Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto was born in 1835 at Riese in the Venetian province of Treviso to Giovanni Battista Sarto, a postman, and Margarita Sarto (née Sanson). In 1850 he entered the seminary at Padua where he completed his classical, philosophical and theological studies with distinction. He was ordained in 1858 and served as a parish priest at Tombolo, during which time he studied the works of Saint Thomas Aquinas and canon law. He also established a night school for adults and preached in other towns to which he was called. In 1867 he was appointed arch-priest of Salzano in the Diocese of Treviso and in 1875 he was made Canon and Vicar-General of the Cathedral of Treviso. In 1884 he was appointed Bishop of Mantua and in 1893 Pope Leo XIII elevated him to the position of cardinal and Patriarch of Venice. When Leo XIII died in 1903 he was elected Pope and took the name Pius. As Pope Pius X he promulgated a new Code of Canon Law and a new Catechism of the Catholic Church. He condemned Modernism, promoted the use of Gregorian Chant and reformed the Roman Curia. Pope Pius X died in 1914 and was canonised by Pope Pius XII in 1954.
At Rome, St. Serapia, virgin. Under the emperor Hadrian, she was delivered to two lascivious young men, and as she could not be corrupted, nor afterwards burned with lighted torches, she was beaten with rods, and finally beheaded, by order of the judge Berillus. She died on the twenty-ninth of July and was buried by blessed Sabina in her own sepulchre near the Campus Vindicianus. But the commemoration of her martyrdom is celebrated more solemnly on this day when their common tomb was finished and adorned and dedicated as a place of prayer.
At Corinth, the birthday of St. Phoebe, mentioned by the blessed Apostle St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans.
At Aquileia, the holy virgins and martyrs Euphemia, Dorothea, Thecla and Erasma. Under Nero, after enduring many torments, they were slain with the sword, and buried by St. Hermagoras.
At Capua, the holy martyrs Aristseus, bishop, and Antoninus, a boy.
At Nicomedia, the martyrdom of St. Basillissa, virgin and martyr, in the persecution of Diocletian under the governor Alexander. At the age of nine years, after having, through the power of God, overcome scourging, fire and the beasts, she gave up her soul to her Creator in prayer.
Also the holy martyrs Zeno and Chariton. The one was cast into a cauldron of melted lead, the other into a burning furnace.
At Cordova in Spain, St. Sandalus, martyr.
The same day, the birthday of the holy martyrs Aigulphus, abbot of Lerins, and the monks, his companions, who, after their tongues were cut off, and their eyes plucked out, were killed with the sword.
At Toul in France, St. Mansuetus, bishop and confessor.
At Milan, the demise of St. Auxanus, bishop.
The same day, St. Simeon Stylites, the younger.
At Rome, the raising to the Sovereign Pontificate of St. Gregory the Great, an incomparable man, who, being forced to take that burden on himself, sent forth from the more exalted throne brighter rays of sanctity upon the world.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Thanks be to God.
O God, who to safeguard the Catholic faith and to restore all things in Christ filled the Supreme Pontiff Saint Pius with heavenly wisdom and apostolic fortitude, grant in your mercy that by striving to fulfil his ordinances and to follow his example, we may reap the eternal rewards. Through our Lord...Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:
At Rome, St. Serapia, virgin. Under the emperor Hadrian, she was delivered to two lascivious young men, and as she could not be corrupted, nor afterwards burned with lighted torches, she was beaten with rods, and finally beheaded, by order of the judge Berillus. She died on the twenty-ninth of July and was buried by blessed Sabina in her own sepulchre near the Campus Vindicianus. But the commemoration of her martyrdom is celebrated more solemnly on this day when their common tomb was finished and adorned and dedicated as a place of prayer.
At Corinth, the birthday of St. Phoebe, mentioned by the blessed Apostle St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans.
At Aquileia, the holy virgins and martyrs Euphemia, Dorothea, Thecla and Erasma. Under Nero, after enduring many torments, they were slain with the sword, and buried by St. Hermagoras.
At Capua, the holy martyrs Aristseus, bishop, and Antoninus, a boy.
At Nicomedia, the martyrdom of St. Basillissa, virgin and martyr, in the persecution of Diocletian under the governor Alexander. At the age of nine years, after having, through the power of God, overcome scourging, fire and the beasts, she gave up her soul to her Creator in prayer.
Also the holy martyrs Zeno and Chariton. The one was cast into a cauldron of melted lead, the other into a burning furnace.
At Cordova in Spain, St. Sandalus, martyr.
The same day, the birthday of the holy martyrs Aigulphus, abbot of Lerins, and the monks, his companions, who, after their tongues were cut off, and their eyes plucked out, were killed with the sword.
At Toul in France, St. Mansuetus, bishop and confessor.
At Milan, the demise of St. Auxanus, bishop.
The same day, St. Simeon Stylites, the younger.
At Rome, the raising to the Sovereign Pontificate of St. Gregory the Great, an incomparable man, who, being forced to take that burden on himself, sent forth from the more exalted throne brighter rays of sanctity upon the world.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Thanks be to God.
