Champions of Catholic Orthodoxy
Saint Pius V, Pope and Confessor († 1572, Feast—May 5)
We have already met with the names of several Popes on the Calendar of Paschaltide. They form a brilliant constellation around our Risen Jesus,
Who, during the period between His Resurrection and Ascension, gave to St. Peter, their predecessor, the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.
Sts. Anicetus, Soter, Caius, Cletus and Marcellinus, held in their hands the palm of Martyrdom: St. Leo was the only one who did not shed
his blood in the cause of his Divine Master. Today there comes before us a holy Pope who governed the Church in latter times;
he is worthy to stand amidst the Easter group of Pontiffs. Like St. Leo, St. Pius V was zealous in combating heresy;
like St. Leo, he saved his people from the barbarian yoke.
The whole life of St. Pius V was a combat. His pontificate fell during those troubled times when Protestantism
was leading whole countries into apostasy. Italy was not a prey that could be taken by violence: artifice was therefore used,
in order to undermine the Apostolic See and thus envelop the whole Christian world in the darkness of heresy.
St. Pius defended the Peninsula with untiring devotedness from the danger that threatened her.
Even before he was raised to the Papal Throne, he frequently exposed his life by his zeal in opposing the preaching of false doctrines.
Like St. Peter the Martyr, he braved every danger and was the dread of the emissaries of heresy. When seated on the Chair of Peter,
he kept the innovators in check by fear, roused the sovereigns of Italy to energy and by measures of moderate severity drove back
beyond the Alps the torrent that would have swept Christianity from Europe had not the Southern States thus opposed it.
We repeat it: the heresy of Protestantism would have laid all Europe waste, had it not been for the vigilance of the Pastor
who animated the defenders of truth to resist it where it already existed, and who set himself as a wall of brass against its
invasion in the country where he himself was the master.
Another enemy, taking advantage of the confusion caused in the West by Protestantism, organized an expedition against Europe.
Italy was to be its first prey. The Ottoman fleet started from the Bosporus. This again would have meant the ruin of Christendom but for
the energy of the Roman Pontiff, our Saint. He gave the alarm, and called the Christian Princes to arms. Germany and France,
torn by domestic factions that had been caused by heresy, turned a deaf ear to the call. Spain alone, together with Venice and
the little Papal fleet, answered the summons of the Pontiff. The Cross and Crescent were soon face to face in the Gulf of Lepanto.
The prayers of St. Pius V decided the victory in favor of the Christians, whose forces were much inferior to those of the Turks.
We have written of this event along with the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary in October. But we cannot omit to mention today the
prediction uttered by the holy Pope, on the evening of the great day of October 7, 1571. The battle between the Christian and
Turkish fleets lasted from six o’clock in the morning till late in the afternoon. Towards evening, the Pontiff suddenly looked
up towards Heaven, and gazed upon it in silence for a few seconds. Then turning to his attendants, he exclaimed: "Let us give thanks to God!
The Christians have gained the victory!" The news soon arrived at Rome; and thus, Europe once more owed her salvation to a Pope!
The defeat at Lepanto was a blow from which the Ottoman Empire never recovered; its fall dates from that glorious day.
The zeal of this holy Pope for the reformation of Christian morals, his establishment of the observance of the
laws of discipline prescribed by the Council of Trent and his publication of the new Breviary and Missal have made his six years'
pontificate to be one of the richest periods of the Church’s history. Protestants themselves have frequently expressed their
admiration of this vigorous opponent of the so-called Reformation. "I am surprised," said Francis Bacon,
"that the Church of Rome has not yet canonized this great man." St. Pius V did not receive this honor till
about 130 years after his death; so impartial is the Church, when She has to adjudicate this highest of earthly
honors even to Her most revered Pastors!
Of the many miracles which attested the merits of this holy Pontiff, even during his life, we select the two following:
As he was one day crossing the Vatican piazza, which is on the site of the ancient Circus of Nero, he was overcome with a sentiment of
enthusiasm for the glory and courage of the martyrs who had suffered on that very spot in the first persecution.
Stooping down, he took up a handful of dust from the hallowed ground which had been trodden by so many generations
of the Christian people since the peace of Constantine. He put the dust into a cloth which the Ambassador of Poland,
who was with him, held out to receive it. When the Ambassador opened the cloth, after returning to his house,
he found it all saturated with blood, as fresh as though it had been that moment shed: the dust had disappeared.
The faith of the Pontiff had evoked the blood of the martyrs, which thus gave testimony against the heretics that
the Roman Church, in the 16th century, was identically the same as that for which those brave heroes and heroines
laid down their lives in the days of Nero.
The heretics attempted more than once to destroy a life which baffled all their hopes of perverting the Faith of Italy.
By a base and sacrilegious stratagem, aided by treachery, they put a deadly poison on the feet of the crucifix which the Saint kept
in his oratory, and which he was frequently seen to kiss with great devotion. In the fervor of prayer, Pius was about to give this
mark of love to the image of his beloved crucified Master, when suddenly the feet of the crucifix detached themselves from the Cross
and eluded the proffered kiss of the venerable old man. The Pontiff at once saw through the plot whereby his enemies would fain have
turned the life-giving Tree into an instrument of death.
In order to encourage the faithful to follow the Sacred Liturgy, we will select another interesting example from the
life of this great Saint. When, lying on his bed of death, and just before breathing his last, he took a parting look at the Church
on earth, which he was leaving for Heaven, he wished to make a final prayer for the flock which he knew was surrounded by danger;
he therefore recited, but with a voice that was scarcely audible, the following stanza of the Paschal hymn: "We beseech Thee,
O Creator of all things, that in these days of Paschal joy, Thou defend Thy people from every assault of death!"
The eulogy of this saintly Pope, as given in the Divine Office:
Pius was born at Bosco, a town of Lombardy, though his parents were the Ghisleri, a noble family at Bologna.
He entered the Order of the Friars Preachers when he was fourteen years of age. He was remarkable for his patience, deep humility,
great mortifications, love of prayer and religious discipline, and most ardent zeal for God’s honor.
He applied himself to the study of Philosophy and Theology, and with so much success that for many years he taught
them in a manner that gained him universal praise. He preached the word of God in many places and produced much fruit.
For a long period he held with dauntless courage the office of Inquisitor; and at the risk of his life preserved many cities
from the then prevalent heresy.
Pope Paul IV, who esteemed and loved him on account of his great virtues, made him Bishop of Nepi and Sutri,
and two years later numbered him among the Cardinal Priests of the Roman Church. He was translated to the Church of Mondovi
in Piedmont by Pope Pius IV, and finding that many abuses had crept in, made a visitation of the whole diocese.
Having put all things in order, he returned to Rome, where he was entrusted with matters of the gravest importance;
all of which he transacted with apostolic impartiality and firmness. At the death of Pope Pius IV, he was,
contrary to everyone’s expectation, chosen Pope. With the exception of his outward garb, he changed nothing of his manner of life.
He showed great virtue in his unremitting zeal for the propagation of the Faith, untiring efforts for the restoration of
ecclesiastical discipline, assiduous vigilance in extirpating error, unfailing charity in relieving the necessities of the poor,
and invincible courage in vindicating the rights of the Apostolic See.
A powerful fleet having been equipped at Lepanto against Selim, the sultan of the Turks,
who was flushed with the many victories he had gained, the Pontiff won the battle, not so much by arms as by prayers.
By divine revelation he knew of the victory the moment it was won, and announced it to his household.
Whilst engaged in preparing a new expedition against the Turks, he fell dangerously ill. He suffered the most
excruciating pains with exceeding great patience. When his last hour approached, he received the Sacraments,
according to the Christian practice, and most calmly breathed forth his soul into God’s hands in the year 1572,
and in the sixty-eighth year of his age, after a pontificate of six years, three months, and twenty-four days.
His body is honored by the devout veneration of the faithful; it lies in the Church of Saint Mary Major.
Through his intercession, many miracles have been wrought by God; which being authentically proved, he was canonized by Pope Clement XI.
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