Apr 21, 2020
This
article was first published on TFP Student Action
With the world at large still reeling from
COVID-19 and over 170,000 dead, one wonders what is the most Catholic response:
to hide or to seek? Most of us must render unto Caesar, and observe government
mandates to “shelter in place.” But are others called to a higher mandate?
Truly courageous examples are replete throughout
history, as plagues have, well, plagued humanity since the fall of Adam. In the
golden pages of history, we find a holy bishop who faced a virus more deadly
than the Coronavirus.
From 1576 to 1578, a plague ravaged through
northern Italy killing tens of thousands. The epidemic was known as St. Charles
Plague because of the heroic response of the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, St.
Charles Borromeo.
Stay in Place or the Salvation
of Souls
On August 11, 1576 the plague broke out in the
northern quarter of Milan as festivities were being planned for the arrival of
the famed Don Juan of Austria. Hearing of the outbreak, most of the secular
authorities along with Don Juan fled. St. Charles was attending the funeral of
a bishop outside the city when he heard the news. Instead of staying in place
or fleeing, he immediately set forth toward the city. As he entered Milan, many
people rushed out crying for mercy.
Without resting from his journey, St. Charles went
straight to the cathedral and said a short prayer. After appealing to God for
help, he advanced into the epicenter of the outbreak, not even taking the time
to change out of his dusty riding clothes.
When he finally retired to his episcopal palace,
he found a few remaining government officials waiting for him. They asked St.
Charles to take command of the city as their leaders, including the governor,
had abandoned their posts.
St. Charles accepted the burden, saying: "A
long time ago I resolved never to leave undone anything which might be for my
people’s good. I beg you, above all, not to lose heart. Do not be affected by
the example of those born and bred in the city who hurriedly abandoned it by
flight at the very moment when it needed help."
Since the authorities out of fear of contagion had
already forbidden public processions and religious ceremonies, many souls were
deprived of the Sacraments. St. Charles said that it was because of this that
the wrath of God had been called down upon Milan. Therefore, he told the
officials that the only cure was to pray and do penance more piously than
before.
“I will do my duty to the utmost”
To prepare himself for what lay ahead, St. Charles
offered himself as an expiatory victim for the sins of his people. He also
organized his affairs and made his last will. After this preparation, he went
out every day to visit the sick and dying.
Profoundly moved by their suffering, St. Charles
said:
"The
dreadful state of these wretched creatures, everything lacking both for soul
and body. These unhappy children seem to look on me as the cause of all their
ills. Their silence reproaches me for my idleness. I put off holding out a
helping hand when by my example I should have moved others to pity. I will delay
no longer. By the grace of God, I will do my duty to the utmost."
He redoubled his efforts, focusing mainly on the
spiritual welfare of the beleaguered.
“Do not prefer a late death to
a holy one”
Many priests in Milan were in hiding, fearing they
might catch the disease. Even among the holy Cardinal’s household, many fled.
Of those who stayed some refused to join him when he went into infected houses.
However, St. Charles sent out a beautiful appeal to his absent priests, saying:
“We have
only one life and we should spend it for Jesus Christ and souls, not as we
wish, but at the time and in the way God wishes. It would show presumption and
neglect of our duty and God’s service to fail to do this.”
The saint rebuked his priests:
“Do not be
so forgetful of your priesthood as to prefer a late death to a holy one.”
Answering the call, many secular priests and
Capuchins fathers heroically served the sick especially in the leper house,
which doubled as an emergency hospital. After the plague subsided, not one of
St. Charles’ companions had perished, but many priests who stayed back and
refused to help had been stricken.
Do not despise “ordinary
remedies”
St. Charles advised his priests not to “neglect
human means, such as preventatives, remedies, doctors, everything that you can
use to keep off infection, for such means are in no way opposed to our doing
our duty.”
Whenever people urged St. Charles to avoid
unnecessary risk, he would reply, “God can replace us.”
But at the same time, he was not imprudent.
Answering a concern of the Bishop of Brescia, St. Charles affirmed:
“From the
beginning I resolved to place myself entirely in God’s hands, without however
despising ordinary remedies.”
St. Charles issued prudent guidelines. The
faithful were told not to gather in crowds and avoid contact with each other.
Masses were not cancelled, but only held outdoors if the church was too
cramped. He ordered more Masses said than before. Catechism classes were moved
to street corners. He had separate places in church for the disease stricken
and separate holy water fonts for them. His counsel to the clergy and
magistrates was to “take the plague of the soul in consideration more than the
contagion of the body which, for many reasons, is less pernicious.”
The Necessity of the Sacraments
in Times of Hardship
Although the death rate and contagion rate were
extremely high, St. Charles insisted on public prayer and penance. Ashes were
constantly distributed. Three processions a week were held. In these
processions, St. Charles walked barefoot wearing a thick penitential cord
around his neck. Bells rang seven times a day for public prayer and the singing
of psalms.
As those afflicted could not leave their homes to
attend Mass or the processions, St. Charles set up nineteen columns throughout
the city. At the foot of these pillars, public Masses were celebrated every
morning. This allowed the sick to assist at Mass every day and the priests
would distribute the Holy Eucharist to all the victims of the plague through
their home windows. Even today, these pillars with crosses on top are visible
all over Milan.
St. Charles went nearly every day to the leper house
to give the Sacraments to the suffering. He baptized newborns and gave last
rights to the dying.
A certain Capuchin brother, James, who worked in
the leper house and saw St. Charles’ good works at the time, said, “He often
goes to the lazer [leper] house to console the sick . . . into huts and private
houses to speak to the sick and comfort them, as well as providing for all
their needs. He fears nothing. It is useless to try to frighten him. It is true
that he exposes himself much to danger but so far he has been preserved by the
special grace of God, he says he cannot do otherwise. Indeed, the city has no
other help and consolation.”
However, just as today, not all men fear God or
take advantage of suffering to repent. Some young Milanese nobles decided to
flee the plague and practice impurity and immorality in a villa far away from
any city. They shut themselves up in this villa, which they dubbed the “Academy
of Love.” Yet these reprobates soon found out that God is not mocked, even in
the most secluded locations. The plague broke out in the villa and few sinners
survived.
“Only by the Mercy of God”
By Christmas of 1577, the plague had abated. At
the end of the plague, 17,000 people had died in Milan out of a population of
120,000. This number included 120 priests (most of these had fled). However, in
the smaller city of Venice, 40,000 people died in the same two years. Why had
Milan been spared from a greater loss?
St. Charles answers:
"Not by
our prudence, which was caught asleep. Not by science of the doctors who could
not discover the sources of the contagion, much less a cure. Not by the care of
those in authority who abandoned the city. No, my dear children, but only by
the mercy of God."
The Catholic Response to
Coronavirus
In stark contrast to St. Charles, New York
Governor Andrew Cuomo – a baptized Catholic – issued a recent statement,
mocking and excluding God from the fight against Covid-19. The pro-abortion
Governor congratulated himself during a press conference, saying: “The number
[of infections] is down because we brought the numbers down. God did not do
that. Fate did not do that. Destiny did not do that. A lot of pain and
suffering did that.”
The crisis of faith is obvious. In this time of
great need, most Catholics are spiritual orphans. No Masses. No Confessions. No
Last Rights. No St. Charles Borromeos. The bishop of Springfield, Mass., for
example, suspended the Last Rites in all instances in his diocese. At their
final hour, the dying are deprived of the Church’s spiritual assistance and
consolation.
As John Horvat points out in his column, "The
Coronavirus Is a Call to Return to God," our reaction “reflects a society
that has turned its back on God. We face the crisis trusting only in ourselves
and our devices.”
What the world needs most are more St. Charles
Borromeos, more heroic shepherds to restore the faith, promote confidence in
God’s Providence and awaken true devotion to the maternal and Immaculate Heart
of Mary.
Saint Charles Borromeo, pray for us!
Bibliography:
Reformer: St. Charles Borromeo by Margaret Yeo (CITY: The Bruce
Publishing Company, 1938).
You can read the source of this text here.
