Our Patron & Cardinal Borromeo: Tridentine Saints & Rivals

To commemorate today being the Octave Day of St. Charles Borromeo, we present here the text and images of a post made by Fratellino on the Feast of St. Charles (November 4) reflecting on the saintly rivalry between the heroic Cardinal-Archbishop of Milan and the founder of the Oratory, our patron, St. Philip Neri.

Painting formerly located in Old Town, San Diego

From Fratellino:

On the feast of St. Charles Borromeo, a reminder that even two great saints can have a tiff! This little painting depicts an internecine spat between St. Charles Borromeo, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, and St. Philip Neri, founder of the Congregation of the Oratory at Rome. St. Charles, a zealous promoter of the reforms of the Council of Trent, and of movements arising from it, wished St. Philip to found a house of Oratorians in Milan. St. Philip, however, not only did not seek to found an "order" with multiple foundations, but moreover was equally zealous of the Roman character of his foundation, and feared that Charles would subject it to the Ambrosian Rite, and alter its identity. Charles agreed not to interfere with the character of the foundation, and eventually Philip did send three fathers to Milan, and two more followed, but Charles did exactly as Philip feared, and imposed the local Ambrosian rite upon the fathers, upon which Philip, somewhat scandalously, withdrew them from Milan, much to the consternation and embarrassment of the very powerful and determined Cardinal Archbishop, whereupon some direct, albeit... shall we say... politely phrased words passed between them! Eventually their saintly good natures prevailed and all was smoothed over. Charles went on to found the Oblates of St. Ambrose, later the Oblates of Ss. Ambrose and Charles, and Philip's institute was founded in different cities rather against his wishes, although he begrudgingly gave consent, to the great benefit of the church and faithful.

The painting posted by Fr. Palud, painted c. 1610

But here is the point about this picture, as compared to one published by Fr. Michel Palud, Cong. Orat. today, showing the two saints together, as they frequently are. In Fr. Palud's picture, Charles is depicted with a clear halo, and Philip with none. Charles died first, in 1584, followed by Philip in 1595. Charles was canonized first in 1610, and assuming that the painting is of the period immediately following Charles' canonization, this would make sense to give him his halo, and show Philip without one. In the painting I discovered, regardless of when it was painted, Philip is depicted with the clear halo of enhanced sanctity, while the unmistakable Cardinal Archbishop, he of the balding pate and decidedly aquiline proboscis, is reduced to a nimbus glow! Whoever painted this little work knew something about the dispute over the Milanese Oratory. Holy but willful Charles takes Philip's hand and indicates with his other "Come with me!" Saintly Philip demurs and raises his left hand in a polite refusal, saying "No thank you!" Given the differences in the halos, and it is tantalizing to think that this was painted even before Philip's canonization, the artist was in effect saying, "Philip... was right!"

A cotta griccia from J.P. Sonnen's blog

I'm glad I photographed that little picture when I did, as it was part of a historical display which has since been taken down, and the picture has disappeared back into the possession of the local chapter of the Colonial Dames, who have never responded to any request of mine to view the picture more closely. Of interest also is the detail of St. Charles' rochet, which is clearly griccia'd, an antiquated way of hard-starching many small accordioned folds into a linen gown, effectively producing heat-pockets which would insulate and retain warmth in cold, marble churches of the period.

Courtyard wall of the Casa de Estudillo, Old Town S.D. (11/7/2022)

I would also note that, given the little (5"x7" including frame) painting's presence here in Southern California, it might make sense to suppose that it came from the collection of one of the Mexican Oratories suppressed during the Calles persecution... very possibly not directly, but perhaps through one or several auctions. It's a specialized bit of pictorial information, though, so it's difficult to imagine it not at one time having been a devotional in an Oratorian community. I believe it may have been done on copper, as the frame was metallic and some slight corrosion is evident in the center of the corner buttons. I'm just glad I was able to get this photograph of it, as I will likely never see it again! Ironically, that display was hanging there for decades, and I had no idea what I was looking at whenever I went through the Casa de Estudillo. And even after becoming a Brother of the Little Oratory in 2002, it took me until about 2015 to actually clock its Oratorian significance. You can imagine my surprise when the scales fell from my eyes! St. Philip had been there all along!

St. Charles Borromeo AND St. Philip Neri, intercede for us!