The Church celebrates the memory of St Pius X, model Pontiff and model of the Catholic man, raised to the honours of the altar forty years after his departure for eternity.
Newsroom (22/08/2022 2:30 PM, Gaudium Press) Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, the second of ten children, was born on June 2nd, 1835, into a very humble family. His father, Giovanni Battista Sarto, was a postman in the town of Riese, Italy, and his mother, Margherita Sanson, was a seamstress.
From his childhood, he felt within himself the call to the priesthood. In order to guide him towards the fulfilment of this vocation, his parents were willing to provide him with the necessary studies, even though they faced serious financial difficulties.
The boy, aware of his parents’ sacrifice, tried to relieve them of this burden in every way. For example, to go to school, he had to walk seven kilometres. In order not to wear out his shoes, he would take them off and tie them over his shoulders, only putting them back on when he approached his destination. And this at the age of eleven!
The Beginning of the Priestly Ministry
After completing his seminary studies, Sarto was ordained a priest in 1858, and sent to Tombolo as curate. During his time there, During the day he ministered and in the evenings he prepared catechesis and se Fr. Sarto’s guiding principle was the salvation of souls, without counting the cost. His days were dedicated to the duties of his ministry, and in the evenings he prepared catechesis and sermons, as well as deepening his studies, especially reading the works of St Thomas Aquinas.
It was not long before Fr. Sarto’s sermons began to shine for their eloquence, logic and piety, and above all for their ability to move hearts. Nine years later, Fr. Sarto was assigned his first parish, in Salzano.
With the experience of his previous assignment, he drew up a work plan which he would carry out to the letter: visit all the faithful, preach the Word of God, be tireless in the confessional, comfort the sick and be available to assist the dying. All this without neglecting catechism, attracting attention by the liveliness, good humour and joy with which he taught the classes.
In 1873 a horrible cholera epidemic broke out in that part of Italy, claiming many lives. Without fear of contagion, Fr Sarto redoubled his care for those whom Providence had entrusted to him. The parish church, instead of closing its doors to the faithful, went out to meet them in the person of its parish priest, who visited the sick to comfort them.
Supernatural and natural dynamism
After another nine years, God once again called him ad maiora. In 1876 Fr. Sarto received a letter from Bishop Zinelli of Treviso: “I have decided to give you three posts at once: canon, secretary of the diocesan curia and spiritual director of the seminary.”
In Treviso, the Saint put his first efforts into the seminary. One of the two hundred young men formed there testified regarding Canon Sarto: “One had the impression that the Lord was speaking through him, because his words always responded to our needs and dispelled all fears.”
In fact, he transmitted to the young men the strong sense of confidence in Providence that sustained his own interior life; an ample practical sense, capable of grasping and governing the concrete situation; and a congenial and communicative joy that chased away bitterness from the soul, making it agile and flexible for every undertaking.
Moreover, as a true Saint, he could not lack a deep devotion to Mary, the Mediatrix and Co-redemptrix of humanity. His piety moved him to organize a group of seminarians to carry out the liturgical functions on the feasts in honour of the Blessed Virgin in the cathedral.
In addition to his tireless dedication to those two hundred young men, he continued his catechism classes for children, his sermons in the diocesan churches and his work in the curia – such was his natural and supernatural dynamism!
In the Diocese of Mantua
Another nine years passed before this now mature priest was raised to the episcopal rank: Msgr Sarto took office as the new Bishop of Mantua. The situation in the city was not the best, as the Saint himself recounted in a letter: “Imagine that, in a parish of thirty thousand souls, forty women attended the Bishop’s Mass, of whom eight received Holy Communion? However, in no way did he allow himself to be discouraged by this situation.
Aware of the good results obtained in Treviso, his first assignment in Mantua was in the seminary. Bishop Sarto needed clergy, but he was not looking for numbers, but for ministers according to Our Lord’s heart. He was adamant when a seminarian did not show signs of vocation, inviting him to abandon the priestly career. He did so with pain, but full of determination, because life had taught him that priests formed under the stimulus of human calculations and earthly interests became a punishment from God.
Another of his great concerns was the clergy of the diocese, whom he met regularly to discuss pastoral matters, teaching them, above all, by example. Once, to a priest who delayed the beginning of the confessions in order to rest longer, Msgr. Sarto prepared a surprise: when the priest entered the church, he saw someone attending to penitents in his place. When he lifted the curtain of the confessional, he found the Bishop, who looked at him with a slight smile!
In 1893 he wrote: “Gregorian chant is to be recommended, especially the way of singing it and making it popular. Oh, if it were possible to get all the faithful to sing the fixed parts of the Mass – the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus, the Agnus Dei – as the Lauretanian Litanies and the Tantum ergo sing! For me, that would be the most beautiful achievement of sacred music, because in this way all the faithful, truly taking part in the Sacred Liturgy, would preserve their piety and devotion.
Patriarchate of Venice
When Sarto had completed thirty-five years of pastoral ministry, nine of them as Bishop of Mantua, Leo XIII created him a Cardinal and appointed him to the Patriarchate of Venice.
The Venetian government, clearly anticlerical, was at first hostile to the new pastor. The new pastor, however, with his long experience and his talent for guiding souls, soon came to be loved and respected by the city of the Doges, including its leaders.
In 1903, when Leo XIII had died, the princes of the Church from all over the world went to Rome to elect the new Successor of Peter. It is said that the Patriarch of Venice was the only Cardinal to buy a return ticket, so far from his thoughts was the idea of becoming Pope.
Pastor of the whole world!
The conclave began and, after some ballots not exempt from controversy, the direction of the votes began to indicate that Cardinal Sarto would be the successor of Leo XIII. Realizing the situation and considering the enormous responsibility of the post, he tried to dissuade the Sacred College, arguing, with tears in his eyes, that he was not worthy. But the Holy Spirit’s choice was made.
The then Bishop Merry del Val, secretary of the conclave and future Secretary of State, was commissioned by the Cardinal Dean to obtain a definitive answer from the Cardinal. After a long search he found him kneeling before the altar of the Mother of Good Counsel in the Pauline Chapel, his face bathed in tears. Bishop Merry del Val only had the strength to tell him: “Courage, Eminence!”
After all, on 4 August 1903 Cardinal Sarto accepted his election as Supreme Pontiff, adopting the name of Pius X. Now his flock would no longer be Tombolo, Salzano, Treviso, Mantua or glorious Venice, but the whole world.
Renew all things in Christ
“This is my policy!” declared St Pius X, pointing to a crucifix when asked about his political orientation. And this statement ratified the plan of his pontificate: “To renew all things in Christ”.
St Pius X was above all a great reformer. With over forty-five years of pastoral experience, he did as Pontiff what he had always done, only on a world scale. Thus he gave profound attention to the catechism, promoting a new edition; he reformed the Liturgy, facilitating frequent Communion for the faithful and making it available for children – which earned him the title Pope of the Eucharist -, redoubled care for liturgical chant, especially Gregorian chant; he initiated the drafting of a new Code of Canon Law; he reorganized the Roman curia and dicasteries.
His struggle against modernism was also notable. His resistance to this heresy and the promulgation of the Encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis – which contained passages written in his own hand – reveal another facet of his rich personality: to protect the sheep, the figure of the shepherd is joined by that of the champion of God, who shines in defence of truth and condemnation of error.
It fell to St Pius X to gather, analyze, outline and anathematize the modernist errors which, like a hidden seed, were infiltrating the flock of Christ. He had been carrying out this work in great detail for a long time. While still in Mantua and Venice he studied and analyzed the modernist books, never missing an opportunity to denounce their deviations.
“I am entirely resigned”
After so many battles, conquests and victories, the time had come for Saint Pius X to unite his voice to that of the Apostle when he asked God for the reward for having carried out the good fight of the Faith.
After the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady in 1914, the Pontiff felt slightly unwell and his state of health suddenly worsened on the evening of 18 August. His shield bearer, friend and spiritual son, Cardinal Merry del Val, came to his room the next morning and recounts that the last words heard from his lips were: “Your Eminence… Your Eminence! I am entirely resigned”.
Like an immolated lamb that does not open its mouth, after this the Holy Pontiff lost the faculty of speech, although he remained completely lucid. From then on he confined himself to staring deeply at those around him. That night, he entrusted his soul to God. The clock struck one fifteen minutes past one in the morning of August 20th, 1914.
It was the sunset of a brilliant pontificate. St Pius X was leaving this earth to shine for all eternity in Heaven and to intercede for the Militant Church, which he had defended so much during his life, for which he had fought and suffered! History reveres him as a great Pope and the Mystical Spouse of Christ praises him as a great Saint.
By Alison Batista de Oliveira
Text taken, with adaptations, from the magazine Heralds of the Gospel n. 236, August 2021.