Giuseppe
Melchiore Sarto was born at Riese in the diocese of Treviso in 1835 to
Giovanni Battista and Margherita Sanson Sarto. His childhood was one of
poverty, being the son of the village postman. Though poor, his parents
valued education, and Giuseppe walked six kilometers to school every
day.
The excellence he demonstrated in all of his studies was
only outdone by the sterling quality of his moral character, which
evinced admiring accolades from his superiors at the seminary of Padua.
Ordained at the age of twenty-three in 1858, Fr. Sarto spent nine years
as curate in Tombolo and then nine as pastor in Salzano, striving to be
“all to all” and truly living his priesthood to the fullest. In 1875, he
was named a Canon of the Cathedral of Treviso and Chancellor of the
diocese. Nine years later, he was consecrated as the Bishop of Mantua.
Raised to the Cardinalate on June 12, 1893, he was made Patriarch of
Venice three days later.
Upon the death of Pope Leo XIII in 1903,
Cardinal Rampolla del Tindaro was posed to succeed him. However,
against to the protests of the conclave, Emperor Francis Joseph of
Austria, making use of an age-old privilege of the Holy Roman Emperors,
used his power of veto against the Cardinal, and Cardinal Sarto was
elected instead. Taking the name of Pius, the new pope immediately put
an end to the rights of any civil authority to interfere with a papal
election.
The
name of Pope Pius X is associated with the battle against the errors of
Modernism attacking the Church. With the laser-like quality of a saint,
the new Pope penetrated the wiles of the new “ism” to its very essence.
The whole tendency of Modernism is anti-dogmatic, seeking to tailor
dogma to the culture of the age through ambiguity and dilution of
divinely revealed doctrine. A 1907 decree of the Holy Office condemned
certain writers and propositions. This decree was followed by the
encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis, defining the dangerous
tendencies and errors of the new heresy which Pius X defined as “the
synthesis of all heresies”. Strong disciplinary measures followed, one
of them being the requirement for all bishops, priests, and teachers to
take the “Oath against Modernism,” an oath of fidelity to the perennial
teachings and doctrines of the Catholic Church.
In this first
encyclical letter Pope Pius X announced his ideal to “renew all things
in Christ.” In the light of this ideal, he greatly promoted the Holy
Eucharist, formally recommending daily Communion when possible, and
reducing the age of first communicants from adolescence to the age of
reason. He also facilitated the reception of Holy Communion by the sick,
and urged daily reading of the Holy Scriptures.
In 1903 the Holy
Father issued an instruction on sacred music which struck at current
abuses. He was also responsible for a thorough reorganization of the
tribunals, offices and congregations of the Holy See.
The
eleventh anniversary of his election was met with the beginning of World
War I. It is said the outbreak of the war killed him: he became ill and
died in 1914. He was canonized in 1954 by his successor, Pope Pius XII.
Saturday, August 21, 2021
Pope St. Pius X
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