J.M.J. William Keogh, in his article about Saint Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) that appeared in The Catholic Encyclopedia, observed: "The twenty-fifth, and last, session of the council (of Trent) was held 3 and 4 December, 1563; at it were present 255 Fathers. At a consistory on the 26th of January, 1564, Pius IV confirmed the decrees of the council, and later appointed a congregation of eight cardinals to see to the execution of these decrees. During the sitting of the re-assembled council Charles' elder brother, Count Federigo, had died (28 November, 1562). This event had a very determining result as to Charles, for he immediately resolved to give himself with greater strictness to spiritual matters, and he looked upon his brother's death as a warning to him to give up all worldly things."
The sobriety and resolve practiced by the future Saint, who was not yet ordained to the Holy Priesthood, was praiseworthy. He saw things in regard to his last end, thereby allowing him to embrace them as helpful or reject them as dangerous.
Our Lady, too, kept her chaste eyes on the true--and only--goal of each of us: Everlasting Life.
In the Dictionary of Moral Theology, Dom Gregory Manise, O.S.B., wrote that the Gift of Understanding "enables man to understand created things in their relation to God; to see in other men the image of God and in irrational creatures the vestiges of God through which man is led to God; to find in the happy or sad events which take place in the life of individuals and nations the means through which purification and a more intimate union with God is attained; it also enables man to see with much clarity the horror of sin."
How we need to beg the Holy Spirit through the intercession of Mary and the prayers of Saint Charles for an increase in His Gift of Understanding!
Mary, Queen of the Saints and of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, Chaste Spouse of the Ever-Virgin Mary, pray for us.
Saint Charles Borromeo, Guiding Light of the Council of Trent, pray for us.
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