Newsletter #84 – Our Lady of Mount Carmel USA

On August 20, 1914, Pope Saint Pius X, Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, breathed his last, less than three weeks after the outbreak of what became known as World War I. It broke the Pope’s heart to see the nations of formerly Catholic Europe going to war with each other for no good reason other than state militarism and nationalism. His original tombstone bore the inscription: “Pope Pius X, poor and yet rich, gentle and humble of heart, unconquerable champion of the Catholic Faith, whose constant endeavor it was to renew all things in Christ”.

HIS PAPAL ELECTION

Pope Leo XIII died 20 July 1903, and at the end of that month the conclave convened to elect his successor. Before the conclave, Cardinal Sarto had reportedly said, “rather dead than pope”, when people discussed his chances for election.

In one of the meetings held just before the conclave, Cardinal Victor-Lucien-Sulpice Lécot spoke with Sarto in French, however, Sarto replied in Latin, “I am afraid I do not speak French”. Lécot replied, “But if Your Eminence does not speak French you have no chance of being elected because the pope must speak French”, to which Sarto said, “Deo Gratias! I have no desire to be pope”.

We are in the Vatican’s Pauline Chapel on August 3, 1903: as one Benedictine writer describes it, a Cardinal is on his knees, in tears, absorbed in deep prayer. Approaching him, a young Spanish prelate, Monsignor Merry del Val, whispers a message to him from the Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals – is he still determined to refuse the papacy if he is elected?

“Yes, yes, Monsignor,” replies Cardinal Giuseppe Sarto, the Patriarch of Venice, “tell the Cardinal Dean that he would do me a favor not to think of me again.”

Later that day, Cardinal Sarto, overcome with emotion, continued to hold out against the entreaties of his confreres, insisting that he was unworthy of the Sovereign Pontificate, incapable of bearing so overwhelming a burden. “So return to Venice if this is your wish,” Cardinal Ferrari told him gravely, “but you will return there with your soul stricken with a remorse which you will be obsessed with for the rest of your life!”

The next day, the electors’ votes went, as anticipated, to Cardinal Sarto. The latter abandoned himself to the hands of God, declaring, “If it is not possible that this chalice be taken away from me, may the will of God be done! I accept the Pontificate as a cross.” – “By which name do you wish to be called?” – “Because the Popes who suffered the most for the Church in the previous century bore the name Pius, I will take this name.”
He thus became Pope Pius X.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
In the village of Riese, as F.A. Forbes describes it, in the Venetian plains was born on the 2nd of June, 1835, a child who was destined to leave his mark on the world’s history. Giuseppe [Joseph: Beppo, Beppino, Bepi and Beppe are all diminutives of the same name] Melchior Sarto [Sarto” is the English “Taylor”] was the eldest of the eight surviving children of Giovanni Battista Sarto, the municipal messenger and postman of Riese, and his wife Margherita. They were poor people, and it was difficult sometimes to make both ends meet. The daily fare was hard and scanty, and the future pope was clothed, as an Italian biographer puts it, “as God willed.” But both Giovanni Battista and his wife came of a hard-working, God-fearing stock, who could endure manfully and suffer patiently, and who taught their children to do the same.
Little Bepi was remarkable both for his intelligence and for his restless activity. The village schoolmaster, who at once singled him out as a pupil worth cultivating, was, we are told, not infrequently obliged to use means more persuasive than agreeable to calm his vivacity.
It was not long before Bepi had mastered the rudiments of reading and writing, which were all that the village school could offer. He became an efficient server at Mass, and such was his influence over his companions that at the age of ten he was appointed leader of the somewhat unruly band of acolytes who served in the village church. The young master of ceremonies proved himself perfectly equal to the occasion. There was such a serene good temper and such a merry wit behind the somewhat drastic methods of Bepi that his authority was irresistible and unquestioned.
To most boys who serve daily at the altar the thought of the priestly life will sooner or later suggest itself; to some it comes as an overwhelming call. Giuseppe’s vocation seems to have grown up with him, to have been, from his earliest years, the very center of his life. About half a mile beyond Riese stands a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, containing a statue known as the Madonna delle Cendrole. Here young Bepi loved to come and pray, pouring out his joys and sorrows at the feet of the Mother of Christ, and perhaps she was the first confidant of his desire to consecrate his life to God. Certainly, this sanctuary was especially dear to him in after-life, as one round which clung the happiest memories of his childhood.
At twelve years old the boy made his First Holy Communion. Did he think the time was long in coming, and was it the memory of the desire of his own childish heart that moved him in after years to shorten the time of waiting for the children of the Catholic world?
Anything that tended to the knowledge of God seemed to have an irresistible fascination for Bepi. Never was he known to miss the classes where the parish priest, Don Tito Fusarini, and his curate, Don Luigi Orazio, taught Christian doctrine to the children of the parish. So quick was his intelligence and so remarkable his aptitude that Don Luigi, who at the time was teaching Latin to his own younger brother, took Bepi also as pupil. The boy’s progress soon convinced his tutor that he had the makings of a scholar, and the two priests determined to prepare him for the grammar school at Castelfranco.
Distant about four miles from Riese, Castelfranco, with its medieval and romantic atmosphere, its ancient fortress and picturesquely crowded market-place, is not the least attractive of the old Venetian cities. Here, in 1447, was born Giorgione, and here, in the beautiful old cathedral, is to be seen one of his most famous Madonnas. On either side of the Virgin Mother, seated on a throne with the Divine Child in her arms, stand St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Liberalis, the patron saint of Treviso, a young knight in armour. Many a time must the boy Giuseppe have slipped into the quiet cathedral to pray before the Madonna. Did he ask for the strength of the warrior and the humility of the friar, to be loving like the Christ and pure like His Mother? Those who knew him in after-life could bear witness that these gifts were his.
Day after day, in all weathers, the boy tramped the four ‘miles into Castelfranco, his shoes slung over his shoulder, and a piece of bread or a lump of polenta in his pocket. In the fourth and last year of Giuseppe’s school life he was joined by his brother Angelo, and as the financial affairs of their father had slightly improved, the two brothers were promoted to a rather ramshackle donkey-cart.
The day’s work was far from over when the lads came home from school. There was plenty to be done in the house and outside it. Both the cow and the donkey must be attended to; there was work in the garden and work in the fields. It was Bepi’s delight to help his mother in the care of the house, and to look after his baby brothers and sisters, that she might have a little sorely needed rest.
His merry nature and thoughtful unselfishness made him a general favourite, while the younger members of the family looked up to him almost as much as to their parents.
Giuseppe was first in his grammar school class. When he was 11 years old, he told his father that he wanted to become a priest. His father, with the help of their local parish priest, sent Giuseppe to a well-known Catholic high school about six miles outside of town. Giuseppe graduated first in his high school class at the age of 15 and immediately entered the seminary in Padua.
The intelligence and cheery good-humour of Giuseppe, joined to the charm of manner that seems to have been his from childhood, soon made him a general favourite both with boys and masters. “His mind is quick,” wrote one of the latter to Don Pietro Jacuzzi, who had succeeded Don Orazio as curate of Riese and was a firm friend of Bepi’s, “his will strong and mature, his industry remarkable.” The somewhat strict discipline of the seminary presented no difficulties to a boy who had all his life been accustomed to self-denial; a willing and intelligent submission to authority was indeed a characteristic of Giuseppe Sarto throughout his life. “In order to command,” he was to say hereafter as pope, “it is necessary to have learned to obey.”
He graduated from the seminary first in his class in 1858 and was ordained a priest, Don (Father) Sarto. He was assigned to Tombolo, a farming village, as an assistant pastor for nine years. Don Sarto flourished with the help of his pastor. He was devoted to the Eucharist, enjoyed preaching and loved young people. His Masses were reverent, his sermons were carefully crafted and moving and, as the oldest boy from a large, poor family, he was able to relate to the poor youth in his parish. He began an after-school program in Tombolo to help children learn more about their faith and develop their reading and writing skills. He also began a similar program in the evening for adults because his daytime program was so popular. Pius X is often credited with developing the foundations of modern catechism and adult education still held in parishes today.
Don Sarto was named pastor of Salzano at the age of 32 and he remained there for nine years until 1876. He was well known for helping poor farmers and cattle ranchers. He helped to fund schools and supported the local hospital when a cholera epidemic affected his parishioners. He rarely slept and so he earned the nickname, “Perpetuun Mobile” – a machine in perpetual motion. The Bishop of Treviso realized Don Sarto’s talent and energy so he promoted him to Monsignor and other important positions including the spiritual director of the local seminary and chancellor of the Diocese of Treviso. Monsignor Sarto was known for his quick wit and humility and his love of people. He enjoyed teaching, preaching and administering.
Monsignor Sarto was elevated to Bishop of Mantua on November 10, 1884 despite his protestations over not wanting to leave the seminary. He asked the Vatican to reconsider his elevation but the Pope responded with one word, “obey!”
As Bishop, he encouraged educated and energetic priests. Bishop Sarto adopted St. Thomas Aquinas’ teaching methodologies and instituted the Gregorian Chant for Mass. Within six years, the troubled Diocese of Mantua was turned into a vibrant diocese with spirit-filled masses and enlightening preaching.
Pope Leo XIII elevated Giuseppe Sarto to Cardinal on June 12, 1893. Upon hearing the news of his appointment, Cardinal Sarto told a local newspaper that he was “anxious, terrified and humiliated.” He immediately returned to his hometown of Riese to celebrate Mass for his elderly mother, family and friends. His mother passed away soon after he left for Venice. While Cardinal, Giuseppe continued to encourage education for priests and improved Catholic schools. He also raised money for the sick.
THE PATH TO JESUS CHRIST
From his first encyclical, “E supremi apostolates”, of October 4, 1903, Pius X made known to the whole world what the program of his pontificate would be: “To restore all things in Christ, so that Christ may be all and in all (cf. Eph. 1:10 and Col. 3:11)… To lead back mankind under the dominion of Christ; this done, We shall have brought it back to God… Now the way to reach Christ is not hard to find: it is the Church… It was for this that Christ founded it, gaining it at the price of His Blood, and made it the depositary of His doctrine and His laws, bestowing upon it at the same time an inexhaustible treasury of graces for the sanctification and salvation of men… The duty has been imposed of bringing back to the discipline of the Church human society, now estranged from the wisdom of Christ; the Church will then subject it to Christ, and Christ to God.”
TO FIND A CURE FOR IGNORANCE
One of Pius X’s major concerns, expressed in the encyclical “Acerbo nimis”, of April 15, 1905, was to ensure the knowledge and transmission of the faith by means of catechism. Religious ignorance, he declared, is “the chief cause of the present indifference and, as it were, infirmity of soul, and the serious evils that result from it… The will cannot be upright nor the conduct good when the mind is shrouded in the darkness of crass ignorance. A man who walks with open eyes may, indeed, turn aside from the right path, but a blind man is in much more imminent danger of wandering away. Furthermore, there is always some hope for a reform of perverse conduct so long as the light of faith is not entirely extinguished; but if lack of faith through ignorance is added to depraved morality, the evil hardly admits of remedy, and the road to ruin lies open.”
In 1905, Pius X had a catechism published for the diocese of Rome, one which is still a model of its kind.
CATECHISM OF SAINT PIUS X
In 1905, Pius X in his letter “Acerbo nimis” mandated the establishment of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (catechism class) in every parish in the world.
The Catechism of Pius X is his realization of a simple, plain, brief, popular catechism for uniform use throughout the whole world; it was used in the ecclesiastical province of Rome and for some years in other parts of Italy; it was not, however, prescribed for use throughout the universal Church. The characteristics of Pius X were “simplicity of exposition and depth of content. Also because of this, Pius X’s catechism might have friends in the future.” The catechism was extolled as a method of religious teaching in his encyclical “Acerbo nimis” of April 1905.
The Catechism of Saint Pius X was issued in 1908 in Italian, as “Catechismo della dottrina Cristiana, Pubblicato per Ordine del Sommo Pontifice San Pio X”. An English translation runs to more than 115 pages.
HIS CHARITY
Don Sarto’s charity towards all was made apparent from the first years of his priesthood, to the point of becoming legendary. Quick to give everything away, he never had a penny in his pocket. He prided himself on being born poor and living poor. The call to exercise the greatest responsibility in the Church did not make him lose his kindness and humility, particularly towards those of low estate. Feeling responsible for the lot of all the poor, he gave with reckless generosity. When he was advised to moderate his charity so as not to send the Church into bankruptcy, he showed his two hands, and replied, “The left receives and the right gives. If I give with one hand, I receive much more from the other.” This inexhaustible charity flowed from his intimate union with God. Cardinal Merry del Val, his Secretary of State, testified, “In all his actions, he was always inspired by supernatural thoughts and showed that he was united with God. In his most important dealings, he would glance at the Crucifix and was inspired by it. When he was in doubt, he would postpone his decision, and had the habit of saying, as he kept his eyes fixed on the Crucifix, ‘He is the one who will decide.’”
EVIL IN THE HEART OF THE CHURCH
A vigilant shepherd of Christ’s flock, Pius X discerned what danger for the faith of the Church lay in a way of thinking which appeared towards the end of the 19th century. A group of intellectuals, under the pretense of adaptation to the modern mentality (from which derives the name “Modernists”), got the idea into their heads to radically change the dogmatic and moral teaching of the Church. Determined to remain in the Church so as to more effectively transform Her, they proposed to give her a new Credo and new Commandments, retaining the Catholic vocabulary, but transforming the underlying meaning according to their own ideas. After numerous charitable appeals to the straying sheep, and faced with their obstinacy, Pius X published, on July 3, 1907, the decree “Lamentabili”, which enumerated the Modernists’ errors (see later part of newsletter). Two months later, the encyclical “Pascendi” explained authoritatively how this system was contrary to sound philosophy and the Catholic faith.
The Modernist system rests on erroneous philosophical principles. One, absolute agnosticism, means that the human mind is incapable of reaching some certitudes. The other is immanentism, according to which God cannot be known objectively by proofs based on reason, but solely by the individual’s subjective experience. These principles lead to the denial of the existence of objective truth, and, as a result, the denial of the possibility of Divine Revelation. Lastly, religion is reduced to symbols. God Himself is no longer the transcendent Creator (meaning that He exists before and beyond the universe) but only an immanent force, “the universal soul of the world.” This error leads directly to pantheism, the identification of the world with God. Jesus Christ is just an extraordinary man whose historical person was transfigured by faith. From this comes the Modernist distinction between the “Christ of history”, who is no more than a man who died on a cross in Palestine, and the “Christ of faith”, whom the disciples imagine to be “resurrected,” and whom they “deify” in their hearts. In this way, Modernism leads to the dissolution of all definite religious content. It is for this reason that the holy Pope defined Modernism as the synthesis and the meeting place of all the heresies which lead to the destruction of the foundations of the faith and the annihilation of Christianity.
A CRITERION OF FAITHFULNESS TO GOD
The steps taken by Pius X to find a remedy for this evil, which had “nearly [reached] the very bowels and veins of the Church,” resulted in the decline of Modernism in just a few years. The principal agitators were removed from teaching positions in the Catholic Church, and new impetus was given to philosophical and theological studies in keeping with the principles of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Firm in doctrine, Pius X showed great kindness towards those who had gone astray. In 1908, he recommended to the new bishop of Châlons (France): “You are going to be Father Loisy’s bishop (Loisy was excommunicated because of his persistence in Modernism.) Treat him with kindness and, if he makes one step towards you, make two steps towards him.” This was a concrete application of his principle: “Fight error, without touching the individual.”
Pius X thus carried out his mission to “preserve God’s people from deviations and defections and guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error”.
STILL WIDESPREAD
Yet Modernism, so vigorously denounced by Pius X, did not disappear. In 1950, Pius XII, in the encyclical “Humani generis”, warned against various errors, many of which were related to Modernism. As one observer put it: “the Modernism of Pius X’s time was a mere hayfever” in comparison to the neo-Modernist movement in the days of Pius XII.
BOLD INITIATIVES
Pope Pius X was a Pastor who was most attentive to the realities of his time, and was guided solely by the spiritual good of souls. He boldly undertook important reforms that he deemed necessary for the good of the Church.
“My people must pray in beauty,” the saint was fond of saying. Observing that sacred music does not always attain its goal, which is to emphasize the liturgical text and thus to dispose the faithful to greater devotion, the Pope, without ruling out other legitimate forms of sacred chant, recalled, in the Motu Proprio “Tra le sollecitudini”, of November 22, 1903, that Gregorian chant eminently works toward the end of the liturgy, which is the glorification of God and the sanctification of the faithful. He consequently encouraged restoration of this chant.
In 1905, in accordance with the wishes expressed by the Council of Trent, but until then not enforced, Pius X, through the decree “Sacra Tridentina Synodus”, seized a pastoral initiative of great importance. Contrary to an age-old practice, he offered access to frequent, even daily, Communion, for all those who desired it. One merely need to be in a state of grace and to have the proper intent, meaning to receive Communion “not as a matter of habit, or of vanity, or for human reasons, but to satisfy the will of God, to unite oneself to Him more intimately through charity and, by means of this divine remedy, to do battle against one’s faults and weaknesses.” It is equally necessary to observe the proscribed fast, and to be suitably dressed.
Five years later, Pius X authorized children to make their First Holy Communion from the age of discretion (around 7 years of age). Until that time, it was customary to wait until the age of 12 or 13. The Pope considered this reform to be an inestimable grace for the souls of children: “The flower of innocence, before it has been handled and stained, will go to seek shelter near Him who loves to live among the lilies. Entreated by the pure souls of little children, God will restrain His arm of justice.” It is thus for good reason that Saint Pius X is sometimes called “the Pope of the Eucharist.”
In order to scientifically respond to the objections of science and Modernist exegesis, the holy Pope founded the Biblical Institute in 1909, to which he gave the mission of advancing studies in linguistics, history, and archeology, thus promoting better understanding of Sacred Scripture. He was firmly convinced that the Church had no reason to fear true science, and that the most modern methods of research could and must be placed in the service of the faith.
Furthermore, Saint Pius X ordered the ecclesiastical laws, which had become numerous and complex over the course of the centuries, to be updated and codified. This work would be brought to completion by his successor, Pope Benedict XV, in 1917. In addition, to make priests’ ministry easier, he carried out a reform of the Roman Breviary, reallocating the psalms for each day and revising the rubrics.
LET US LOSE THE CHURCHES BUT SAVE THE CHURCH!
In 1905, France, controlled by forces hostile to the Church, broke diplomatic relations with the Holy See, declared the separation of Church and State, and said it would hand ecclesiastical property over to “worship associations”, where the bishops would no longer have real authority. By means of the Encyclical “Vehementer”, of February 11, 1906, Pius X condemned these unjust actions. The proposition of the separation of Church and State, he said, was “absolutely false.” In fact, “the Creator of man is also the Founder of human societies… We owe Him, therefore, not only a private cult, but a public and social worship to honor Him…” In addition, civil society “cannot either prosper or last long when due place is not left for religion, which is the supreme rule and the sovereign mistress in all questions touching the rights and the duties of men.” Pius X refused the “worship associations” as well as the 40 million francs a year earmarked for religion by the French government; the latter in turn soon confiscated all Church property, reducing the clergy to living from alms. Pius X’s refusal stunned the Church’s enemies, but saved her unity and freedom. “I know that some are preoccupied with the goods of the Church,” he said. “As for me, I am preoccupied with the good of the Church. Let us lose the churches, but save the Church.”
DEATH
At the beginning of his pontificate, Pius X wrote, “To seek peace without God is an absurdity.” Having often foreseen and foretold a great war between European nations, he stepped up diplomatic measures to prevent this tragedy. Nonetheless, in the summer of 1914, the First World War broke out. The Holy Father’s heart was broken. In his distress, he repeated day and night: “I offer my miserable life as a sacrifice, to prevent the massacre of so many of my children… I suffer for all those who fall on the battlefields…” On August 15, he felt unwell, and on the 19th, he was on the verge of death. “I place myself in the hands of God,” he said with otherworldly tranquillity. Around noon, he was given the last Sacraments, which he received, calm and serene, in complete lucidity and admirable devotion. On August 20, at one o’clock in the morning, making a slow sign of the Cross and joining his hands, as if he were celebrating Mass, having kissed a little Crucifix, the holy Pontiff entered into eternal life.
BURIAL
Pius X was buried in a simple and unadorned tomb in the crypt below Saint Peter’s Basilica. His body was laid in state on 21 August in red pontifical vestments and then interred following the Requiem Mass following his coffin lying in state on a large catafalque in the Sistine Chapel. His original tombstone bore the inscription: “Pope Pius X, poor and yet rich, gentle and humble of heart, unconquerable champion of the Catholic Faith, whose constant endeavor it was to renew all things in Christ”. Papal physicians had been in the habit of removing organs to aid the embalming process. Pius X expressly prohibited this in his burial and successive popes have continued this tradition.
MIRACLES DURING THE POPE’S LIFETIME

Other than the stories of miracles performed through the pope’s intercession after his death, there are also stories of miracles performed by the pope during his lifetime. On one occasion, during a papal audience, Pius X was holding a paralyzed child who wriggled free from his arms and then ran around the room. On another occasion, a couple (who had made confession to him while he was bishop of Mantua) with a two-year-old child with meningitis wrote to the pope and Pius X then wrote back to them to hope and pray. Two days later, the child was cured.
Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini (later the Archbishop of Palermo) had visited the pope after Ruffini was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and the pope had told him to go back to the seminary and that he would be fine. Ruffini gave this story to the investigators of the pontiff’s cause for canonization.
Once, a man who suffered from a paralyzed arm begged Pius X for his help. Taking his arm in his hand, the pope simply said, “have confidence in the Lord … only have faith and the Lord will heal you”. At that moment, the man could actually move his arm, calling out to the pope joyfully who simply put a finger to his lips so as not to draw any attention to what had happened, indicating that the man simply hold his peace. Another case saw an Irish girl covered in sores taken to see the pope by her mother. When Pius X saw her, he placed his hand on her head, and the sores completely disappeared. Another case saw a Roman schoolgirl contract a serious foot disease that rendered her crippled since she was only a year old. Through a friend she managed to acquire one of the pope’s socks and was told that she would be healed if she wore it, which she did. At the moment she placed the sock on, the diseased foot was instantly healed. When Pius X heard about this, he laughed and said, “What a joke! I wear my own socks every day and still I suffer from constant pain in my feet!”
CANONIZATION
Although Pius X’s canonization took place in 1954, the events leading up to it began immediately with his death. A letter of 24 September 1916 by Monsignor Leo, Bishop of Nicotera and Tropea, referred to Pius X as “a great Saint and a great Pope.” To accommodate the large number of pilgrims seeking access to his tomb, more than the crypt would hold, “a small metal cross was set into the floor of the basilica,” which read Pius Papa X, “so that the faithful might kneel down directly above the tomb”. Masses were held near his tomb until 1930.
Devotion to Pius X between the two world wars remained high. On 14 February 1923, in honor of the 20th anniversary of his accession to the papacy, the first moves toward his canonization began with the formal appointment of those who would carry out his cause. The event was marked by the erecting of a monument in his memory in St. Peter’s Basilica. On 19 August 1939, Pope Pius XII (1939–58) delivered a tribute to Pius X at Castel Gandolfo. On 12 February 1943, a further development of Pius X’s cause was achieved, when he was declared to have displayed heroic virtues, gaining therefore the title “Venerable”.
On 19 May 1944, Pius X’s coffin was exhumed and was taken to the Chapel of the Holy Crucifix in St. Peter’s Basilica for the canonical examination. Upon opening the coffin, the examiners found the body of Pius X remarkably well preserved, despite the fact that he had died 30 years before and had made wishes not to be embalmed. According to Jerome Dai-Gal, “all of the body” of Pius X “was in an excellent state of conservation”. At the canonical recognition of his mortal body were present the Italian cardinals Alfredo Ottaviani and Nicola Canali.
After the examination and the end of the apostolic process towards Pius X’s cause, Pius XII bestowed the title of Venerable Servant of God upon Pius X. His body was exposed for 45 days (Rome was liberated by the allies during this time), before being placed back in his tomb.
Following this, the process towards beatification began, and investigations by the Sacred Congregation of Rites (SCR) into miracles performed by intercessory work of Pius X took place. The SCR would eventually recognize two miracles. The first involved Marie-Françoise Deperras, a nun who had bone cancer and was cured on 7 December 1928 during a novena in which a relic of Pius X was placed on her chest. The second involved the nun Benedetta De Maria, who had cancer, and in a novena started in 1938, she eventually touched a relic statue of Pius X and was cured.
Pope Pius XII officially approved the two miracles on 11 February 1951; and on 4 March, Pius XII, in his De Tuto, declared that the Church could continue in the beatification of Pius X. His beatification took place on 3 June 1951 at St. Peter’s before 23 cardinals, hundreds of bishops and archbishops, and a crowd of 100,000 faithful. During his beatification decree, Pius XII referred to Pius X as “Pope of the Eucharist”, in honor of Pius X’s expansion of the rite to children.
Following his beatification, on 17 February 1952, Pius X’s body was transferred from its tomb to the Vatican basilica and placed under the altar of the chapel of the Presentation. The pontiff’s body lies within a glass and bronze-work sarcophagus for the faithful to see.
On 29 May 1954, less than three years after his beatification, Pius X was canonized, following the SCR’s recognition of two more miracles. The first involved Francesco Belsami, an attorney from Naples who had a pulmonary abscess, who was cured upon placing a picture of Pope Pius X upon his chest. The second miracle involved Sr. Maria Ludovica Scorcia, a nun who was afflicted with a serious neurotropic virus, and who, upon several novenas, was entirely cured. The canonization Mass was presided over by Pius XII at Saint Peter’s Basilica before a crowd of about 800,000 of the faithful and Church officials at St. Peter’s Basilica. Pius X became the first pope to be canonized since Pius V in 1712.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LIBERALS, MODERNISTS, PROGRESSIVISTS

Liberalism, Modernism and Progressivism (neo-modernism), in a certain sense, are like grandparent, father and son of the same family, as Guimarães explains.

Liberal in the ideological spectrum has little to do with liberal as a synonymn of generous, magnanimous, munificent, which are original meanings – good to know in order to set them aside when dealing with modern Liberalism.

Ideologically speaking, a liberal is, in a general sense, any person who accepted the principles of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution – Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Liberal is a term that comes from the acceptation of that revolutionary liberty. By extension, the liberal accepted other consequences of the French Revolution, such as the separation of Church and State, secular education for children and youth, civil marriages, and mainly, the idea that equal status should be given to all religions before the civil law.

In that historical phase, the term liberal Catholic applied to those who accepted the French Revolution and swore fidelity to the Modern State born from it. Thus, the French ecclesiastics who swore fidelity to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy were Liberal Catholics.

The term evolved, and took on a broader meaning. Liberal Catholics became those who – without taking any formal oath – accepted the principles specified above, and assimilated them as a part of their mentality. In this light, liberal Catholics would accept the principle of the sovereignty of the people as mandatory for any political regime; hence, they would accept that the democracy which issued from the French Revolution would be a legitimate system of government, or even the only legitimate one.

This position implied a rejection of Catholic monarchy, whose last version had been beheaded by the French Revolution. This anti-monarchist position of liberal Catholics was reflected within the Church. Many liberal ecclesiastics wanted to apply democracy to the Church’s hierarchical structure as well. This explains why in 1869, when Vatican Council I was convened, the liberal Bishops, such as Strossmayer and Dupanloup, opposed the Petrine Primacy and Papal Infallibility as they were solemnly defined by Pius IX in union with that Council in the Constitution on the Church, Pastor Aeternus (July 18, 1870).

Pope Leo XIII became famous for his politics of ralliement [reuniting], which signified the approval of the Church for the revolutionary democracy installed in France. This was a clear liberal position of Leo XIII, and alas, not the only one. Indeed, protected by his support, Liberalism gave birth to Modernism.

Famous liberal Catholics include Lammenais, Lacordaire and Montalembert in France, Döllinger in Germany, Gioberti and Rosmini in Italy, Newman and John Acton in England, O’Connell in Ireland, and Sterckx in Belgium.

The counter-revolutionary Catholics who opposed Catholic Liberalism took positions against the French Revolution and its consequences. Therefore, they favored sustaining the more than 1,000-year-old Catholic French monarchy, the union of Church and State, Catholic education, Catholic marriage with the full force of law, etc. They were also favorable to the monarchy in the Church as well, and therefore they were enthusiasts of the Petrine Papacy and Papal Infallibility.

These anti-liberal Catholics became know as ultramontane Catholics, because they defended the Papacy which was in Rome, beyond the mountains, the Alps, in relation to France, where most of the ultramontane force gathered. Ultramontanism became synonymous with anti-Liberalism.

Famous ultramontane Catholics include Joseph de Maistre, Louis Veuillot and Dom Guéranger in France, Donoso Cortés in Spain, Taparelli D’Azeglio in Italy, Manning and Faber in England, von Ketteler in Germany, Rauscher in Austria.

Modernist was that Catholic who blatantly wanted to make a ralliement not only with the Modern State, but with the entire modern world – modern philosophy, modern science, and even the modern myths. So many adhesions to the modern epoch naturally generated the name of Modernism to characterize that current.

While Liberalism was mainly turned toward the political sphere, Modernism extended to philosophy and assimilated part of German Idealism. Namely, the theory that there is an essential divine immanence in the human soul formulated by Schleiermacher was assumed by Johann Adam Möhler, the Catholic founder of the Theological School of Tübingen, Germany. From there it influenced both German and French Modernism. From philosophy, this error simultaneously gained ground in theology and extended to the social sphere. The various types of Modernists that resulted from this process are described in “Pascendi” by Pope St. Pius X. Modernism is much broader and more structured than its predecessor, Catholic Liberalism.

A progressivist differs from a modernist in two important developments of the same errors: the extension of their consequences and the subtlety of their expression.

Regarding its expanded consequences, Progressivism came to light simultaneously as a four-fold movement: liturgical, biblical, patristic and social.

The liturgical movement started in the 1920s in various Benedictine Abbeys – Maria Laach in Germany, Maredsous in France and Amay sur Meuse in Belgium – fostering the participation of the people as if they were as essential as the priest in the Mass. Also a bad ecumenism assimilated into the liturgy Protestant ideas such as that the Mass is less a sacrifice and more a banquet, that the word of God is as important as the Eucharist, etc.

In parallel, the ambience of mystery proper to the Greek Schismatics was praised – first in liturgy, then in dogmatic theology. Hence the liturgical movement presented the Church as a Mystery – the Mystical Body of Christ – in opposition to the Militant Church, which supposes a visible and hierarchical society.

The biblical movement basically promoted a new interpretation of Holy Scriptures. According to it, the sacred texts should be understood not as they were written, but conditioned to their historic context, the literary genre used, the testimonies of witnesses upon which the sacred authors based themselves, the social and cultural influences present at the time, etc. To achieve such an interpretation, biblical scholars needed to employ extensive archeological research, the contribution of natural sciences, as well as the consensus of contemporary social and psychological theories, which propose to explain the behavior of society and the individual. With so many different criteria, the practical consequence is a free interpretation of the Scriptures: a goal that pleases Protestants and favors ecumenism.

The principal protagonist of the biblical movement was the French Dominican Fr. Marie Joseph Lagrange, who was the founder of the Biblical Institute of Jerusalem (1891) under Leo XIII. Lagrange escaped condemnation as a Modernist and remained quiet under the pontificate of St. Pius X. In the 1920s, his Historic Method took over Catholic exegesis.

The main goal of the patristic movement, also called re-sourcement [return to the sources] was to jump back over Scholasticism to the thinking of the Fathers of the Church. It was a way to eclipse Scholasticism and its logic. Adepts of this movement sought out those Fathers whose writings had marked Platonic tendencies, or even mistakes that further down the line, the Church had transcended or condemned. In the 19th century this movement had been initiated by Möhler and Scheeben in Germany and Newman in England. From the 1930s on it would take on a new strength and extension with the commentaries on the Fathers by von Balthasar, De Lubac, and Danielou, to name a few of the many components of the Nouvelle Theologie.

The social movement represented the marriage of the Church with the revolutionary world as such. A similar attempt had been halted with the condemnation of the Sillon movement by St. Pius X. The principal protagonists of the progressivist social movement included Belgian Fr. Joseph Cardijn who founded the Jeunesse Ouvriere Catholique – JOC [Catholic Youth Workers,] in 1924; French Dominican Fr. Louis Joseph Lebret who founded the Jeunesse Etudiante Catholique – JEC [Catholic Student Youth] in 1929, and French Dominican Fr. Jacques Loew who founded the Worker Priests in 1941. These associations and all that revolutionary social work that proceeded from them had a practical consequence of uniting Catholic social work to Communism under the pretext of helping the poor. Following the same path of adaptation to the revolutionary world, Progressivism joined with Communism, just as Liberalism had united with the French Revolution around 150 years before.

From these four movements, Progressivism extended to modern philosophy, accepting Phenomenology and Existentialism, extravagant consequences of German Idealism, and to theology, “re-reading” all the dogmas of the Church and presenting interpretations different than the traditional ones.

Regarding its subtlety, Progressivism differs from Modernism in this: until their victory at Vatican II, progressivists tried to avoid the condemnations of St. Pius X in “Pascendi” and Pius IX in the “Syllabus”. Even though they upheld the same errors, they were careful to present them in a less blatant version, as similar as possible to orthodox doctrine. Therefore, it can be more difficult and complicated to catch these errors.

These are the main differences and analogies regarding the three terms: liberal Catholic, modernist, and progressivist.

So, if you refer to the present-day progressivists as liberals or modernists, most probably the person with whom you are speaking will understand what you mean.

POPE ST. PIUS X’S SYLLABUS CONDEMNING MODERNISTS’ ERRORS

The following propositions to be condemned and proscribed. In fact, by this general decree, they are condemned and proscribed.

The ecclesiastical law which prescribes that books concerning the Divine Scriptures are subject to previous examination does not apply to critical scholars and students of scientific exegesis of the Old and New Testament. CONDEMNED
The Church’s interpretation of the Sacred Books is by no means to be rejected; nevertheless, it is subject to the more accurate judgment and correction of the exegetes. CONDEMNED
From the ecclesiastical judgments and censures passed against free and more scientific exegesis, one can conclude that the Faith the Church proposes contradicts history and that Catholic teaching cannot really be reconciled with the true origins of the Christian religion. CONDEMNED
Even by dogmatic definitions the Church’s magisterium cannot determine the genuine sense of the Sacred Scriptures. CONDEMNED
Since the deposit of Faith contains only revealed truths, the Church has no right to pass judgment on the assertions of the human sciences. CONDEMNED
The “Church learning” and the “Church teaching” collaborate in such a way in defining truths that it only remains for the “Church teaching” to sanction the opinions of the “Church learning.” CONDEMNED
In proscribing errors, the Church cannot demand any paternal assent from the faithful by which the judgments she issues are to be embraced. CONDEMNED
They are free from all blame who treat lightly the condemnations passed by the Sacred Congregation of the Index or by the Roman Congregations. CONDEMNED
They display excessive simplicity or ignorance who believe that God is really the author of the Sacred Scriptures. CONDEMNED
The inspiration of the books of the Old Testament consists in this: The Israelite writers handed down religious doctrines under a peculiar aspect which was either little or not at all known to the Gentiles. CONDEMNED
Divine inspiration does not extend to all of Sacred Scriptures so that it renders its parts, each and every one, free from every error. CONDEMNED
If he wishes to apply himself usefully to Biblical studies, the exegete must first put aside all preconceived opinions about the supernatural origin of Sacred Scripture and interpret it the same as any other merely human document. CONDEMNED
The Evangelists themselves, as well as the Christians of the second and third generation, artificially arranged the evangelical parables. In such a way they explained the scanty fruit of the preaching of Christ among the Jews. CONDEMNED
In many narrations the Evangelists recorded, not so much things that are true, as things which, even though false, they judged to be more profitable for their readers. CONDEMNED
Until the time the canon was defined and constituted, the Gospels were increased by additions and corrections. Therefore there remained in them only a faint and uncertain trace of the doctrine of Christ. CONDEMNED
The narrations of John are not properly history, but a mystical contemplation of the Gospel. The discourses contained in his Gospel are theological meditations, lacking historical truth concerning the mystery of salvation. CONDEMNED
The fourth Gospel exaggerated miracles not only in order that the extraordinary might stand out but also in order that it might become more suitable for showing forth the work and glory of the Word Incarnate. CONDEMNED
John claims for himself the quality of witness concerning Christ. In reality, however, he is only a distinguished witness of the Christian life, or of the life of Christ in the Church at the close of the first century. CONDEMNED
Heterodox exegetes have expressed the true sense of the Scriptures more faithfully than Catholic exegetes. CONDEMNED
Revelation could be nothing else than the consciousness man acquired of his relation to God. CONDEMNED
Revelation, constituting the object of the Catholic faith, was not completed with the Apostles. CONDEMNED
The dogmas the Church holds out as revealed are not truths which have fallen from heaven. They are an interpretation of religious facts which the human mind has acquired by laborious effort. CONDEMNED
Opposition may, and actually does, exist between the facts narrated in Sacred Scripture and the Church’s dogmas which rest on them. Thus the critic may reject as false facts the Church holds as most certain. CONDEMNED
The exegete who constructs premises from which it follows that dogmas are historically false or doubtful is not to be reproved as long as he does not directly deny the dogmas themselves. CONDEMNED
The assent of faith ultimately rests on a mass of probabilities. CONDEMNED
The dogmas of the Faith are to be held only according to their practical sense; that is to say, as preceptive norms of conduct and not as norms of believing. CONDEMNED
The divinity of Jesus Christ is not proved from the Gospels. It is a dogma which the Christian conscience has derived from the notion of the Messias. CONDEMNED
While He was exercising His ministry, Jesus did not speak with the object of teaching He was Messias, nor did His miracles tend to prove it. CONDEMNED
It is permissible to grant that the Christ of history is far inferior to the Christ Who is the object of faith. CONDEMNED
In all the evangelical texts the name “Son of God” is equivalent only to that of “Messias.” It does not in the least way signify that Christ is the true and natural Son of God. CONDEMNED
The doctrine concerning Christ taught by Paul, John, and the Councils of Nicaea, Ephesus and Chalcedon is not that which Jesus taught but that which the Christian conscience conceived concerning Jesus. CONDEMNED
It is impossible to reconcile the natural sense of the Gospel texts with the sense taught by our theologians concerning the conscience and the infallible knowledge of Jesus Christ. CONDEMNED
Everyone who is not led by preconceived opinions can readily see that either Jesus professed an error concerning the immediate Messianic coming or the greater part of His doctrine as contained in the Gospels is destitute of authenticity. CONDEMNED
The critics can ascribe to Christ a knowledge without limits only on a hypothesis which cannot be historically conceived and which is repugnant to the moral sense. That hypothesis is that Christ as man possessed the knowledge of God and yet was unwilling to communicate the knowledge of a great many things to His disciples and posterity. CONDEMNED
Christ did not always possess the. consciousness of His Messianic dignity. CONDEMNED
The Resurrection of the Saviour is not properly a fact of the historical order. It is a fact of merely the supernatural order (neither demonstrated nor demonstrable) which the Christian conscience gradually derived from other facts. CONDEMNED
In the beginning, faith in the Resurrection of Christ was not so much in the fact itself of the Resurrection as in the immortal life of Christ with God. CONDEMNED
The doctrine of the expiatory death of Christ is Pauline and not evangelical. CONDEMNED
The opinions concerning the origin of the Sacraments which the Fathers of Trent held and which certainly influenced their dogmatic canons are very different from those which now rightly exist among historians who examine Christianity. CONDEMNED
The Sacraments had their origin in the fact that the Apostles and their successors, swayed and moved by circumstances and events, interpreted some idea and intention of Christ. CONDEMNED
The Sacraments are intended merely to recall to man’s mind the ever-beneficent presence of the Creator. CONDEMNED
The Christian community imposed the necessity of Baptism, adopted it as a necessary rite, and added to it the obligation of the Christian profession. CONDEMNED
The practice of administering Baptism to infants was a disciplinary evolution, which became one of the causes why the Sacrament was divided into two, namely. Baptism and Penance. CONDEMNED
There is nothing to prove that the rite of the Sacrament of Confirmation was employed by the Apostles. The formal distinction of the two Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation does not pertain to the history of primitive Christianity. CONDEMNED
Not everything which Paul narrates concerning the institution of the Eucharist (I Cor. 11; 23-25) is, to be taken historically. CONDEMNED
In the primitive Church the concept of the Christian sinner reconciled by the authority of the Church did not exist. Only very slowly did the Church accustom herself to this concept. As a matter of fact, even after Penance was recognized as an institution of the Church, it was not called a Sacrament since it would be held as a disgraceful Sacrament. CONDEMNED
The words of the Lord, “Receive the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained” (John 20: 22-23), in no way refer to the Sacrament of Penance, in spite of what it pleased the Fathers of Trent to say. CONDEMNED
In his Epistle (Ch. 5:14-15) James did not intend to promulgate a Sacrament of Christ but only commend a pious custom. If in this custom he happens to distinguish a means of grace, it is not in that rigorous manner in which it was taken by the theologians who laid down the notion and number of the Sacraments. CONDEMNED
When the Christian supper gradually assumed the nature of a liturgical action those who customarily presided over the supper acquired the sacerdotal character. CONDEMNED
The elders who fulfilled the office of watching over the gatherings of the faithful were instituted by the Apostles as priests or bishops to provide for the necessary ordering of the increasing communities and not properly for the perpetuation of the Apostolic mission and power. CONDEMNED
It is impossible that Matrimony could have become a Sacrament of the new law until later in the Church since it was necessary that a full theological explication of the doctrine of grace and the Sacraments should first take place before Matrimony should be held as a Sacrament. CONDEMNED
It was far from the mind of Christ to found a Church as a society which would continue on earth for a long course of centuries. On the contrary, in the mind of Christ the kingdom of heaven together with the end of the world was about to come immediately. CONDEMNED
The organic constitution of the Church is not immutable. Like human society, Christian society is subject to a perpetual evolution. CONDEMNED
Dogmas, Sacraments and hierarchy, both their notion and reality, are only interpretations and evolutions of the Christian intelligence which have increased and perfected by an external series of additions the little germ latent in the Gospel. CONDEMNED
Simon Peter never even suspected that Christ entrusted the primacy in the Church to him. CONDEMNED
The Roman Church became the head of all the churches, not through the ordinance of Divine Providence, but merely through political conditions. CONDEMNED
The Church has shown that she is hostile to the progress of the natural and theological sciences. CONDEMNED
Truth is no more immutable than man himself, since it evolved with him, in him, and through him. CONDEMNED
Christ did not teach a determined body of doctrine applicable to all times and all men, but rather inaugurated a religious movement adapted or to be adapted to different times and places. CONDEMNED
Christian Doctrine was originally Judaic. Through successive evolutions it became first Pauline, then Joannine, finally Hellenic and universal. CONDEMNED
It may be said without paradox that there is no chapter of Scripture, from the first of Genesis to the last of the Apocalypse, which contains a doctrine absolutely identical with that which the Church teaches on the same matter. For the same reason, therefore, no chapter of Scripture has the same sense for the critic and the theologian. CONDEMNED
The chief articles of the Apostles’ Creed did not have the same sense for the Christians of the first ages as they have for the Christians of our time. CONDEMNED
The Church shows that she is incapable of effectively maintaining evangelical ethics since she obstinately clings to immutable doctrines which cannot be reconciled with modem progress. CONDEMNED
Scientific progress demands that the concepts of Christian doctrine concerning God, creation, revelation, the Person of the Incarnate Word, and Redemption be readjusted. CONDEMNED
Modern Catholicism can be reconciled with true science only if it is transformed into a non-dogmatic Christianity; that is to say, into a broad and liberal Protestantism. CONDEMNED.

SOME MEMORABLE QUOTES OF POPE SAINT PIUS X

“The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God…and if you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary.”

“Where is the road which leads us to Jesus Christ? It is before our eyes: it is the Church. It is our duty to recall to everyone, great and small, the absolute necessity we are under to have recourse to this Church in order to work out our eternal salvation.”

“I was born poor, I have lived in poverty, and I wish to die poor.”

“All the strength of Satan’s reign is due to the easygoing weakness of Catholics.”

“Without any doubt there is a desire in all hearts for peace. But how foolish is he who seeks this peace apart from God; for if God be driven out, justice is banished, and once justice fails, all hope of peace is lost.”

“It is necessary that children be nourished by Christ (Holy Communion) before they are dominated by their passions, so they can with greater courage resist the assaults of the devil, of the flesh, and their other enemies, whether internal or external.”

“Truly we are passing through disastrous times, when we may well make our own the lamentation of the Prophet: “There is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God in the land” (Osee 4:1). 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.”

“Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been so favored by so many miracles as the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary.”

“Let the storm rage and the sky darken – not for that shall we be dismayed. If we trust as we should in Mary, we shall recognize in her, the Virgin Most Powerful ‘who with virginal foot did crush the head of the serpent’.”

“The greatest obstacle in the apostolate of the Church is the timidity or rather the cowardice of the faithful.”

“Far, far from the clergy be the love of novelty!”

“…the great movement of apostasy being organized in every country for the establishment of a One-World Church which shall have neither dogmas, nor hierarchy, neither discipline for the mind, nor curb for the passions, and which, under the pretext of freedom and human dignity, would bring back to the world (if such a Church could overcome) the reign of legalized cunning and force, and the oppression of the weak, and of all those who toil and suffer. […] Indeed, the true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries, nor innovators: they are traditionalists.”

“The daily adoration or visit to the Blessed Sacrament is the practice which is the fountainhead of all devotional works.”

“The Church alone, being the Bride of Christ and having all things in common with her Divine Spouse, is the depository of the truth.”

“For, since it is the will of Divine Providence that we should have the God-Man through Mary, there is no other way for us to receive Christ except from her hands.”

“The Child is not found without Mary, His Mother . . . If, then, it is impossible to separate what God has united, it is also certain that you cannot find Jesus except with Mary and through Mary.”

“It is an error to believe that Christ did not teach a determined body of doctrine applicable to all times and to all men, but rather that He inaugurated a religious movement adapted, or to be adapted, to different times and different places.”

“Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven. There are others: innocence, but that is for little children; penance, but we are afraid of it; generous endurance of trials of life, but when they come, we weep and ask to be. The surest, easiest, shortest way is the Eucharist.”

“I accept with sincere belief the doctrine of faith as handed down to us from the Apostles by the orthodox Fathers, always in the same sense and with the same interpretation.”

“To heal the breach between the rich and the poor, it is necessary to distinguish between justice and charity.”

“Nothing would please us more than to see our beloved children form the habit of reading the Gospels – not merely from time to time, but every day.”

“’Progress’ of dogmas is, in reality, nothing but corruption of dogmas … I absolutely reject the heretical doctrine of the evolution of dogma, as passing from one meaning to another, and different from the sense in which the Church originally held it. And likewise, I condemn every error by which philosophical inventions, or creations of the human mind, or products elaborated by human effort and destined to indefinite progress in the future are substituted for that Divine Deposit given by Christ to the faithful custody of the Church . . . Condemned and proscribed is the error that dogmas are nothing but interpretations and evolutions of Christian intelligence which have increased and perfected the little seed hidden in the Gospel.”

“The proposition that the principal articles of the Apostles’ Creed did not have the same meaning for the Christians of the earliest times as they have for Christians of our time is hereby condemned and proscribed as erroneous.”

“It is impossible to approve in Catholic publications of a style inspired by unsound novelty which seems to deride the piety of the faithful and dwells on the introduction of a new order of Christian life, on new directions of the Church, on new aspirations of the modern soul, on a new vocation of the clergy, on a new Christian civilization.”

“Is it permitted for Catholics to be present at, or to take part in, conventions, gatherings, meetings, or societies of non-Catholics which aim to associate together under a single agreement everyone who, in any way, lays claim to the name of Christian? In the negative! … It is clear, therefore, why this Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics. There is one way in which the unity of Christians may be fostered, and that is by furthering the return to the one true Church of Christ for those who are separated from Her.”

“Our Apostolic Mandate requires from Us that We watch over the purity of the Faith and the integrity of Catholic discipline. It requires from Us that We protect the faithful from evil and error; especially so when evil and error are presented in dynamic language which, concealing vague notions and ambiguous expressions with emotional and high-sounding words, is likely to set ablaze the hearts of men in pursuit of ideals which, whilst attractive, are nonetheless nefarious.”

“We put great confidence in the Holy Rosary for the healing of evils which afflict our times.”

“What will it cost Thee, oh Mary, to hear our prayer? What will it cost thee to save us? Has not Jesus placed in thy hands all the treasures of His grace and mercy? Thou sit crowned Queen at the right hand of thy Son: thy dominion reaches as far as the heavens and to thou art subject the earth and all creatures dwelling thereon. thy dominion reaches even down into the abyss of hell, and thou alone, oh Mary, save us from the hands of Satan.”

“If there were one million families praying the Rosary every day, the entire world would be saved.”

“If the Angels could envy, they would envy us for Holy Communion.”

PROPHECY BEFORE HIS DEATH

Just prior to his death (August 20, 1914), Pope Saint Pius X had a vision:

“I have seen one of my successors, by (the same) name, who was fleeing over the bodies of his brethren. He will take refuge in some hiding place; but after a brief respite he will die a cruel death.”

Does this apply to Pope Benedict XVI, whose first name is Joseph? Of interest other prophecies particularly mention a white-haired pope with the letter ‘B’ who will be made powerless, and, other prophecies note in particular a white-haired pope when Rome begins to enter into its crisis period. A pope fleeing over the dead bodies of his priests sounds exactly like an invasion of Rome and the Vatican, and, is in accordance with other Catholic prophecies.

AVE MARIA!

Father Joseph Poisson

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