MEMORIAL OF SAINT CHARLES BORROMEO, BISHOP, NOVEMBER 04, 2021

Sigismondo Caula, detail of St Charles Borromeo Administering the Sacrament to Plague Victims in 1576, Oil on Canvas, 1685. Modena, Galleria e Museo Estense

MASS READINGS

A Gospel according to Jn 10:11-16

Jesus said:

"I am the good shepherd.

A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

A hired man, who is not a shepherd

and whose sheep are not his own,

sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,

and the wolf catches and scatters them.

This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd,

and I know mine and mine know me,

just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;

and I will lay down my life for the sheep.

I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.

These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,

and there will be one flock, one shepherd."

REFLECTION

I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Many good things can be said about St. Charles Borromeo. He was a good Cardinal who took care of the people of Milan during the plague. He was part of the Council of Trent.

The Council of Trent was a synod of the Catholic Church that started to meet in 1545 to reform the Church after repeated attacks by Protestants. The Protestant reformation began in 1517. One of the fruits of this Council was its influence in the arts.

Before the Council, artists, specifically painters, were taking too many liberties when expressing their art. They would sometimes depict Bible passages incorrectly, or were too lax in their paintings.

With the help of theologians, painters like Caravaggio, El Greco, and Carracci created extremely inspiring masterpieces that were placed in Churches around Europe. Some of these paintings inspired the return to the Church many Huguenots, most notably King Henry IV of France.

An example of these works are three paintings from Caravaggio on the inspiration of St. Matthew. He started painting about the Evangelist and twice he was rejected. The first painting is called "Saint Matthew and the Angel". In it we see an Angel guiding St. Matthew's hand, thus overriding free will. The second painting was also rejected. This was lost during WWII.

The third and final painting is called "The Inspiration of St. Matthew". In this we can observe the difference between the two works, where the Angel talks to our Saint without overpowering. Notice how the light comes from above, the colors of his robe. etc.

The Counterreformation in the arts helped the faithful of the late 16th and early 17th century learn passages of the Bible by admiring great works of art.

Without the help of priests and theologians, these works of art, patrimony of humanity would have never been created. Their work would have reflected "their" vision.

You see, people of the 16th century, just like today, were sacramentalized, but they were poorly catechized. Not unlike nowadays. With the great works of art of this era, they were visually evangelized.

Nowadays we have good Fine Arts painters that specialize in Sacred Images like Neilson Carlin, or Krystin Brown. I have seen a number of interesting works of art depicting mostly portraits of Saints.

Let us pray for these well meaning artists to find well educated and saintly priests to guide them in their work, so many people can be visually evangelized, engaged, and fall in love with Jesus and His Church like many have throughout the centuries thanks to these beautiful pieces of Artis Divina.

God bless y'all!