| Saint Charles Borromeo —
Patron Saint of Learning and The Arts "St. Charles
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. St.
Charles was ordained a priest in 1563, and was consecrated bishop of Milan the
same year. He instituted radical reforms despite great opposition. 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 schools for the poor, and hospitals for the sick. He instituted
children's Sunday school and increased help to the poor and the needy. St.
Charles died at Milan 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." Prayer
to Saint Charles Borromeo
O Saintly reformer, animator of spiritual renewal
of priests and religious, you organized true seminaries and wrote a standard catechism.
Inspire all religious teachers and authors of catechetical books. Move them to
love and transmit only that which can form true followers of the Teacher who was
divine. Amen. | 
