About
Pope St.PiusX
St. Pius X was born June2, 1835 in Venice. His parents were Giovanni Battista
Sarto and Margarita (née Sanson); the former, a postman, died in
1852, but Margarita lived to see her son a cardinal. He was ordained in
1858, and for nine years was chaplain at Tombolo, having to assume most
of the functions of parish priest, as the pastor was old and an invalid.
He sought to prefect his knowledge of theology by assiduously studying Saint
Thomas and canon law; at the same time he established a night school for
adult students, and devoted himself of the ministry of preaching in other
towns to which he was called. Became Pope in 1903.
In his first Encyclical, wishing to develop
his program to some extent, he said that the motto of his pontificate
would be "instaurare omnia in Christo"[Restore all things to
Christ] from Ephesians 1:10).
He encouraged daily Holy Communion and
that the first Communion of children should not be deferred too long after
they had reached the age of discretion. It was by his desire that the
Eucharistic Congress of 1905 was held at Rome, while he enhanced the solemnity
of subsequent Eucharistic congresses by sending to them cardinal legates.
He was a promoter of sacred music; as pope,
he published, November 22, 1903, a Motu Proprio on sacred music in churches,
and at the same time ordered the authentic Gregorian Chant to be used
everywhere, while he caused the choir books to be printed with the Vatican
font of type under the supervision of a special commission. In the Encyclical
"Acerbo nimis" (April 15, 1905) he treated of the necessity
of catechismal instruction, not only for children, but also for adults,
giving detailed rules, especially in relation to suitable schools for
the religious instruction of students of the public schools, and even
of the universities. He caused a new catechism to be published for the
Diocese of Rome.
As bishop, his chief care had been for
the formation of the clergy, and in harmony with this purpose, an Encyclical
to the Italian episcopate (July 28, 1906) enjoined the greatest caution
in the ordination of priests, calling the attention of the bishops to
the fact that there was frequently manifested among the younger clergy
a spirit of independence that was a menace to ecclesiastical discipline.
The pope has at heart above all things
the purity of the faith. On various occasions, as in the Encyclical regarding
the centenary of Saint Gregory the Great, Pius X had pointed out the dangers
of certain new theological methods, which, based upon Agnosticism and
upon Immanentism, necessarily divest the doctrine of the faith of its
teachings of objective, absolute, and immutable truth, and all the more,
when those methods are associated with subversive criticism of the Holy
Scriptures and of the origins of Christianity. Wherefore, in 1907, he
caused the publication of the Decree "Lamentabili" (called also
the Syllabus of Pius X), in which sixty-five propositions are condemned.
The greater number of these propositions concern the Holy Scriptures,
their inspiration, and the doctrine of Jesus and of the Apostles, while
others relate to dogma, the sacraments, and the primacy of the Bishop
of Rome. Soon after that, on September 8 , 1907, there appeared the famous
Encyclical "Pascendi", which expounds and condemns the system
of Modernism.
He died in 1914. He was canonized in 1954
by Pius XII.
Prayer to St.PiusX
Glorious Pope of the Eucharist, Saint Pius X, you sought "to restore
all things in Christ." Obtain for me a true love of Jesus so that
I may live only for Him. Help me to acquire a lively fervor and a sincere
will to strive for sanctity of life, and that I may avail myself of the
riches of the Holy Eucharist in sacrifice and sacrament. By your love
for Mary, mother and queen of all, inflame my heart with tender devotion
to her.
Blessed model of the priesthood, obtain
for us holy, dedicated priests, and increase vocations to the religious
life. Dispel confusion and hatred and anxiety, and incline our hearts
to peace and concord. so that all nations will place themselves under
the sweet reign of Christ.
Amen.
Saint Pius X, pray for us
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