Saint Charles Borromeo, The Shepherd Who Stayed

St. Charles Borromeo

 Charles Borromeo was born on October 2, 1538, in the castle of Arona beside Lake Maggiore in northern Italy. His parents, Gilberto Borromeo and Margherita de’ Medici, belonged to a noble family. Charles grew up with opportunities for education and advancement. He studied at the University of Pavia, completing a doctorate in civil and canon law in 1559. Before him lay a future filled with responsibilities, influence, and the advantages of his family’s position.

That future changed rapidly when his maternal uncle became Pope Pius IV. In 1560, the pope summoned Charles to Rome and made him a cardinal at twenty-one. Entrusted with important papal business, Charles helped bring the interrupted Council of Trent back into session and supported its work through its conclusion in 1563. The council addressed Catholic teaching and the reform of Church life. Charles would spend much of his remaining life putting its decisions into practice.

In 1562, his older brother Federico died. Charles faced pressure to leave the ecclesiastical life, marry, and continue the family line. Instead, he committed himself more deeply to his vocation. He was ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop in 1563. His growing dedication involved changes in his own conduct. He simplified his life, practiced penance, and gave more time to prayer. The renewal he sought for the Church began with the responsibilities and choices closest to him.

As Archbishop of Milan, Charles settled permanently in his archdiocese in 1566. He worked to improve the preparation of priests through seminaries and strengthened religious instruction for the faithful. He convened Church councils and synods to guide reform, addressing abuses and calling clergy to fulfill their duties. His work required patient attention to practical matters. Schools, training, parish life, and the conduct of Church leaders all mattered because they shaped how people encountered and learned their faith.

His reforms also brought opposition. In October 1569, members of the Humiliati religious order who resisted his efforts plotted his assassination. While Charles prayed with his household, an attacker fired a weapon at him. Charles survived and continued his ministry. The danger showed how bitter resistance had become. Through the conflicts surrounding his work, prayer and devotion to Christ remained central to his life, sustaining the demanding responsibilities of governing an archdiocese.

Then, in 1576, plague struck Milan. Charles remained among his people and devoted himself to the sick and those suffering from poverty. He visited and comforted them, encouraged priests to provide assistance, and spent his resources on their care. His family’s motto, Humilitas, meant humility. During the epidemic, that word took a visible form in his willingness to serve people whose illness and hunger placed them in urgent need of help.

Charles combined religious leadership with measures intended to limit contagion. He led a penitential procession barefoot, with a rope around his neck, while participants were required to keep their distance from one another. He also proposed a general quarantine, which the city authorities accepted in October 1576. When residents could no longer attend church, he arranged for Masses at outdoor altars at crossroads. People confined to their homes could participate from their windows, remaining connected to the Church’s worship during their isolation.

The Eucharist, the Scriptures, and meditation on Christ’s suffering sustained Charles throughout his work. He traveled through his extensive archdiocese, including remote communities, to preach and minister to the faithful. His duties continued to demand considerable effort, alongside his rigorous life of prayer and penance. On November 3, 1584, Charles died in Milan at forty-six. His relatively short life had included years of service to the wider Church and sustained attention to the people entrusted to him.

Pope Paul V canonized Charles on November 1, 1610. The Church celebrates his feast on November 4. His legacy includes the seminaries and reforms through which he strengthened Catholic life, together with the charity he practiced during Milan’s suffering. Remembering him centuries later, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized that Charles had begun reform with his own conversion. His life continues to offer an example of responsibility shaped by prayer, humility, and a willingness to give himself to the needs of others.

For a devotional image of St. Charles, click here: Maryvale Catholic Press

Venerable Frederic Baraga, The Shepherd on Snowshoes

 

Venerable Frederic Baraga

Frederic Baraga was born on June 29, 1797, at Mala Vas, in what is now Slovenia. He grew up in a family that valued faith and education, but lost both parents while still young. His studies eventually took him to the University of Vienna, where he earned a law degree. There, the spiritual guidance of Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer helped shape his vocation. Baraga entered the seminary and was ordained a priest on September 21, 1823.

After several years of parish ministry in his homeland, Father Baraga responded to the need for missionaries in North America. He left Europe in 1830 and arrived in New York on December 31. Traveling onward to Cincinnati, he placed himself at the service of Bishop Edward Fenwick. In May 1831, he reached his first mission at Arbre Croche, near present day Harbor Springs, Michigan, where he began ministering among the Odawa people.

His missionary work gradually carried him farther through the Great Lakes region. He served at Grand River, now Grand Rapids, then moved to La Pointe, Wisconsin, in 1835. In 1843, he established a mission at L’Anse, Michigan. These assignments brought him among Ojibwe communities as well as settlers arriving in the region. His ministry required him to cover immense distances to reach people who otherwise had little access to a priest.

In warmer months, Baraga traveled by canoe and on foot. During winter, he crossed the snow on snowshoes, earning the name “Snowshoe Priest.” His journeys exposed him to bitter cold, exhaustion, and danger. His diary recorded winters so severe that even celebrating Mass became difficult. Yet he continued traveling to preach, teach, and administer the sacraments. Prayer sustained that work. He regularly rose before dawn and devoted three hours to prayer before beginning the demands of the day.

Baraga also devoted himself to learning the languages of the people he served. At first, he relied on an interpreter, but he learned Odawa and Ojibwe and prepared religious books in their languages. His work included prayer books, a grammar, and an Ojibwe dictionary published in 1853. Years of careful study supported his preaching and writing. Those books also helped other missionaries communicate with the communities among whom they worked.

His care extended to the security of Native families. At L’Anse, he purchased land for Ojibwe households. When government agents later attempted to remove them, he drew on his legal training and transferred deeds to families and Chief Assinins. His pastoral concern included the places where people lived and raised their children. As mining brought new populations into the Upper Peninsula, he also ministered to immigrants speaking German, French, and English.

On November 1, 1853, Baraga was consecrated a bishop in Cincinnati for the newly established apostolic vicariate of Upper Michigan. He became the first bishop of the jurisdiction that developed into today’s Diocese of Marquette. The responsibilities were considerable. Priests and money were scarce, and communities remained widely scattered. He worked to strengthen the Church throughout the region, while continuing to serve a flock whose languages and circumstances varied greatly.

In 1866, Bishop Baraga suffered a severe stroke while attending the council of bishops in Baltimore. He returned to Marquette and died there on January 19, 1868, aged seventy. Despite bitter cold and blizzard conditions, mourners filled Saint Peter Cathedral for his funeral, with others standing outside. The bishop who had spent decades traveling to his people was remembered with affection by Catholics and others throughout the community.

On May 10, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI recognized Baraga’s heroic virtue, giving him the title Venerable. His life remains a witness to missionary perseverance expressed through prayer, scholarship, and practical care. Across lakes, through forests, and over winter snow, he carried the Gospel to the people entrusted to him. The snowshoes associated with his memory recall the effort he made to reach them.

For devotional images of Venerable Baraga, click here: Maryvale Catholic Press