On the Feast Day of St. Pius V Let Us Reform Our Lives!

In the old calendar, today is the feast of Pope St. Pius V, a courageous reformer. He put into Catholic practice many of the reforms of the Council of Trent. His holiness was obvious to the flock he served. An interesting bit of trivia relates to his impact on publishing and printing. He ordered that all books have the author and publisher announced on a title page. Prior to that many printers omitted the authors and their own responsibility for the book. Think of that the next time you look to see the publisher of a book and the date it was printed. I did that just yesterday with two books by Walker Percy to see which one was published first.

Vatican II is Ancient History for Today's Young Catholics.

How much do most Catholics know about all the Vatican councils of history? We hear about the Council of Trent and its significance in refuting many of the errors of the Protestant revolution. It revitalized the Church and cleared up ambiguities resulting from the spread of heresy. The importance and impact of Trent have echoed and re-echoed down through the centuries. But have most Catholics even heard of most of the other twenty councils? Maybe they remember the Council of Jerusalem since it's mentioned in Acts of the Apostles. Perhaps they faintly recall the Council of Nicaea. "Oh yes, Nicaea gave us the creed we say at Mass." How about the four councils of Constantinople and the two councils of Lyon or the councils of Chalcedon and Ephesus.  Could they describe a single thing rising out of them? I sure can't without looking them up.

"All things work together for good for those who love the Lord."

Have you voted for life today, considering the will of the Lord of Life? Then be at peace no matter the outcome. "All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and serve according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

It is the feast day of St. Charles Borromeo, one of the leading reformers of the Catholic Church. That, seems to me, to be a sign of hope that no matter what happens today we are to continue to fight for a culture of life and for our holy faith. St. Charles was born during the Protestant Revolution and became a cardinal at a time of serious abuses in the Church (sound familiar?). He assisted in the final deliberations of the Council of Trent and contibuted to the writing of the catechism of the Council. His catechetical efforts were so effective in his diocese (Milan, Ialy) that the protestants were unsuccessful in attempts to evangelize there.

St. Charles saw that many of the problems in the Church were due to the ignorance of the clergy, so he started seminaries and colleges to ensure the proper training of men aspiring to the priesthood. During times of famine and plague, he was a minister of charity, never sparing himself and liberally applying the wealth of the Church, even going into heavy debt.

But natural disasters were not his only challenge. His efforts at reform were resisted. One religious order, the Humiliati (Brothers of Humility), conspired to kill him. Gunshots were fired in his archiepiscopal chapel, but he escaped harm which many considered miraculous.

Having poured himself out as a libation for his people, St. Charles died November 3, 1584 at the age of only 46. To the end he was a model of his Lord, the Good Shepherd. Let us ask St. Charles to intercede for our Church and our country, and especially to pray for the hierarchy in the United States that they might put the common good of their people first. St. Charles Borromeo, pray for us.