Joseph Sarto was the son of a simple and humble postman of Riese near Venice, Italy. After his sacerdotal ordination in 1858, the new priest laboured for twenty-six years as a pastor before he was appointed Bishop of Mantua and later Cardinal of Venice. In 1903, Cardinal Sarto succeeded Pope Leo XIII as the two hundred and fifty-sixth successor of St. Peter and assumed the name Pius X with the motto: “To restore all things in Christ” (Restaurare omnia in Christo). He began by restoring the Gregorian chant in Ecclesiastical music, which had been sidelined for quite some time. The next step of the new Pope was to encourage frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist saying: “Holy Communion is the shortest and surest way to heaven.” He extended this facility to children who had reached the “age of discretion” when they could distinguish the Body of Christ from the normal bread. As a corollary, Pius X encouraged frequent confession in preparation for the worthy reception of the Eucharist.
A major reform of Pius X was to strike at the rights of certain monarchs/governments to interfere with the Papal elections in the form of a veto. His own election was marred by such a practice. He faced courageously the anti-Christian movements of the French Government, which threatened to confiscate the property of the Church. The Pope struggled hard to maintain the orthodox doctrine and condemned Modernism and Relativism, which attempted to assimilate the thoughts of modern philosophers like Emmanuel Kant into Christian Theology. Already burdened with a severe heart attack, the holy Pontiff’s end came in 1914 when he could not prevent World War I, which devastated most of the nations. He was canonized in 1954. A remarkable trait of the Sarto family is its sense of humour. “Look how they have dressed me up! They lead me around with soldiers like Jesus,” complained the embarassed Pope. His mother, too, had a meaningful comment. After kissing the papal ring, she extended her hand with the wedding ring and muttered smilingly: “Now you kiss my ring – for without it, you never would have received yours.”
Reflection: Even though Pius X was surrounded by pomp and show at the Vatican palace, he constantly reminded himself of his humble origin, saying: “I was born poor, I live poor and I will die poor.”
This is the last affliction the Lord will visit on me. I would gladly give my life to save my poor children from thisghastly scourge. (St.Pius X, with reference to the outbreak of World War I.)
