| St. Pius X,
Our Patron Saint
Giuseppe Melchore Sarto was born of humble parents on June 2, 1835,
in the small village of Riese near Venice. His father, a village
official, and his mother raised Giuseppe in a loving Christian home. It
was this home situation which prompted Giuseppe, after his college days
in Castelfranco, to enter the seminary in Padua. Giuseppe Sarto was
ordained at the age of 23 on September 18, 1858. His first assignment
was as curate in the city of Trombolo. After nine years he was
transferred to Salzano as pastor, a position he held for eight years.
Due to his pastoral and administrative abilities, his bishop named him
spiritual director of the diocesan major seminary and chancellor of the
archdiocese, a position he held from November, 1875, until his elevation
to the episcopacy of Mantua in 1884. After nine years as bishop he was
transferred to Venice as the city's patriarch and cardinal. Giuseppe
Cardinal Sarto won the hearts of the Venetians through his humble spirit
of poverty and his love for the Church, especially in the areas of
education, Catholic action and liturgy.
After the death of Leo XIII the conclave of 1903 elected Cardinal
Sarto pope despite his own hesitancy to accept the office of Vicar of
Christ. The new pope assumed the name Pius X. As Supreme Pontiff, Pius
took as his motto the passage from Paul, "To restore all things in
Christ, that Christ might be all and in all" (I Cor. 15:28), a goal
which was particularly important during that period of the Church's
emergence into the modern world.
During his eleven-year pontificate, Pius would confront challenge and
inspire many crucial issues facing the Church. Pius X has often been
called the "Pope of the Eucharist." His profound devotion to
the Blessed Sacrament prompted a universal appeal to all Catholics to a
frequent and fervent reception of Holy Communion. He also exhorted
catechists to prepare the young for an early, knowledgeable reception of
the Eucharist. It was the Holy Father's wish to use the unifying power
of the Sacrament of the Altar to indeed "restore all things in
Christ."
It was also his love for the liturgy which caused him to be
remembered as the pope who began modern liturgical reform. Pius called
for a revision of the liturgy and the Church's prayer life. He founded
the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music dedicated to keeping alive the
valuable treasures of Catholic liturgical music.
Pius was also instrumental in urging sound philosophical and Biblical
scholarship warning against the errors of certain philosophical systems
of the day and promoting the venerable tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas
and Scholasticism. This devotion led him to found the Pontifical
Biblical Institute in Rome which, to this day, is an important source of
scholarship.
Pius was to witness the terrible beginnings of World War I. His
sorrow over the international conflict added to his ill health, and
sheer exhaustion led to his death on August 20, 1914, at the age of 79.
He was canonized St. Pius X on May 31, 1954. The universal Church
celebrates his holy life and example on August 21. He was the first pope
in modern times to be canonized. More
about Pope Saint Pius X.
Link to
other St. Pius Homepage
|
