MEMORIAL: NOVEMBER 4
St. Charles Borromeo was born during the height of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century in Italy to the famous Medici family. He desired to serve God at a young age and was appointed a Cardinal-Deacon administrator of the Diocese of Milan at the age of 23. He was ordained priest and Bishop at the age of 25. During his time as a cleric, he made it his mission to reform the Church in Rome and Milan in the face of the Reformation.
He reformed education of the clergy, stopped the selling of indulgences, and played a vital role in the Council of Trent. In addition, Borromeo would travel throughout Europe to defend Catholicism to Reformers everywhere. In times of disease and famine, Borromeo fed thousands daily in Milan while other nobles fled. Borromeo would eventually die of illness himself at the age of 46. He is the patron saint of catechists and seminarians.
