekket den, måtte omgis av et gjerde for
å beskytte den fra den folkelige fromme entusiasmen. Det stoppet ikke folk fra
å dekke den beskjedne gravsteinen med de mest dyrebare gaver. Ringer,
halskjeder, perler, rubiner, diamanter, massive lamper av gull eller sølv var
vanlige gaver. I 1610 var det 10.891 votivgaver i sølv og 9.618 dyrebare gaver
ved Karls grav.
Etter at Karls saligkåringsprosess var godt i gang,
ble to biskoper delegert av Roma sendt til Milano for å identifisere Karls
legeme. I tyve år og fire måneder hadde han ligget i sin beskjedne grav under
gulvet i domkirken i en kiste av bly og en annen av tre. Stedets naturlige
fuktighet hadde korrodert overflatene på begge kistene, slik at fuktigheten
hadde trengt helt inn til Karls legeme. Den 6. mars 1606 ble kisten åpnet i
nærvær av de to biskopene, kardinal Federico, Msgr Bascape og to notarer for
identifikasjonen. Disse bevitnet at Karls legeme fortsatt var intakt til tross
for kistenes tilstand. Legemet ble flyttet midlertidig til det søndre
sakristiet, hvor det ble i ett år, omhyggelig voktet. Gravsteinen ble erstattet
av et jerngitter, og hvelvet ble gjort om til et lite oratorium hvor det ble
lest messe. Den 7. mars 1607 ble Karls legeme, kledd i nye gevanter og lagt i
nye kister av bly og tre, brakt tilbake til sitt opprinnelige hvilested.
Tidlig på 1600-tallet ble det beskjedne oratoriet
omskapt av Richino til et praktfullt åttekantet kapell. Relikviene hviler nå på
et sølvalter, som ble gitt i gave av kong Filip IV av Spania. Under
undersøkelsen av relikviene i 1880 så man at Karls legeme var blitt balsamert
på vanlig måte kort etter døden, men dette kunne ikke være direkte ansvarlig for
bevaringen av legemet nesten 300 år etter den helliges død. Da kardinal
Giovanni Battista Montini, den senere pave Paul VI (1953-78), var erkebiskop av
Milano, ble Karls ansikt dekket av en sølvmaske på hans anmodning. Legemet,
fortsatt bevart, er kledd i pontifikale gevanter utsmykket med edelsteiner.
Hans hjerte oppbevares i kirken San Carlo al Corso i Roma.
Karl ble saligkåret i 1602 av pave Klemens VIII
(1592-1605) og helligkåret den 1. november 1610 av pave Paul V (1605-21). I
1613 ble hans fest tatt inn i den romerske kalenderen. Den var opprinnelig 5.
november, men siden 1652 har hans minnedag vært feiret den 4. november. Hans
navn står i Martyrologium Romanum.
Kunstnere begynte å male ham, enten alene eller i
grupper av helgener, ennå før han var helligkåret. Karl Borromeus fremstilles i
kardinaldrakt med et kors i hånden, mens han deler ut kommunion til pestsyke,
gjerne med et ciborium i hånden. Han kan også fremstilles med et dødt barn som
han vekker til live igjen. En annen av Karls skriftefedre, den hellige
barnabitten Alexander
Sauli, fulgte Karls eksempel og gjennomførte lignende nødvendige, men
uvelkomne religiøse reformer på Corsica.
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/borromeu
Saint Charles Borromée :
Vie de l'archevêque de Milan : https://www.collegedesbernardins.fr/magazine/article/saint-charles-borromee-reformateur-de-leglise-et-archeveque-de-milan
Confraternita di San
Carlo Borromeo - Sessa Aurunca (CE) : https://www.sancarloborromeo.org/
