Today is the feast of St. Pope Pius X. He is buried, along with many other popes, in St. Peter's in Rome. Here is the impressive list:



Today's saint reigned as pope from 1903-1914. He was described by a French statesman in a press report this way:

"The Holy Father possesses an irresistible gentleness and kindness of manner, with a mind, powerful, clear, and piercing. An attentive listener, he has the capacity to grasp the essentials of a conversation quickly and easily, and gives his answers in a few terse words that reveal the qualities of a good statesman. He possesses the calm courage that is not moved to act intemperately, yet inflexible when a decision is made. He is a man to face great difficulties magnanimously, with the heroic qualities of a saint."

This quote was excerpted from Pope St. Pius X: The Saint of Our Times by Rev. Marius McAuliffe, OFM. What a gift it would have been to have known him! His secretary, Cardinal Merry del Val, wrote a beautiful little book called Memories of Pope Pius X (available on Amazon). He gives his personal experiences, like when he entered the private room of the new Pope on the day of his election and first blessing. He apologized to His Holiness for disturbing him when he must be tired, and instead the holy man turned it around and commented on how tired the secretary must be, since he had noticed his intense activity the last few days. His personal account of the final illness and death of his saintly friend brings tears to the eyes. Here is Cardinal Merry del Val's monument in the sacristy of St. Peter's:



Pope St. Pius X led the fight against Modernism, issuing a great encyclical on the subject. It is available to read here: Pascendi: On the Doctrine of the Modernists. In this document in 1907, the Holy Father warned of liberal priests and bishops who were already trying to change Catholic doctrine into one of putting man's rights above God's rights. He wrote:

"That We should act without delay in this matter is made imperative especially by the fact that the partisans of error are to be sought not only among the Church's open enemies; but, what is to be most dreaded and deplored, in her very bosom, and are the more mischievous the less they keep in the open. We allude, Venerable Brethren, to many who belong to the Catholic laity, and, what is much more sad, to the ranks of the priesthood itself, who, animated by a false zeal for the Church, lacking the solid safeguards of philosophy and theology, nay more, thoroughly imbued with the poisonous doctrines taught by the enemies of the Church, and lost to all sense of modesty, put themselves forward as reformers of the Church; and, forming more boldly into line of attack, assail all that is most sacred in the work of Christ, not sparing even the Person of the Divine Redeemer, whom, with sacrilegious audacity, they degrade to the condition of a simple and ordinary man."

How saddened Pope St. Pius X would be by the state of the Church today! "St. Pope Pius X, pray for us," I whispered at his tomb. Here is a picture:

He was canonized 40 years after his death, in 1954. "Following the canonization," writes Fr. McAuliffe in the above-mentioned book, "his body was borne in triumph amid the pealing of the church bells through the streets of Rome to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for a week of special celebration." St. Mary Major's, the biggest and most important church in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the world, is shown here:

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And finally, these words of encouragement that you have probably read before, but are a great comfort to those of us in the married state of life...

After the future pope was consecrated Bishop of Mantua in 1884, he went home to visit his mother Margherita, who called him by the affectionate nickname "Beppo". Fr. McAuliffe writes, "They greeted each other with the old childlike simplicity. Showing her his beautiful amethyst episcopal ring, he said: 'Look at the beautiful ring they have given me.' The dear old lady, in spite of her exultant joy and motherly pride, showing him her plain gold wedding ring, very gently replied: 'Yes, Beppo, it is very beautiful, but were it not for my plain gold ring, you could not have your beautiful one.' Unwittingly, she had paid tribute to the sacredness of fidelity in Christian marriage; and Beppo was theologian enough to understand the depth and significance of her simple statement."