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Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop
Memorial
November 4th

Giovanni Battista Crespi
St. Charles Borromeo Erecting Crosses at the Gates of Milan
1602 - Oil on Canvas
Cathedral, Milan

(1538-1584). St. Charles was born in Italy. In 1559, he obtained a doctorate in civil and canon law; the next year--at the age of twenty-one--he was made a cardinal and was appointed Archbishop of Milan by his uncle, Pope Pius IV. He was one of the chief agents of the successful conclusion of the Council, establishing Sunday schools, house for orphans and the poor, and renewing the moral life of the clergy and religious. He established diocesan seminaries and was instrumental in their organization. He is the patron saint of seminarians.

Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003

 

Collect:
Father,
keep in your people the spirit
which filled Charles Borromeo.
Let your Church be continually renewed
and show the image of Christ to the world
by being conformed to his likeness,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading: Romans 12:3-13
For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him. For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.

Gospel Reading: John 10:11-16
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.

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