Saint Pius X

Pope Pius X, born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto on June 2, 1835, in Riese, a small village in the Diocese of Treviso, Italy, was head of the Catholic Church from August 4, 1903, until his death on August 20, 1914. Devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Confidence, he is known for his firm demeanour and sense of personal poverty, exemplified by his membership in the Third Order of Saint Francis. His papal encyclical Ad diem illum emphasized a renewal that was reflected in the motto of his pontificate. Pius X advanced the Liturgical Movement by formulating the principle of participatio actuosa (active participation of the faithful) and encouraged frequent reception of Holy Communion, lowering the age for First Communion to seven years old.

He also promoted Thomism as the principal philosophical method to be taught in Catholic institutions and opposed various 19th-century philosophies he viewed as incompatible with Catholic dogma, especially modernism. Known for his firm demeanour, Pius X regularly gave sermons from the pulpit, a rare practice at the time. After the 1908 Messina earthquake, he filled the Apostolic Palace with refugees, long before the Italian government acted. He rejected any kind of favours for his family and undertook a reform of the Roman Curia with the Apostolic Constitution Sapienti consilio in 1908. His death was not marked by martyrdom but rather by devotion to piety and holiness, leading to a strong cult of devotion after his death. He was beatified in 1951 and canonized in 1954 by Pope Pius XII.