November 4 : Saint Charles Borromeo

Saint Charles Borromeo was the nephew of Pope Pius IV. He was born in 1537 of one of the oldest, noblest, and wealthiest families of Lombardy, being the second son of Count Borrormeo. From his earliest years the little Charles was so noted for the gravity and sanctity of his character, that his uncle, Pope Pius, created him cardinal-archbishop of Milan at the age of twenty-three. There the young prelate’s life (as even a non-Catholic writer of note attests) presented a picture of active charity and self-denying humility, only to be equalled by those of the primitive apostles and teachers of Christianity. When the plague ravaged Milan, not satisfied with tending the sick in person, he offered himself solemnly to God as a sacrifice for his people. God did not demand that precious life; but the plague ceased miraculously. Saint Charles died on November 4, 1584, breathing out in rapture the words “Ecce venio!” He was the intimate friend of Saint Philip Neri, and the patron of Palestrina.