Humble, and as strong as he was gentle, Pope St. Pius X is known as the POPE OF THE EUCHARIST. And why not also say, the “Pope of the 24 Hours of Passion”…
Baptized with the name Giuseppe Melchior Sarto, Saint Pius X was born on June 2, 1835, in a village in the Riese region, belonging to the diocese of Treviso, in northern Italy. From a humble family, Giuseppe Melchior Sarto demonstrated a brilliant intelligence from an early age, which is why his parents decided to make a huge effort to ensure the boy’s education. As a child, Giuseppe declared his desire to be a Priest, and just as he was preparing to enter the Seminary, his father passed away. Therefore, Giuseppe wanted to leave his studies to help at home; however, his mother, full of faith and courage, refused.
Giuseppe Melchior Sarto was ordained a Priest in 1858, at the age of twenty-three. Because of his intelligence, prayer life, humility, and charisma, he experienced a rapid rise in the Church: from Deputy Vicar in a small village to his election as Pope in 1903.
Having chosen as his motto “RESTORE ALL THINGS IN CHRIST”, in just a few years of his Pontificate, Pius X ensured excellent, practical, and lasting results regarding Catholic Doctrine and discipline, in the face of the great difficulties faced at the time, including Modernism.
In Pontifical documents, the Holy Father drafted and approved Decrees on the Sacrament of the Eucharist, in which he recommended daily Communion and permitted Communion for children as young as seven years old, provided they were properly prepared. For this reason, he came to be called the “Pope of the Eucharist.”
Pius X was always modest, even when Miracles were performed through him. This was the case during a public audience, when a participant showed him his paralyzed arm and asked him to heal it. The Pope approached, smiling, touched his arm, and said, “Yes, yes.” And the man was healed.
Kind and gentle, Pius X was also witty. When someone called him “Holy Father,” he would correct them with a smile: “It’s not called Saint, but Sarto,” referring to his family name.
With paternal solicitude, Pope Saint Pius X never missed the opportunities the Lord Granted him to demonstrate his affection, charity, and generosity to those in need.
Another Saint, still a Priest at the time, could well have said this: St. Annibale Maria Di Francia, when in 1910, after the earthquake that devastated the city of Messina, Italy, where St. Annibale maintained his works, Saint Pius X allocated personal funds for the reconstruction of what had been lost. Pius X esteemed and admired Father Annibale for his dedication and care for orphans. It was certainly this admiration that also led the Holy Father to receive Fr. Annibale several times in private audiences.
In one of the audiences, in 1914, during the last year of Pius X as successor of Peter, Fr. Annibale brought to the Holy Father the book “The 24 Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ”, written by Luisa Piccarreta (1865-1947) – revelations of Jesus to this Servant of God.
Several witnesses reported that one day, Father Annibale, the Ecclesiastical Censor of Luisa’s writings, came to her house more delighted than ever and said that he had brought the mentioned book to the Pope. Father Annibale reported that while reading one of the Hours of the Passion (the Crucifixion) to the Holy Father, he was interrupted by the Pope who said: “Not like that, Father. This book should be read kneeling; it is Jesus Who Speaks.”
In a Providential Act of the Supreme Will, Pope Pius X’s encouraging words led Father Annibale to personally publish the first four editions of “The 24 Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ” (1915, 1916, 1917, 1921, all with the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur).
It was also Pope Saint Pius X who, in 1907, granted the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta a privilege previously granted to her by Pope Leo XIII: Mass could be celebrated daily in her room. (Luisa Piccarreta lived 70 years sitting in bed, according to Archbishop Pichierri, nourished only by the Eucharist)
Pope Saint Pius X prophesied the First World War. He said: “This will be the last affliction that the Lord sends me. I would gladly give my life to save my poor children from this terrible calamity.”
To a Brazilian diplomatic representative to the Holy See, Pius X said in May 1913: “You are happy because you can return to your home, to Brazil; you will not be a witness to the great world war.”
The war began on July 28, 1914. Days later, on August 20, Pius X suffered severe bronchitis and died, with his last words: “I resign myself completely.” He left written in his will: “I was born poor, I lived in poverty, and I want to die poor.”
Pope Saint Pius X was canonized in 1954 by Pope Pius XII. His Pontificate lasted 11 years, from 1903 to 1914, and can be considered one of the most fruitful in the entire history of the Church.
Saint Pius X, pray for us!
Source: www.divinavontade.com; book “O Papa que eu conheci de perto”, Cardeal Rafael Merry Del Val)
