Feast of St. Charles, Final Day of the Double Novena
Two great men each died on November 3. Charles Borromeo passed away on that day in 1594, and exactly 45 years later, on a different continent, Martin de Porres died in 1639. Their lives overlapped by 15 years, but they never met; most likely neither one ever heard of the other. Here are the prayers for Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five, Day Six, Day Seven [All Saints Day], Day Eight, and Day Nine.
Scroll further down to find today’s novena prayers.
Many are familiar with how St. Charles risked personal contagion during the plague of Milan in order to give medical and financial help to the sick and dying. What is not well known, though, is that for as long as he put himself at risk for infection, he practiced social distancing to make sure that he didn’t pass the plague onto others. His biographer, Giovanni Pietro Giussano, reported: “For himself , he acted as if he were actually an infected person , allowing no one to come near him or wait upon him , and having a rod carried before him when he went abroad , in order to keep off every one from himself and his assistants.” Charles would place this rod, which was over six feet long, on the ground between himself and anyone who wanted to approach him. St. Charles also instituted an alternative to public prayer assemblies: “seven times a day, when the cathedral bells rang, the residents of Milan, now homebound, would come to their windows and doors and sing prayers and litanies. The effect was, it seems, not unlike contemporary instances of quarantined residents joining in communal serenades: the voices of some ‘three hundred thousand souls,’ Giussano wrote, ‘resounding and echoing, calling all heaven to help in that court of misery’” (Matthew Guerrieri, Boston Globe music critic).
St. Charles used his own family funds to support the needs of the impoverished and to set up hospitals and hospices for the sick and dying during the plague of Milan. Through his intercession, and that of master fundraiser, St. Martin de Porres, we are confident in reaching our goal for Revolution of Tenderness’s end of year campaign. Please give generously.
The Prayers:
St. Charles Borromeo
Day Nine [Feast of St. Charles Borromeo]:
“When you pray the [psalms], think about the words you are saying and the Lord to whom you are speaking. When you take care of other people, meditate on how the Lord’s blood has washed them clean so that all that you do becomes a work of love. This is the way we can easily overcome the countless difficulties we have to face day after day, which, after all, are part of our work: in meditation we find the strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in others.” [Charles Borromeo, Homily]
You, Lord, who have the power to renew the heavens, the earth, and all things, give to all of us that new heart, that new spirit which you promised us through the mouth of your prophet: And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you (Ezekiel 36:26). Bestow it upon us, Lord, with such abundance that it will produce in us, efficaciously and constantly, new resolutions, new customs, a new way of life, and in the end, that eternal renewal which the new Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, already came into the world to bring us. With this help, our heart shall be enlarged, reforms will no longer seem hard, nor your service burdensome. But the yoke will be sweet and the weight of your holy commandments light to us. We ask this through your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
[Charles Borromeo, “Booklet of Reminders”]
Preserve in the midst of your people,
we ask, O Lord, the spirit with which you filled
the Bishop Saint Charles Borromeo,
that your Church may be constantly renewed
and, by conforming herself to the likeness of Christ,
may show his face to the world.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be
St. Martin de Porres
Postlude:
To you Saint Martin de Porres, we prayerfully lift up our hearts filled with serene confidence and love. Mindful of your unbounded and helpful charity to all levels of society, we offer our petitions to you. Pour out upon our families the precious gifts of your generous intercession; show to the people of every race and every color the paths of unity and of justice; implore from our Father in heaven the coming of his kingdom, so that through mutual benevolence in God, people may live in the peace of Christ.
Blessed is the man who is found without fault,
who does not make gold his life's object,
who does not put his trust in wealth.
- His future will be secure in the Lord.
Who is this man that we may praise him,
for he has done wonders in his life?
- His future will be secure in the Lord.
O God, who led Saint Martin de Porres
by the path of humility to heavenly glory,
grant that we may so follow his radiant example in this life
as to merit to be exalted with him in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
[Collect for the Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Roman Missal]
Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be
