St. Pius X was born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto on June 2, 1835, in a small town called Riese in Italy, near Venice. He went to the local parish school, where his intelligence and good behavior caught the attention of the priest. The priest then helped him get a scholarship to a high school in Castelfranco, which was about two miles away from Riese.
In November 1850, young Sarto went to Padua. He really liked the seminary's way of life and learning. Even back then, he showed the same smarts and qualities that would later make him a great bishop and Pope.
After becoming a priest in 1858, he worked as a parish priest in a part of Italy called Venetia. Pope Leo XIII later made him a bishop in Mantua in 1884. Then, in 1893, he became a cardinal and the patriarch of the church in Venice. On August 4, 1903, he was chosen as the Pope.
As Pope, Pius X took as his motto, "To restore all things in Christ" (Ephesians 1:10). Remaining as he was when he was a parish priest and bishop, he was humble, showed concern for the poor, and loved teaching children. He introduced a universal catechism, reformed the curia, revised the Breviary, renewed seminary formation and the Code of Canon Law, revitalized the liturgy, encouraged Gregorian Chant, and emphasized the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas. At heart, he was a pastor who accepted all things in Christ with humility and surrender.
Most notably, his love for children and his long history of catechizing them led him to lower the age for First Holy Communion from twelve to seven, encouraging frequent reception of the Eucharist for them and all people. Deeply devoted to the Mother Mary, he often spoke of her and honored her. He was highly intelligent and firmly opposed modernism within the Catholic Church, viewing it as a synthesis of all heresies where doctrines were presented in a scattered and disjointed manner, thus creating doubts. In response, he preached that the Catholic faith was very reasonable, systematic, and clear. He passed away in 1914 from natural causes, reportedly exacerbated by concerns about the outbreak of World War I.
Pope St Pius X, you were filled with heavenly wisdom and apostolic fortitude to safeguard the Catholic faith and to restore all things in Christ; obtain for us the grace to follow your teaching and example in serving Christ and His Church.
Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Most High Servant,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love
(Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)
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