Memorial of Blessed Andrea Carlo Ferrari

Eucharistic celebrations at 7am – 8am – 11am – 5.30pm
The 8.30am celebration in the Crypt is suspended

– 5.30pm Chapter Eucharist

It is possible to follow the 8am and 5.30pm celebrations in streaming on this Site (www.duomomilano.it) from the YouTube Channel Duomo Milano TV.

Andrea Ferrari was born in 1850 in Lalatta di Palanzano (Parma) in a very modest family environment. Ordained priest in 1873, he became Rector of the diocesan seminary of Parma at the age of 27. Elected Bishop of Guastalla (1890) and Como (1891), in 1894 he became Cardinal and Archbishop of Milan. He then took the name Carlo next to his baptismal name in honour of Saint Charles Borromeo.

An exceptional pastor, he constantly sought an encounter with his people, especially through the Pastoral Visit. He gave new vigour to religious instruction and parish oratories and established numerous colleges for the education of youth. Increasingly open to the demands of his time, he reconciled and strengthened the Catholic Press and encouraged the worshippers to establish themselves as a social and political force, to animate society with Gospel values. He convened three diocesan synods and a provincial council; he promoted the National Eucharistic Congress, the Sacred Music Congress and the Catechetical Congress. He oversaw the establishment of the Catholic University and the foundation of the Work of Social Assistance that took his name.
With inexhaustible charity during the First World War, he worked to alleviate the suffering of soldiers and their families. The social unrest of 1898, the anti-modernist struggle, and the participation of Catholics in public life were for the Cardinal a source of grave misunderstandings and much suffering, but they highlighted his rectitude and magnanimity of heart. Suffering from an incurable disease that deprived him of his voice, he died on 2 February 1921. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 10 May 1987.