[Rank]
S. Pius X Papae Confessoris;;Duplex;;3;;vide C4

[Rule]
vide C4;mtv

[Oratio]
O God, who to safeguard Catholic faith and to restore all things in Christ,~
didst fill the Supreme Pontiff, Saint Pius, with heavenly wisdom and apostolic~
fortitude: grant in thy mercy: that by striving to fulfil his ordinances and to~
follow his example, we may reap eternal rewards.
$Per eumdem

[Lectio4]
Pope Pius X, whose name previously was Joseph Sarto, was born in the village of Riese in the Venetian province, to humble parents remarkable for their godliness and piety.  He enrolled among the students in the seminary of Padua, where he exhibited such piety and learning that he was both an example to his fellow students and the admiration of his teachers.  Upon his ordination to the priesthood, he laboured for several years first as curate in the town of Tombolo, then as pastor at Salzano.  He applied himself to his duties with such a constant flow of charity and  such priestly zeal, and was so distinguished by the holiness of his life, that the Bishop of Treviso appointed him as a canon of the cathedral church and and made him the chancellor of the bishop's curia, as well as spiritual director of the diocesan seminary.  His performance in these duties was so outstanding and so highly impressed Leo XIII, that he made him bishop of the Church of Mantua.

[Lectio5]
Lacking in nothing that maketh a good pastor, he laboured particularly to teach young men called to the priesthood, as well as fostering  the growth of devout associations and the beauty and dignity of divine worship.  He would ever affirm and promote the laws upon which Christian civilisation depend, and while leading himself a life of poverty, never missed the opportunity to alleviate the burden of poverty in others. Because of his great merits, he was made a cardinal and created Patriarch of Venice.  After the death of Pope Leo XIII, when the votes of the College of Cardinals began to increase in his favour, he tried in vain with supplications and tears to be relieved of so heavy a burden. Finally he ceded to their persuasions, saying I accept the cross.  Thus he accepted the crown of the supreme pontificate as a cross, offering himself to God, with a resigned but stedfast spirit.  

[Lectio6]
Placed upon the chair of Peter, he gave up nothing of his former way of life.  He shone especially in humility, simplicity and poverty, so that he was able to write in his last testament : I was born in poverty, I lived in poverty, and I wish to die in poverty.  His humility, however, nourished his soul with strength, when it concerned the glory of God, the liberty of Holy Church, and the salvation of souls.  A man of passionate temperament and of firm purpose, he ruled the Church firmly as it entered into the twentieth century, and adorned it with brilliant teachings.  He restored the sacred musick to its pristine glory and dignity ; he established Rome as the principal centre for the study of the Holy Bible ; he ordered the reform of the Roman Curia with great wisdom ; he restored the laws concerning the faithful for the instruction of the catechism ; he introduced the custom of more frequent and even daily reception of the Holy Eucharist, as well as permitting its reception by children as soon as they reach the age of reason ; he zealously promoted the growth of Catholic action ; he provided for the sound education of clericks and increased the number of seminaries in their divers regions ; he encouraged every priest in the practice of the interior life ;  he brought the laws of the Church together into one body ; he condemned and suppressed those most pernicious errors known collectively as Modernism ; he suppressed the custom of civil veto at the election of a Supreme Pontiff.  Finally worn out with his labours and overcome with grief at the European war which had just begun, he went to his heavenly reward on the twentieth day of August in the year 1914.  Renowned throughout all the world for the fame of his holiness and miracles, Pope Pius XII, with the approbation of the whole world,  numbered him among the Saints.

[Lectio94]
Pope Pius X, whose name previously was Joseph Sarto, was born in the village of Riese in the Venetian province.  He enrolled among the students in the seminary of Padua and, when he had been ordained priest, was first curate in the town of Tombolo, then pastor at Salzano, then canon and chancellor of the bishop's curia at Treviso.  He was so outstanding in holiness that Leo XIII made him bishop of the Church of Mantua.  Lacking in nothing that maketh a good pastor, he laboured particularly to teach young men called to the priesthood ; he fostered  the beauty of divine worship and the growth of devout associations ; he saw to the needs of the poor with generous charity.  Because of his great merits, he was made a cardinal and created Patriarch of Venice.  After the death of Pope Leo XIII he took up the supreme pontificate as a cross, having refused it in vain.  Placed upon the chair of Peter, he gave up nothing of his former way of life.  He shone especially in humility, simplicity and poverty.  He ruled the Church firmly and adorned it with brilliant teachings.  As a most vigilant guardian of the Faith, he condemned and suppressed Modernism, the sum of all heresies ; as a most zealous defender of the freedom of the Church, he boldly resisted those who strove to bring about her downfall ; he provided for the sound education of clerics, brought the laws of the Church together into one body ; and greatly fostered the cult and more frequent reception of the Eucharist.  Worn out with his labours and overcome with grief at the European war which had just begun, he went to his heavenly home on August 20th in the year 1914.  Pope Pius XII numbered him among the Saints.
&teDeum

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to John
!John 21:15-17
At that time : Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?  And so on, and that which followeth.
_
A Homily by St. Augustine the Bishop
!Tractatus 123 in Joannem. in medio
To the threefold denial there is now appended a threefold confession, that his tongue may not yield a feebler service to love than to fear, and imminent death may not appear to have elicited more from his lips than present life.  Let it be the office of love to feed the Lord's flock, if it was the signal of fear to deny the Shepherd.  Those who have this purpose in feeding the flock of Christ, that they may have them as their own, and not as Christ's, are convicted of loving themselves, and not Christ, from the desire either of boasting, or wielding power, or acquiring gain, and not from the love of obeying, serving and pleasing God.

[Lectio8]
Against such, therefore, there standeth as a wakeful sentinel this thrice inculcated utterance of Christ, of whom the Apostle complaineth that they seek their own, not the things that are of Christ Jesus.  For what else signifieth the words : Lovest thou me?  Feed my sheep : than if it were said : If thou lovest me, think not of feeding thyself, but feed my sheep as mine, and not as thine own ; seek my glory in them, and not thine own ; my dominion, and not thine ; my gain, and not thine ; lest thou be found in the fellowship of them that belong to the perilous times, lovers of their own selves, and all else that is joined on to this beginning of evils.

[Lectio9]
With great propriety, therefore, is Peter addressed : Lovest thou me? and found replying : I love thee ; and the command applied to him : Feed my lambs, and this a second and a third time.  We have it also demonstrated here that love (amor) and liking (dilectio)  are one and the same thing ; for the Lord also in the last question said not : Dost thou like me? (Diligis me?) : but : Dost thou love me? (Amas me?)  Let us, then, love not ourselves but him ; and in feeding his sheep, let us be seeking the things which are his, not the things which are our own.  For in some inexplicable way, I know not what, every one that loveth himself, and not God, loveth not himself ; and whoever loveth God, and not himself, he it is that loveth himself.  For he that cannot live by himself will certainly die by loving himself ; he therefore loveth not himself that loveth himself to his own loss of life.
&teDeum

[Ant 3]
While he was supreme Pontiff, * he feared not earthly powers, but gloriously went his way to the heavenly kingdom.

[Lectio94]
Pope Pius X, whose name previously was Joseph Sarto, was born in the village of Riese in the Venetian province. He enrolled among the students in the seminary of Padua and, when he had been ordained priest, was first curate in the town of Tombolo, then pastor at Salzano, then canon and chancellor of the bishop's curia at Treviso. He was so outstanding in holiness that Leo XIII made him bishop of the Church of Mantua. Lacking in nothing that maketh a good pastor, he laboured particularly to teach young men called to the priesthood ; he fostered the beauty of divine worship and the growth of devout associations ; he saw to the needs of the poor with generous charity. Because of his great merits, he was made a cardinal and created Patriarch of Venice. After the death of Pope Leo XIII he took up the supreme pontificate as a cross, having refused it in vain. Placed upon the chair of Peter, he gave up nothing of his former way of life. He shone especially in humility, simplicity and poverty. He ruled the Church firmly and adorned it with brilliant teachings. As a most vigilant guardian of the Faith, he condemned and suppressed Modernism, the sum of all heresies ; as a most zealous defender of the freedom of the Church, he boldly resisted those who strove to bring about her downfall ; he provided for the sound education of clerics, brought the laws of the Church together into one body ; and greatly fostered the cult and more frequent reception of the Eucharist. Worn out with his labours and overcome with grief at the European war which had just begun, he went to his heavenly home on August 20th in the year 1914. Pope Pius XII numbered him among the Saints.
&teDeum
