Prayer for the Feast of St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop and Reformer
St. Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) was made a cardinal while still in his early twenties and became Archbishop of Milan. Instead of enjoying the privileges of his rank, he gave himself entirely to renewing the Church after the Council of Trent. He helped finish the Council's work and the Roman Catechism, founded seminaries to form good priests, taught catechism to children, and visited even the poorest mountain parishes of his vast diocese.
When plague struck Milan in 1576 and many officials fled, Charles stayed, walked barefoot in penitential processions, sold his own goods to feed the hungry, and brought the sacraments to the dying with his own hands. He is a patron of bishops, catechists, and seminarians. The traditional collect of his feast asks that his watchful care may still protect the Church and keep us fervent in God's love.
The Prayer
Collect: Let the watchful care of blessed Charles, Thy Confessor and Pontiff, continue to be a protection unto Thy Church: that even as his pastoral solicitude brought him glory, so his intercession may ever keep us fervent in Thy love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen. Communion verse (Matthew 24:46-47): Blessed is the servant, whom when his Lord shall come, he shall find watching: amen I say to you, he shall set him over all his goods.
St. Charles Borromeo, pray for our bishops, our priests, and all who teach the faith.
See also: Prayer for Priests and Prayer for Vocations.
Sources: Collect of St. Charles Borromeo from The Roman Missal Adapted to the Use of the Laity (London, c. 1920 edition reformed under Pope Pius X); Communion verse of the Mass Statuit from The Mass Every Day of the Year (1916) (Douay-Rheims text). Public domain.
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