Born in what is now Italy, his Baptized name was Guiseppe, and he was the second of ten children of Giovanni and Margherita Sarto. 

A gifted student with a strong desire to serve The Lord, Guiseppe was given a scholarship by the diocese to study at the seminary in Padua. 

In 1858 he became a priest and began a lifelong journey of reading and applying the lessons of St. Thomas Aquinas and Canon Law. 

In the 1870s he was deeply involved in assisting the sick and dying during a cholera outbreak in northern Italy. In 1878, he became Bishop of Treviso. 

In 1893, Pope Leo XIII made him a Cardinal and, three days later, he was made Patriarch of Venice. 

After Pope XIII died, Guiseppe Sarto was elected to be the next Pope on the fifth ballot. 

Always devoted to the poor, Pius X was extremely uncomfortable with the pomp and circumstance of his office telling a friend, in great sadness; “It is a penance to be forced to accept all these practices. They lead me around, surrounded by soldiers, like Jesus when He was seized at Gethsemane.” 

As Pope Pius X he prompted frequent reception of Communion including among children, and this was no small revolution at the time. 

Pius X also had a great Devotion to The Blessed Mother and orchestrated the Code of Canon Law which went into 

effect after his death in 1917 which was revised again in 1993. 

He spoke against the mistreatment of people on the basis of race and also foresaw the beginning of World War I, the outbreak of which some have suggested took his life. 

As the war broke he said; “This is the last affliction The Lord will visit upon me. I would gladly give my life to save the poor children from this ghastly scourge.” 

He died on this day in 1914 just a few weeks after the beginning of World War I. 

St. Pope Pius X, please pray for us.