"There is no truth, and there is no mercy,
and there is no knowledge of God in the land"
(Hosea 4:1).
Truly we are passing through disastrous times, when we may well make our own the lamentation of the Prophet Hosea. Yet in the midst of this tide of evil, the Virgin Most Merciful rises before our eyes like a rainbow, as the arbiter of peace between God and man. -- Pope St. Pius X
O most sweet Jesus, who came into this world to give to all souls the life of your grace, and who, to preserve and increase it in them, willed to be the daily remedy of their weakness and the food for each day, we humbly beseech you, by your heart so burning with love for us, to pour your divine Spirit upon all souls in order that those who have the misfortune to be in the state of mortal sin may, returning to you, find the life of grace that they have lost. Through this same Holy Spirit, may those who are already living by this divine life devoutly approach your divine table every day when it is possible, sot that, receiving each day in Holy Communion the antidote of their daily venial sins and each day sustaining in themselves the life of your grace and thus ever purifying themselves the more, they may finaly come to a happy life with you. Amen. -- Pope St. Pius X
Pope Pius X
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pope Saint Pius X (2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914), born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was Pope from 4 August 1903 to his death in 1914. He was canonized in 1954. He was born in the town of Riese, which would later append "Pio X" (Pius X's name in Italian) to the town's name.
DEVOTED TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Pius X was particularly devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the specific title of Our Lady of Confidence; his papal encyclical Ad Diem Illum expresses his desire through Mary to renew all things in Christ, which he had defined as his motto in his first encyclical. Pius X believed that there was no surer or more direct road than by the Virgin Mary to achieve this goal.
OPPOSED TO MORDERNISM
Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox theology. His most important reform was to publish the first Code of Canon Law, which collected the laws of the Church into one volume for the first time. He vehmently opposed modernism, which claimed that Roman Catholic dogma should be modernized and blended with nineteenth-century philosophies. He viewed modernism as an import of secular errors affecting three areas of Roman Catholic belief: theology, philosophy, and dogma.
DEFENDED THE CATHOLIC FAITH AGAINST INDIFFERNTISM AND RELATIVISM
Pius X defended the Catholic faith against popular 19th-century attitudes and views such as indifferentism and relativism which his predecessors had warned against as well. He followed the example of Leo XIII by promoting Thomas Aquinas and Thomism as the principal philosophical method to be taught in Catholic institutions.
PASTORAL EXPERIENCE AND IMPLEMENTATION AT THE PARISH LEVEL
He was also considered a pastoral pope, in the sense of encouraging personal holiness, piety and a daily lifestyle reflecting deep Christian values. He wanted to be pastoral in the sense that he was the only pope in the 20th century who gave Sunday homily sermons in the pulpit every week.
Pius X was the only pope in the 20th century with extensive pastoral experience and implementation at the parish level, in the sense that he favoured the use of the vernacular language in teaching catechesis while the encouragement for frequent communion became a lasting innovation of his papacy.
STRONG SENSE OF COMPASSION, BENEVOLENCE, AND POVERTY
Personally, Pius X combined within himself a strong sense of compassion, benevolence and poverty, but also stubbornness and a certain stiffness. He often referred to his own humble origins, taking up the causes of poor people. I was born poor, I have lived poor, and I wish to die poor.
He rejected any kind of favours for his family; his brother remained a postal clerk, his favourite nephew stayed on as village priest, and his three sisters lived together close to poverty in Rome.
Published:
September 12, 2010 - 5:54AM
