Feast Day of St. Pius X – August 21
Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto was born on June 2, 1835 in Riese, Italy, to Giovanni and Margherita Sarto. He was the oldest of the eight children in the Sarto family, a family of faith that had little worldly wealth. He studied at the parish school in Riese. The pastor there noticed his gifted intellect and arranged for him to receive a scholarship to attend a secondary school not far from Riese. When Giuseppe expressed his desire to study for the priesthood, his pastor and parents encouraged him and another scholarship was arranged for his seminary studies in Padua.
Father Sarto was ordained a priest in 1858, and later became the Bishop of Mantua (1884). Pope Leo XIII recognized the fruits of Bishop Sarto’s apostolic zeal, elevated him to Cardinal and appointed him Patriarch of Venice in 1893. Cardinal Sarto was elected to be the Pope in 1903, and chose the name Pius X. His Holiness took seriously his motto: “to restore all things in Christ” (Eph. 1:10). Pope Pius X battled the errors of modernism, reformed Church music, and started the codification of Canon Law. His ardent love for the Blessed Sacrament was manifested in his encouragement of the frequent reception of Holy Communion and his decree allowing children to receive their first Communion at the age of reason. Saint Pius X is frequently called the “Pope of the Eucharist.”
On August 20, 1914, Pope Pius X passed into eternal life. His tomb soon became a place of pilgrimage. Pius X was beatified on Jun 3, 1951 and canonized a Saint on May 29, 1954. His feast day is celebrated on August 21.
