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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/35953-8.txt b/35953-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..64feb47 --- /dev/null +++ b/35953-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4241 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Pope Pius the Tenth, by F. A. (Frances Alice) Forbes + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Pope Pius the Tenth + +Author: F. A. (Frances Alice) Forbes + +Release Date: April 25, 2011 [EBook #35953] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POPE PIUS THE TENTH *** + + + + +Produced by David McClamrock + + + + + + + + + +POPE PIUS THE TENTH + +BY + +F. A. [FRANCES ALICE] FORBES + +LONDON + +BURNS OATES & WASHBOURNE LTD. + +PUBLISHERS TO THE HOLY SEE + +1954 + +[Transcriber's note: First published 1918; second edition 1919; third +edition 1924; fourth edition entitled _Pope Saint Pius the Tenth_, +unchanged in content except for anonymous postscript referring to +canonization of Pope Pius X (omitted here), 1954] + + + +NIHIL OBSTAT: PATRICIVS MORRIS, S.T.D., L.S.S. + +CENSOR DEPUTATUS + +IMPRIMATUR: E. MORROGH BERNARD + +VICARIVS GENERALIS + +WESTMONASTERII: DIE XI MARTII MCMLIV + + + +CONTENTS + +Chapter + + I. CHILD AND STUDENT + + II. CURATE AND PARISH PRIEST + + III. CANON AND BISHOP + + IV. PATRIARCH OF VENICE + + V. THE PAPAL ELECTION + + VI. THE AIMS OF PIUS X + + VII. PIUS X AND FRANCE + + VIII. THE POPE OF THE EUCHARIST + + IX. PIUS X AND MODERNISM + + X. PIUS X AND THE PRIESTHOOD + + XI. THE POPE OF THE SUFFERING + + XII. THE POPE OF PEACE + + + +I + +CHILD AND STUDENT + +In the village of Riese 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[*] Melchior Sarto 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. + +[*] Joseph, Beppo, Beppino, Bepi and Beppe are all diminutives of the +same name. "Sarto" is the English "Taylor." + +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. Indeed, the seraphic element in Bepi seems to have been +considerably leavened by that of the human boy. "That little rascal!" +exclaimed an old inhabitant of Riese when he heard of Cardinal +Sarto's elevation to the papacy, "Many a cherry of mine has found its +way down his throat!" + +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 centre 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 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. + +From the beginning of his first year at Castelfranco Giuseppe Sarto +had shown himself a hard-working and brilliant pupil, qualities which +do not always go together, At the end of his fourth year, in the +examinations held at the diocesan seminary of Treviso, he came out +first in every subject. The two priests of Riese were justly proud of +their scholar, and dreamed of great things in the future. Education, +however, costs money; and the Sarto family were not only poor, but +had eight children to provide for. That Bepi had a vocation to the +priesthood was evident to everyone who had had to do with him. The +next step was obviously the seminary; but who was to pay the +expenses? The stipend of an Italian parish priest leaves no margin +for such undertakings. Don Tito Fusarini therefore went to Canon +Casagrande, prefect of studies at the seminary, who had examined the +boys of Castelfranco; he would surely interest himself in the +brilliant youngster who had passed with honour in every subject. + +Now it happened that the patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Jacopo Monico, +was himself the son of a peasant, and a child of that very village of +Riese. Distinguished no less for his love of letters than for his +zeal for religion, it belonged to him to name the few students who +were entitled to a free scholarship at the seminary of Padua. That +his heart would be touched at the thought of his young fellow +townsman, like himself a child of the people, and unable to continue +his priestly education for lack of means, was a likely surmise. Don +Tito applied to Canon Casagrande, begging him to plead Giuseppe's +cause with the patriarch, a request which met with a prompt and +hearty assent. + +At Riese all was suspense and hope. The postman was a man of firm +faith, whose trust in God had never failed him; Margherita prayed +unceasingly. As to Bepi his whole future lay in the balance; the +dearest hopes of his heart depended on the patriarch's answer. At +last the letter arrived. Canon Casagrande announced to Don Fusarini +that Giuseppe Sarto had been proposed and accepted as a student at +the seminary of Padua, and that the patriarch had himself written to +the bishop of the diocese recommending young Sarto to his care. + +Giuseppe's joy was not unmixed with sorrow at the thought of leaving +for the first time the humble village home with all its dear +associations. In the dusk of an early November morning the +fifteen-year-old boy packed his few belongings into the country cart, +in those days the only means of conveyance for the poor, and, bravely +choking back the tears that could hardly be repressed, bade farewell +to his family. + +If the medieval charm of Castelfranco had influenced the young +student so profoundly, there was enough and to spare in the city of +Padua to satisfy his love of beauty. Famous throughout the world is +the basilica of Il Santo, built in the thirteenth century, and +dedicated in honour of the great St. Antony. Sculptures by Donatello, +bas-reliefs by Lombardi and pictures by Mantegna, Veronese and Giotto +adorn its walls. The cathedral, partly destroyed in the twelfth +century, was rebuilt by Michelangelo. The university, founded in the +thirteenth century, and counting among its students such men as +Vittorino da Feltre, the great educator, and Giovanni da Ravenna, the +friend of Petrarch, was famous throughout the Middle Ages for its +schools of medicine and of law. + +The seminary, founded in 1577 and greatly enlarged a century later, +boasts a handsome church and a noble library rich in precious +manuscripts. It was probably the first library that Bepi had seen, +certainly the first of which he had had the freedom, and one can +imagine the delight of the young student as he wandered through its +lofty halls, and realized that its treasures were henceforward part +of the endowment of the new life that was now his. + +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." + +At the end of his first year at Padua, Giuseppe was first in all his +classes. The home-coming to Riese was an unclouded joy, both to the +young seminarist and to his family. The holidays were spent in the +company of the friends of his childhood in the country that he loved. +To Don Jacuzzi and Don Fusarini he was as a beloved son, and much of +his time was spent either at the presbytery or in long rambles with +the good curate. Neither could studies be altogether neglected, +although it was holiday time; and the autumn days passed quickly +enough. + +Back again at Padua, Giuseppe set to work vigorously, without a +presentiment of the sorrow that was so soon to overcloud his +happiness. In the month of May his father died after a few days' +illness, leaving his wife and large family in very straitened +circumstances. The thought of the struggle which his mother was +waging against poverty lay like a weight upon Giuseppe's heart. He +was the eldest of the family and would have come to her assistance, +but not for worlds would the good Margherita have allowed her son to +give up his priestly career. She was full of courage, and the other +boys were growing up; they would soon be able to help to support the +family. A second grief followed upon the first. Don Tito Fusarini, +who had been like a second father to Bepi, and whose failing health +had caused him for some time past to rely more and more upon the +devotedness of his curate, was at last obliged to give up his work at +Riese. + +Don Pietro Jacuzzi, who succeeded him as rector, had been, from the +day of his arrival in the village, Giuseppe's firm friend and chief +adviser in all his boyish difficulties. The lad looked up to him as +the model of everything that a priest should be, and corresponded +with him continually from Padua. To him he owed the love and the +knowledge of music that was to prove so valuable in after years, for +had he not assisted at the transformation that had taken place in the +village choir under the able tuition of Don Pietro? He had been +witness, too, of the rector's unselfish and untiring devotion to his +priestly duties which had won him the love and reverence of his +parishioners; but within a year Giuseppe was to lose this second +friend also. Don Pietro was transferred to Vascon, to the grief of +the people of Riese. + +When Giuseppe came home for the autumn holidays in 1853 the fullness +of his loss became clear to him; Riese was hardly Riese without Don +Tito and Don Pietro. The new parish priest, whose somewhat morose +character formed a striking contrast to the genial kindliness of his +two predecessors, was not popular. He did not like sick calls in the +night, and told his parishioners so plainly from the pulpit. But +sickness and death have a knack of not considering the convenience of +the parish priest, or indeed of anybody else; and of this the +inhabitants of Riese were fully aware. + +By his very position as a church student Giuseppe was bound to be on +friendly terms with the presbytery. On the other hand, mixing as he +did with the people of the place, he could not avoid hearing some +severe criticisms of their pastor. While forced to admit to himself +that the methods of the new arrival were a little singular, the boy's +loyal and upright nature forbade him to discuss matters with his +friends. In this difficult and awkward position the lad of seventeen +showed a tact and discernment which would have been admirable in a +man of experience, "These holidays have been perfectly miserable," he +wrote to Don Jacuzzi, who had learnt from other correspondents how +things were going on; "I shut myself up in the house as much as I can +and try when visiting the members of my family to keep off dangerous +subjects." + + "No greater grief than to remember days + Of joy when sorrow is at hand," + +he quotes, for he knew his Dante well. "Even the singing has gone +down. I long for my little room at the seminary and the quiet life of +study." + +In 1856 Giuseppe distinguished himself more than ever, He had now +only two years more to spend at the seminary. His brilliant successes +as a student left him modest and humble as before, whilst his cheery +kindliness and sympathy made him a powerful influence for good +amongst his young companions. Such was the trust reposed in him by +his superiors that he had for long been prefect of discipline in the +general study room. "My masters call me '_Giubilato_'," he wrote to +Don Pietro. "I wish I could do more to show my gratitude for their +kindness." Nevertheless he greatly appreciated the private room +allotted to him during his last two years at Padua. "Here I read and +work," he wrote to the same dear friend, "and prepare myself for the +life of solitude and study that will be mine as a priest." His +favourite studies were the Bible and the Fathers of the Church. The +pastoral letters and papal encyclicals of later years bear witness to +the fact that this predilection lasted throughout his life. + +His knowledge and love of music had obtained for him the direction of +the seminary choir. "I have worked so hard at the music for the feast +of St. Aloysius," he wrote in the June of 1857, "that I am fairly +dried up." + +On the 27th of February of the same year he was ordained subdeacon in +the cathedral of Treviso, and on the feast of the Sacred Heart went +to Riese to preach. "Last Sunday I went to Riese to give a little +discourse on the Sacred Heart," he writes to Don Pietro. He does not +mention that the little discourse was so striking and so eloquent +that the enthusiasm of the congregation knew no bounds. + +At the end of August, 1858, Giuseppe Sarto's seminary life was over. +As he was only twenty-three, and the canonical age for ordination is +twenty-four, the Bishop of Treviso wrote to Rome to obtain a +dispensation. The young cleric had finished his last year as he had +finished his first, with honours in every subject. The record of his +triumphal progress is still to be seen in the books of the seminary +of Padua, the professors united in praising the qualities of his +character no less than those of his intellect. In September the +dispensation arrived, and with it the day so long desired, when +Giuseppe Sarto was to be for ever consecrated to the service of God. +The Bishop of Treviso was then at Castelfranco, and it was here that +the ordination was to take place. + +An autumn mist lay like a veil over the familiar landscape as the +young man drove along the road which led from Riese to Castelfranco. +The horse trotted swiftly, yet the way had never seemed so long. How +often had he tramped it in the old days through dust and mud and +snow, barefoot to save the shoes that were such a heavy item of +expense in the Sarto family. And it was the thought of the day which +at last had dawned, a day that seemed then so far away and so +impossible, which had been the inspiration and the strength of that +life of hardships, making everything easy to bear. The supreme +happiness that now possessed him blotted out all the past. The first +glimpse of the ivied walls of Castelfranco made his heart beat almost +to suffocation. "To-day I shall be a priest," was the one thought +that possessed him; and when, a little later, he knelt at the altar +of the cathedral where he had so often prayed as a child, to receive +the sacred laying-on of hands, it seemed to him as if earth had +nothing more to give. + +On the following day the newly-made priest sang his first Mass in the +parish church of Riese. Who shall describe the joy of his mother as +that beloved voice, clear and resonant as it remained even to old +age, yet tremulous with the joy and fear of the moment, pronounced +the words of the great Mystery? The Mass ended, the congregation +flocked to kiss the hands of the young priest whom they had known and +loved from childhood--hands that had touched to-day for the first +time the Body of the Lord. To say that it was a feast day in Riese +but feebly expresses the general jubilation. + +A few days later Don Giuseppe received a letter announcing his +destination. The Bishop of Treviso had appointed him curate to Don +Antonio Costantini, the parish priest of Tombolo. + + + +II + +CURATE AND PARISH PRIEST + +The village of Tombolo, in the province of Padua and the diocese of +Treviso, is surrounded by hilly and well-wooded country, watered by +the tributary streams of the Brenta. The parish church, St. Andrew's, +stands in the centre of the little township. Tombolo boasts of no +commercial industries; it is a pastoral country, and the greater part +of the population is occupied in dairy farming and the rearing of +cattle. The people have clearly marked characteristics; strong and +robust in build, hardened to sun, rain, and wind, rough-voiced and +somewhat ungentle in manner, they have, nevertheless, good hearts and +are in their own way religious. + +But the Tombolani have one vice--or had when Don Giuseppe became; +their curate. They swore systematically and profusely at everything, +at each other, and at the world at large. "No offence is intended to +Almighty God," they explained ingenuously to the horrified young +priest. "He certainly understands. Just go to market, and try to sell +your beasts and your grain with a 'please' and a 'thank you,' and you +will see what you will get!" + +There may have been some truth in this; and intention, no doubt, goes +a long way; but the argument did not satisfy Don Giuseppe. For the +moment he dropped the subject, but he had not done with it. + +The rector of the parish, Don Antonio Costantini, was habitually +ailing. Devoted to his people and wholly desirous to do them good, +his ill-health was a constant impediment. He had many tastes in +common with his curate, notably the love of music and of biblical and +patristic studies. He soon learnt to look upon Don Giuseppe as a son, +and highly appreciated his good qualities. + +"They have sent me a young man as curate," he wrote to a friend, +"with orders to form him to the duties of a parish priest. I assure +you it is likely to be the other way about. He is so zealous, so full +of common sense and other precious gifts that I could find much to +learn from him. Some day he will wear the mitre--of that I am +certain--and afterwards? Who knows?" + +The good rector nevertheless did his best to fulfil his commission. +"Don Bepi," he would say to his young curate, "I did not quite like +this or that in your last sermon." When the church was empty he would +make Don Bepi go into the pulpit and preach, criticizing and +commenting the while both on matter and method; comments well worth +having, for Don Antonio was a man of wide learning and an excellent +theologian. Meanwhile Don Bepi, whose sermons were already becoming +famous throughout the countryside for their zeal and eloquence, would +listen humbly and promise to try to do better. + +The income of the young curate was next to nothing, for Tombolo was a +very poor parish; but he had not been used to luxury. He had planned +his priestly life before his ordination, and was busy carrying out +the scheme. To study deeply in order to fit himself more fully for +preaching; to do as much good as was possible in the confessional and +in the pulpit; to help his people both materially and morally, to +visit the sick, to succour the poor and to instruct the +ignorant--such was the programme, and with all the vigour of his soul +he threw himself into the work. + +The widowed niece of Don Antonio who kept house for her uncle used to +see a light burning in the window of Don Giuseppe's poor lodging the +last thing at night and the first thing in the morning. + +"Do you never go to bed, Don Bepi?" she asked at breakfast one day, +for the curate took his meals at the rectory. + +Don Bepi laughed. "I study a good deal," he replied. He confessed +later that he slept for four hours, and found it quite sufficient for +his needs. + +"He was as thin as a rake," said the good lady when pressed in +after-life for reminiscences, "for he scarcely ate enough to keep +body and soul together, and was never off his feet." + +In the morning he would often ring the church bell for Mass, in order +not to disturb the sacristan. Then he would go to fetch Don Antonio, +having prepared for him all that was needed. Sometimes he would find +his chief unwell and unable to rise. + +"What is the matter?" he would ask in his cheery way--"another bad +night?" + +"I am afraid I cannot get up," would be the plaintive answer. + +"Don't try to; stay quiet, and do not worry yourself I will see to +everything," the cheery voice would continue. + +"But you have already one sermon to preach to-day, my Bepi." + +"What of that? I will preach two." + +During the days of sickness Don Giuseppe, as well as doing double +duty, would himself nurse the poor invalid. How he managed it was +known to himself alone. + +He had not forgotten--there was no chance of forgetting--the +deplorable language of his parishioners. The curate mixed with them +as much as he could, making friends especially with the young men and +the boys. He interested himself in their work and in their play, +treating them with such a spirit of friendly comradeship that they +would crowd to talk to him whenever he appeared. One day some of them +lamented that they could neither read nor write. + +"Let us start a night school," proposed Don Bepi, "and I will teach +you." + +"It would be too difficult," objected another; "some of us know a +little, some less, and others nothing at all." + +"What of that?" replied the priest. "We will have two classes-those +who know something, and those who know nothing. We will get the +schoolmaster to take the upper class, and I will teach the alphabet." + +"Why shouldn't he teach the alphabet?" protested a loyal admirer of +Don Giuseppe. + +Bepi laughed. "The alphabet is hard work," he answered, "I had rather +keep it." + +"But we can't take up your time like that for nothing," declared +another. "What can we do for you in return?" + +"Stop swearing," answered Bepi promptly, "and I shall then be more +than repaid." + +The school of singing made rapid progress in his hands. Don Antonio, +who, like his curate, was an ardent lover of Gregorian music, warmly +seconded all his efforts. The somewhat unmelodious, if extremely +powerful, vocalization of the village choir became quiet and +prayerful under his tuition. If one of the acolytes showed signs of a +vocation to the priesthood, Don Giuseppe would teach him privately +until he knew enough to go up for examination at the diocesan +seminary. + +On one point Don Antonio and his curate could never agree. Everything +that could be saved out of Don Giuseppe's tiny income went straight +to the poor. They knew it, and when he went to preach in a +neighbouring village would lie in wait for him as he returned with +his modest fee in his pocket. It sometimes happened that when he +reached home not a penny would be left, and Don Antonio would +remonstrate. + +"It is not fair to your mother, Bepi," he would say; "you should +think of her." + +"God will provide for my mother," was the answer; "these poor souls +were in greater need than she." + +Invitations to preach in other parishes became more frequent. What he +said was always simple, but it was full of teaching and went straight +to the heart. The young priest had, moreover, a natural eloquence and +a sonorous and beautiful voice. It was so evident that he spoke from +the fullness of a soul on fire with the love of God that his +enthusiasm was catching, and his sermons bore fruit. It happened on +one occasion that a priest who had been invited to preach on a +feast-day in the neighbouring village of Galliera was prevented at +the last moment from coming. There was consternation at the +presbytery. What was to be done? + +"Leave it to me," said Don Carlo Carminati, curate of Galliera and a +friend of Don Giuseppe; "I promise you it will be all right," and +jumping into the presbytery pony-cart he took the road to Tombolo. + +It was a Sunday afternoon and the hour of the children's catechism +class. Don Giuseppe was at the church door, about to enter. + +"Stop, stop," cried Don Carlo, "I want to speak to you." Don Giuseppe +turned. + +"You must come and preach at Galliera," said Don Carlo; "our preacher +has fallen through." + +"What are you thinking of?" exclaimed Don Giuseppe. "I cannot +improvise in the pulpit!" and he turned once more to go into the +church. + +"You have got to come, your rector says so, and there is not a minute +to lose," replied his friend; and, laying hold of the still +expostulating Don Giuseppe, he packed him into the pony-cart, bowed +to Don Antonio who stood smiling at the scene, and whipped up his +steed. Arrived at Galliera, Don Carlo conducted his victim to an +empty room, provided him with pencil and paper and left him. An hour +later, having been set at liberty by his triumphant fellow-curate, +Don Giuseppe vested and entered the church. The sermon that followed +was so eloquent and so appropriate to the occasion that what had +threatened to be a calamity became a cause for rejoicing. "Did not I +tell you?" exclaimed Don Carlo. + +Don Giuseppe's energy was boundless, and to him no labour was amiss. +"Work," he used to say, "is man's chief duty on earth." When the +presbytery cook fell ill, he both nursed him and took his place; for +in his eyes any kind of work was a thing to draw men nearer to the +Christ who was "poor and in labours from His youth." + +Whether it was preaching, teaching, playing with the village +children, visiting the sick, helping the dying, hearing confessions, +catechizing the young or studying theology, it was all the same to +him--work for the Master, and as such ennobling and honourable. + +So the time passed, until Don Giuseppe had been eight years at +Tombolo. Much as Don Antonio loved and appreciated his curate, or +rather because of this very love and appreciation, it distressed him +to think that his talents should have no wider sphere than a little +country parish. He spoke of this one day to one of the canons of +Treviso. The two curates of Galliera who were present joined +enthusiastically in the praise of their friend. The canon became +thoughtful. + +"Do you think he could preach in the cathedral of Padua for the feast +of St. Antony?" he asked after a moment of reflection. + +"Most certainly, Monsignor," was the answer. + +"Well," continued the canon, "if you will be responsible for his +accepting, I will see to it that he is asked." + +The feast-day sermon was naturally a topic of much interest in Padua. +"Who is to preach?" was the question on everybody's lips on the +morning of the great day. + +"Don Giuseppe Sarto, a young priest who is curate of Tombolo," was +the reply. + +Now it was customary on the feast of St. Antony to ask a preacher of +some distinction to occupy the cathedral pulpit. + +"The curate of Tombolo!" was the apprehensive comment. "Oh dear! A +country curate from an out-of-the-way village!" The cathedral was +crowded for the high Mass. When the slight young figure of Don +Giuseppe mounted the pulpit stairs there was a gasp of astonishment, +which gave place to an expectant silence. + +"His intelligence and culture were no less remarkable than his +eloquence," wrote one of the congregation to a friend. "His imagery +was beautiful, his style perfect." The sermon lasted over an hour, +and no one thought it too long. + +In the May of 1867 Don Giuseppe was appointed rector of Salzano. A +wail of lamentation arose from the little parish where he had worked +so faithfully for nearly ten years. "He was our father, our brother, +our friend, and our comfort," cried the Tombolani. In the heart of +Don Antonio grief for his loss contended with joy at the thought that +the merits of his beloved Don Bepi had been recognized at last. + +Salzano is a small country town in the province of Venetia. It has a +handsome church with a graceful campanile and a somewhat imposing +presbytery. The country is fertile, and the people, who are wholly +given to agriculture, are quiet, steady and hard-working. The new +rector arrived on a Saturday evening in July. At Mass the next +morning, in spite of the heat, the church was crowded, for the +inhabitants of the neighbouring villages had assembled in force to +hear the sermon of the newly appointed _parroco_. + +The result was a delightful surprise. "What was the bishop thinking +of," they asked one another when Mass was over, "to leave a man like +that buried all these years at a place like Tombolo?" + +As for Don Giuseppe, he set to work at once to visit his people. His +frank simplicity, his understanding sympathy and zeal for their +welfare gained their hearts at once. As at Tombolo, he gave special +attention to the instruction of children; and, not content with this, +inaugurated classes in Christian doctrine for the adults. "Most of +the evil in the world," he would often say, "comes from a want of the +knowledge of God and of His truth." + +In spite of the large parish and the handsome rectory, Don Giuseppe's +habits were as frugal as ever. There was more to give to the poor, +that was all. His sister Rosina kept house for him. + +"Bepi," she said one day, "there is nothing for dinner." + +"Not even a couple of eggs?" + +A couple of eggs there were, and on these they dined. + +But there was always a welcome at the rectory and a share of anything +that was going for any old friend who dropped in. Don Carlo came one +evening for a visit, and found Don Giuseppe in the kitchen playing +games with some little children. They were sent home with a promise +that the game should be continued on another occasion, and Don Carlo +was pressed to stay. The next morning he was accosted by Rosina. + +"Don Carlo, you are an old friend, and a very kind one," she began +hesitatingly; "there is a man coming to-morrow who sells shirting." + +"Really?" answered Don Carlo, rather at a loss to connect the +statements. + +"Yesterday my brother got a little money," continued Rosina, "and he +has hardly a shirt to his back. Now if you were to try to persuade +him to buy some shirting, I think he perhaps would do it. Will you do +your best?" + +Don Carlo promised, and took the first opportunity of broaching the +subject. + +"Nonsense, nonsense," was the answer, "there is no necessity at all," +and the plea was cut short. + +But Don Carlo was not so easily beaten; he knew the sunny nature of +his friend, and determined to have recourse to strategy. On the +arrival of the pedlar, he examined his materials, selected what he +considered suitable, and set to work, after the manner of his +country, to bargain. Having agreed on what he considered a fair +price, he ordered the required length to be cut off, and turned to +Don Giuseppe who had been innocently watching the transaction. "So +many yards at such and such a price," he declared. "Pay up, Don +Giuseppe!" + +The rector was disgusted; but there was nothing to be done but to +obey. The bargain had been made and the shirting cut off. "Even _you_ +come here and plot to betray me," he complained. + +As for Rosina, her delight knew no bounds. "God bless the day you +came, Don Carlo," she said, meeting him outside the door. "If you had +not been here to-day, to-morrow there would have been neither money +nor linen!" + +Salzano was a large parish, and the rector had to keep a conveyance. +It was not much to look at, but it did hard service, being at the +disposal of everybody who appealed to the well-known charity of its +owner. The horse came home one day with both knees badly damaged. + +"I am very sorry," pleaded the borrower, "an accident . . . ." + +Don Giuseppe swallowed hard. "Never mind, never mind," he said; "it +is all right." + +One day--there had been a bad harvest that year, and there was much +poverty in the parish--the rector asked a friend who was in easy +circumstances to sell the horse for him. "You have so many relations +with money," he pleaded. + +The horse having been disposed of, it was then suggested that the +same friend might also sell the carriage. + +"I don't think I shall succeed," he remarked doubtfully, "for you +must allow that it is not in the best condition." His fears were too +true; no purchaser was found, and the carriage remained in the +presbytery stable at the disposal of anyone who possessed a horse +without a vehicle. + +In 1873 there was a serious outbreak of cholera. The people of +Salzano knew little of hygiene and less of sanitation; it was hard to +make them take the most necessary precautions. Don Giuseppe was +everything at once: doctor, nurse and sanitary inspector, as well as +parish priest. Not only were there the sick and the dying to be +tended, but the living to be heartened and consoled. "If it had not +been for our dear Don Giuseppe," said an old man in later days, "I +should have died of fear and sorrow during those dreadful times." +Some of the people took it into their heads that the medicines and +remedies ordered by the doctor were intended to put them quickly out +of their pain, and would not take them unless they were administered +by the priest's own hand. + +For fear of infection, the dead had to be buried by night, and no one +was allowed to attend the funeral. Anxious lest in the fear and the +haste of the moment due honour should not be paid to these victims of +the epidemic, Don Giuseppe was always there to see that all was done +as it should be. Not only did he say the prayers and carry out the +rites prescribed by the Church, but would take his place as coffin +bearer, and even helped to dig the graves. Sorrow at the heartrending +scenes he had to witness, added to these incessant labours by night +and by day, would have ruined a less robust constitution than his. It +is small wonder that Don Carlo Carminati, coming to visit him soon +afterwards, was horrified at his appearance. + +"You are ill!" he exclaimed. + +"You think so?" was the quiet answer. + +"He _is_ ill," interposed Rosina vehemently, "but what can you +expect? He is everybody's servant, he never spares himself. He has +not only given away the food from his own mouth, but his night's +rest. Look at him, nothing but skin and bone!" + +"Your sister is right, you are doing too much. Remember that the +pitcher can go to the well once too often; and when it is quite worn +out, it will break." + +"You are becoming quite an orator," commented Don Giuseppe with a +smile. + +Don Carlo was a man of action. He wrote to Don Antonio Costantini +telling him that their dear Giuseppe was killing himself, and begging +him to give a hint to the diocesan authorities. The hint was duly +conveyed and duly taken. The bishop wrote to the rector of Salzano, +ordering him to take more care of himself; but this was an art which +Don Giuseppe had never studied, and he did not know how to begin. He +continued to devote himself body and soul to his flock, leaving +himself to the care of God. + +With Don Giuseppe the service of Christ in His poor went hand in hand +with the service of Christ at the altar. During his ministry at +Salzano the parish church was greatly improved and beautified. He got +together a choir of young men and boys and taught them to sing the +stately Gregorian music that he loved for its devout and prayerful +spirit. Even those who knew the stark poverty of the rector's private +life did not always understand how the means could be obtained to +carry out the plans he had at heart. + +"But how will you get the money?" they would sometimes ask. + +"God will provide," was the quiet answer, given with the serene faith +characteristic of the strong. + + + +III + +CANON AND BISHOP + +In the early spring of the year 1875 the chancellor of the diocese of +Treviso was removed to Fossalunga. A canon's stall was also vacant, +while the seminary was in need of a spiritual director. It was the +general opinion that if these three offices could be held by one +holy, wise and purposeful man, it would be an excellent thing for all +parties concerned. + +"I have it!" said Bishop Zinelli, "Don Giuseppe Sarto is the very man +we need." + +No sooner said than done. The rector of Salzano was named chancellor +and residential canon of the cathedral of Treviso, and appointed +spiritual director of the seminary. The bishop had not forgotten the +warnings of Don Giuseppe's friends. By this arrangement the newly +appointed canon would reside at the seminary, where the care of his +health would not be left entirely in his own hands. He would, +moreover, preside at the professors' table, and therefore would be +unable to indulge his tendency to starve so as to feed the poor. + +The news was received with mixed feelings by the people of Salzano. +Joy that their beloved father should receive such a mark of honour +struggled hard with their grief at losing him. It comforted them a +little, they said, to think that his precious gifts, instead of being +spent on Salzano alone, would now find full scope in a diocese that +counted two hundred and ten parishes. + +It was not until the autumn of the same year that Don Giuseppe bade +farewell to his sorrowing parishioners, and, taking possession of his +stall, sang the first vespers of Advent Sunday in the cathedral of +Treviso. Like all the other professors of the seminary, Canon Sarto +had three small rooms set apart for his use. From the windows he +could look across the neatly-kept garden to where the quiet waters of +the Sile, flowing by the ivy-coloured walls, widened out into little +lakes amongst the thickets of poplar and plane trees that lay beyond. + +The rector of the seminary was Don Giuseppe's old friend Pietro +Jacuzzi, and there were in the college 160 lay students and 54 +aspirants to the priesthood. "I well remember Monsignor Sarto's first +instruction," said one of the latter in after years. "'You are +expecting to find in me,' he began, 'a man of profound learning and +of wide experience in spiritual matters, a master in asceticism and +doctrine. You will be disappointed, for I am none of these things. I +am only a poor country parish-priest. But I am here by God's +will--therefore you must bear with me.' I have forgotten the +instruction," added the narrator, "but the preamble I shall never +forget." + +A regular course of instruction and meditation was begun at once, and +immediately won the attention of the students. The lucid simplicity +with which Monsignor Sarto spoke carried the minds of his hearers +straight into the heart of the truth which they were considering. The +students were never tired, never puzzled, his conferences being +eminently practical and within the grasp of his audience. His aim was +to inculcate real solid piety which would endure throughout the +troubles and temptations of life. It is not everybody who has the art +of appealing to the young: it was one in which Monsignor Sarto +excelled. Even in his familiar talks, full of merriment and sympathy, +there was always something helpful and uplifting. Personal +cleanliness, not as a rule the most prominent characteristic of +southern nations, was a thing on which he laid particular stress. +Gentle and kind as he was to all weakness and suffering, he could be +stern enough when it was necessary, and his reproofs were seldom +forgotten. If any of the students fell sick, he would nurse them with +a mother's tenderness; and to those of the seminarists who were the +sons of poor parents he gave material as well as moral help. + +It happened that one of these students was in great distress by +reason of a family difficulty. His father, a poor working man, was in +urgent need of a few pounds, and there was no means of obtaining the +sum. He confided his trouble to one of his companions, who asked him +why he did not go to Monsignor Sarto and tell him all about it. The +advice was taken, and he knocked at the familiar door. Monsignor +Sarto was seated at his table reading. "What can I do for you?" he +asked kindly. + +The young man, who found it difficult to put his trouble into words, +stammered out the whole story, Monsignor Sarto listening with +compassion. "I am so sorry," he said when the tale was ended, "but I +have only a few lire, nothing like the sum you require." The poor +student broke down completely, for his last hope was gone. + +"Come, come; cheer up!" cried the good canon, greatly distressed; +"come to me to-morrow, and if I cannot give you all, I may be able to +give you part of the money." + +Next morning the seminarist returned. + +"Well?" said Monsignor Sarto. + +"Well?" answered the student nervously. + +"Do you really think," continued the canon, "that I can manufacture +banknotes?" Then, seeing the young man's distress, he added hastily: +"Come come, my son, I was only joking, I have got the money," and, +opening a little drawer, he took out the required sum. + +"You will soon be a priest," he continued, "and when you can do so +without inconvenience, you must give it back to me, for you see I +have had to borrow it myself." + +The winters were sometimes bitterly cold at Treviso, and the house +was unwarmed. The needy students would often find warm clothing +provided for them by the same charitable hand. A tradesman of Treviso +certified that he received many orders from Monsignor Sarto for warm +cloaks, with strict injunction to keep the matter secret. That the +canon had seldom more than a few lire in his possession was not +surprising. + +It was a labour of love to him to prepare the little boys for their +first communion. The vice-rector begged that this task might be left +to those of the staff who had more time to spare. + +"It is my duty," was the answer. "Am I not their spiritual father?" + +In order to obtain the necessary time Monsignor Sarto deprived +himself of the evening walk which was his only recreation after a day +of hard work; and, assembling his lively little band of neophytes in +the church, he would hold them spellbound. + +His kindness and quick sympathy made him as popular with the staff. +Laying aside the cares of his office together with the big bundle of +papers that accompanied him everywhere, he set himself to make the +time spent in the refectory as refreshing for the minds as it was for +the bodies of his colleagues. The amusing stories told by him and the +interesting discussions he set afoot were long remembered, as was his +sly teasing of certain professors. These were not the moments, he +held, for discussing serious questions; anyone who mentioned the word +logic, for instance, was obliged to make amends by telling an +interesting or useful story. When Monsignor Sarto's place was empty, +everything fell flat. + +He still kept up his old habit of working during part of the night. +His neighbour in the seminary would often hear him moving in his room +long after everyone else had retired to rest. "Go to bed, Monsignor," +he would sometimes call out. "He works ill who works too long." + +"Quite true, quite true, Don Francesco," would come the answer; "put +that into practice. Go to bed and sleep well." It was past midnight +before Monsignor Sarto's light went out, and he was up again by four +o'clock. + +In 1879 Bishop Zinelli died, and Monsignor Sarto was elected vicar +capitular to administer the diocese while the see remained vacant. He +announced his nomination in characteristic words. + +"Called by the votes of my colleagues to administer the diocese of +Treviso in place of him who for so many years has ruled it with such +wisdom, prudence and zeal, I must frankly confess that I have +accepted this heavy burden, not only because I feel assured that they +will help me in my task, but because I know the spirit of the clergy. +That you will earnestly co-operate with me in upholding the most +precious prerogatives of the priesthood I have no doubt. I ask you, +therefore, to remember the words of the Apostle: 'Walk carefully, +that our ministry be not blamed'; let our actions be such that our +enemies shall find nothing in us worthy of reproach. You are full of +zeal for souls: seek to win them rather by love than by fear. The +supreme wish of our Lord for His own was that they should love one +another, and this wish found its fulfilment in apostolic times, when +the Christians were one heart and one soul in Christ. A priest's life +is a continual warfare against evil, which cannot fail to raise up +powerful enemies. In order that they may not prevail against us, let +us be united in charity amongst ourselves; thus we shall be +invincible and strong as a rock." + +Monsignor Sarto administered the diocese for less than a year, but in +this short time he accomplished much. Although still spiritual +director of the seminary, he preached oftener in public, his sermons +invariably rousing enthusiasm. In the February of 1880 he was +relieved of this office on the nomination as bishop of Monsignor +Callegari, who was to find in his chancellor a devoted and faithful +friend. The new bishop, however, was destined to remain but a short +time at Treviso. In 1882 he was promoted to Padua, Monsignor +Apollonio succeeding him at Treviso. + +In September, 1884, Monsignor Apollonio, who had been making the +pastoral visit of his diocese, returned home rather unexpectedly, and +Monsignor Sarto was not a little surprised at being summoned somewhat +mysteriously to the bishop's private oratory. "Let us kneel before +the Blessed Sacrament," said Monsignor Apollonio gravely, "and pray +about a matter which concerns us both intimately." Still more +astonished, Monsignor Sarto knelt, and the two prelates prayed for a +moment in silence. Then the bishop rose, and, handing a letter to his +companion, bade him read it. Thus did Monsignor Sarto learn his +nomination to the bishopric of Mantua. + +The strong man who all his life long had welcomed hardship and +suffering with a cheery smile, wept like a child. He was, he +declared, utterly incapable, quite unworthy of such a trust. The +bishop, who knew better, but whose heart was touched at the sight of +his friend's distress, comforted him as best he could. "It is God's +will," he said; "trust in His help." Convinced, however, in his own +mind that Pope Leo XIII was wholly mistaken in his judgment of him, +Monsignor Sarto wrote to Rome to profess his incapacity and +worthlessness. His arguments were not accepted. + +Early in November, amidst enthusiastic demonstrations, the +bishop-elect set out for Rome. At Padua he met with a fresh ovation, +Monsignor Callegari himself came to the station to greet his old +friend and to wish him well. On the evening of the 8th he was +received by Pope Leo, and left his presence consoled and full of +courage as to the future. Consecrated on the 16th, he remained in +Rome for ten days longer, returning on the 29th to Treviso, where he +was to remain for some months before entering on his episcopal charge. + +It was during this time that he went one day, accompanied by a +friend, to visit a Venetian city. In the railway carriage were two +gentlemen, who, while conversing on local subjects, touched on the +election of the new bishop of Mantua. They wondered what kind of a +man Monsignor Sarto was; not very intelligent, they feared, nor very +gifted. The bishop-elect, with a sign to his companion to keep quiet, +joined in the conversation, endorsing most heartily everything that +they said in his own disparagement. He then proceeded to contrast the +poor picture he had painted of himself with the qualities that were +necessary for an ideal bishop, and this with such ability and +discernment that his two hearers were greatly impressed. Monsignor +Sarto was the first to leave the carriage. + +"Who is that delightful priest?" asked the gentlemen of his +companion, who was preparing to follow. + +The latter made a low bow. "Monsignor Sarto, Bishop-elect of Mantua," +he answered with elaborate irony. + +He spent Holy Week and Easter that year with his mother and sisters +at Riese. It was a double festival for his family and the friends of +his childhood who crowded round him. Back again at Treviso, where he +had spent so many happy days, he had not the courage to face a public +farewell. "Read them this letter at dinner," he said to the rector of +the seminary; "tell them I keep them all in my heart, and that they +must pray for me." Then, slipping unnoticed out of the house, he went +to the carriage ordered to wait for him at a little distance, and so +set out for Mantua. + +At the station a large crowd had gathered to receive him, priests, +people, representatives of the noble families of the place, and of +the divers associations of town and country. Outside the bishop's +house, in the great square of St. Peter, a multitude of townspeople +were awaiting his arrival. "We want to see our bishop," they cried +tumultuously, and their desire was immediately satisfied. Stepping +out into the balcony which overlooked the square, their new pastor +greeted them with warm affection and gave them his blessing. + +Mantua, say the Italians, has always been a fighting city, and in +1885 it was still true to its reputation. Of Etruscan origin, and the +birthplace of Virgil and Sordello, throughout the fifteenth and +sixteenth centuries its see had been usually held by members of the +famous family of Gonzaga. The task which lay before the new bishop +was no easy one. There were divisions between clergy and people; the +seminary was almost empty of students; many parishes were without a +priest; no synod had been held within the memory of man. The spirit +in which Monsignor Sarto took up his new work showed itself in his +first pastoral letter to his flock. + +"I shall spare myself neither care nor labour nor watchfulness for +the salvation of souls. My hope is in Christ, who strengthens the +weakest by His divine help; I can do all in Him who strengtheneth me! +His power is infinite, and if I lean on Him it will be mine; His +wisdom is infinite, and if I look to Him for counsel I shall not be +deceived; His goodness is infinite, and if my trust is stayed on Him +I shall not be abandoned. Hope unites me to God and Him to me. +Although I know I am not sufficient for the burden, my strength is in +Him. For the salvation of others I must bear weariness, face dangers, +suffer offences, confront storms, fight against evil. He is my hope." + +His first care was the seminary, and in a little more than a year he +was able to write to a friend: "I have a hundred and forty-seven +boarders, young men with healthy appetites who can digest anything +and everything." + +The scarcity of priests in the country villages was indeed +disastrous. The bishop lost no time in convoking a synod. "If people +do not hear of God, of the sacraments, and of eternal life," he said +to the priests assembled, "they will soon lose every good feeling, +both civil and social. No difficulty is insurmountable; nothing is +impossible to those who will and those who love." The difficulty that +at that moment seemed most insurmountable was the want of money. The +hundred and forty-seven young men required feeding, and the seminary +was poor. The bishop sold the few fields at Riese that were all he +possessed to meet the immediate need, and others, stirred by his zeal +and eloquence, came forward to help him. + +A thorough visitation of the diocese enabled Monsignor Sarto to +understand its needs more fully. He liked to hear both sides of every +question, and asked everyone to be perfectly frank with him in +discussing both good and evil. "Joy shared is joy doubled," he would +say, "and grief imparted becomes easier to bear." An old man who came +one day was received with such kindness that, concluding he had to do +with the bishop's secretary, he talked to him at great length about a +little personal affair. "Can I believe you?" he asked wistfully, as +the kind priest assured him that all would be right. + +"What!" was the answer, "can you not trust your bishop?" + +In order that the pastoral visitation might be no burden on the +country priests, whose life was a continual struggle with poverty, he +ordered that no preparations whatever were to be made for his +reception. Nothing extra was to be provided; he would share with them +what they had. Instead of a demonstration at the station, he begged +that the people might gather in the churches for Mass and communion. +"That is the greatest honour they can do me," he said; "that will be +my greatest reward. I desire no useless pomp, but the salvation of +souls." + +One of his first acts was to write to the mayor of the city to ask +his assistance, thus holding out the right hand of fellowship to the +civil authority, and enlisting it in his behalf. "Your new bishop," +ran the letter, "poor in everything else, but rich in love for his +flock, has no other object than to work for the salvation of souls +and to form among you one family of friends and brothers." The +question of church and state, then a thorny one in Italy, had not of +late years found a happy solution in Mantua. This gracious act of the +new bishop was the first step towards a better understanding. He +interested himself much in social questions; and it was through his +efforts that the first Italian social congress was held at Piacenza +in 1890. He understood the power of the press, and started a +flourishing paper called the _Citizen of Mantua_. + +As at Tombolo, at Salzano, and at Treviso, so at Mantua was the +teaching of Christian doctrine one of the bishop's first cares. +Schools and confraternities were established everywhere throughout +the diocese, and on his pastoral visits he would catechize the +children himself to see that they were properly instructed in the +faith. Parents who would not allow their children to attend were +threatened with severe penalties; on this subject the bishop, so +gentle towards sorrow and suffering, was stern and inflexible. The +children's souls were at stake, he said, and he would not see their +birthright withheld from them. He insisted that church music should +be decorous and religious, and that the Gregorian chant should be +used when possible. + +The bishop's day was a strenuous one. At five he celebrated Mass in +his private chapel, and, his thanksgiving ended, went straight to his +confessional in the cathedral. After breakfast of black coffee and a +mouthful of bread, he began the oft-interrupted day's work, for he +would have no set hours for receiving visits. Those who wanted him +were admitted at any hour, and received with the most genial +kindness. "No matter with what faces they go in," it was said of his +visitors, "they always come out smiling--that is, unless they have +done something dreadful." On these occasions Bishop Sarto could +scorch the offender with words of fire, but at the first sign of +repentance he was ready to forgive, to lift up the sinner and set him +on the right road. Towards evening he would take a walk in the town, +speaking familiarly to all he met. At nine he said the rosary with +his household, after which he worked or studied till midnight. + +St. Anselm of Lucca, friend of Gregory VII, and, like him, inspired +with holy zeal for the reform of the clergy, is the patron saint of +Mantua. In 1886 his centenary was celebrated with great splendour in +the cathedral where he lies buried. Nor did the tercentenary of St. +Aloysius Gonzaga, whose family was one of Mantua's olden glories, +pass without special honour. A stirring address was given by the +bishop himself to the young men, of whom St. Aloysius was the special +patron. + +"Religion has no fear of science," said Monsignor Sarto, attacking +one of the most popular fallacies of the day; "Christianity does not +tremble before discussion, but before ignorance. Tertullian +proclaimed as much to the emperors of Rome. 'One thing,' he said, +'our faith demands: not to be condemned before it be known,' and it +is this that I ask of you, young men, not to condemn religion before +you have studied it." Pilgrimages were inaugurated to the birthplace +of the saint at Castiglione; a mission was preached to the boys and +young men of the district; processions were held. The celebration of +the festival did a great deal of good in the diocese, impressing as +it did upon the people the fact that the best way to honour their +saints was by following in their footsteps. + +In 1887 the sacerdotal jubilee of Pope Leo XIII was celebrated +throughout the world. The words in which the Bishop of Mantua +announced the approaching celebration to his flock found an echo in +every Catholic heart. "The moment has come," he said, "to prove to +the great Vicar of Christ our unchanging affection and fidelity. For +us Leo XIII is the guardian of the Holy Scriptures, the interpreter +of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, the supreme dispenser of the +treasures of the Church, the head of the Catholic religion, the chief +shepherd of souls, the infallible teacher, the secure guide, who +directs us on our way through a world wrapped in darkness and the +shadow of death. All the strength of the Church is in the pope; all +the foundations of our faith are based on the successor of Peter. +Those who wish her ill assault the papacy in every possible way; they +cut themselves adrift from the Church, and try their best to make the +pope an object of hatred and contempt. The more they endeavour to +weaken our faith and our attachment to the head of the Church, the +more closely let us draw to him through the public testimony of our +faith, our obedience and our veneration." + +The fame of the zeal and piety of the Bishop of Mantua soon spread +beyond the bounds of his own diocese. His conspicuous merit and +ability had not escaped the vigilant eye of Leo XIII, who had marked +him out for higher dignity still. "If the Mantuans do not love their +new bishop," he had said on the appointment of Monsignor Sarto, "they +will love no one." + +But the Mantuans were not so hard of heart, and the quarrelsome city, +in the hands of one who, like his Master, was meek and humble of +heart, had become a city of peace. + + + +IV + +PATRIARCH OF VENICE + +In the consistory of June 12, 1893, Pope Leo XIII named Bishop Sarto +cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, and three days later appointed him +archbishop and patriarch of Venice.[*] On June 7 the bishop had set +out for Rome, and on the 15th, in the presence of representatives +from Venice, Treviso, Mantua and Riese, he received the cardinal's +hat, with the title of San Bernardo alle Terme. The wisdom and +modesty of the new cardinal, added to his charm of manner, won him +many friends during his stay in Rome. For sixteen months Cardinal +Sarto was unable to take possession of his see; for the Italian +government, having claimed the right to nominate the patriarch, +refused to sanction his appointment; and the municipality of Venice, +which was largely anti-clerical, was only too glad of a pretext to +show hostility to the Church. + +[*] Patriarch is an honorary title. The only real patriarch in the +Western Church is the pope himself. + +The cardinal's first visit after his return from Rome was to his +mother at Riese. At one of the stations on the way thither he was met +by a deputation of his old friends the Tombolani, headed by their +parish priest. Quite forgetting in their joy the respect due to a +prince of the Church, the simple peasants rushed at their old curate, +shouting vociferously, "Don Giuseppe! Don Giuseppe!" The cardinal, +pleased with their enthusiasm, laughed and greeted his old friends +with much affection. + +All the bells were ringing in Riese as he entered it; all the people, +young and old, were there to meet him and to escort him, the centre +of a laughing, weeping, shouting crowd, to the church. Everyone was +at Benediction, and when old friends had been greeted and good wishes +given and received, the greatest joy of all was still to come--the +meeting in the little home of his childhood, where Margherita had her +son at last to herself. Next morning the cardinal preached to the +people, thanking them for their welcome, and speaking of all the +precious memories that centred for him round the altar where he had +made his first communion and offered his first Mass. The day was +spent in receiving visits; there was a kind word of greeting for new +friends, and a still kinder word of remembrance for the old. + +Early next day, having vested in his scarlet _cappa magna_, Cardinal +Sarto went to his mother's room and, standing beside her bed, showed +himself in all the glory of the "sacred purple." Margherita wept with +joy; but there were tears of sorrow before night. It was the last day +at Riese, and although neither of them knew it, that parting kiss was +to be the last on this side of the grave. The old mother clung to her +son with a passionate tenderness as he clasped her frail figure in +his arms. She was eighty years old, and at that age partings are +hard. A few months later the sorrowful news of her death reached the +cardinal, now back at Mantua and busy with his episcopal duties. The +joy of the last meeting and the grief of the last parting had been +too much for the old mother's heart. + +In September 1894 the government gave way at last, and the +_exequatur_ or confirmation of the papal bull arrived. A few weeks +later Cardinal Sarto pontificated for the last time in the cathedral +of Mantua, and, bidding a loving farewell to the diocese where he had +laboured so long and so strenuously, set out for Venice. + +For years a government hostile to religion had waged relentless war +on the Church in Italy. Laws had been passed forbidding religious +teaching in the schools; charitable works had been "laicized": in +other words, the goods of religious fraternities and charitable +societies had been confiscated by the state, the revenues of +bishoprics had been refused to prelates appointed by the pope, and +rights of patronage had been claimed by the government over many +sees. The result was soon to be seen in a growing materialism in all +ranks of society. + +"God is driven out of politics by this theory of the separation of +church and state," wrote the new patriarch in his first letter to his +flock. "He is driven out of learning by systematized doubt; from art +by the degrading influence of realism; from law by a morality which +is guided by the senses alone; from the schools by the abolition of +religious instruction; from Christian marriage, which they want to +deprive of the grace of the sacrament; from the cottage of the poor +peasant, who disdains the help of Him who alone can make his hard +life bearable; from the palaces of the rich, who no longer fear the +eternal Judge who will one day ask from them an account of their +stewardship. . . . We must fight this great contemporary error, the +enthronement of man in the place of God. The solution of this, as of +all other problems, lies in the Church and the teaching of the +Gospel." + +The Venetian people were determined to show their new pastor that the +representatives of the government were not the representatives of +popular feeling. Amidst the decorations which adorned the town, the +municipal buildings alone remained untouched; amongst the crowds that +gathered to meet the patriarch, the members of the municipality were +conspicuously absent. The people resolved on an ovation the like of +which had never before been seen. As the patriarch entered the launch +that had been sent to receive him, the bells of all the towers in the +City of the Sea rang out a joyous welcome; from every balcony and +bridge came bursts of cheering, while a closely packed and +enthusiastic crowd occupied every available space along the route. At +the prow of the launch stood Cardinal Sarto in all the splendour of +scarlet robes, a noble manly figure, full of dignity and sweetness, +blessing the crowd with the winning smile that was characteristic of +him. + +On the following morning in St. Mark's, having listened to the +congratulatory speeches addressed to him, the cardinal turned to the +people, and in the breathless silence that followed, his clear voice +rang out to the farthest recesses of the cathedral. + +"I should be ashamed," he said, "to be the object of such honour, did +I not know that it is offered, not to my poor person, but to Jesus +Christ, whose representative I am and in whose name I come among you. +You wish to show that you see in me your bishop, your father, and +your patriarch, and I am bound to love you in return. When Jesus +Christ gave to St. Peter the charge of His sheep and of His lambs, He +asked him three times for the assurance of his love, thus giving him +to understand that love is the greatest necessity for a shepherd of +souls. From this moment I gather you all into my heart; I love you +with a strong and supernatural love, desiring but the good of your +souls. For you are all my family--priests, citizens, great and small, +rich and poor. My heart and my love are yours, and from you I ask +nothing but the same love in return. My only desire is that you +should say of me, 'Our patriarch is a man of upright intention, who +holds high the banner of our Lord Jesus Christ, who seeks only to +defend the truth and to do good.' And since God has raised me, a son +of the people, to this high dignity, He will certainly give me the +strength and the grace necessary for so great a mission. It is the +duty of a bishop to proclaim God's truth, to interpret it to the +people; and I look upon it as a holy duty to speak frankly in its +defence. I am ready to make any sacrifice for the salvation of souls. +You who have zeal for the things of God, work with me, help me, and +God will give us the grace that is necessary to achieve our ends." + +The Venetians were deeply moved; they felt that their new patriarch +was a truly apostolic man, and the impression only gathered strength +as time went on. The doors of his house were always open to anyone, +rich or poor, who wished to speak to the patriarch; the troubles of +the least of his flock were his own. He threw himself with all his +heart into every movement for the bettering of the condition of the +poor, often settling, by his tact and zeal, bitter disputes between +capital and labour. The municipality was, as we have seen, +anti-clerical. He rallied the Catholic forces with such success that +within a year they prevailed. For he knew the way to obtain his ends; +and while throwing into the struggle the whole influence of his +forceful personality, he inaugurated throughout the diocese, before +and during the elections, a regular crusade of prayer. Wherever he +went, peace and reconciliation followed. "Possessed of much sweetness +and charm of manner," wrote one who knew him, "and uniting a certain +stateliness and dignity with a graceful address and a delightful +sense of humour, he preached the gospel of personal culture, putting +cleanliness next to godliness, and good manners next to good morals, +himself setting the example in these things." + +As at Mantua and at Treviso, he insisted strongly on religious +instruction for all classes. Ignorance of Christian teaching, he +said, was the great defect of the times, and very many evils sprang +from this alone. Many who were learned in secular sciences were +deplorably ignorant of the truths of their faith. Preachers were apt +to take too much for granted that their congregations were well +instructed, and on this account their sermons bore little fruit. + +"There is too much preaching and too little teaching," said the +patriarch; "put aside these flowery and elaborate discourses, and +preach to the people plainly and simply on the eternal truths of +faith and on the teaching of the Gospel. Think of the good of souls +rather than of the impression you are making. The people are +thirsting for truth; give them what they need for their souls' +health, for this is the first duty of a priest." + +He insisted on religious instruction for adults as well as children, +but reminded his priests that all these things require study, +preparation and prayer. As nothing pertaining to the dignity of the +priesthood was small in his eyes, he insisted that the clergy should +be tidy in dress and scrupulously clean. He mixed freely with the +people, often stopping to talk to those he met in friendly and +familiar fashion. The Venetians loved him dearly. "There goes our +dear patriarch," they would say, "intent on some good. God bless him +and the mother who bore him." His home life was as simple as ever, +and his charities as great. His two sisters and his niece kept house +for him. His steward had to put him on an allowance, so unmeasured +was his almsgiving, and it was said that the episcopal ring of the +chief pastor of Venice was more than once in pawn. + +"Times are changed," said an old friend who was visiting him, as the +cardinal pulled out a gold watch from his pocket. "Do you remember +the silver one which was always going to the pawnbroker at Tombolo?" + +The patriarch looked ruefully at the watch. "The person who gave it +me," he said, laughing, "had the unfortunate inspiration to get the +patriarchal arms engraved on the back!" + +"I am so sorry to have to send you such a wretched sum," he wrote to +a priest in Mantua who had applied to him for money for some charity; +"I was poor at Mantua, but here I am a perfect beggar. Take what I +send in the same spirit, and forgive me." + +The diocesan visitation begun soon after his arrival in Venice was no +small affair, and took several months to accomplish. "We appreciate +greatly the zeal and charity of our patriarch," said the people, "but +we are praying that he may sometimes think a little of himself; for +such men are precious, and we want to keep him as long as we can." As +at Mantua, he begged that there might be as little pomp and ceremony +as possible, and that no extraordinary preparations might be made in +the different parishes for his arrival. With quick intuition he saw +at a glance exactly what was needed in the way of reform or +development, and at the synod which followed showed a perfect +knowledge of the requirements of the archdiocese. + +The eucharistic congress in Venice which took place in August, 1898, +was prompted and carried out by the zeal and energy of Patriarch +Sarto, who spared no pains to make it a success. Inaugurated as a +reparation for the many sacrileges offered to Jesus Christ in the +Blessed Sacrament, its aim was to stimulate the faith of the people +and to arouse in them a greater love for this mystery of their faith. +Each parish was to take its part in the celebration, the whole +congress being carefully organized by the cardinal himself. "The +heart of man," he said, "is inconstant in good; it grows cold and +careless if it is not stirred up to action from time to time." +Conferences were held and missions preached in many of the Venetian +churches to prepare the people. The bells of all the city rang out to +announce the beginning of the congress, which opened with a +magnificent procession to St. Mark's. The inaugural address was +preached by Cardinal Svampa, Archbishop of Bologna; and on the +following day the patriarch himself addressed the people. + +"Jesus is our king," he said, "and we delight to honour as our king +Him whom the world dishonours and disowns. We, His true subjects, +offer our true homage to Christ the King; the warmth of our love +shall be greater than the coldness of the world. We meet around the +tabernacle where Jesus remains in our midst until the end of time; +there faith springs up anew in our hearts, while the fire of His +charity--the very fire that He came to cast upon the earth--burns +within us. The object of this eucharistic congress is to make +reparation to our Lord Jesus Christ for the insults offered to Him in +the Blessed Sacrament; to pray that His thoughts may be in our minds, +His charity in our institutions, His justice in our laws, His worship +in our religion, His life in our lives." + +On the afternoon of the third day the final procession was one of the +most magnificent of all the magnificent pageants ever seen in the +City of the Sea, even in the days when the doge went in solemn state +to wed the Adriatic. Cardinal Svampa carried the monstrance, while +before and after him went cardinals in scarlet, bishops in cope and +mitre, religious orders, the confraternities with their banners and +insignia, hierarchs and priests of the Byzantine and Armenian rites +in their vestments. "Splendid as a dream," wrote one who was present, +"it seemed as if the very Greek saints had stepped out of the mosaics +in the cathedral to be present at the solemn passage of Christ in +their midst." + +Cardinal Sarto had not been long at Venice before he determined on a +thorough reform of church music. He summoned Don Lorenzo Perosi, a +young cleric whom he had known at Mantua and a skilled musician. +Music, said the patriarch, was intended to excite the faithful to +devotion and to help them to pray: the music in vogue did neither. +The fearful and wonderful performances of string orchestras, dear to +the hearts of many, were banned, as was the use of drums, trumpets, +tambourines and whistles. No instrument but the organ was to be used +in the churches, and even that was to be subordinate. The words of +the Mass were to be sung to the Gregorian chant with solemnity and +dignity, and by men and boys alone. That the change was not +acceptable in all quarters was hardly to be wondered at. The operatic +efforts of loud-voiced ladies singing the _O Salutaris_ during Mass +to the air of the Serenade from _Faust_, or a Creed that was like the +Brigands' Chorus from an opera, still found many admirers. + +Nevertheless, when a Mass of Palestrina was sung under the leadership +of Perosi for the first time in the cathedral of St. Mark, the +Venetians realized the difference. "Enchantingly beautiful," they +said. But it was uphill work, and Don Lorenzo would have lost heart +altogether had it not been for the support and encouragement of his +holy patron. + +One of the poorest of the island parishes of Venice was Burano, which +in ancient times had been famous for its point lace. The cardinal, +moved by the misery of its inhabitants, determined to revive the +industry; but only one old woman remained who knew the art. A +benevolent lady, persuaded to interest herself in the work, got the +old woman to teach her, started a school of lace workers, and soon +had six hundred girls in training. Clubs were started for young men +and boys, not only here, but in many other parishes. There was no +difficulty, no misery for which the patriarch did not try to find a +cure. He had the art of giving without offending people whose decent +appearance covered a poverty often more bitter in that it had to be +hidden. He went one day to see a friend who had fallen on evil times, +and who was in dire need of help. "I am so sorry," said the +patriarch, "I have absolutely nothing left, but take this," giving +him an exquisite ivory crucifix which had been given him as a +present; "it is valuable, and will realize a good sum." + +Although unflinchingly firm in everything that concerned the faith +and the rights of the Church, the frank courtesy of Patriarch Sarto +and his conciliating spirit kept him always on good terms with the +government. He bade his priests and people respect all lawfully +constituted authority, recognizing that "the powers that be are +ordained of God." "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, +and unto God the things that are God's," he would often say. When +King Humbert of Italy was assassinated he ordered that a requiem +should be sung for him in St. Mark's; and when the widowed queen came +to Venice for rest and change of air, he visited and consoled her +with the most heartfelt sympathy. "The restoration of society in +Christ is the only cure for all the world's evils," he would +constantly repeat. "No good is good which is not rooted and founded +in Christ." He had the gift of inspiring others and rallying them to +his own charitable schemes, filling them with a fire and energy like +his own. + +The 14th of July, 1902, was a day of grief for Venice. The great +campanile of St. Mark's, which had stood for centuries watching over +the glories of the City of the Sea, crumbled and fell in ruins. The +universal lamentations were changed, by order of the patriarch, into +thanksgivings that no one had been injured, and that the cathedral +itself had not suffered. The reconstruction of the campanile was +immediately determined on, and on the 25th of April, 1903, the feast +day of the evangelist and patron saint of Venice, the first stone was +laid. The square of St. Mark was a sea of heads; every window and +balcony was crowded. The Duke of Turin, a prince of the house of +Savoy, was present as the representative of the king, who had +contributed generously to the reconstruction fund. The cardinal stood +opposite him. Church and state were face to face, with the memory of +all that had passed since the beginning of the Italian Revolution +between them. Was conciliation possible? It might have seemed that +day that it was--that in charity and justice lay the solution. The +cardinal's tact and courtesy on this occasion, as on so many others, +put everybody at ease, and his discourse won the admiration of all. + +"It is a good and beautiful thing," he said, "for men to ask God's +blessing on their work. The genius of man is at its highest when it +bows before the Light Eternal. I rejoice, therefore, with you, most +noble representatives of Venice, that, as faithful interpreters of +public opinion, you have decided that the rebuilding of our beloved +campanile must be inaugurated with a solemn act of religious worship. +I rejoice that you have shown yourselves worthy sons of your Venetian +forefathers, who, knowing well that 'unless the Lord build the house, +their labour is in vain that build it,' began no enterprise without +asking God's blessing and the protection of His Virgin Mother in +their work." After having shown that all the glory of medieval Venice +sprang from her faith and her religion, he turned to the Duke of +Turin and the other illustrious guests with a word of thanks for +their presence. "A man of personal fascination and splendid +presence," wrote a member of the French government who was there, +"with handsome open face and strong clear-cut features, softened by +eyes in which shines the light of perpetual youth. Nothing proud +about him, nothing obsequious, his manner with the Duke of Turin was +perfect, that of a man who is completely at his ease." + +Prince of the Church as he was, he was always ready to fulfil the +duties of a simple parish priest. He would carry holy communion to +the sick, hear confessions, give retreats in the churches of the +diocese, and visit the prisons, the hospitals and the reformatories, +preaching to their inmates and comforting all their sorrows. The +religious orders were amongst the most favoured of his children; he +was always ready to visit them on their feast days, and loved and +esteemed their work. Both saint and sinner found in him a kindly +strength and simple goodness which set them at their ease at once. +The very sight of his face was a welcome; there was no affectation of +piety or austerity which might repel or frighten anyone; no one could +feel stiff or awkward in his presence, all shyness and reserve gave +way before his gentle manner. + +An intimate friend of the cardinal, who was staying with him, asked +one day if he might celebrate Mass at an early hour next morning, as +he had to catch a train. "Why not?" was the answer, "I will see that +all is ready for you." + +What was the astonishment of the priest when he went to the +cardinal's private chapel at an early hour to find his host himself +preparing for the Mass. + +"But who will serve?" asked the celebrant. + +"I," answered the cardinal very simply. + +"Eminence!" protested his guest, quite aghast at the suggestion. + +"What!" he exclaimed, smiling, "do you imagine that a prelate of my +rank does not know how to serve Mass? A fine idea you have of the +princes of the Church!" + +He hated ostentation of any kind and would often travel about the +country incognito. He was going one day to the convent of the Sisters +of Charity at Crespano when, feeling sure that at Bassano, where he +had to get out, there would be an ovation, he wrote to a friend +telling him that two Venetian priests going to Crespano who did not +know the country would be glad if a carriage could be sent to meet +them at the station. The train arrived, and the two priests made +their way to a ramshackle little carriage which was standing outside. +The friend, who was waiting to do the honours to the cardinal's +priests, came forward eagerly, and was just about to greet the elder +of the two when he recognized the patriarch. "Your Eminence!" he +stammered, utterly taken aback; but the cardinal, finger on lips in +warning, jumped into the carriage followed by his companion, and +drove away. Little did he guess that the time was close at hand when +his desire to be unnoticed could nevermore be fulfilled, when he who +loved to take the lowest place was to be obliged to take the highest +in the world. + + + +V + +THE PAPAL ELECTION + +The news of the death of Leo XIII, on July 20, 1903, came as a blow +to the whole Catholic world. The old man of ninety-four, whose +wonderful intelligence had remained unimpaired until the very end of +his life, had guided the bark of Peter with sure and unswerving hand +during the twenty-live years of his pontificate. His blameless life, +his lofty ideas, and his indomitable moral courage have been borne +witness to by men who had small sympathy for the Catholic Church. +"The original attitude of Leo XIII towards the new social forces," +wrote the _Quarterly Review_, "will make his pontificate a memorable +epoch, not only in the history of the Roman Church, but in that of +all Christian countries. His personal conception of the duties of the +Church towards the labouring classes was catholic in the broadest and +best sense of the term. It was such a conception as befitted the +chief pastor of Christendom." And this was only one side of the +activity of the great statesman and pope who had passed away. "Pray +that God may send to His Church a shepherd after His own heart," said +Cardinal Sarto when he announced to his people at Venice the news of +the pope's death. Little did he think how that prayer was to be +answered. Yet Leo XIII himself not long before his death had said to +an intimate friend, "If the conclave chooses a cardinal not resident +in Rome, it is Cardinal Sarto who will be elected." + +The announcement of the death of Leo was sent to all the cardinals +throughout the world, with the intimation that the conclave for the +election of his successor would be held on the 31st of July. It was +not until the 26th that Cardinal Sarto was able to set out. He +laughed at the apprehensions of his sisters that he might not come +back to them. His secretary, Don Giovanni Bressan, was busy putting +together what was necessary for the journey. "Where is Don Giovanni?" +asked the cardinal of his niece Amalia. "Go and tell him that a +journey to Rome is not a journey to America." + +"Get the conclave over and come back quickly," said Amalia. + +"Sooner or later," replied the Cardinal, "it does not matter. In the +meantime you go to Possagno for a change of air and I will pick you +up on my way back." But the sisters were sad, and refused to be +comforted. + +The whole city turned out to greet the patriarch as the gondola made +its way to the station; from every balcony and bridge good wishes and +farewells followed him. At the station there was a regular ovation, +poor and rich crowded round him to kiss his ring or catch a word from +his lips. With tears in his eyes he thanked them for that +demonstration of affection, and for the love they bore him. + +"One more blessing! one more blessing!" pleaded the people, "who +knows if you will ever come back?" + +"Alive or dead, I shall come back," was the answer. + +The train began to move, and from its window Cardinal Sarto +unknowingly looked his last on his beloved Venice; it was good-bye +for ever.[*] He had written to the Lombard College for rooms, and +there he remained until the opening of the conclave. A Venetian lady +who lived at Rome, having come to see him, expressed a polite wish +that he would be the new pope. Cardinal Sarto laughed. "It is +sufficient honour," he replied, "that God should make use of such as +I to elect the pope." + +[*] The story that he had taken a return ticket does not seem to be +true but he planned to return to Venice immediately after the +coronation of the new pope. + +A French cardinal (Lecot of Bordeaux) who did not know him spoke to +him one day. "Your Eminence is an Italian archbishop?" he asked. + +"I do not speak French," replied Cardinal Sarto, in Latin; "I am the +patriarch of Venice." + +"Ah! if you do not speak French," answered his questioner, "you will +not be eligible for the papacy." + +"Thank God, no," was the answer; "I am not eligible for the papacy." + +"I think the election will be quickly over," said Cardinal Sarto to +an Italian journalist who came to visit him in Rome. "The pope will +probably be elected at the second scrutiny." + +"I venture to disagree with your Eminence," was the reply, "and on +these grounds. I hope--for I think it is permissible--for a cardinal +who resides in his diocese. Not that the cardinals of the curia are +wanting in breadth or in experience, but as a rule those prelates who +live in the provinces are in immediate contact with the people. They +have a better chance of seeing things from the inside than those who +occupy an official post in Rome, important and indispensable though +these may be. But of necessity the non-resident cardinals are less +well known in Rome than those of the curia, their candidature must +therefore be slower and the election longer." + +The election of a pope is one of the most solemn deeds of the Church, +and is safeguarded by strict regulations. On the death of the pontiff +the Cardinal Chamberlain, as representative of the Sacred College, +assumes charge of the papal household, notifying to all the cardinals +of the Church the death of the pope and the impending election. Every +cardinal has the right to vote in the conclave, but he must be +present in person to do so. Each one may take with him a secretary, +who is generally a priest, and a servant. In the meanwhile a large +portion of the Vatican palace has been walled off and divided into +apartments or cells for the conclavists. Access to it can be had +through one door alone, which is left open until the conclave begins, +when it is closed and barred from without by the Marshal of the +Conclave, and from within by the Cardinal Chamberlain. All +communication with the outside world is then at an end until the +result of the election is announced. + +The conclave opens officially (now) not later than eighteen days +after the pope's death. The cardinals assist at Mass and receive holy +communion from the hands of the Cardinal Dean, who solemnly adjures +them to elect as pope him whom they believe to be the most worthy. +They assemble in the Sistine Chapel, where the actual voting takes +place. The stall of each cardinal has a canopy overhead and a small +writing-desk in front. The door is shut and bolted and the voting +begins. Each cardinal having written the name of his candidate on the +paper provided, deposits it in a chalice on the altar, taking as he +does so the required oath: "I call to witness the Lord Christ, who +will be my judge, that I am electing the one whom before God I think +ought to be elected." The ballots are then counted and read aloud, +and if no candidate has received the necessary number of votes, they +are burnt in a little stove together with a handful of damp straw. As +the chimney of this stove extends through a window of the chapel, the +colour of the smoke or _sfumata_ can be clearly seen by those +outside. Not until the election is made are the ballots burnt without +the accompanying straw, when the clear white smoke is the first +notification to the people that the pope is elected. Voting takes +place twice a day, morning and evening, until a majority of +two-thirds of the votes has been attained. + +The _veto_ was the alleged right of certain Catholic rulers to object +to the election of a cardinal of whom they do not approve. It was +exercised rarely and has never been formally approved by the Church. +Although Pius IX had forbidden any interference by the secular power +in a papal election, an attempt was made to exercise the _veto_ at +the conclave which resulted in the election of Pius X. At the third +scrutiny, in which Cardinal Rampolla came first with twenty-nine +votes, Cardinal Puzyna, Bishop of Cracow, who had accepted the +mandate of the Austrian government in the name of the Emperor Francis +Joseph, read (it is said after signs of severe embarrassment) a +declaration excluding Cardinal Rampolla, without giving any reason +for the exclusion. + +The cardinals protested against the interference, and the votes in +Cardinal Rampolla's favour were found to have increased by one in the +evening scrutiny. But Cardinal Sarto's had been mounting steadily +from the beginning and continued to do so until they reached the +number of fifty.[*] + +[*] The opinions of those best qualified to judge seem to agree that +Cardinal Rampolla's failure to be elected was quite uninfluenced by +the Austrian action. Soon after his election Pius X definitively +abolished the exercise of the veto. + +At five o'clock on the 31st of July the Cardinals, sixty-three in +all, assembled at the Vatican. At nightfall the last door was closed +and bricked up; the conclave had begun. At the first scrutiny +Cardinal Rampolla had twenty-four votes, Cardinal Gotti seven, and +Cardinal Sarto five. There was nothing alarming in this; but when, at +the second scrutiny, the votes in favour of the Patriarch of Venice +had doubled, and at the third doubled again, it was another matter, +and his anguish was obvious to all. With trembling voice and tears in +his eyes, he spoke to the Cardinals, begging them to give up all +thought of him. "I am unworthy, I am not qualified," he pleaded, +"forget me." + +"It was that very adjuration, his grief, his profound humility and +wisdom," said Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore, "that made us think of +him all the more; we learnt to know him from his words as we could +never have known him by hearsay." The voting continued. In the +evening of the second day Cardinal Sarto, who at the last scrutiny +had obtained twenty-four votes, on returning to his room found +several of his colleagues who had come to beg him not to refuse the +burden if God should call upon him to bear it. "I was one of those +who went to visit him in his cell in the evening, to try to induce +him to accept," said the American cardinal. "Those who had gone +before had shaken his resistance, so that I almost hoped he would +resign himself to what seemed to be inevitable." On the third day the +votes for Cardinal Sarto went on increasing, until on the morning of +the fourth day fifty out of the sixty-two were in his favour, eight +more than the forty-two required for a valid election. + +They asked him if he would accept, but he had already accepted in his +heart after a most grievous inward struggle. "I accept," he said, +with tears. + +"What name will you take?" they asked him. "I will be called Pius," +he replied. + +Pale and trembling, he was clothed in the white cassock, the ring was +placed on his finger, and he was led to the throne to receive the +obedience of the cardinals. When at last the pope returned to his +cell he remained for long in prayer before the crucifix. The faithful +servant who had come with him from Venice begged him several times in +vain to take some food. At last he rose, and, turning to his +secretary, Monsignor Bressan, with something of his old serenity: +"Come," he said, "it is the will of God." + +Immediately after his election, when leaving the balcony from which +he had given his first blessing inside St. Peter's, Pius X expressed +his wish to go and visit Cardinal Herrero y Espinosa, Archbishop of +Valencia, an old man eighty years of age who was lying sick in his +cell. He had been taken ill a few days before and had received the +last sacraments. The pope blessed and prayed over him. Three days +later the man for whom the doctors had declared there was little hope +was well enough to get up. He returned soon after to Spain, cured, as +he himself always declared, by the prayer of Pius X. + +The news of the election was received with joy in Italy. Outside of +that country Pius X was little known. "What kind of a pope will he +be?" was the question on many lips. The world had not long to wait +for the answer. Two months had scarcely passed before his first +encyclical letter rang through the Catholic world. + +"It matters not to tell with what tears and earnest prayers we sought +to avoid this appalling burden of the pontifical office," he begins. +"We could not be other than disturbed at being appointed the +successor of one who, after having most wisely ruled the Church for +well-nigh six-and-twenty years, showed such power of genius and so +shone with virtue that even adversaries were constrained to admire +him." + +Going straight to the heart of the world's unrest, the pope lays bare +the cause of the disease--"the falling away from and forsaking God, +than which there is nothing more nearly allied to perdition. As, +borne up by God's might, we set our hand to the work of withstanding +this great evil, we proclaim that in bearing the pontifical office +this is our one purpose, 'to restore all things in Christ, so that +Christ may be all in all'." Beautiful words, which embody the +teaching and the work of a lifetime spent in God's service. No empty +ideal either, but the one that Giuseppe Sarto had set steadfastly +before himself from the very day of his consecration to the +priesthood, to which he had devoted himself strenuously ever since. + +He foresaw the hostile judgments that were to be expected from +certain quarters on every action of the head of the Catholic Church. +"There will be some, assuredly, who, measuring divine things by those +that are human, will study our mind to wrest it to earthly ends and +the aims of parties. To cut off this vain hope of theirs, we affirm +in all truth that in human society we desire to be nothing, and by +the help of God we will be nothing, but the minister of God whose +authority we bear. God's cause is our cause, to which we are +determined to devote all our strength and life itself Therefore, if +any ask of us a token to show forth the purpose of our mind, we shall +ever give this one alone--'to restore all things in Christ'." + +"To this, therefore," he continues later, speaking of the evils that +follow on the forsaking of God, "must we direct all our efforts, to +bring the race of men under the dominion of Christ; when once this is +done, it will have already returned to God Himself. How many are +there," he laments, "that hate Christ and abhor the Church and the +Gospel through ignorance rather than perversity, of whom you may +rightly say that 'they blaspheme whatever things they know not'; and +this is to be found not only in the common people, but among the +cultured and even those who enjoy no mean learning. It cannot be +agreed that faith is quenched by the growth of science: it is more +truly quenched by want of knowledge." Speaking of those who are +hostile to the Church, "Why may we not hope," he says, "that the fire +of Christian charity will dissipate the darkness, and bring them 'the +light and peace of God'? Charity is never wearied by waiting." + +"A 'shepherd of souls' was the verdict of the Catholic world on +reading the encyclical. 'Gentle and strong' was the judgement of a +well-known American bishop. But there was another side to the +character of the pope which later on became evident. 'Pius X,' wrote +one who had known him intimately at Venice, 'is a man of keen +intelligence, and of great culture, thoroughly well up in the +philosophy, literature, and social movements of the times'." But +first and foremost a shepherd of souls. The world was right in its +judgement. + +One of the first actions of the new pope was to order the +distribution of four thousand pounds amongst the poor of Rome, and +half that amount amongst the poor of Venice. "Is it not rather a +large sum?" suggested the almoner respectfully, "considering the +actual state of things?" + +"Where is your trust in God's Providence?" asked Pius, and the money +was given. + +He could no longer go to his beloved poor, but word was given that +they should come to him. Sunday after Sunday they were gathered, +parish by parish, in the courts of the Vatican to hear from the lips +of the pope himself a simple sermon on the gospel of the day. "Love +God, and lead good Christian lives," such was the burden of his +teaching; but there was more teaching still in the warm welcome that +awaited them, in the tender charity that shone forth in every word +and movement. "Sweet Christ on earth," was what St. Catherine of +Siena loved to call the successor of St. Peter. Surely the name must +have often come to the lips of those whose privilege it was to be +much in the presence of Pius X. + + + +VI + +THE AIMS OF PIUS X + +With a firm and sure hand the new pope had traced out the programme +of his pontificate--the restoring of all things in Christ. It was not +the first time he had used these words. We have already seen how as +parish priest, bishop and patriarch they had been ever in his +thoughts as the ideal and the aim of the sacerdotal life. The time +had come when from the chair of Peter he was to set them before the +world as the remedy for all its evils, calling on the faithful +children of the Church to help in the great work. + +Not only had he pointed out the evils to be dealt with, but the means +of dealing with them. Earnest prayer, the formation of a learned, +zealous and devout priesthood, religious instruction for the adult as +well as for the child, wise efforts to ameliorate the condition of +the poor and deal with the social question, Christian charity towards +both friends and enemies, the faithful keeping of the commandments of +God, the frequent use of the sacraments--thus was the "restoring of +all things in Christ" to be accomplished. + +All his life Pope Pius X had been a strenuous worker. At sixty-eight +he was still a hale and vigorous man. He rose early, making an hour's +meditation and reciting his Office before saying Mass, which he did +usually at six o'clock. The day's work was carefully planned so that +no time might be lost. A born organizer, the pope soon acquainted +himself thoroughly with all that concerned the administration of the +government of the Church and set on foot several necessary reforms in +the work of the different congregations. Practical, punctual and +exact in all his undertakings, he required that others should be the +same. There was not a question of the day in which his quick +intelligence did not take a lively interest. + +"He is a wonderful listener," said a French statesman who had an +audience with him in the early days of his pontificate. "He grasps +the matter under discussion quickly and completely, going straight to +the point, which he sums up in a few precise words. To my mind he +possesses the qualities of a true statesman as much as Leo XIII. He +sees in one comprehensive glance what is possible and what is not. +What struck me still more in him was his calm, steadfast courage. +There is no rashness about him; he will be slow to condemn, but when +he does he will be inflexible. If difficult circumstances arise he +will show himself both a hero and a saint." + +Pius X had been brought up in no school of diplomacy, but the same +goal may be reached by different roads. "A man born of the people," +said another writer, "who has lived among working men, a student of +the Bible and of the Fathers of the Church, of philosophy and +theology--a man rich in experience and knowledge of men and things." + +Lovers of church music in all countries had hailed with joy the news +of Cardinal Sarto's election to the papacy. The changes brought about +in Venice had not passed unnoticed in the musical world; a need for +reform was universally felt. "May we not hope that your Holiness will +do for the world what you have already done for Venice?" asked a +French musician. "It shall be done and soon," was the reply, "but it +will be a hard fight. And not the only one," added the pope +thoughtfully, musing on the work that lay before him. Leo XIII had +more than once urged on the faithful the study of the traditional +music of the Church. He had even sent to Venice for Don Lorenzo +Perosi to take charge of the music of the Sistine Chapel; but the +Italians clung to their operatic effects, and the results had not +been notable. + +On the 22nd of November, 1903, the _motu proprio_[*] on sacred music +laid down definite rules on the matter. "Nothing should have place in +the church that is unworthy of the house of prayer and the majesty of +God," said the pope. "Sacred music contributes to the fitness and +splendour of the ecclesiastical rites, and since its principal office +is to clothe with suitable melody the liturgical text proposed for +the understanding of the faithful, its proper aim is to add greater +efficacy to the words, in order that through it the people may be the +more easily moved to devotion and better disposed for the fruits of +grace belonging to the celebration of the most holy mysteries. It +must be holy, it must be true art, it must be universal; and since +these qualities are to be found in the highest degree in the +Gregorian chant . . . the more closely the composition of church +music approaches . . . to the Gregorian form, the more sacred and +liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that +supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple." + +[*] A _motu proprio_ is a document drawn up by the pope on his own +initiative. + +The _motu proprio_, however, did not exclude the use of modern music, +provided that it was suitable to be associated with the liturgy; but +theatrical music was not to be tolerated. Rules were laid down to +guarantee the dignity and solemnity of church offices; paid singers, +especially women, were not to be employed in the choir; bands and +orchestral accompaniments were forbidden. Bishops were to institute +special commissions of persons skilled in sacred music, to see that +the rules were carried out. Schools of sacred song were to be +established in those seminaries where they did not already exist, and +in town and country parishes. From his personal experiences at +Tombolo, Salzano, Treviso and Mantua, Pius X knew that this was +perfectly practicable. + +In the letter to Cardinal Respighi, cardinal-vicar of Rome, written a +few weeks later, the pope laments once more that the beautiful +musical tradition of the classical Roman school had almost totally +disappeared. "For the devout psalmody of the clergy," he writes, +alluding to the singing of Vespers, in which the people also used to +join, "there have been substituted interminable musical compositions +on the words of the Psalms, all of them modelled on theatrical works, +and most of them of such poor quality that they would not be +tolerated for a moment even in second-rate concerts. Gregorian +chant," he continues, "as it was handed down by the Fathers and is +found in the codices of the various churches, is noble, quiet, easy +to learn, and of a beauty so fresh and full of surprises that +wherever it has been introduced it has never failed to excite real +enthusiasm in the youthful singers." + +The motu proprio was received with joy by many, and with +consternation by those who believed that operatic music was an +attraction to the multitude. "We are going to have good music in +church," observed Pius X to Don Perosi. "The pope has not been slow +in carrying his words into effect," said a writer in the +_Ecclesiastical Review_. "May he live long, this lover of the +sanctuary and of the beauty of holiness; and may his kindly face +soften those hard hearts that can still bring themselves to sing +_bravura_, not to say _buffo_, boldly before the Blessed Sacrament, +with fearsome shriekings, tremblings and trills." + +Some hearts were not softened. Pius had spoken the truth when he +said, "The pleasure of a depraved taste rises in hostility to sacred +music; for it cannot be denied that profane music, so easy of +comprehension and so specially full of rhythm, finds favour in +proportion to the want of a true and good musical education among +those who listen to it." + +That reform was necessary in England may be shown by the impression +made on a serious outsider by the music in use in some of our +Catholic churches. "You have Miss A. singing duets with Miss B. to +the words, 'Domine Fili Jesu Christe' as if they were singing 'O that +we two were maying,' or 'There's Life in the Old Horse yet,' and to +music which would disgrace a tenth-rate writer of music-hall songs. +Or if it be a male choir, you hear thunderous basses without a note +in tune, and emasculated tenors . . . engaged over worrying the most +solemn words of the Creed as though they were prize dogs, and the +Creed a pack of rats." + +It was not that the pope cared for nothing but classical church music +and Gregorian chant. He was a lover of all good music, whether sacred +or secular. But he considered that operatic music, however beautiful, +was unsuited to the sanctuary. It is possible to admire the pictures +of Watteau, without desiring to see them used as altar-pieces. + +In his first encyclical Pius had already touched on the question of +Catholic social action. In his _motu proprio_ of December 1903 he +spoke still more definitely on the subject. Born and brought up in +the midst of the people, he could thoroughly understand their needs. +He foresaw also the dangers of rash and imprudent action which might +rely too strongly on popular effort and influence. It was not the +movement towards social reform itself which stood in need of being +checked, but the extravagances of some over-enthusiastic reformers. + +"Christian democracy," he declared, "must have for its basis the +principles of Catholic faith and morals, and must be free of +political parties." His great predecessor Leo XIII, having luminously +traced the rules of Christian popular action in his famous +encyclicals (continued Pius), his own desire was that those prudent +rules should be exactly and fully observed. He had therefore decided +to collect them in an abridged form that they might be for all +Catholics a constant rule of conduct. After having laid down man's +right to the use and permanent ownership of property, he passed on to +the obligations of justice between masters and men, and the utility +of aid societies and trades unions. Christian democracy, he +maintained, had for its special aim the solution of the difficulties +between labour and capital, but in order to do this effectually it +must be based on the principles of the Catholic faith and morality; +it must not be made use of for party purposes; it must be a +beneficent activity for the people founded on the natural law and the +precepts of the Gospel. Catholic writers, when upholding the cause of +the people and the poor, were to beware of using language calculated +to inspire ill-feeling between classes. Here, as in other matters, +obedience to the laws of God and of the Church was to be the means to +the solution of the many difficulties which existed. "Godliness is +profitable to all things," he had said in his first encyclical, "and +when this is whole and vigorous, in very truth the people shall sit +in the beauty of peace." + +In 1905 an apostolic letter to the Italian bishops defined still more +clearly the lines of Catholic social action. "Such," he says, "is the +power of the truth and morality taught by Jesus Christ, that even the +material well-being of individuals, of the family and of human +society receive support and protection." The civilization of the +world is Christian civilization; the more frankly Christian, the more +frankly true, the more lasting and the more productive of good fruit; +the more it withdraws from the Christian ideal, so much the feebler +does it become, to the great detriment of society. The Church has +been throughout the ages the guardian and protector of Christian +civilization. "What prosperity and happiness, what peace and concord, +what respectful submission to authority, what excellent government +would be established and maintained in the world if the perfect ideal +of Christian civilization could be everywhere realized. But given the +constant warfare of flesh with spirit, of darkness with light, of +Satan with God, so great a good in its full measure can scarcely be +hoped for. Yet this is no reason for losing courage. The Church goes +fearlessly on, and while extending the Kingdom of God in places where +it has not yet been preached, she strives by every means to repair +the losses inflicted on the Kingdom already acquired." Once more the +only means that can achieve the desired end are clearly pointed out: +"To reinstate Jesus Christ in the family, the school and society; to +re-establish the principle that human authority represents that of +God; to take closely to heart the interests of the people, especially +those of industrial and agricultural workers, to endeavour to make +laws conformable to justice, to amend or suppress those which are not +so . . . to defend and support the rights of God in everything, and +the no less sacred rights of the Church." + +"What can I do for the Church?" asked a lady of Pius X at a private +audience. + +"Teach the catechism," was the prompt and perhaps rather unexpected +reply. + +"It is manifestly impossible," said the pope, "to re-establish all +the institutions found useful in former times; instruments must be +suited to the work intended. There must be unity, co-operation in +working, suitable methods adapted to the times. In all Catholic +social work there must be submission to ecclesiastical authority. +Let everyone, therefore, strive to ameliorate . . . the economic +condition of the people, supporting and promoting institutions which +conduce to this end . . . and let all our beloved sons who are +devoting themselves to Catholic action listen again to the words +which spring so spontaneously from our heart. Amid the bitter sorrows +which daily surround us, we will say, with the apostle St. Paul, if +there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort comes to us from +your charity . . . fulfil ye our joy, that you being of one mind . . . +agreeing in sentiment, with humility and due submission, not seeking +your own convenience but the common good, and imprinting on your +hearts the mind which was in Christ Jesus our Saviour. Let Him be the +beginning of all your undertakings. 'All whatsoever you do in word or +in work, all things do ye in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,' let +Him be the end of your every work; 'for of Him, and by Him, and in +Him, are all things; to Him be glory for ever. Amen.'" + +During the whole life of Pius X the Bible had been his favourite +study. Every encyclical he issued bears witness to his intimate +knowledge and love of both the Old Testament and the New. The words +in which he insistently recommended the careful and loving study of +Holy Writ to priests and people would greatly astonish those of our +separated brethren who persist in believing that the Catholic Church +forbids the reading of the Bible by her children. When receiving +representatives of the Society of St. Jerome for the diffusion of the +Holy Scriptures, he spoke with the greatest praise of the splendid +work of this most deserving institution, which in the space of +fifteen months had been able to give out more than 200,000 copies of +the gospels: to those Catholic theologians who were engaged in +historical studies and biblical research he always gave the warmest +encouragement. "The Catholic faith has nothing to fear from +knowledge, but much from ignorance," was a truth that he more than +once averred. + +The pope, who in his youth had entered keenly into all the games and +sports of the seminary life, was a strong believer in schemes for the +physical development of youth. "I bless with all my heart your games +and amusements," he said on the occasion of a display in the Vatican +gardens by athletic clubs. "I approve of your gymnastics, your cycle, +boat, and foot races, your mountain climbing and the rest, for these +pastimes will keep you from the idleness which is the mother of every +vice; and because friendly contests will be for you the symbol of +emulation in the practice of virtue . . . . Be strong to keep and +defend your faith when so many are losing it; be strong to remain +devoted sons of the Church when so many are rebelling against her . . . +be strong to conquer the obstacles which you will meet in the practice +of the Catholic religion, for your own merit and for the good of your +brothers." + +To the pilgrimages that flocked from all parts of the world to do him +homage, Pius X addressed like words of sympathy and encouragement. "I +bless you all, great and small, rich and poor," he said to a band of +peasants from Moravia--"the good that they may remain good; those who +have strayed from the right path, that they may come back to it; +parents that they may bring up their children well; children that +they may honour the white hairs of their parents and the country that +has nourished them." + +"Tell the rich to be generous in almsgiving," he said on another +occasion; "tell the poor to be proud of being chosen as the living +representatives of Christ on earth. Bid them neither envy nor hate +others, but have resignation and patience." + +It was to those of his own province that a special tenderness was +revealed. "If I could tell you all that is in my heart," he said one +day to a pilgrimage from Treviso, "when night comes on I should be +still speaking." It was hard for him to believe that he would never +see his beloved Venice again. Walking one day in the Vatican gardens +with a friend, he heard in the distance a shrill whistle. "Hark!" he +said, wistfully, "perhaps that is the train for Venice!" But much as +he loved his own people there was no thought either in his mind or in +theirs that honours might come to them through his position. "Thank +God, we are all able to support ourselves," said one of his sisters +soon after his election, "we need trouble him for nothing. Poor +dear," she added compassionately, "he has all the poor people in the +world to think of now." They had their own places in the pope's +private chapel, and on gala days at St. Peter's. That was their only +privilege, and it was all that they asked. + +It was said of the new pope that his usual expression was one of +overwhelming sadness, and to those who only saw him in public this +might have seemed to be true. His humble spirit hated pomp and +display, and the burden of his huge responsibility lay heavy on his +soul. When borne through the crowd in the _sedia gestatoria_ he +seemed more than ever conscious of the weight of the cross laid upon +him by his divine Master. "His face amid the scene of triumph spoke +of the vanity of all earthly glory. He had ever the look of one who +is weighed down by the sins and the sorrows of mankind--a look +befitting the vicar of Him of whom we speak as the Man of Sorrows," +wrote Wilfrid Ward. In St. Peter's he would allow no outbreak of the +applause which had become customary at papal services. "It is not +fitting that the servant should be applauded in his Master's house," +he said sternly as he gave the order. So it was in silence that he +passed thenceforward amongst his people--but a silence tense and +trembling with an emotion that would occasionally break out in spite +of all attempts at restraint. + +But those who knew him intimately had another tale to tell. The +genial and merry spirit that had been his of old, though overshadowed +at first by the burden he had to bear, was by no means dead. He had +the art of making himself all things to all men; he could be gay and +merry with the young, wonderfully tender and gentle with those in +sorrow or suffering. "He had the greatest heart," said one who knew +him well, "of any man alive." + + + +VII + +PIUS X AND FRANCE + +The separation of church and state had long been the deliberate aim +of the irreligious French government. During the pontificate of Leo +XIII the following resolution had been put and carried at an assembly +of freemasons: "It is the strict duty of a freemason, if he is a +member of parliament, to vote for the suppression of the Budget des +Cultes, for the suppression of the French embassy at the Vatican, and +on all occasions to declare himself in favour of the separation of +church and state without abandoning the right of the state to police +the church." + +The Waldeck-Rousseau ministry had already brought France to the verge +of a breach with Rome. By means of a concession on the part of the +pope the difficulty had been bridged over, but all the efforts of +M. Combes were directed towards making the separation inevitable. +There was one difficulty in the way--how to make it appear that Rome +was to blame. "To denounce the concordat just now," he said in a +speech delivered in the Senate in March, 1903, "without having +sufficiently prepared men's minds for it, without having clearly +proved that the Catholic clergy themselves are provoking it and +rendering it inevitable, would be bad policy on the part of the +government, by reason of the resentment which might be caused in the +country. I do not say that the connection between church and state +will not some day be severed; I do not even say that that day is not +near. I merely say that the day has not yet come." + +The way was paved by a series of provocations designed to cast the +responsibility and odium on the pope. Pretexts for a quarrel were +soon found in the circumstances of the visit of M. Loubet to Rome; in +the discussions which arose with regard to the nomination of bishops, +and in Rome's treatment of the bishops of Dijon and Laval. The +Vatican White Book sufficiently indicated the long-suffering patience +of the pope with regard to these questions. + +There were Catholic critics who thought that Pius X was slow in +vindicating the rights of the Church. "God," said he, speaking to a +Frenchman on this subject, "could have sent us the Redeemer +immediately after the Fall. And He made the world wait thousands of +years! . . . . Yet they expect a poor priest, the vicar of that +Christ so long desired, to pronounce without reflection grave and +irrevocable words. For the moment I am passive--passive in the hands +of Him who sustains me, and in whose name--when the time comes--I +shall speak." + +On the 10th of February, 1905, the Chambre declared that the +"attitude of the Vatican" had rendered the separation of church and +state inevitable. "An historic lie," as M. Ribot, a Protestant member +of the Chambre, trenchantly described the statement. + +The Law of Separation of the Churches and the State, passed by the +French government in 1905, completely dissociated the state from the +appointment of bishops and parish priests, but, lest this might seem +to be an unalloyed blessing, it must be added that it also suppressed +the annual revenue of the Church, amounting to 42 million francs. The +departments and communes were forbidden to vote appropriations for +public worship. Life pensions equivalent to three quarters of the +former salary were granted to priests who were not less than sixty +years of age at the passing of the law, and life pensions equivalent +to half of the former salary to those under forty-five. As a matter +of fact, the state became the richer by eight million francs. The use +of Catholic buildings was to be regulated by the _Associations +Cultuelles_. Without any reference to the Holy See it was decided by +the government that these associations for religious worship should +be formed in each diocese and parish to administer church property. +Several articles in the law regarding the constitution of these +_Associations Cultuelles_ left to the Council of State--a purely lay +authority--the settlement of any dispute that might arise. In other +words it lay with the Council of State to pronounce on the orthodoxy +of any association and its conformity with the rules of public +worship. + +There was a good deal of discussion in ecclesiastical circles as to +whether the "Associations" could be formed. Pius in his encyclical +"Gravissimo," August 1906, decided the question. He had examined the +law, he declared, to see if it were at all possible to carry on under +its provisions the work of religion in France while safeguarding the +sacred principles on which the Church was constituted. After +consultation with the episcopate he had sorrowfully to declare that +no such arrangement was possible. The question at issue was whether +the associations for worship could be tolerated. His answer was that +"with reference to these associations as the law establishes them, we +decree that it is absolutely impossible for them to be formed without +a violation of the sacred rights pertaining to the very life of the +Church." As to any other "legal and canonical" associations which +might preserve the Catholics of France from the difficulties by which +they were threatened, there was no hope of them while the law +remained as it was. "We declare that it is not permissible to try any +other kind of association as long as it is not established in a sure +and legal manner that the divine constitution of the Church, the +immutable rights of the Roman Pontiff and of the bishops, as well as +their authority over the necessary property of the Church, and +particularly over sacred edifices, shall be irrevocably placed in the +said associations in full security." + +"God's law alone is of importance," said Pius at a private interview. +"We are no diplomatist, but our mission is to defend it. One truth is +at stake: was the Church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ or not? +Since it was, nothing can induce us to give up its constitutions, its +rights or its liberty." "Let it be clearly understood," said he on +another occasion, "we do not ask the members of your government to go +to Mass--although we regret that they do not. All we ask, since they +pride themselves on recognizing nothing but facts, is that they +should not ignore one very considerable fact--the existence of the +Catholic Church, its constitution, and its head, which we at present +happen to be." + +There were not wanting critics who spoke regretfully of the +wholesale sacrifice of church property. "They speak too much of the +goods of the Church and too little of her good," said the pope. +"Tell them that history repeats itself. Ages ago on a high mountain +two powers stood face to face. 'All this will I give thee,' said the +one, offering the kingdoms of the earth and their riches, 'if thou +wilt fall down and worship me.' The other refused--and is refusing +still . . . ." + +The reply of the French government was the appropriation of all that +was left of the property of the Church in France. The law of January +1907 permitted religious worship in the churches purely on sufferance +and without any legal title. This looked like a concession, but it +had its uses. The simple citizen still saw the priest in the church; +Mass was still said there. "All of which proves," said the government +to the unthinking public, "that the Church is in nowise persecuted; +if she is not as prosperous as of old, she has only the pope to +blame." + +The separation of church and state was the signal for open war on the +Church. Law after law was passed, making it more and more difficult +for the priest to minister to the people. He was forbidden to enter a +hospital unless his presence had been formally asked for by a +patient. He was forced to serve his time in the army in the hope that +his vocation might be ruined. He was forced to pay a rent for his +presbytery, although he was often poorer than the poorest of his +parishioners. Many of the beautiful old churches of France fell +gradually into ruin, or were used for other purposes than worship-- +the more degrading the purpose the better. + +The principle which underlay the attitude of Rome in the matter was +clear and consistent. The state having proclaimed its indifference, +not to say hostility, to religion, having ignored the constitution of +the Church and suppressed all means of negotiating with the pope, +claimed the right to legislate for Catholics, to control their +organization, to limit their material resources, and to decide their +differences. The men who made the law had openly declared that their +purpose was to decatholicize France. "In making his decision, has not +the pope appealed from the French parliament to the French people?" +was a thoughtful question asked at the time. + +"The apparent apathy of most French Catholics, the energy and cunning +of their adversaries," said the same writer, "deceived the world into +believing that a little faction had the strength of a whole people +behind it . . . ." + +The pope's refusal to accept the bishops proposed by the French +government had left many sees vacant. In February 1906, immediately +after the break with the government, Pius X himself consecrated +fourteen French bishops in St. Peter's. It was the act of a great and +apostolic statesman. "I have not called you to joy," said the pope, +"but to the Cross," and bearing the cross on their breasts they went +forth, without stipend, without government protection, intervention +or recognition. They went as simply apostolic men--to gain souls to +God--and the result of their labours is manifest. + +"Destroy the Church in France, and dechristianization will follow," +cried her enemies. "A short period of separation," said an orator at +the general assembly of the Grand Orient in September 1904, "will +complete the ruin of dogma, and the ruin of Church." What really +happened? + +"Our bishops, priests, and people," wrote George Fonsegrive in 1913, +"are absolutely devoted to Rome and obedient to the pope. After the +passing of the Separation Law all the orders of the pope were +immediately executed. At one word from him our bishops and priests +gave up their palaces and their presbyteries and abandoned all their +goods. Nowhere else has there been such docility and such unanimity. +Our Church is truly and absolutely Roman; therefore every attack on +its members attaches them more strongly to the source and centre of +their life. Religious life is everywhere increasing in depth and in +intensity . . . . The human mind has found the limits of science, and +has felt that they are narrow and hard; all men of culture recognize +to-day that our whole life is, as it were, wrapped in mystery. Faith +is no longer looked upon as a suspect but as a friend. Those who have +it not are seeking it, and those who have found it treasure it. Even +those who despair of finding it respect it. And all, or nearly all, +recognize that truth can only be where she declares herself, where +she is supplied with all she needs to make her accessible to man, +that is to say, in Catholicism, and finally in Rome." + + + +VIII + +THE POPE OF THE EUCHARIST + +At the beginning of the nineteenth century the last remnants of +Jansenism were still influencing Catholic teaching in many countries +of Europe. This most insidious of heresies, preached by men of +austere life and veiled by the plea of reverence for holy things, was +a danger to the lax and to the scrupulous alike. It laid down as +conditions for approaching the sacraments dispositions of soul which +for the greater part of mankind were wholly unattainable; it +presented God as the Jehovah of the Old Testament, terrible and +awe-inspiring, rather than as the Christ of the New, tender and +compassionate to sinners. "I tell you," said St. Vincent de Paul to +one of his priests, "that this new error of Jansenism is one of the +most dangerous that has ever troubled the Church." + +Perhaps the most fatal effect of Jansenist teaching was that it drove +the sinner from the sources of grace and the weak from the sources of +spiritual strength. Frequent communion, which had been the custom in +apostolic times and which had been always upheld in the teaching of +the Church, was to the Jansenist a tempting of Providence. In vain +did Catholic teachers explain to the people that the Council of Trent +"exhorts, asks and beseeches the faithful to believe and venerate +these sacred mysteries . . . with such constancy and firmness of +faith . . . that they may be able frequently to receive the +supersubstantial bread." Nothing, it was answered, had been laid down +as to the necessary dispositions for receiving communion; and how +were they to know that they had them? Theologians were divided on the +subject, some teaching that very perfect dispositions were required, +whilst others maintained that a state of grace and a right intention +were sufficient. Another controversy had arisen as to the meaning of +the term "frequent communion," some holding that weekly communion +came under this heading, others that it did not. Appeals were made +from time to time to Rome to decide the question, that the minds of +the faithful might be at rest. + +In the first encyclical of Pius X where he sets forth as the purpose +of his pontificate the restoring of all things in Christ, the +frequent use of the sacraments is mentioned as one of the four great +means to this end. We have already seen how, when visiting his +diocese as bishop, he bade the people make no preparations for his +coming save attending Mass and receiving holy communion, declaring +that this would be the best welcome they could give him. On the 20th +of December, 1906, the Decree concerning Frequent and Daily Communion +put an end to all further controversy. + +"The primary purpose of the holy Eucharist is not that the honour and +reverence due to our Lord may be safeguarded," says the decree, "not +that the sacrament may serve as a reward of virtue, but that the +faithful, being united to God by holy communion, may thence derive +strength to resist sinful desires, to cleanse themselves from daily +faults, and to avoid those serious sins to which human frailty is +liable." "Frequent and daily communion, as a thing most earnestly +desired by Christ our Lord and by the Catholic Church," runs the +first clause of the decree, "should be open to all the faithful of +whatever rank and condition of life, so that no one who is in the +state of grace, and who approaches the holy table with a right and +devout intention, can be hindered therefrom." + +Having defined a right intention as a purpose of pleasing God, of +being more closely united with Him by charity, and of seeking this +divine remedy for one's weaknesses and defects, the decree goes on to +affirm that, although freedom from venial sin is to be desired, it is +sufficient that the communicant be free from mortal sin, provided he +has a firm purpose of avoiding sin for the future. Preparation and +thanksgiving are to be according to the strength, circumstances and +duties of the individual. All priests and confessors are to exhort +the faithful frequently and zealously to "this devout and saving +action." + +There was no mistaking this. "The Divine Redeemer of mankind," wrote +a priest of the London Oratory, "is to be just as accessible to the +struggling beginner whose feet have been ensnared in the meshes of +sin, and who is struggling bravely against temptation, as He is to +the man or woman who has been purified by many years of painful +effort, but who is ever liable to fall. He is needed by the austere +religious living in solitude in her cell . . . . He is needed by the +poor dweller in the crowded slums who has so much to contend +against--squalor, misery, drink, vice in various forms, and the +depressing influences of grinding poverty. Children have need of Him +that they may be formed to habits of virtue; youths have need of Him +that they may obtain mastery over their passions; maidens have need +of Him that they may preserve their innocence untarnished; grown-up +men and women have need of Him that they may advance in virtue and +carry out faithfully the duties of their state of life; there are +none who can afford to neglect the great source of spiritual +strength, none who can do without Him." + +Rome had spoken, but to many people the news seemed almost too good +to be true, and to others so surprising and "new" as to be unwelcome. +The old idea that frequent communion was only for holy people was +hard to eradicate. Jansenist bugbears about the preparation required +and the responsibility incurred frightened the timid. Much insistence +was necessary before the objection "I am not good enough" was found +to be worthless, but when it was finally done away with the fruits +were at once apparent. + +"What a wonderful change there would be," Monsignor de Ségur had +written some forty years earlier, "if frequent communion could be +established in our colleges and schools! Experience shows the +influence of communion on a young man's daily life. There is no vice +that the regular use of the sacraments will not uproot, no moral +resurrection beyond its power to effect." That dream was now on its +way to realization. "Confessions," said a Jesuit who was giving a +retreat to the students of a large public school, "are child's play +now to what they used to be. In the old days they took two or three +days--now nearly all the boys are daily communicants, and the +confessions of the whole college take little more time than an hour." + +"Yes," said a young working-girl to a Sacred Heart nun, "I go every +day. I cannot stay till the end of Mass, because I have to get to my +work. But there are several of us who are all daily communicants, who +take the same train to business, and we get into the same carriage +and make our thanksgiving on the way. And we love to think that in +that train, full of people who seldom think of God, there is one +carriage where He is being adored and worshipped. And we find it such +a help in the day's work." + +And not girls only. The author will never forget a very early morning +Mass in a big London church. The church was full of working men in +their working clothes. The procession to the altar seemed never +ending, communion was still being given after the Mass was finished. +They had come for help and comfort in their daily toil to One who on +this earth had been a working man like themselves, One who is "rich +unto all that call on Him," and they had learnt the strength of that +union. + +Was it not the "man in the street" for whom our Saviour came? Were +not the crowds who followed Him mostly composed of "men in the +street"? And did He not choose from their ranks the Apostles who were +to carry His message throughout the world? "In these days," says the +decree, "when religion and the Catholic faith are attacked on all +sides, and true love of God and genuine piety are lacking in so many +places, it is doubly necessary that the faithful should be +strengthened, and the love of God kindled in their hearts by this +saving practice of daily communion." + +"Holy communion is the shortest and surest way to Heaven," said Pius +X to the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. "There are others, +innocence, for instance, but that is for little children; penance, +but we are afraid of it; generous endurance of the trials of life, +but when they come we weep and ask to be spared. Once for all, +beloved children, the surest, easiest, shortest way is by the +Eucharist. It is so easy to approach the holy table, and there we +taste the joys of Paradise." + +A second decree was published in answer to questions regarding the +frequent communion of children who had only recently made their first +communion, and of the infirm who were suffering from some chronic +illness. The answer given was that frequent or daily communion was +for young children as well as for their elders, since it was highly +desirable that their innocence and goodness should be shielded by so +powerful a protection. As for the sick, every facility was to be +granted them to receive communion as often as possible. This was +followed four years later by a decree which fixed the age of first +communion at about the seventh year, the time at which the child +begins to use its reason. In some cases it might be earlier; in some +it would have to be later; this would depend on the intelligence of +the individual child. The pope went straight to the root of the +matter. + +"The pages of the Gospel witness to the very great affection shown by +Christ to little children when He was on earth," he begins. "It was +His delight to be in their company; He was wont to lay His hands upon +them, to embrace them, to bless them. And He was indignant at their +being turned away by His disciples, whom He rebuked in these grave +words: 'Suffer the little children to come unto Me and forbid them +not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven'." After having pointed out +that in the earliest days of the Church holy communion was given even +to babies, and that if later for good cause the age of reason or of +discretion was fixed as the time for first communion, this did not +presuppose that a fuller knowledge was required for the reception of +the holy Eucharist than for the sacrament of penance. The decree went +on to deplore the postponement of first communion until twelve, +thirteen or fourteen years of age, according to local customs. "Even +if this ensures a fuller understanding of the sacred mysteries, a +careful sacramental confession and a longer and more diligent +preparation," it continues, "the gain in no wise balances the loss. +The innocence of childhood, deprived of this most powerful +protection, is soon lost; bad habits have time to grow and become +strong. The little ones, being in the happy condition of their first +candour and innocence, stand in great need of that mystical food, on +account of the many snares and dangers of the present time." "As soon +as children begin to have a certain use of reason, so as to be able +to conceive devotion to this Sacrament," says St. Thomas Aquinas, +"then may it be given to them." + +In order that the above-mentioned abuses should be entirely removed +and that "children from their tenderest years should cling to Jesus +Christ, live His life, and find protection from the dangers of +corruption", regulations concerning their first communion were laid +down and ordered to be observed in every part of the world. + +The decree caused a certain commotion in some Catholic countries. +Once more the remnants of Jansenist teaching arose to frighten the +faithful. Would a child of seven understand the reverence due to the +Sacrament? was the question anxiously asked--children of that age are +so thoughtless. The objection had already been answered by Monsignor +de Ségur: "To communicate well, it suffices to receive the Saviour +with a good will. This is found just as much in children as in +adults. The child loves Jesus Christ; it wishes to have Him; why, +then, not give Him to the child? Thoughtlessness is no obstacle to +holy communion, unless it is wilful. Children are thoughtless--yes, +but they are good and affectionate; and because of their need of +love, we must give their love its true food." + +Another objection, and one that seemed more plausible, was that +sometimes a late first communion tended to preserve children from +much that was evil; for this reason it was often delayed as long as +possible, an apparent safeguard which the new decree threatened to do +away with altogether. Experience has long since proved that here +again the good obtained far outbalances the bad. + +As for the argument that such little children cannot understand what +they are doing, those who have the task of preparing them for their +first communion have a different tale to tell. "I have found it much +easier," writes one who has had much experience, "to prepare little +children than those who are older--the preparation is so much more +objective than subjective. It is more a realization of how lovable, +how desirable, how loving our Lord is, than a preoccupation of how +they can make themselves worthy--or less unworthy--to receive +Him. . . . The actual first communion appears to the little ones as +the very loving embrace of a much-loved Father; to the older ones it +is more a welcome to a loved and honoured guest, with--if I may so +put it--the preoccupations of a hostess." + +The pope delighted in the letters he received from many little first +communicants thanking him for their joy at being admitted to the holy +table; he loved children dearly and they returned his affection, +crowding round him, speaking to him without the slightest fear or +shyness, and giving him their confidence at once. He loved to give +them communion with his own hands; there was an affinity between the +white-souled pontiff and the white-souled children who knelt at his +feet--the innocence that had fought and conquered and the innocence +that was as yet untried. All the little first communicants of Rome, +gentle or simple, were invited to the Vatican. He would give them a +short instruction suited to their understanding, ending with the hope +that their last communion would be as fervent and loving as the +first. Then he would talk to them, and they to him, simply and +without any ceremony. Unconventional sometimes were the appellations +by which they called him. "Yes, Pope," would be the answer to a +question. But the very little ones, seeing the gracious white figure +bending over them and looking up into the gentle holy face of him +that spoke, would sometimes answer softly, "Yes, Jesus." + +An Englishwoman who had a private audience with the pope brought her +little boy of four to receive his blessing. While she was talking the +child stood at a little distance looking on; but presently he crept +up to the pope, put his hands on his knees and looked up into his +face. "How old is he?" asked Pius, stroking the little head. + +"He is four," answered the mother, "and in two or three years I hope +he will make his first communion." + +The pope looked earnestly into the child's clear eyes. "Whom do you +receive in holy communion?" he asked. + +"Jesus Christ," was the prompt answer. + +"And who is Jesus Christ?" + +"Jesus Christ is God," replied the boy, no less quickly. + +"Bring him to me to-morrow," said Pius, turning to the mother, "and I +will give him holy communion myself." + +François Laval describes the impression made on the children of a +pilgrimage of 400 first communicants who went from France to thank +Pius X in 1912. "As soon as they had returned from Rome," he says, "I +went to see some little friends of mine to question them. There was +no need, they talked without stopping of all they had seen. +Everything had been wonderful, but most wonderful of all--wonderful +enough almost to blot out the memory of everything else--had been the +pope. They had not been a bit shy with him, they explained--it was +impossible, he was so kind. 'The tears were in his eyes--but lots of +us were crying too,' nearly all who could get near enough to speak to +him were begging him for graces. 'Cure my sister, Holy Father; +convert my father; I want to be a priest . . . and I a missionary!' +It must have been rather like that when the people came to Jesus in +Galilee." + +"It seems to me," added the writer, "that in these days, when so many +people are trying to enforce obedience, and failing signally in the +attempt, that there is only one man in the world who is really master +of the minds and hearts of others--an old man clothed in white +garments . . . ." + + + +IX + +PIUS X AND MODERNISM + +In July 1907 the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office issued the +decree "Lamentabili," which condemned sixty-five distinctive +Modernist doctrines. Two months later appeared the encyclical +"Pascendi," denouncing under the name of "Modernism" a group of +errors which struck at the very roots of the Christian faith. + +These events marked the breaking of a storm that had been threatening +for some time, of which the condemnation of certain books of the Abbé +Loisy, and other incidents, had been the warning rumblings. Loisy's +condemnation let loose an outburst in the rationalist, anti-clerical +and Modernist press. "The old shadowy images of Rome gagging her +progressive men will be revived with added venom to poison the mind +of the public," prophesied a writer in the _Ecclesiastical Review_, +and the prophecy was certainly fulfilled. In vain did the Abbé +Monchamp point out, after close analysis of Loisy's book, the +impossibility of escaping a conclusion which places the writer in +direct opposition to the authoritative teaching of the Church. The +authoritative teaching of the Church was to the minds of many a much +less important thing than the retaining of a few intelligent men +within her fold. Yet even among those outside of the Church there +were men who saw more clearly. "From the paternal standpoint of the +Church of Rome," wrote Professor Sanday, "it seems to me, if I may +say so, that the authorities have acted wisely. It is not an +insuperable barrier placed in the way of future progress, but the +intimation of a need for caution." + +The storm of abuse which had arisen at the condemnation of Loisy, +which had been increased by the publication of the decree +"Lamentabili," reached its climax at the appearance of the encyclical +"Pascendi," which tore the veil from Modernism and exposed its errors +with ruthless precision. Modernism, like Jansenism, had made up its +mind to remain in the Church and to mould her teaching to its will; +and now it was only one more of the many heresies that had fallen on +the rock of the promise and been broken in the falling. The pope and +Cardinal Merry del Val, who as secretary of state had the honour of +sharing in all the attacks that were levelled at his illustrious +chief, were denounced as intolerant fanatics. The one idea of Pius X, +cried the Modernists, was to repress by violent means every +indication of originality of thought and independence of judgement +within the Church; he had attempted to stifle a movement with which +some of the best thinkers of the age were in sympathy. He was a "good +country priest," perhaps; but utterly incapable of dealing with the +questions which were at issue. "The Modernist movement had quickened +a thousand dim dreams of reunion into enthusiastic hopes," wrote +Father Tyrrell, the leader of Modernism in England, "when lo! Pius X +comes forward with a stone in one hand and a scorpion in the other." + +To many Christians the encyclical "Pascendi" revealed a danger that +they themselves had never suspected; and the account of the Modernist +doctrines which it so lucidly gave was for them a lesson more +eloquent than any censure. It was no empty accusation, much less a +travesty, as the Modernists themselves allowed, that masterly +analysis of a system which claimed the right to substitute itself for +the Catholic conception of a teaching authority established by Jesus +Christ. "Yes or no, do you believe in the divine authority of the +Church?" asked Cardinal Mercier. "Do you accept outwardly and in the +sincerity of your heart what she commands in the name of Christ? Do +you consent to obey her? If so, she offers you her sacraments and +undertakes to guide you safely into the harbour of salvation. If not, +then you deliberately sever the tie that unites you to her, and break +the bond consecrated by her grace. Before God and your conscience you +no longer belong to her; don't remain in obstinate hypocrisy a +pretended member of her fold. You cannot honestly pass yourself off +as one of her sons; and as she cannot be a party to hypocrisy and +sacrilege, she bids you, if you force her to it, to leave her ranks. +. . . The Modernism condemned by the pope is the negation of the +Church's teaching." + +What _is_ Modernism? is a question that has been often asked. It is +not easy to put the matter in a nutshell, and various answers have +been given. For a complete analysis of Modernism we must go to the +encyclical itself. After condemning Modernism as "a meeting-ground of +all heresies," the pope denounced in it a group of errors which +included: the separation of an "historical" from a "religious" +Christ; the reversal of the Incarnation by the denial of the entering +of the Divine into the temporal sphere; the reducing of faith to a +matter of feeling; the reducing of religious authority from its +apostolic basis to a sort of "chairmanship," and the throwing over of +the Bible and revelation in favour of a personal inward +enlightenment. The encyclical proceeded to deal with the subject in +three parts, First came the analysis of Modernist teaching, with +agnosticism as the basis of its philosophy and immanence as its +positive side, thus placing the explanation of religion in man alone, +and lifting conscience to the same level as revelation. Faith and +science to the Modernist are separate, the latter being supreme, and +religious dogmas are not only inadequate but must be changeable to be +adapted to living needs. Everything must be subject to evolution, and +these principles were being applied to the deformation of history and +of apologetics. + +In the second part Modernism was traced to its causes. "The proximate +cause," said the pope, "is without any doubt an error of the mind. +The remoter causes are two: curiosity and pride. Curiosity, unless +wisely held in check, is of itself sufficient to account for all +errors. But far more effective in darkening the mind and leading it +into error is pride, which, as it were, dwells in Modernism as in its +own house. Through pride the Modernists have overestimated +themselves. They are puffed up with a vainglory which lets them see +themselves as the sole possessors of knowledge, and makes them say, +'We are not as the rest of men'; which leads them, lest they should +seem as other men, to embrace and to devise novelties of the most +absurd kind. It is pride which . . . causes them to demand a +compromise between authority and liberty. It is owing to their pride +that they seek to be the reformers of others while they forget to +reform themselves." + +"If from moral causes we pass to the intellectual, the first and most +powerful is ignorance. These very men who pose as teachers of the +Church, who speak so highly of modern philosophy and show such +contempt for Scholasticism, have embraced the one with its false +glamour precisely because their ignorance of the other has left them +without the means of recognizing the confusion of their ideas and of +refuting sophistry. Their system, full of so many errors, has been +born of the union between faith and false philosophy." "Modernism is +inclined to pantheism by its doctrine of divine immanence--i.e., of +the intimate presence of God within us," continues the pope. "Does +God declare Himself distinct from us? If so, then the position of +Modernism must not be opposed to that of Catholicism, nor exterior +revelation be rejected. But if God declares Himself not distinct from +us, the position of Modernism becomes openly pantheistic." + +In the third part are set forth the remedies for the evil, amongst +which are the study of scholastic philosophy in seminaries and by +clerics at the universities; ceaseless activity and watchfulness on +the part of the bishops by a diocesan censorship of books, and the +tendering of an oath to clergy and professors by which they were to +bind themselves to reject the errors denounced in the encyclical and +decree. + +The danger was indeed a serious one. The Modernists had put +themselves forward as the champions of science, led to the +conclusions they defended by anxiety for scientific truth. Their +movement from the point of view of many marked a religious reaction +against the materialism and positivism which had failed so signally +to satisfy longings of the human soul. It was a reaction in the right +direction which had taken the wrong road, which threatened to land +its votaries in a deeper ditch than that from which they had set out. +There was therefore an attractive side to its teaching, especially +for the young. + +The storm raged hotly for a while round the pontiff who had spoken so +fearlessly; but a deep thanksgiving was in the hearts of those who +could see the issues at stake. "In his dealings with France," wrote +one of these, "the Holy Father saved, so to speak, the body of the +Church, but now he has saved her soul." "The pope has spoken, +Modernism has ceased to be," wrote Paul Bourget a year or two later. +"Five years ago," wrote Monsignor R. H. Benson on the death of Pius +X, "it was proclaimed that by his action thought was once more thrown +back into the fetters from which it was shaking itself loose, and +that Rome henceforward must be considered as finally out of the +struggle; that once more she had feared to face the light, and held +back or cast out those of her children who honestly desired it. And +now there is practically not a Christian anywhere--a Christian, that +is to say, in the historic sense of the word, who believes that +Christ's mission lay in the revelation which He promulgated, and not +merely in the impulse which His coming gave to spiritual aspiration-- +there is not a Christian in this sense, however far his sympathies +may be from the Catholic interpretation of the contents of that +revelation, who does not acknowledge that Pius stood firm where their +religious leaders faltered or temporized; and that Rome, under his +leadership, placed herself on the side of plain Gospel truth, of the +authority of Holy Scripture and of the divinity of Christ." + + + +X + +PIUS X AND THE PRIESTHOOD + +A personal friend of Pius X was speaking to him one day with +indignation of the abuse levelled at him by a Modernist writer. The +pope's answer was as characteristic as the smile that accompanied it. +"Come," he said, "did he not allow that after all I was a good +priest? Now, of all praise, that is the only one I have ever valued." + +"A man who hid a boundless ambition under a pretence of humility," +wrote another opponent. And in one sense most certainly Pius X was a +man of ambition, an ambition that had taken shape within him as he +knelt before the altar of the cathedral of Castelfranco to receive +the priesthood with all that it entailed. Study, prayer, labour, +self-denial and unlimited self-devotion; charity, poverty and +loyal-hearted obedience--all these were part of that ambition--the +ambition to be a good and fervent priest, to walk in the footsteps of +his Master. It had been his guiding star through life; he had +sacrificed everything to it; and in a certain sense it was true that +this ambition, realized most perfectly in his holy life, had placed +him against his will on the chair of Peter. + +A noble and worthy priesthood, according to his first encyclical, was +to be one of the means towards that restoring of all things in Christ +"which was to heal the wounds of the world." "The priest is the +representative of Christ on earth," he said on one occasion to the +students of the French College in Rome; "he must think the thoughts +of Christ and speak His words. He must be tender as Christ was +tender, pure and holy like his Lord; he must shine like a star in the +world." This was not easy, he acknowledged; it needed a long +preparation of study, of self-discipline and of prayer. The spiritual +weapons must be well tempered for the combat, for the fight would be +hard and long. "A holy priest makes holy people," he said on another +occasion; "a priest who is not holy is not only useless but harmful +to the world." + +And it was not only the cultivation of virtue on which he insisted, +but the cultivation of the mind also. The man who all his life had +curtailed his hours of sleep in order to study, had done it to +perfect his priesthood, to fit himself to cope with the dangers that +were abroad, to be armed at every point against error. Although his +enemies were never tired of asserting that he was ignorant and +unlettered, and he himself was quite ready to let the world believe +it, his knowledge and the extent of his learning could not be +concealed. Those who came in contact with him and his personal work +could not be otherwise than impressed with his depth of thought, the +extent of his reading, his literary and classical training, and his +strong grasp of philosophy and theology. His wide and far-reaching +appreciation of men and things in different countries all over the +world was astonishing in a man who had not travelled, as many +statesmen often remarked after conversing with him. He read French +perfectly, although he felt shy at attempting to speak it. He was an +excellent accountant. The delicacy and nobility of his dealings with +others were unequalled. + +"In order that Christ may be formed in the faithful," said Pius in +his first encyclical, "He must first be formed in the priest," and +with this end in view he set himself to the task which lay before +him. The first six years of his pontificate were chiefly spent in +work which concerned the priesthood and sacerdotal institutions. +Uniform rules of study, discipline and ecclesiastical education were +given to all the seminaries of Italy, which were to be inspected +carefully from time to time by apostolic men, who had at heart the +perfection of the priesthood. Small seminaries in dioceses incapable +of supporting them on these lines were suppressed. Bishops were +exhorted to further the work by all the means in their power; care +was to be taken in the selection of candidates for the priesthood, +who, after a thorough training in the seminary, were to be wisely +directed in the first exercise of their ministry, safeguarded against +the errors of the day, and encouraged to keep up their studies +without detriment to their active work. The Academy of St. Thomas in +Rome and the Catholic Institute of Paris won special praise for the +excellence and thoroughness of their teaching. Special regulations +were laid down for the examination of those about to be ordained. The +study of Holy Scripture was to be pursued in the seminaries during +the four years of the theological course, while especially gifted +students were to be set apart for more advanced studies. On those who +were already, or about to be ordained, the pope enjoined constant and +fervent prayer, daily meditation on the eternal truths, the attentive +reading of good books, especially of the Bible, and diligent +examination of conscience. The priest was to stand forth as an +example to all by the integrity of his life, his deference and +obedience to legitimate authority, his patient charity with all men. +It was not by a bitter zeal that they would gain souls to God; they +must reprove, entreat, rebuke, but in all patience; their charity +must be patient and kind with all men, even with those who were their +open enemies. "Such an example," said Pius X, "will have far more +power to move hearts and to gain them than words or dissertations, +however sublime." "The renewal of the priesthood," wrote the pope a +little before the celebration of his sacerdotal jubilee in 1908, +"will be the finest and most acceptable gift that the clergy can +offer to us." + +The gift that he himself bestowed on the priesthood on this fiftieth +anniversary of his ordination was the wonderful Exhortation to the +Catholic Clergy, published on August 4th, 1908. Every word of it was +his own, embodying the wisdom and experience of a lifetime spent in +God's service. The exhortation set before the clergy of the world the +model of "the man of God"--the perfect parish priest. Its fervent and +eloquent appeal to the clergy to show themselves worthy of their high +calling, by being truly the "salt of the earth and the light of the +world," is followed by a clear and practical exposition of the means +necessary to attain this great end. His ministry must be in deed as +well as in word. He must remember that he is not only the servant but +the friend of Christ, who has chosen him that he may go and bring +forth much fruit. And as friendship consists in unity of mind and +will, it is the first duty of a priest to study the mind and will of +his Master, so as to conform himself in all things to them. Stress is +laid on the necessity of cultivating the "passive" virtues--those +which perfect the character of the man himself--as well as the more +active ones which are called forth by contact with other people. The +exhortation, written for priests, by one who was a model of all +priestly virtues, and given from the chair of the Apostle, is a +perfect rule of life for every priest who aspires to holiness. + +Once more he recommended, as he had so often done before, preaching +to the people plain and simple gospel truths rather than flowery and +rhetorical sermons. Once more, but this time as head on earth of the +Universal Church, he insisted on the necessity of clear and simple +instruction in Christian doctrine to adults and children alike, again +reiterating his conviction that the growth of unbelief was largely +due to ignorance of what Christ's teaching was. + +"It is in a time of sore stress and difficulty," he writes in his +encyclical of 1905 on this subject, "that the mysterious counsel of +divine Providence has raised up our littleness to bear the office of +chief shepherd over the whole flock of Christ . . . . It is a common +complaint . . . that in this age there are very many Christian people +who live in utter ignorance of those things, the knowledge whereof is +necessary for their eternal salvation . . . we do not only mean the +masses and those in the lower walks of life . . . but those who, +though not without talent and culture, abound in the wisdom of the +world, and are utterly reckless and foolish in matters of religion. +. . . They hardly ever think of the supreme Maker and Ruler of all +things, or of the wisdom of the Christian faith . . . they in no wise +understand the malice and foulness of sin . . . a great many . . . +fall into endless evil through ignorance of those mysteries of faith +which those who would be counted among the elect must needs know and +believe." + +"The erring will of man has need of a guide who shall show it the way +. . . this guide is the mind. But if the mind itself be lacking true +light . . . it will be a case of the blind leading the blind, and +both will fall into the ditch . . . . Only the teaching of Jesus +Christ makes us understand the true and wondrous dignity of man . . . +and is it not the teaching of Jesus Christ again that inspires in +proud man the lowliness of mind which is the origin of all true +glory? From it we learn the prudence of the spirit whereby we may +shun the prudence of the flesh, the justice whereby we may give to +everyone his due, the fortitude whereby we are made ready to endure +all things and may suffer with gladness for the sake of God and +eternal happiness; and the temperance by which we may love poverty +itself for the kingdom of God, and may even glory in the Cross, +despising the shame . . . . Since then such dire evils flow from +ignorance of religion and . . . the necessity of religious +instruction is so great, because no one can hope to fulfil the duties +of a Christian without knowing them, it remains to ask whose duty it +is to destroy this deadly ignorance in people's minds and to teach +them this necessary knowledge." + +The answer is obvious--that duty falls on the priesthood, and this +the pope clearly points out. "There is nothing nearer or dearer than +this to the heart of Jesus Christ," he continues, "who said of +Himself through the lips of Isaias, 'to preach the Gospel to the poor +He hath sent me'." + +Having laid down in urgent words the duty of the shepherds to feed +the flock committed to their care, the pope expounds the mission of +the catechist, and its power for good. He quotes the words of St. +Gregory the Great on the Apostles of Christ. "They took supreme care +to preach to the ignorant things easy and intelligible, not sublime +and arduous," ending with the saying of St. Peter, "as every man hath +received grace, ministering the same one to another, as good stewards +of the manifold grace of God." + +To Pius X the Divine Office had always been a work of predilection. +It is said that as a child he had often seen Cardinal Monico with his +Breviary in his hands, and had wondered vaguely what beautiful +stories there could be in the book that so engrossed his attention. +And when in later days he opened it for the first time himself his +childish dreams found their fulfilment. For the Breviary is the story +of the Church and her saints, and the whole Psalter enwraps it like a +glory. It was to the treasures of that great book that he went all +his life for his morning meditation until he knew it as one knows the +heart of a friend. And loving it with the love of a true friend, and +seeing faults amidst its beauties, he would let it also share in "the +restoring of all things in Christ." For over four hundred years a +redistribution of the Psalter throughout the week had been sighed +for, but every scheme had failed. Pius appointed a commission to deal +with this problem, giving certain general lines on which to base the +reform, and in a few years the new Breviary was issued. The +rearrangement secured the recitation of the whole Psalter once a +week, the length of the office on Sundays and ferias was reduced, +while the complexities of the calendar were simplified. + +"No one can fail," wrote the pope, "to be stirred by those numerous +passages of the Psalms which proclaim so loudly the immense majesty +of God, His omnipotence, His unutterable justice, His goodness and +clemency . . . . Who can fail to be inspired . . . by those +thanksgivings for God's benefits, by those lowly and trustful prayers +for benefits desired, by those cries of the penitent soul deploring +its sins? Who is not kindled with love for the picture of Christ the +Redeemer so lovingly shadowed forth, whose voice Augustine heard in +all the Psalms, praising or mourning, rejoicing in hope or longing +for accomplishment? With good reason was provision made in past ages +by decrees of the Roman pontiffs, canons of councils, and monastic +laws that both sections of the clergy should chant or recite the +whole Psalter every week." The pope spoke of the many pleas that had +reached him that the old custom might be restored, and of the work +that had been done to this effect, which was but a prelude to a +further emendation of the Breviary and the Missal. + +The reform of the Roman Curia was another undertaking, which did much +to simplify the government of the Church. The various Roman +Congregations were founded by Sixtus V to study questions submitted +to the decision of the pope and to deal with any legal questions that +might arise; and as persons of experience and mature judgement alone +should deal with these matters, various committees were formed, each +of which attended to its own particular branch of business. But the +organization of the different congregations needed to be adapted to +the requirements of the present day. Pius X, with the practical +spirit which distinguished all his undertakings, completely +remodelled the curia, fixing the number of congregations at thirteen, +and defining clearly the work of each. The constitution "Sapienti +consilio" on this matter instituted also many other important reforms +in the tribunals and offices of the curia. + +The purchase of the Palazzo Mariscotti, assigned to the Cardinal +Vicar of Rome, enabled Pius X to carry out another long-cherished +plan, for the thorough reform of his own diocese, inadequate in its +organization to the needs of the present day. Want of space, which +had been the chief difficulty in the way of reorganization, having +been thus supplied for, the necessary reforms were at once set on +foot. In many other important matters the needs of modern times +called for the simplification and amendment of methods that had +become obsolete. The reform and codification of canon law was another +laborious work carried on by the pope for eleven years, and brought +to a conclusion under his successor Benedict XV. + +With affectionate interest the pope watched the progress of +Catholicism in England. "If there is any Church in the whole +Christian world," he wrote in January 1912, on the occasion of the +founding of the two new ecclesiastical provinces of Birmingham and +Liverpool, "which merits the special care and forethought of the +Apostolic See, it is certainly the Church of the English, which, +happily founded among the Britons by St. Eleutherius[*] and still +more happily established through apostolic men by Gregory the Great, +was subsequently made famous by the numbers of its children +distinguished by the holiness of their lives or by the martyr's death +courageously suffered for Christ." + +[*] History scholars seem now agreed that the story of a mission sent +to Britain by Pope St. Eleutherius in the later second century rests +on a misunderstanding. Christianity was certainly introduced into +Britain during the Roman occupation, but the circumstances are not +known. + +"It is with the greatest pleasure that I greet you, my dear children +of Great Britain," he said at an audience given to four hundred +English pilgrims presented to him by Cardinal Bourne, Archbishop of +Westminster, "worthy descendants of your Catholic forefathers who +during ten centuries remained constantly faithful to the Church and +the Holy See, and who by the purity of their faith and by personal +holiness gave many saints to God. And although through the blind +passion of an unworthy king your country fell into schism, the Faith +is still alive in her midst, for are you not the children of those +valiant Christians . . . who gave their lives for the truth, and won +for Great Britain her title of the Island of Saints?" + +The beatification of Joan of Arc in April 1909 was one more token of +the pope's love of another country that had given so much for God, +and the presence in Rome of forty thousand of her children was a +further proof of her true spirit. And when, borne in the _sedia +gestatoria_ through the crowd, the Holy Father, leaning forward, +lifted the fold of the French flag that had been lowered at his +passage and reverently kissed it, the enthusiasm knew no bounds. That +flag had stood for much that was not noble; the memory of its origin +was still in the minds of many. But by that kiss it was consecrated +for ever. + +Monsignor Blanc, a Marist missionary in Oceania, wrote thus to his +clergy after an audience with Pius X: "My attention was completely +captivated by his expression and his eyes. I could not tell you what +the room was like nor what the Holy Father wore; I could see nothing +but those eyes, and the light of them I shall never forget. He made +me sit beside him, and I spoke of our people, our natives, the +country that I love. If the life of the missionary is sometimes hard, +let us remember that the pope has said 'the missions are my great +consolation.' He was full of interest in all I had to tell him of +your work, your zeal and your devotedness. I spoke of our schools and +he was delighted. 'Tell them to devote themselves there without +counting the cost,' he said: 'it is the most important thing of all." +With touching graciousness and cordiality he gave his blessing to +you, to our people, to all for whom I asked it." + +"You cannot go near him without loving him," said another priest, +"his kindness and sweetness are irresistible." Father Boevey Crawley, +a South American priest and an ardent apostle of devotion to the +Sacred Heart of Jesus, went to Rome to obtain the pope's blessing on +his mission. His story was a strange one. Attacked while quite young +by a serious form of heart disease, he was sent to Paris to consult a +specialist. The American doctors had told him that he had but a few +months to live; the Paris specialist confirmed their verdict. Father +Crawley had an overwhelming devotion to the Sacred Heart and to St. +Margaret Mary. He went straight to Paray-le-Monial to ask through her +intercession the grace of a holy death. Scarcely had he knelt in the +chapel when he felt himself shaken from head to foot. He was cured. +That night while kneeling in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament he +received a divine intimation that he was to go forth and conquer the +world, family by family, to love the Sacred Heart. To preach love was +henceforward to be his mission, for what is devotion to the Sacred +Heart but love of the love of Christ? The conversion of his father, +who was a Protestant, was the first fruit of his apostolate. + +Kneeling at the pope's feet, he told him the story of his life, +asking permission to begin the work to which he was called. Pius +listened with the deepest interest. Then, "No, my son," he said, "I +do not give you permission." + +Father Crawley looked up at him in consternation; the pope's eyes +were shining, and there was a little smile lurking in the corners of +his mouth. "But, Holy Father . . ." pleaded the priest. + +"No," repeated the pope, "I do not give you permission."--"I do not +give you permission," he said again. "I _order_ you to do it. You +hear? I am the pope, and I command it. It is a splendid work; let +your whole life be consecrated to it." + +"He had the greatest heart that it was possible for a human being to +have," was said of Pius X, not once but many times. Even for +treachery he had no condemnation. A betrayal of trust which had +affected him deeply came to his knowledge after the death of the +culprit. Folding his hands he prayed silently for the departed soul. +"He is dead," he said gently, "may he rest in peace." He met with a +sad smile an indignant accusation of treachery against one who was +still living, an accusation which could not be denied. "Traitor is a +hard word," he said, "let us say that he is a man of many skins--like +an onion . . . ." + +One more picture drawn from life. A young priest, tortured by doubts, +knelt shaken with sobs at the pope's feet. The white figure bent +compassionately over the kneeling man, the strong and gentle hands of +the Holy Father held the head of the suppliant closely to his heart. +"Faith, faith, faith," repeated the ringing voice over and over +again. "Faith, my son, must be your place of refuge." + + + +XI + +THE POPE OF THE SUFFERING + +As a young parish priest at Salzano, Giuseppe Sarto during the +cholera epidemic of 1873 had been the stay and comfort of his people. +Consoling the grief-stricken, nursing the sick, burying the dead, +utterly regardless of his own safety, his one thought had been for +his suffering parishioners. This compassion for every kind of pain or +sorrow was characteristic of him throughout his life. Not without +reason was it said that he had "the greatest heart of any man alive." +The very sight of suffering moved him to tears; there was no trouble +of body or soul that failed to awaken his sympathy. + +While patriarch of Venice he was walking one day through one of the +poorest quarters of the city when suddenly from a house at the end of +a mean street arose the piercing cries of a child who was being +cruelly beaten by its mother. The cardinal strode down the street and +pulled the bell vigorously. A window opened overhead and from it +appeared the head of a. woman, a regular virago, crimson with fury +"Stop beating that child at once!" was the indignant mandate. The +woman, astounded at seeing the patriarch standing on her doorstep, +shut the window in confusion. For some time there was no more beating. + +Anything like tyranny roused his instant indignation. When reports +too circumstantial to be doubted reached him about the condition of +certain Indian tribes in South America and of the atrocious treatment +to which they were forced to submit, the bishops of the country were +exhorted to do their utmost to put an end to what was nothing less +than a cruel slavery. "Every day I receive fresh news of the +persecution in Asia Minor and in Macedonia," he said one day +sorrowfully at a private audience. "How many poor Christians are +massacred! What cowardice and what barbarity are shown by this +Sultan, who trembles with fright and begs that he may not be put to +death, who is always whining 'I have never done anyone any harm!' He +had in his palace a secret room in which he himself killed his +victims, where only a week ago he put a young girl to death!" These +were some of the sorrows that wrung the heart of him "who bore the +care of all the churches." + +All the calamities that befell the world awakened his sympathy, +earthquakes, floods, fires, railway accidents . . . . The sufferers +were comforted not only with kind words but with material help. Even +the papers least favourable to the Church noticed his personal +fatherly interest in the joys and sorrows of his people. His appeal +to the charity of Catholics on the occasion of the Calabrian +earthquake in 1908, which in a few moments totally destroyed Messina, +Reggio, Sille and the surrounding villages, burying more than 100,000 +people in the ruins, met with a magnificent response. The sum of 7 +million francs which was generously offered served to supply the +immediate needs of the survivors, who in many cases were left totally +destitute. + +But it was not only to make others give that Pius exerted himself; he +gave himself to the utmost of his power. The day after the Messina +disaster he sent people to investigate and report, to search out the +victims most urgently in need of help and care and to bring them to +Rome. Trainloads of sufferers arrived daily and were taken to the +papal hospice of Santa Marta, the pope making himself responsible for +over five hundred orphans. His Christlike compassion, his grand +initiative and masterly organization of relief won a burst of praise +in which even the anti-clerical syndic of Rome joined, while the +nations of Europe expressed their admiration. "This pope, of whom it +was said that his sole policy was the Gospel and the Creed, and his +sole diplomacy the Ten Commandments, fired the imagination of the +world by his apostolic fearlessness, his humility, his simplicity and +single-minded faith." + +"Who that has seen him," wrote Monsignor Benson, "can ever forget the +extraordinary impression of his face and bearing, the kindness of his +eyes, the quick sympathy of his voice, the overwhelming fatherliness +that enabled him to bear not only his own supreme sorrows, but all +the personal sorrow which his children laid on him in such +abundance?" An irresistible impulse seemed to drive the suffering to +seek his presence and to ask his prayers, and they seldom failed to +find the help that they sought. + +Perhaps it was his ardent desire to help and comfort pain of any +kind, united with personal holiness and fervent prayer, that made the +touch of his hand or even his blessing so strangely efficacious for +healing. The wonderful graces obtained through the prayers and the +touch of _Il santo_ were the talk of Rome; men and women who had seen +the marvels with their own eyes bore witness to the facts. + +Rumours of what was happening came to the ears of Catholics in other +countries, and a young girl in England who had been reading the Acts +of the Apostles was seized with a great desire to go to Rome. Her +head and neck were covered with running sores which would not heal. +The shadow of St. Peter falling on the sick, she said, had cured +them; the shadow of his successor would cure her. Her mother took her +to Rome, where both were present at a public audience. The pope +passed slowly through the crowd, speaking a few words here and there +as he went. To the kneeling girl he said nothing, but as he blessed +her she felt that she was cured; and indeed, when on their return to +the hotel her mother removed the bandages she found that the sores +were completely healed. + +More remarkable still because more public was the case of two +Florentine nuns, both suffering from an incurable disease. They made +the journey to Rome with great difficulty, and admitted to a private +audience, they begged the pope to cure them. "Why do you want to be +cured?" he asked. + +"That we may work for God's glory," was the answer. + +The pope laid his hands upon their heads and blessed them. "Have +confidence," he said, "you will get well and will do much work for +God's glory," and at the same moment they were restored to health. +Pius bade them keep silence as to what had happened, but the facts +spoke for themselves. At their entrance, the two nuns had hardly had +strength to drag themselves along; at their exit they walked like +strong and healthy women. Their cab driver, an unimaginative man of +sturdy common sense, refused to take them back to their convent. +"No," he said, "I will take back the two I brought or their dead +bodies." + +"But we are the two you brought," they insisted. + +"No," repeated the vetturino, "the two I brought were half dead; you +are not in the least like them." + +At another public audience was a man who carried his little son, +paralysed from birth and unable to stand. "Give him to me," said +Pius; and taking the child on his knee, he began to talk to another +group of pilgrims. A few minutes later the child slipped down from +the pope's knee and began to run about the room. + +That the touch of a holy man, or the garments he has worn, or even +his shadow falling on the sick should have power to cure them, is +vouched for by Holy Scripture.[*] "Perhaps so," say some, "but the +age of miracles has passed." The age of miracles has not passed, nor +will it ever while there is faith on the earth; for faith, as Jesus +Christ Himself said, alone makes miracles possible. At Nazareth even +His almighty power could not work them, because of the unbelief of +the people. Where the age of faith has passed, the age of miracles +has passed with it, but in the Church of Christ they both endure. + +[*] Acts v 15 and vi 12; Matt. xiii 58. + +More marvellous still than the graces obtained by the touch of Pius X +were those obtained--sometimes at a great distance--by his blessing +and his prayers. + +In one of the convents of the Sacred Heart in Ireland was a young nun +suffering from disease of the hip-bone. For eight months she had not +put her left foot to the ground, as any weight on it caused acute +pain. The disease was making rapid progress. In the October of 1912 +the superioress of the convent, having heard of a cure obtained +through the prayers and blessing of the Holy Father, determined to +have recourse to him. She told a little girl of six, the daughter of +the convent carpenter, to write to the pope, asking him to bless the +dear Mother who was ill, and to pray for her. During the night of the +29th October the sick nun suddenly realized that the pain had +entirely left the injured hip--so entirely that she was able to turn +and lie on it. The next morning she sat up in bed and asked to be +allowed to try to walk. She got up, made her bed and walked to the +church, where she knelt for some time in prayer. It was then that she +was told of the letter to the pope. "I did not know what had +happened," she said, "all that I knew was that the pain was gone and +that I could walk." + +A railway worker had a boy of two who lay dangerously ill of +meningitis. The doctor, who had given up all hope, asked the priest +to break the news to the young parents, who at once cried out, "We +will write to the pope! We used to go to confession to him at Mantua +when we were children; bishop as he was, he used to hear the +confessions of the poor." A letter was written and posted, and Pius +wrote with his own hand several lines in reply, bidding the young +couple pray and hope. On the following day the child had completely +recovered. + +These are only a few of the many graces obtained in the same way. The +cure of a Redemptoristine nun in the acute stages of cancer by the +application of a piece of stuff that had been worn by Pius X was +borne witness to by Cardinal Vives y Tuto. The sudden return to life +and speech of Don Rafael Merry del Val, father of the Cardinal +Secretary of State, at the prayer of his wife who, when death was +declared imminent, tried the same remedy; a French woman dying of +heart disease, who denied the very existence of God, was not only +healed by the pope's blessing, but reconciled to the Church and was +henceforward a fervent Catholic: these are only a few more of the +marvels wrought. Pope Pius did his best to hush the matter up. "I +have nothing to do with it," he continually exclaimed; "it is the +power of the keys." + +"I hear that you are a _santo_ and work miracles," said a lady one +day, with more enthusiasm than tact. + +"You have made a mistake in a consonant," replied the pope, laughing, +"it is a 'Sarto' that I am." No less witty was his reply to a man who +came to solicit a cardinal's hat for one of his friends. "But I +cannot give your friend a cardinal's hat," said the Holy Father. "I +am not a hatter, only a tailor" (_sarto_). + +The Portuguese revolution in 1911 was a fresh heartbreak to the pope, +for the Portuguese Republic was bitterly anti-Catholic and +anti-clerical. The first action of its representatives was to expel +the religious orders and to confiscate their buildings and +belongings. This was done in the most brutal manner, nuns being +driven off to prison after their convents had been looted and some of +the inhabitants put to death. Many died of the privations endured, +while others testified to the humanity of their gaolers by going mad. +Religious instruction of any kind was prohibited in the government +schools; priests were arrested and imprisoned; the Bishop of Oporto +was driven from his diocese. The separation law of church and state +fell more heavily on the Church in Portugal than even that of France, +and its object was the elimination of the Christian faith from +Portuguese society. + +These things fell heavily on the heart of the Father of Christendom, +who sorrowed with his sorrowing children, He protested against the +injustice in his encyclical "Jamdudum in Lusitania," in which he set +forth and condemned the oppressive measures of the republic. A +touching letter of thanks expressed the gratitude of the persecuted +clergy of Portugal for the pope's courageous protest. That some of +the harshest features of the law seemed in a fair way to be relaxed +during the years that followed was some small consolation to him. + +In the spring of 1913 the health of the pope gave cause for anxiety, +an attack of influenza which had greatly weakened him being followed +by a relapse, with symptoms of bronchitis. From every part of the +world came assurances of prayers and sympathy, while in Rome the +anxiety felt by all lay like a weight on the city. But he made a +quick recovery. He was not a good patient, and his doctors had the +greatest difficulty in keeping him quiet. No sooner was he +convalescent than he accused them of being tyrants, whose only idea +was to make him waste the time that belonged to the Church. Over and +over again they would find that in their absence he had disobeyed +orders and received somebody or settled an urgent piece of business. + +"Just think of our responsibility before the world!" said Dr. Amici +one day to his recalcitrant patient. "Just think of mine before God," +was the energetic answer, "if I do not take care of His Church!" They +began to talk to him seriously, trying to make him promise to do as +he was told. "Come, come," said he with his irresistible smile, +"don't be cross; surely it is my interest to get well quite as much +as it is yours to make me so." + +During the winter before this illness Rosa Sarto, the pope's eldest +sister, died. She had been with her brother nearly all his life, +having gone at the age of seventeen to keep house for him when he was +a curate at Tombolo, afterwards accompanying him to Salzano. During +the years when he had been at Treviso and Mantua she had lived with +her mother, until her death, after which she came to Venice with her +two younger sisters and her niece. On Cardinal Sarto's election to +the papacy the little group made their home in Rome in a small +apartment not far from the Vatican, where they led a quiet life of +charity and good works. + +Those who went to pray beside the dead woman were equally struck by +the humble surroundings and the peace that prevailed there. A small +room, a common iron bedstead, a sweet, almost transparent old face +framed in a plain white cap, violets scattered here and there over +the body. The funeral took place at the church of St. +Laurence-outside-the-Walls, and all the cardinals in Rome were +present, together with a great crowd eager to do honour to one so +near and dear to the Holy Father. Her brother alone could not be +present. Following in spirit the funeral procession he knelt in his +private oratory praying for the soul of his sister. Telegrams from +every part of the world bore witness to the sympathy felt for the +sorrow of the pope who had made the sorrows of the world his own. +This demonstration of love and interest was a comfort to him in his +grief and touched him deeply. + +But a fresh blow was in store in the sufferings of his children in +Mexico. Carranza had headed a revolution against Huerta, the +president of the Mexican Republic, An ex-bandit named Villa, who was +Carranza's chief supporter, soon turned against him and started a +counter-revolution of his own, followed by a systematic persecution +of religion. Many priests were forced to flee the country, ten +bishops crossed into the United States to save their people from a +favourite trick of the insurgents, who would arrest a bishop and, +relying on the people's love of their pastor, then demand an +exorbitant ransom. Horrible outrages followed; priests were shot, +hanged or thrown into prison; churches were converted into barracks, +the sacred vessels were carried off to the bar rooms as cups. The +venerable Archbishop of Durango was compelled to sweep the streets; +religious were shot for refusing to betray the hiding places of their +brethren, while the fate of many of the nuns is not to be described. +Although the revolutionary government set up a press bureau in the +United States to deny these facts and fill the mails with calumnies +against the Church, the truth became gradually known--not in all its +entirety until after the pope's death--but enough to wring the brave +old heart with a fresh pang of anguish . . . . + +"The _sedia_ advanced," wrote one who was present about this time at +a service in St. Peter's, "bearing the pope aloft above the heads of +the people. He was in a red cope and a high golden mitre. His face +was sweet and sad; his soul, far away from all this show and +splendour, seemed lost in the contemplation of the distance that +separates the things of earth from the things of Heaven, while his +hand moved from side to side in blessing. The sadness was so deeply +engraved on that pensive face that it seemed as if no smile could +ever lighten it; truly he bore on his shoulders the weight of the +world's grief. Suddenly a movement in the crowd brought the +procession to a halt; the thoughtful face was raised as if the pope +had awakened from his contemplation; he bent forward. A smile of +infinite sweetness and kindness, like a ray of sunshine in a winter +sky, lit up for a moment those sad features, while beneath me I heard +two Italians murmur, 'O Father, dear, dear old Father!'" + + + +XII + +THE POPE OF PEACE + +At the private consistory held in May 1914, Pius X, alluding to the +consolation which had been afforded him by the celebration of the +sixteenth centenary of the Peace of Constantine the year before, +spoke words which in the light of later events might well have seemed +prophetic. + +"During these months," he said, "the Catholic world, while confirming +its own faith, has presented to the suffering human race the Cross of +Christ as the only source of peace. To-day more than ever is that +peace to be desired, when class is set against class, nation against +nation; when interior conflicts by their increasing bitterness not +infrequently end in open hostility. The wisest and most experienced +men are devoting themselves to the betterment of human society, +trying to find some means of putting an end to the terrible massacres +entailed by war, to secure for the world the benefits of lasting +peace. Yet this excellent endeavour will remain almost or wholly +barren if at the same time an attempt is not made to establish in the +hearts of men the laws of justice and charity. The peace or the +strife of civil society and of the state depend less on those who +govern than on the people themselves. When the minds of men are shut +out from divine revelation, no longer restrained by the discipline of +the Christian law, what wonder if many, with blind desire, rush +headlong down the road to ruin, persuaded by leaders who think of +nothing but their own personal interests. + +"The Church, made by her divine Founder the guardian of charity and +of truth, is the only power capable of saving the world. Would it not +then be better for the world, not only to allow her freely to fulfil +her mission, but to help her to do so? It is the contrary that +happens; the Church is too often looked upon as the enemy of the +human race, when she is in reality the mother of civilization. + +"Yet this need not surprise us; we know that after the example of her +Founder, the Church, whose mission is to do good, is also destined to +bear injustice and contempt. Divine help will never fail her, even in +her darkest moments. Christ Himself has said it, history bears +witness to the fact." + +The Catholic world was busy at this time over preparation for the +twenty-fifth national eucharistic congress, which was to be held at +Lourdes from the 22nd to the 26th of July. The pope had appointed +Cardinal Granito di Belmonte as legate to the congress, and his last +pontifical brief was written on this subject. "Never," he wrote, "has +Mary ceased to show that motherly love which till her last breath she +poured forth so fully upon the bride that her divine Son purchased +with His precious blood. It might indeed be said that her sole work +was to care for the Christian people, to lead all minds to the love +of Jesus and zeal in His service. May the divine Author and preserver +of the Church look upon that noble part of His flock, which is +afflicted to-day by so many calamities: may He stimulate the generous +virtue and willingness of the good and, pouring out the fire of His +love, revive the half-dead faith of those who now barely retain the +name of Christian. This, in our fatherly love for the French people, +we most earnestly ask of God through the Immaculate Virgin." + +The congress was one of the greatest that has ever been held. Every +country, even the furthest, could boast its representative. Never, it +was said, had men of so many nations been seen together in one place; +the confusion of tongues was like Babel. Clergy and lay folk of every +age, rank and race came flocking from every quarter, all moved by one +impulse--devotion to Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. + +It was scarcely more than three weeks before the opening of this +congress when the news of the murder at Serajevo of the Austrian +Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife came like a thunder-clap upon +the world. Serbia was at once accused by Austria of complicity in the +crime, and a drastic note, to be answered within forty-eight hours, +was presented for her acceptance. Of the policy which caused this +move, and of the powers behind it, this is not the place to speak. + +The pope, to whom the text of the Note was officially communicated by +the Austro-Hungarian government, foresaw clearly the catastrophe that +must follow. The papal nuncios received instructions to do all in +their power to avert an international conflict, but it was too late +to prevent the calamity; all efforts were in vain. By midnight on +August 4, the eleventh anniversary of the pope's election, Austria, +Serbia, Russia, Germany, Belgium, France and Great Britain were at +war. + +The blow fell crushingly on the pope, whose heart was heavy with the +thought of all the sufferings that war would bring in its train. The +representative of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy asked him in the +emperor's name to bless the armies of the dual empire. "I bless +peace, not war," was the stern reply.[*] + +[*] This story is quite in keeping with Pius X's character, but the +evidence for its factual truth is not altogether satisfactory. + +The exhortation to the Catholics of the world, published in the +_Osservatore Romano_ of the 2nd of August, was a touching expression +of the Holy Father's sorrow: "While nearly all Europe is being +dragged into the whirlpool of a most deadly war, of whose dangers, +bloodshed and consequences no one can think without grief and alarm, +we too cannot but be anxious and feel our soul rent by the most +bitter grief for the safety and lives of so many citizens and so many +peoples for whose welfare we are supremely solicitous. Amid this +tremendous upheaval and danger we deeply feel and realize that our +fatherly charity and our apostolic ministry demand that we direct +men's minds to Him from whom alone help can come, to Christ, the +Prince of Peace, and man's all-powerful Mediator with God. Therefore +we exhort the Catholics of the whole world to turn confidently to His +throne of grace and mercy; let the clergy lead the way by their +example and by appointing special prayer in their parishes, under the +order of the bishops, that God may be moved to pity, and may remove +as soon as possible the disastrous torch of war and inspire the +rulers of the nations with thoughts of peace and not of affliction." + +When the pope appeared to bless the crowds gathered in the Cortile di +San Damaso on the same day, it was noticed that an expression of the +deepest sadness replaced the usual kind smile of welcome. "My poor +children! My poor children!" he exclaimed sorrowfully as despatch +after despatch confirmed the rumours of fresh mobilizations. All +the bishops who visited him during those sad days were urged to start +a crusade of prayer in their dioceses to avert the impending +disaster. Groups of pilgrims were received during the week, but +blessed in silence; no public address was given by the pope: the +awful burden of the world's tragedy weighed too heavily on his heart. +Night and day he prayed and suffered, trying to think of some way of +bringing peace out of the conflict. + +The rumour that the pope was ill was spread about on the feast of the +Assumption. As a matter of fact, he was merely feeling indisposed, +and had suspended his usual audiences. His doctor, usually inclined +to be over-careful, and his sisters, always over-anxious, looked on +his illness as of no importance, and evinced not the slightest +anxiety. + +On Tuesday, the 17th of August, as the Cardinal Secretary of State, +himself unwell, was unable to go to his usual daily audience, the +pope sent him a message assuring him that he was all right. "_Dica al +Cardinale_," he said, "_che stia bene, perche quando sta male lui, sto +male io_!"[*] His sisters saw him on the Tuesday evening, and went +home after leaving a message for the cardinal that the Holy Father +was doing well, and would be all right in the morning. He had been at +his writing-table as usual, and had received a Franciscan friar, who +left him without any idea that he was ill. During the night of +Wednesday, the 18th, he became very much worse, and at eight o'clock +in the morning was declared to be seriously ill, though the doctor +had not given up all hope. A few hours later it was announced that +the pope was dying. + +[*] "Tell the cardinal to get well, for when he is ill I am ill too." + +Those of the cardinals who could be present, hastily summoned, knelt +around him, unable to restrain their tears. The pope lay, or rather +sat, propped up with pillows and breathing with difficulty; his +sisters were by his side, a Brother of St. John of God in attendance +as nurse. The last consecutive words he had spoken were to his +confessor; "I resign myself completely," he said, after which his +answers to the prayers grew fainter and fainter until they ceased +altogether. + +"One was not conscious of time and it was all unreal," wrote one who +was present. "Suddenly the deep notes of St. Peter's great bell +boomed out, tolling '_pro pontifice agonizzante_,' and at that signal +Exposition began in all the patriarchal basilicas, with special +prayers. The hot _scirocco_, the buzz from the Piazza San Pietro far +below, whispering prelates and attendants, the boom of the bell--how +strange it all seemed; and behind everything the catastrophe of the +present public situation and war." + +So the hours of the afternoon wore on into the night. The pope could +not speak, but he recognized those who approached him, received the +clasp of their hands with an answering pressure, raised his own to +bless them, and from time to time made slowly on his brow and breast +a long sign of the cross. At a little after 1.15 a.m., in deepest +peace and calm, Pius X passed away. + +He died as he had lived, quietly and simply; and few strangers, had +they seen the plain, austerely furnished bedroom where he lay, +majestic in death, could have believed that this was the +death-chamber of a pope. Opposite the bed, which was surrounded by +four great candles, stood an altar, where from the small hours of the +morning Mass succeeded Mass; two Noble Guard were on duty beside the +dead pontiff. The grief felt for his loss was deep and universal; +cardinals, prelates, servants, all sorts and conditions of men, wept +openly as they went about their duties. Diplomats expressed in +heartfelt accents to Cardinal Merry del Val their admiration, +veneration and love for the saintly pope who had passed away. "The +whitest soul in this blood-stained tempest-torn world has left us," +wrote an Italian prelate to a friend. "The Holy Father has died of a +broken heart," said another. + +The body of the pope lay in state in the Sala del Trono and +afterwards was carried to St. Peter's, where it was placed in the +chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, raised aloft and visible to the +crowd. A continuous stream of people passed through the basilica, +getting thicker and thicker as the day went on. Pius X had asked that +he might be buried in the crypt of St. Peter's, absolutely forbidding +the embalming of his body. His wish was carried out on the 23rd of +August. + +"The will of the Holy Father," said one of the cardinals, "is the +will of a saint." Opening with an invocation of the Blessed Trinity +and an expression of confidence in the mercy of Almighty God, it +continued thus: "I was born poor, I have lived poor, and I wish to +die poor." A sum not exceeding £12 a month was left to his sisters, +and 48s. a month to his valet, while a legacy of £400 was bequeathed +to his nephews and nieces, subject to the approval of the next pope. +The maintenance of 400 orphans, victims of the Messina earthquake of +1908 and undertaken by the Holy Father, was also provided for. + +"Pius X has left his mark on the world," wrote Monsignor Benson in +_The Tablet_ of August 29th, "perhaps more than any pontiff of the +last four centuries. That humble cry of sorrow, which, we are told, +broke from him only a few days ago when he deplored his impotence to +check the madness of Europe, indeed witnessed to the great historical +lesson that those who reject the arbitration of Christ's Vicar and +the elementary principles of Christian justice will surely +reap--indeed are already reaping--the bitter fruits of disobedience; +but along other lines he has done more than any predecessor of his +since the days of that great schism to reconcile by love those who +throw over authority; and the secret of it all lies in exactly that +which he would be the last to recognize--namely, the personal +holiness and devotion of his own character . . . . + +"It is a wonderful consolation to realize how, for the first time +perhaps for centuries, the Shepherd of the flock has succeeded in +making his voice heard, and a part, at least, of his message +intelligible among the sheep that are not of his fold. Pontiff after +pontiff has spoken that same message, and pontiff after pontiff has +been, without the confines of his own flock, little more than a voice +crying in the wilderness. Now, for the first time, partly no doubt +through the breaking down of obstinate prejudice, but chiefly through +the particular accents of the voice that spoke and the marvellous +personality of the speaker, that message has become audible, and Pius +X has succeeded where diplomacy and even sanctity of another +complexion have failed. Men have recognized the transparent love of +the Pastor where they have been deaf to the definitions of the +Pontiff; they have at any rate paused to listen to the appeals of +their Father, when they have turned away from the authority of the +_Rector mundi_." + +Nor was it the Catholic press alone that paid tribute to the holy +life and noble aims of the dead pope. "All men who hold sincere and +personal holiness in honour," said _The Times_, "will join with the +Roman Catholic Church in her mourning for the Pontiff she has lost. +The policy of Pius X has had many critics, not all of them outside +the Church he ruled, but none has ever questioned the transparent +honesty of his convictions or refused admiration for his priestly +virtues. Sprung from the people, he loved and understood them as only +a good parish priest can do. That was the secret of the love which he +won amongst them from the first, and which at Venice made him a great +popular power. Not that he ever courted popularity; he taught them as +one having authority and could insist upon obedience. But the Roman +Church mourns in him something more than a saintly priest and a great +bishop; in him she also deplores a great pope. In the spheres of +church politics his reign has witnessed grievous disasters. It has +seen the separation of church and state in France and in Portugal, +and the whole process of 'dechristianizing' national and social life, +of which that measure was the symbol. Unprejudiced judges cannot +blame a pope for rejecting all compromise with a policy which, on the +admission of its authors, was deliberately aimed at the destruction +of the faith which it was his mission to uphold. Compromise, it has +been said, ought to have been possible, but there are principles +which Rome cannot waive or abate. Pius X conceived that such +principles were jeopardized in all the accommodations with the new +system which were suggested to him. It was no light thing for him to +impose upon the faithful clergy of France and of Portugal a course +which brought to them the loss of their revenues, their homes, and +even of all legal right in their churches. But his decision was to +him not a question of expediency, but of right and wrong. He gave it +in accordance with the dictates of his conscience, and the wonderful +obedience which the priests whom it impoverished have shown to his +commands has filled with a just pride his children throughout the +world . . . . His reform of church music was in the main a return to +the pure and noble manner of the best masters of the sixteenth +century . . . . His zeal for establishing the true text of the +Vulgate--the 'authorized version' of Latin Christianity--illustrates +in yet another field the plain practical nature of his mind . . . . +The sweeping condemnation of 'Modernism' was the most conspicuous act +of his pontificate within the domain of dogma. It was a consequence +of his position and of his character as inevitable as his repudiation +of compromise with the secularism of M. Combe or M. Briand. Few +persons familiar with the elementary doctrines of the Roman Church +could suppose that the tendencies of the new school were compatible +with them. To the downright plain sense of the pope the desperate +efforts of men who had explained away the content of historical +Christianity to present themselves as orthodox Roman Catholics were +simply disingenuous .... The elevation of Giuseppe Sarto to the most +ancient and most venerable throne in Europe is a striking +illustration of the democratic side of the Roman Church to which she +has largely owed her power . . . . The story is not without its +lessons for statesmen and for educationists. The Church did not +attempt universal education, but by her monastic schools, her +bursaries and her seminaries she set up a ladder leading to the most +exalted of all her dignities for the most fit. It was long since a +peasant's son had won the Triple Crown. In this, as in so much +besides, the reign of Pope Pius X was a return to the past." + +In the crypt of St. Peter's the then last pope, who was a peasant, +was laid close to the sepulchre of the First, who was a fisherman. +This was the inscription on his tomb: + + PIVS PAPA X + PAVPER ET DIVES + MITIS ET HVMILIS CORDE + REIQVE CATHOLICAE VINDEX FORTIS + INSTAVRARE OMNIA IN CHRISTO + SATAGENS PIE OBIIT + DIE XX AVG A.D. MCMXIV + + POPE PIUS X + POOR YET RICH + MEEK AND HUMBLE OF HEART + UNDAUNTED CHAMPION OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH + TO RESTORE ALL THINGS IN CHRIST + HAVING DONE SO MUCH + DIED HOLILY AUGUST 20, A.D. 1914 + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pope Pius the Tenth, by +F. A. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/35953-8.zip b/35953-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..169f293 --- /dev/null +++ b/35953-8.zip diff --git a/35953.txt b/35953.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c22f93 --- /dev/null +++ b/35953.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4241 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Pope Pius the Tenth, by F. A. (Frances Alice) Forbes + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Pope Pius the Tenth + +Author: F. A. (Frances Alice) Forbes + +Release Date: April 25, 2011 [EBook #35953] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POPE PIUS THE TENTH *** + + + + +Produced by David McClamrock + + + + + + + + + +POPE PIUS THE TENTH + +BY + +F. A. [FRANCES ALICE] FORBES + +LONDON + +BURNS OATES & WASHBOURNE LTD. + +PUBLISHERS TO THE HOLY SEE + +1954 + +[Transcriber's note: First published 1918; second edition 1919; third +edition 1924; fourth edition entitled _Pope Saint Pius the Tenth_, +unchanged in content except for anonymous postscript referring to +canonization of Pope Pius X (omitted here), 1954] + + + +NIHIL OBSTAT: PATRICIVS MORRIS, S.T.D., L.S.S. + +CENSOR DEPUTATUS + +IMPRIMATUR: E. MORROGH BERNARD + +VICARIVS GENERALIS + +WESTMONASTERII: DIE XI MARTII MCMLIV + + + +CONTENTS + +Chapter + + I. CHILD AND STUDENT + + II. CURATE AND PARISH PRIEST + + III. CANON AND BISHOP + + IV. PATRIARCH OF VENICE + + V. THE PAPAL ELECTION + + VI. THE AIMS OF PIUS X + + VII. PIUS X AND FRANCE + + VIII. THE POPE OF THE EUCHARIST + + IX. PIUS X AND MODERNISM + + X. PIUS X AND THE PRIESTHOOD + + XI. THE POPE OF THE SUFFERING + + XII. THE POPE OF PEACE + + + +I + +CHILD AND STUDENT + +In the village of Riese 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[*] Melchior Sarto 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. + +[*] Joseph, Beppo, Beppino, Bepi and Beppe are all diminutives of the +same name. "Sarto" is the English "Taylor." + +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. Indeed, the seraphic element in Bepi seems to have been +considerably leavened by that of the human boy. "That little rascal!" +exclaimed an old inhabitant of Riese when he heard of Cardinal +Sarto's elevation to the papacy, "Many a cherry of mine has found its +way down his throat!" + +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 centre 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 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. + +From the beginning of his first year at Castelfranco Giuseppe Sarto +had shown himself a hard-working and brilliant pupil, qualities which +do not always go together, At the end of his fourth year, in the +examinations held at the diocesan seminary of Treviso, he came out +first in every subject. The two priests of Riese were justly proud of +their scholar, and dreamed of great things in the future. Education, +however, costs money; and the Sarto family were not only poor, but +had eight children to provide for. That Bepi had a vocation to the +priesthood was evident to everyone who had had to do with him. The +next step was obviously the seminary; but who was to pay the +expenses? The stipend of an Italian parish priest leaves no margin +for such undertakings. Don Tito Fusarini therefore went to Canon +Casagrande, prefect of studies at the seminary, who had examined the +boys of Castelfranco; he would surely interest himself in the +brilliant youngster who had passed with honour in every subject. + +Now it happened that the patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Jacopo Monico, +was himself the son of a peasant, and a child of that very village of +Riese. Distinguished no less for his love of letters than for his +zeal for religion, it belonged to him to name the few students who +were entitled to a free scholarship at the seminary of Padua. That +his heart would be touched at the thought of his young fellow +townsman, like himself a child of the people, and unable to continue +his priestly education for lack of means, was a likely surmise. Don +Tito applied to Canon Casagrande, begging him to plead Giuseppe's +cause with the patriarch, a request which met with a prompt and +hearty assent. + +At Riese all was suspense and hope. The postman was a man of firm +faith, whose trust in God had never failed him; Margherita prayed +unceasingly. As to Bepi his whole future lay in the balance; the +dearest hopes of his heart depended on the patriarch's answer. At +last the letter arrived. Canon Casagrande announced to Don Fusarini +that Giuseppe Sarto had been proposed and accepted as a student at +the seminary of Padua, and that the patriarch had himself written to +the bishop of the diocese recommending young Sarto to his care. + +Giuseppe's joy was not unmixed with sorrow at the thought of leaving +for the first time the humble village home with all its dear +associations. In the dusk of an early November morning the +fifteen-year-old boy packed his few belongings into the country cart, +in those days the only means of conveyance for the poor, and, bravely +choking back the tears that could hardly be repressed, bade farewell +to his family. + +If the medieval charm of Castelfranco had influenced the young +student so profoundly, there was enough and to spare in the city of +Padua to satisfy his love of beauty. Famous throughout the world is +the basilica of Il Santo, built in the thirteenth century, and +dedicated in honour of the great St. Antony. Sculptures by Donatello, +bas-reliefs by Lombardi and pictures by Mantegna, Veronese and Giotto +adorn its walls. The cathedral, partly destroyed in the twelfth +century, was rebuilt by Michelangelo. The university, founded in the +thirteenth century, and counting among its students such men as +Vittorino da Feltre, the great educator, and Giovanni da Ravenna, the +friend of Petrarch, was famous throughout the Middle Ages for its +schools of medicine and of law. + +The seminary, founded in 1577 and greatly enlarged a century later, +boasts a handsome church and a noble library rich in precious +manuscripts. It was probably the first library that Bepi had seen, +certainly the first of which he had had the freedom, and one can +imagine the delight of the young student as he wandered through its +lofty halls, and realized that its treasures were henceforward part +of the endowment of the new life that was now his. + +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." + +At the end of his first year at Padua, Giuseppe was first in all his +classes. The home-coming to Riese was an unclouded joy, both to the +young seminarist and to his family. The holidays were spent in the +company of the friends of his childhood in the country that he loved. +To Don Jacuzzi and Don Fusarini he was as a beloved son, and much of +his time was spent either at the presbytery or in long rambles with +the good curate. Neither could studies be altogether neglected, +although it was holiday time; and the autumn days passed quickly +enough. + +Back again at Padua, Giuseppe set to work vigorously, without a +presentiment of the sorrow that was so soon to overcloud his +happiness. In the month of May his father died after a few days' +illness, leaving his wife and large family in very straitened +circumstances. The thought of the struggle which his mother was +waging against poverty lay like a weight upon Giuseppe's heart. He +was the eldest of the family and would have come to her assistance, +but not for worlds would the good Margherita have allowed her son to +give up his priestly career. She was full of courage, and the other +boys were growing up; they would soon be able to help to support the +family. A second grief followed upon the first. Don Tito Fusarini, +who had been like a second father to Bepi, and whose failing health +had caused him for some time past to rely more and more upon the +devotedness of his curate, was at last obliged to give up his work at +Riese. + +Don Pietro Jacuzzi, who succeeded him as rector, had been, from the +day of his arrival in the village, Giuseppe's firm friend and chief +adviser in all his boyish difficulties. The lad looked up to him as +the model of everything that a priest should be, and corresponded +with him continually from Padua. To him he owed the love and the +knowledge of music that was to prove so valuable in after years, for +had he not assisted at the transformation that had taken place in the +village choir under the able tuition of Don Pietro? He had been +witness, too, of the rector's unselfish and untiring devotion to his +priestly duties which had won him the love and reverence of his +parishioners; but within a year Giuseppe was to lose this second +friend also. Don Pietro was transferred to Vascon, to the grief of +the people of Riese. + +When Giuseppe came home for the autumn holidays in 1853 the fullness +of his loss became clear to him; Riese was hardly Riese without Don +Tito and Don Pietro. The new parish priest, whose somewhat morose +character formed a striking contrast to the genial kindliness of his +two predecessors, was not popular. He did not like sick calls in the +night, and told his parishioners so plainly from the pulpit. But +sickness and death have a knack of not considering the convenience of +the parish priest, or indeed of anybody else; and of this the +inhabitants of Riese were fully aware. + +By his very position as a church student Giuseppe was bound to be on +friendly terms with the presbytery. On the other hand, mixing as he +did with the people of the place, he could not avoid hearing some +severe criticisms of their pastor. While forced to admit to himself +that the methods of the new arrival were a little singular, the boy's +loyal and upright nature forbade him to discuss matters with his +friends. In this difficult and awkward position the lad of seventeen +showed a tact and discernment which would have been admirable in a +man of experience, "These holidays have been perfectly miserable," he +wrote to Don Jacuzzi, who had learnt from other correspondents how +things were going on; "I shut myself up in the house as much as I can +and try when visiting the members of my family to keep off dangerous +subjects." + + "No greater grief than to remember days + Of joy when sorrow is at hand," + +he quotes, for he knew his Dante well. "Even the singing has gone +down. I long for my little room at the seminary and the quiet life of +study." + +In 1856 Giuseppe distinguished himself more than ever, He had now +only two years more to spend at the seminary. His brilliant successes +as a student left him modest and humble as before, whilst his cheery +kindliness and sympathy made him a powerful influence for good +amongst his young companions. Such was the trust reposed in him by +his superiors that he had for long been prefect of discipline in the +general study room. "My masters call me '_Giubilato_'," he wrote to +Don Pietro. "I wish I could do more to show my gratitude for their +kindness." Nevertheless he greatly appreciated the private room +allotted to him during his last two years at Padua. "Here I read and +work," he wrote to the same dear friend, "and prepare myself for the +life of solitude and study that will be mine as a priest." His +favourite studies were the Bible and the Fathers of the Church. The +pastoral letters and papal encyclicals of later years bear witness to +the fact that this predilection lasted throughout his life. + +His knowledge and love of music had obtained for him the direction of +the seminary choir. "I have worked so hard at the music for the feast +of St. Aloysius," he wrote in the June of 1857, "that I am fairly +dried up." + +On the 27th of February of the same year he was ordained subdeacon in +the cathedral of Treviso, and on the feast of the Sacred Heart went +to Riese to preach. "Last Sunday I went to Riese to give a little +discourse on the Sacred Heart," he writes to Don Pietro. He does not +mention that the little discourse was so striking and so eloquent +that the enthusiasm of the congregation knew no bounds. + +At the end of August, 1858, Giuseppe Sarto's seminary life was over. +As he was only twenty-three, and the canonical age for ordination is +twenty-four, the Bishop of Treviso wrote to Rome to obtain a +dispensation. The young cleric had finished his last year as he had +finished his first, with honours in every subject. The record of his +triumphal progress is still to be seen in the books of the seminary +of Padua, the professors united in praising the qualities of his +character no less than those of his intellect. In September the +dispensation arrived, and with it the day so long desired, when +Giuseppe Sarto was to be for ever consecrated to the service of God. +The Bishop of Treviso was then at Castelfranco, and it was here that +the ordination was to take place. + +An autumn mist lay like a veil over the familiar landscape as the +young man drove along the road which led from Riese to Castelfranco. +The horse trotted swiftly, yet the way had never seemed so long. How +often had he tramped it in the old days through dust and mud and +snow, barefoot to save the shoes that were such a heavy item of +expense in the Sarto family. And it was the thought of the day which +at last had dawned, a day that seemed then so far away and so +impossible, which had been the inspiration and the strength of that +life of hardships, making everything easy to bear. The supreme +happiness that now possessed him blotted out all the past. The first +glimpse of the ivied walls of Castelfranco made his heart beat almost +to suffocation. "To-day I shall be a priest," was the one thought +that possessed him; and when, a little later, he knelt at the altar +of the cathedral where he had so often prayed as a child, to receive +the sacred laying-on of hands, it seemed to him as if earth had +nothing more to give. + +On the following day the newly-made priest sang his first Mass in the +parish church of Riese. Who shall describe the joy of his mother as +that beloved voice, clear and resonant as it remained even to old +age, yet tremulous with the joy and fear of the moment, pronounced +the words of the great Mystery? The Mass ended, the congregation +flocked to kiss the hands of the young priest whom they had known and +loved from childhood--hands that had touched to-day for the first +time the Body of the Lord. To say that it was a feast day in Riese +but feebly expresses the general jubilation. + +A few days later Don Giuseppe received a letter announcing his +destination. The Bishop of Treviso had appointed him curate to Don +Antonio Costantini, the parish priest of Tombolo. + + + +II + +CURATE AND PARISH PRIEST + +The village of Tombolo, in the province of Padua and the diocese of +Treviso, is surrounded by hilly and well-wooded country, watered by +the tributary streams of the Brenta. The parish church, St. Andrew's, +stands in the centre of the little township. Tombolo boasts of no +commercial industries; it is a pastoral country, and the greater part +of the population is occupied in dairy farming and the rearing of +cattle. The people have clearly marked characteristics; strong and +robust in build, hardened to sun, rain, and wind, rough-voiced and +somewhat ungentle in manner, they have, nevertheless, good hearts and +are in their own way religious. + +But the Tombolani have one vice--or had when Don Giuseppe became; +their curate. They swore systematically and profusely at everything, +at each other, and at the world at large. "No offence is intended to +Almighty God," they explained ingenuously to the horrified young +priest. "He certainly understands. Just go to market, and try to sell +your beasts and your grain with a 'please' and a 'thank you,' and you +will see what you will get!" + +There may have been some truth in this; and intention, no doubt, goes +a long way; but the argument did not satisfy Don Giuseppe. For the +moment he dropped the subject, but he had not done with it. + +The rector of the parish, Don Antonio Costantini, was habitually +ailing. Devoted to his people and wholly desirous to do them good, +his ill-health was a constant impediment. He had many tastes in +common with his curate, notably the love of music and of biblical and +patristic studies. He soon learnt to look upon Don Giuseppe as a son, +and highly appreciated his good qualities. + +"They have sent me a young man as curate," he wrote to a friend, +"with orders to form him to the duties of a parish priest. I assure +you it is likely to be the other way about. He is so zealous, so full +of common sense and other precious gifts that I could find much to +learn from him. Some day he will wear the mitre--of that I am +certain--and afterwards? Who knows?" + +The good rector nevertheless did his best to fulfil his commission. +"Don Bepi," he would say to his young curate, "I did not quite like +this or that in your last sermon." When the church was empty he would +make Don Bepi go into the pulpit and preach, criticizing and +commenting the while both on matter and method; comments well worth +having, for Don Antonio was a man of wide learning and an excellent +theologian. Meanwhile Don Bepi, whose sermons were already becoming +famous throughout the countryside for their zeal and eloquence, would +listen humbly and promise to try to do better. + +The income of the young curate was next to nothing, for Tombolo was a +very poor parish; but he had not been used to luxury. He had planned +his priestly life before his ordination, and was busy carrying out +the scheme. To study deeply in order to fit himself more fully for +preaching; to do as much good as was possible in the confessional and +in the pulpit; to help his people both materially and morally, to +visit the sick, to succour the poor and to instruct the +ignorant--such was the programme, and with all the vigour of his soul +he threw himself into the work. + +The widowed niece of Don Antonio who kept house for her uncle used to +see a light burning in the window of Don Giuseppe's poor lodging the +last thing at night and the first thing in the morning. + +"Do you never go to bed, Don Bepi?" she asked at breakfast one day, +for the curate took his meals at the rectory. + +Don Bepi laughed. "I study a good deal," he replied. He confessed +later that he slept for four hours, and found it quite sufficient for +his needs. + +"He was as thin as a rake," said the good lady when pressed in +after-life for reminiscences, "for he scarcely ate enough to keep +body and soul together, and was never off his feet." + +In the morning he would often ring the church bell for Mass, in order +not to disturb the sacristan. Then he would go to fetch Don Antonio, +having prepared for him all that was needed. Sometimes he would find +his chief unwell and unable to rise. + +"What is the matter?" he would ask in his cheery way--"another bad +night?" + +"I am afraid I cannot get up," would be the plaintive answer. + +"Don't try to; stay quiet, and do not worry yourself I will see to +everything," the cheery voice would continue. + +"But you have already one sermon to preach to-day, my Bepi." + +"What of that? I will preach two." + +During the days of sickness Don Giuseppe, as well as doing double +duty, would himself nurse the poor invalid. How he managed it was +known to himself alone. + +He had not forgotten--there was no chance of forgetting--the +deplorable language of his parishioners. The curate mixed with them +as much as he could, making friends especially with the young men and +the boys. He interested himself in their work and in their play, +treating them with such a spirit of friendly comradeship that they +would crowd to talk to him whenever he appeared. One day some of them +lamented that they could neither read nor write. + +"Let us start a night school," proposed Don Bepi, "and I will teach +you." + +"It would be too difficult," objected another; "some of us know a +little, some less, and others nothing at all." + +"What of that?" replied the priest. "We will have two classes-those +who know something, and those who know nothing. We will get the +schoolmaster to take the upper class, and I will teach the alphabet." + +"Why shouldn't he teach the alphabet?" protested a loyal admirer of +Don Giuseppe. + +Bepi laughed. "The alphabet is hard work," he answered, "I had rather +keep it." + +"But we can't take up your time like that for nothing," declared +another. "What can we do for you in return?" + +"Stop swearing," answered Bepi promptly, "and I shall then be more +than repaid." + +The school of singing made rapid progress in his hands. Don Antonio, +who, like his curate, was an ardent lover of Gregorian music, warmly +seconded all his efforts. The somewhat unmelodious, if extremely +powerful, vocalization of the village choir became quiet and +prayerful under his tuition. If one of the acolytes showed signs of a +vocation to the priesthood, Don Giuseppe would teach him privately +until he knew enough to go up for examination at the diocesan +seminary. + +On one point Don Antonio and his curate could never agree. Everything +that could be saved out of Don Giuseppe's tiny income went straight +to the poor. They knew it, and when he went to preach in a +neighbouring village would lie in wait for him as he returned with +his modest fee in his pocket. It sometimes happened that when he +reached home not a penny would be left, and Don Antonio would +remonstrate. + +"It is not fair to your mother, Bepi," he would say; "you should +think of her." + +"God will provide for my mother," was the answer; "these poor souls +were in greater need than she." + +Invitations to preach in other parishes became more frequent. What he +said was always simple, but it was full of teaching and went straight +to the heart. The young priest had, moreover, a natural eloquence and +a sonorous and beautiful voice. It was so evident that he spoke from +the fullness of a soul on fire with the love of God that his +enthusiasm was catching, and his sermons bore fruit. It happened on +one occasion that a priest who had been invited to preach on a +feast-day in the neighbouring village of Galliera was prevented at +the last moment from coming. There was consternation at the +presbytery. What was to be done? + +"Leave it to me," said Don Carlo Carminati, curate of Galliera and a +friend of Don Giuseppe; "I promise you it will be all right," and +jumping into the presbytery pony-cart he took the road to Tombolo. + +It was a Sunday afternoon and the hour of the children's catechism +class. Don Giuseppe was at the church door, about to enter. + +"Stop, stop," cried Don Carlo, "I want to speak to you." Don Giuseppe +turned. + +"You must come and preach at Galliera," said Don Carlo; "our preacher +has fallen through." + +"What are you thinking of?" exclaimed Don Giuseppe. "I cannot +improvise in the pulpit!" and he turned once more to go into the +church. + +"You have got to come, your rector says so, and there is not a minute +to lose," replied his friend; and, laying hold of the still +expostulating Don Giuseppe, he packed him into the pony-cart, bowed +to Don Antonio who stood smiling at the scene, and whipped up his +steed. Arrived at Galliera, Don Carlo conducted his victim to an +empty room, provided him with pencil and paper and left him. An hour +later, having been set at liberty by his triumphant fellow-curate, +Don Giuseppe vested and entered the church. The sermon that followed +was so eloquent and so appropriate to the occasion that what had +threatened to be a calamity became a cause for rejoicing. "Did not I +tell you?" exclaimed Don Carlo. + +Don Giuseppe's energy was boundless, and to him no labour was amiss. +"Work," he used to say, "is man's chief duty on earth." When the +presbytery cook fell ill, he both nursed him and took his place; for +in his eyes any kind of work was a thing to draw men nearer to the +Christ who was "poor and in labours from His youth." + +Whether it was preaching, teaching, playing with the village +children, visiting the sick, helping the dying, hearing confessions, +catechizing the young or studying theology, it was all the same to +him--work for the Master, and as such ennobling and honourable. + +So the time passed, until Don Giuseppe had been eight years at +Tombolo. Much as Don Antonio loved and appreciated his curate, or +rather because of this very love and appreciation, it distressed him +to think that his talents should have no wider sphere than a little +country parish. He spoke of this one day to one of the canons of +Treviso. The two curates of Galliera who were present joined +enthusiastically in the praise of their friend. The canon became +thoughtful. + +"Do you think he could preach in the cathedral of Padua for the feast +of St. Antony?" he asked after a moment of reflection. + +"Most certainly, Monsignor," was the answer. + +"Well," continued the canon, "if you will be responsible for his +accepting, I will see to it that he is asked." + +The feast-day sermon was naturally a topic of much interest in Padua. +"Who is to preach?" was the question on everybody's lips on the +morning of the great day. + +"Don Giuseppe Sarto, a young priest who is curate of Tombolo," was +the reply. + +Now it was customary on the feast of St. Antony to ask a preacher of +some distinction to occupy the cathedral pulpit. + +"The curate of Tombolo!" was the apprehensive comment. "Oh dear! A +country curate from an out-of-the-way village!" The cathedral was +crowded for the high Mass. When the slight young figure of Don +Giuseppe mounted the pulpit stairs there was a gasp of astonishment, +which gave place to an expectant silence. + +"His intelligence and culture were no less remarkable than his +eloquence," wrote one of the congregation to a friend. "His imagery +was beautiful, his style perfect." The sermon lasted over an hour, +and no one thought it too long. + +In the May of 1867 Don Giuseppe was appointed rector of Salzano. A +wail of lamentation arose from the little parish where he had worked +so faithfully for nearly ten years. "He was our father, our brother, +our friend, and our comfort," cried the Tombolani. In the heart of +Don Antonio grief for his loss contended with joy at the thought that +the merits of his beloved Don Bepi had been recognized at last. + +Salzano is a small country town in the province of Venetia. It has a +handsome church with a graceful campanile and a somewhat imposing +presbytery. The country is fertile, and the people, who are wholly +given to agriculture, are quiet, steady and hard-working. The new +rector arrived on a Saturday evening in July. At Mass the next +morning, in spite of the heat, the church was crowded, for the +inhabitants of the neighbouring villages had assembled in force to +hear the sermon of the newly appointed _parroco_. + +The result was a delightful surprise. "What was the bishop thinking +of," they asked one another when Mass was over, "to leave a man like +that buried all these years at a place like Tombolo?" + +As for Don Giuseppe, he set to work at once to visit his people. His +frank simplicity, his understanding sympathy and zeal for their +welfare gained their hearts at once. As at Tombolo, he gave special +attention to the instruction of children; and, not content with this, +inaugurated classes in Christian doctrine for the adults. "Most of +the evil in the world," he would often say, "comes from a want of the +knowledge of God and of His truth." + +In spite of the large parish and the handsome rectory, Don Giuseppe's +habits were as frugal as ever. There was more to give to the poor, +that was all. His sister Rosina kept house for him. + +"Bepi," she said one day, "there is nothing for dinner." + +"Not even a couple of eggs?" + +A couple of eggs there were, and on these they dined. + +But there was always a welcome at the rectory and a share of anything +that was going for any old friend who dropped in. Don Carlo came one +evening for a visit, and found Don Giuseppe in the kitchen playing +games with some little children. They were sent home with a promise +that the game should be continued on another occasion, and Don Carlo +was pressed to stay. The next morning he was accosted by Rosina. + +"Don Carlo, you are an old friend, and a very kind one," she began +hesitatingly; "there is a man coming to-morrow who sells shirting." + +"Really?" answered Don Carlo, rather at a loss to connect the +statements. + +"Yesterday my brother got a little money," continued Rosina, "and he +has hardly a shirt to his back. Now if you were to try to persuade +him to buy some shirting, I think he perhaps would do it. Will you do +your best?" + +Don Carlo promised, and took the first opportunity of broaching the +subject. + +"Nonsense, nonsense," was the answer, "there is no necessity at all," +and the plea was cut short. + +But Don Carlo was not so easily beaten; he knew the sunny nature of +his friend, and determined to have recourse to strategy. On the +arrival of the pedlar, he examined his materials, selected what he +considered suitable, and set to work, after the manner of his +country, to bargain. Having agreed on what he considered a fair +price, he ordered the required length to be cut off, and turned to +Don Giuseppe who had been innocently watching the transaction. "So +many yards at such and such a price," he declared. "Pay up, Don +Giuseppe!" + +The rector was disgusted; but there was nothing to be done but to +obey. The bargain had been made and the shirting cut off. "Even _you_ +come here and plot to betray me," he complained. + +As for Rosina, her delight knew no bounds. "God bless the day you +came, Don Carlo," she said, meeting him outside the door. "If you had +not been here to-day, to-morrow there would have been neither money +nor linen!" + +Salzano was a large parish, and the rector had to keep a conveyance. +It was not much to look at, but it did hard service, being at the +disposal of everybody who appealed to the well-known charity of its +owner. The horse came home one day with both knees badly damaged. + +"I am very sorry," pleaded the borrower, "an accident . . . ." + +Don Giuseppe swallowed hard. "Never mind, never mind," he said; "it +is all right." + +One day--there had been a bad harvest that year, and there was much +poverty in the parish--the rector asked a friend who was in easy +circumstances to sell the horse for him. "You have so many relations +with money," he pleaded. + +The horse having been disposed of, it was then suggested that the +same friend might also sell the carriage. + +"I don't think I shall succeed," he remarked doubtfully, "for you +must allow that it is not in the best condition." His fears were too +true; no purchaser was found, and the carriage remained in the +presbytery stable at the disposal of anyone who possessed a horse +without a vehicle. + +In 1873 there was a serious outbreak of cholera. The people of +Salzano knew little of hygiene and less of sanitation; it was hard to +make them take the most necessary precautions. Don Giuseppe was +everything at once: doctor, nurse and sanitary inspector, as well as +parish priest. Not only were there the sick and the dying to be +tended, but the living to be heartened and consoled. "If it had not +been for our dear Don Giuseppe," said an old man in later days, "I +should have died of fear and sorrow during those dreadful times." +Some of the people took it into their heads that the medicines and +remedies ordered by the doctor were intended to put them quickly out +of their pain, and would not take them unless they were administered +by the priest's own hand. + +For fear of infection, the dead had to be buried by night, and no one +was allowed to attend the funeral. Anxious lest in the fear and the +haste of the moment due honour should not be paid to these victims of +the epidemic, Don Giuseppe was always there to see that all was done +as it should be. Not only did he say the prayers and carry out the +rites prescribed by the Church, but would take his place as coffin +bearer, and even helped to dig the graves. Sorrow at the heartrending +scenes he had to witness, added to these incessant labours by night +and by day, would have ruined a less robust constitution than his. It +is small wonder that Don Carlo Carminati, coming to visit him soon +afterwards, was horrified at his appearance. + +"You are ill!" he exclaimed. + +"You think so?" was the quiet answer. + +"He _is_ ill," interposed Rosina vehemently, "but what can you +expect? He is everybody's servant, he never spares himself. He has +not only given away the food from his own mouth, but his night's +rest. Look at him, nothing but skin and bone!" + +"Your sister is right, you are doing too much. Remember that the +pitcher can go to the well once too often; and when it is quite worn +out, it will break." + +"You are becoming quite an orator," commented Don Giuseppe with a +smile. + +Don Carlo was a man of action. He wrote to Don Antonio Costantini +telling him that their dear Giuseppe was killing himself, and begging +him to give a hint to the diocesan authorities. The hint was duly +conveyed and duly taken. The bishop wrote to the rector of Salzano, +ordering him to take more care of himself; but this was an art which +Don Giuseppe had never studied, and he did not know how to begin. He +continued to devote himself body and soul to his flock, leaving +himself to the care of God. + +With Don Giuseppe the service of Christ in His poor went hand in hand +with the service of Christ at the altar. During his ministry at +Salzano the parish church was greatly improved and beautified. He got +together a choir of young men and boys and taught them to sing the +stately Gregorian music that he loved for its devout and prayerful +spirit. Even those who knew the stark poverty of the rector's private +life did not always understand how the means could be obtained to +carry out the plans he had at heart. + +"But how will you get the money?" they would sometimes ask. + +"God will provide," was the quiet answer, given with the serene faith +characteristic of the strong. + + + +III + +CANON AND BISHOP + +In the early spring of the year 1875 the chancellor of the diocese of +Treviso was removed to Fossalunga. A canon's stall was also vacant, +while the seminary was in need of a spiritual director. It was the +general opinion that if these three offices could be held by one +holy, wise and purposeful man, it would be an excellent thing for all +parties concerned. + +"I have it!" said Bishop Zinelli, "Don Giuseppe Sarto is the very man +we need." + +No sooner said than done. The rector of Salzano was named chancellor +and residential canon of the cathedral of Treviso, and appointed +spiritual director of the seminary. The bishop had not forgotten the +warnings of Don Giuseppe's friends. By this arrangement the newly +appointed canon would reside at the seminary, where the care of his +health would not be left entirely in his own hands. He would, +moreover, preside at the professors' table, and therefore would be +unable to indulge his tendency to starve so as to feed the poor. + +The news was received with mixed feelings by the people of Salzano. +Joy that their beloved father should receive such a mark of honour +struggled hard with their grief at losing him. It comforted them a +little, they said, to think that his precious gifts, instead of being +spent on Salzano alone, would now find full scope in a diocese that +counted two hundred and ten parishes. + +It was not until the autumn of the same year that Don Giuseppe bade +farewell to his sorrowing parishioners, and, taking possession of his +stall, sang the first vespers of Advent Sunday in the cathedral of +Treviso. Like all the other professors of the seminary, Canon Sarto +had three small rooms set apart for his use. From the windows he +could look across the neatly-kept garden to where the quiet waters of +the Sile, flowing by the ivy-coloured walls, widened out into little +lakes amongst the thickets of poplar and plane trees that lay beyond. + +The rector of the seminary was Don Giuseppe's old friend Pietro +Jacuzzi, and there were in the college 160 lay students and 54 +aspirants to the priesthood. "I well remember Monsignor Sarto's first +instruction," said one of the latter in after years. "'You are +expecting to find in me,' he began, 'a man of profound learning and +of wide experience in spiritual matters, a master in asceticism and +doctrine. You will be disappointed, for I am none of these things. I +am only a poor country parish-priest. But I am here by God's +will--therefore you must bear with me.' I have forgotten the +instruction," added the narrator, "but the preamble I shall never +forget." + +A regular course of instruction and meditation was begun at once, and +immediately won the attention of the students. The lucid simplicity +with which Monsignor Sarto spoke carried the minds of his hearers +straight into the heart of the truth which they were considering. The +students were never tired, never puzzled, his conferences being +eminently practical and within the grasp of his audience. His aim was +to inculcate real solid piety which would endure throughout the +troubles and temptations of life. It is not everybody who has the art +of appealing to the young: it was one in which Monsignor Sarto +excelled. Even in his familiar talks, full of merriment and sympathy, +there was always something helpful and uplifting. Personal +cleanliness, not as a rule the most prominent characteristic of +southern nations, was a thing on which he laid particular stress. +Gentle and kind as he was to all weakness and suffering, he could be +stern enough when it was necessary, and his reproofs were seldom +forgotten. If any of the students fell sick, he would nurse them with +a mother's tenderness; and to those of the seminarists who were the +sons of poor parents he gave material as well as moral help. + +It happened that one of these students was in great distress by +reason of a family difficulty. His father, a poor working man, was in +urgent need of a few pounds, and there was no means of obtaining the +sum. He confided his trouble to one of his companions, who asked him +why he did not go to Monsignor Sarto and tell him all about it. The +advice was taken, and he knocked at the familiar door. Monsignor +Sarto was seated at his table reading. "What can I do for you?" he +asked kindly. + +The young man, who found it difficult to put his trouble into words, +stammered out the whole story, Monsignor Sarto listening with +compassion. "I am so sorry," he said when the tale was ended, "but I +have only a few lire, nothing like the sum you require." The poor +student broke down completely, for his last hope was gone. + +"Come, come; cheer up!" cried the good canon, greatly distressed; +"come to me to-morrow, and if I cannot give you all, I may be able to +give you part of the money." + +Next morning the seminarist returned. + +"Well?" said Monsignor Sarto. + +"Well?" answered the student nervously. + +"Do you really think," continued the canon, "that I can manufacture +banknotes?" Then, seeing the young man's distress, he added hastily: +"Come come, my son, I was only joking, I have got the money," and, +opening a little drawer, he took out the required sum. + +"You will soon be a priest," he continued, "and when you can do so +without inconvenience, you must give it back to me, for you see I +have had to borrow it myself." + +The winters were sometimes bitterly cold at Treviso, and the house +was unwarmed. The needy students would often find warm clothing +provided for them by the same charitable hand. A tradesman of Treviso +certified that he received many orders from Monsignor Sarto for warm +cloaks, with strict injunction to keep the matter secret. That the +canon had seldom more than a few lire in his possession was not +surprising. + +It was a labour of love to him to prepare the little boys for their +first communion. The vice-rector begged that this task might be left +to those of the staff who had more time to spare. + +"It is my duty," was the answer. "Am I not their spiritual father?" + +In order to obtain the necessary time Monsignor Sarto deprived +himself of the evening walk which was his only recreation after a day +of hard work; and, assembling his lively little band of neophytes in +the church, he would hold them spellbound. + +His kindness and quick sympathy made him as popular with the staff. +Laying aside the cares of his office together with the big bundle of +papers that accompanied him everywhere, he set himself to make the +time spent in the refectory as refreshing for the minds as it was for +the bodies of his colleagues. The amusing stories told by him and the +interesting discussions he set afoot were long remembered, as was his +sly teasing of certain professors. These were not the moments, he +held, for discussing serious questions; anyone who mentioned the word +logic, for instance, was obliged to make amends by telling an +interesting or useful story. When Monsignor Sarto's place was empty, +everything fell flat. + +He still kept up his old habit of working during part of the night. +His neighbour in the seminary would often hear him moving in his room +long after everyone else had retired to rest. "Go to bed, Monsignor," +he would sometimes call out. "He works ill who works too long." + +"Quite true, quite true, Don Francesco," would come the answer; "put +that into practice. Go to bed and sleep well." It was past midnight +before Monsignor Sarto's light went out, and he was up again by four +o'clock. + +In 1879 Bishop Zinelli died, and Monsignor Sarto was elected vicar +capitular to administer the diocese while the see remained vacant. He +announced his nomination in characteristic words. + +"Called by the votes of my colleagues to administer the diocese of +Treviso in place of him who for so many years has ruled it with such +wisdom, prudence and zeal, I must frankly confess that I have +accepted this heavy burden, not only because I feel assured that they +will help me in my task, but because I know the spirit of the clergy. +That you will earnestly co-operate with me in upholding the most +precious prerogatives of the priesthood I have no doubt. I ask you, +therefore, to remember the words of the Apostle: 'Walk carefully, +that our ministry be not blamed'; let our actions be such that our +enemies shall find nothing in us worthy of reproach. You are full of +zeal for souls: seek to win them rather by love than by fear. The +supreme wish of our Lord for His own was that they should love one +another, and this wish found its fulfilment in apostolic times, when +the Christians were one heart and one soul in Christ. A priest's life +is a continual warfare against evil, which cannot fail to raise up +powerful enemies. In order that they may not prevail against us, let +us be united in charity amongst ourselves; thus we shall be +invincible and strong as a rock." + +Monsignor Sarto administered the diocese for less than a year, but in +this short time he accomplished much. Although still spiritual +director of the seminary, he preached oftener in public, his sermons +invariably rousing enthusiasm. In the February of 1880 he was +relieved of this office on the nomination as bishop of Monsignor +Callegari, who was to find in his chancellor a devoted and faithful +friend. The new bishop, however, was destined to remain but a short +time at Treviso. In 1882 he was promoted to Padua, Monsignor +Apollonio succeeding him at Treviso. + +In September, 1884, Monsignor Apollonio, who had been making the +pastoral visit of his diocese, returned home rather unexpectedly, and +Monsignor Sarto was not a little surprised at being summoned somewhat +mysteriously to the bishop's private oratory. "Let us kneel before +the Blessed Sacrament," said Monsignor Apollonio gravely, "and pray +about a matter which concerns us both intimately." Still more +astonished, Monsignor Sarto knelt, and the two prelates prayed for a +moment in silence. Then the bishop rose, and, handing a letter to his +companion, bade him read it. Thus did Monsignor Sarto learn his +nomination to the bishopric of Mantua. + +The strong man who all his life long had welcomed hardship and +suffering with a cheery smile, wept like a child. He was, he +declared, utterly incapable, quite unworthy of such a trust. The +bishop, who knew better, but whose heart was touched at the sight of +his friend's distress, comforted him as best he could. "It is God's +will," he said; "trust in His help." Convinced, however, in his own +mind that Pope Leo XIII was wholly mistaken in his judgment of him, +Monsignor Sarto wrote to Rome to profess his incapacity and +worthlessness. His arguments were not accepted. + +Early in November, amidst enthusiastic demonstrations, the +bishop-elect set out for Rome. At Padua he met with a fresh ovation, +Monsignor Callegari himself came to the station to greet his old +friend and to wish him well. On the evening of the 8th he was +received by Pope Leo, and left his presence consoled and full of +courage as to the future. Consecrated on the 16th, he remained in +Rome for ten days longer, returning on the 29th to Treviso, where he +was to remain for some months before entering on his episcopal charge. + +It was during this time that he went one day, accompanied by a +friend, to visit a Venetian city. In the railway carriage were two +gentlemen, who, while conversing on local subjects, touched on the +election of the new bishop of Mantua. They wondered what kind of a +man Monsignor Sarto was; not very intelligent, they feared, nor very +gifted. The bishop-elect, with a sign to his companion to keep quiet, +joined in the conversation, endorsing most heartily everything that +they said in his own disparagement. He then proceeded to contrast the +poor picture he had painted of himself with the qualities that were +necessary for an ideal bishop, and this with such ability and +discernment that his two hearers were greatly impressed. Monsignor +Sarto was the first to leave the carriage. + +"Who is that delightful priest?" asked the gentlemen of his +companion, who was preparing to follow. + +The latter made a low bow. "Monsignor Sarto, Bishop-elect of Mantua," +he answered with elaborate irony. + +He spent Holy Week and Easter that year with his mother and sisters +at Riese. It was a double festival for his family and the friends of +his childhood who crowded round him. Back again at Treviso, where he +had spent so many happy days, he had not the courage to face a public +farewell. "Read them this letter at dinner," he said to the rector of +the seminary; "tell them I keep them all in my heart, and that they +must pray for me." Then, slipping unnoticed out of the house, he went +to the carriage ordered to wait for him at a little distance, and so +set out for Mantua. + +At the station a large crowd had gathered to receive him, priests, +people, representatives of the noble families of the place, and of +the divers associations of town and country. Outside the bishop's +house, in the great square of St. Peter, a multitude of townspeople +were awaiting his arrival. "We want to see our bishop," they cried +tumultuously, and their desire was immediately satisfied. Stepping +out into the balcony which overlooked the square, their new pastor +greeted them with warm affection and gave them his blessing. + +Mantua, say the Italians, has always been a fighting city, and in +1885 it was still true to its reputation. Of Etruscan origin, and the +birthplace of Virgil and Sordello, throughout the fifteenth and +sixteenth centuries its see had been usually held by members of the +famous family of Gonzaga. The task which lay before the new bishop +was no easy one. There were divisions between clergy and people; the +seminary was almost empty of students; many parishes were without a +priest; no synod had been held within the memory of man. The spirit +in which Monsignor Sarto took up his new work showed itself in his +first pastoral letter to his flock. + +"I shall spare myself neither care nor labour nor watchfulness for +the salvation of souls. My hope is in Christ, who strengthens the +weakest by His divine help; I can do all in Him who strengtheneth me! +His power is infinite, and if I lean on Him it will be mine; His +wisdom is infinite, and if I look to Him for counsel I shall not be +deceived; His goodness is infinite, and if my trust is stayed on Him +I shall not be abandoned. Hope unites me to God and Him to me. +Although I know I am not sufficient for the burden, my strength is in +Him. For the salvation of others I must bear weariness, face dangers, +suffer offences, confront storms, fight against evil. He is my hope." + +His first care was the seminary, and in a little more than a year he +was able to write to a friend: "I have a hundred and forty-seven +boarders, young men with healthy appetites who can digest anything +and everything." + +The scarcity of priests in the country villages was indeed +disastrous. The bishop lost no time in convoking a synod. "If people +do not hear of God, of the sacraments, and of eternal life," he said +to the priests assembled, "they will soon lose every good feeling, +both civil and social. No difficulty is insurmountable; nothing is +impossible to those who will and those who love." The difficulty that +at that moment seemed most insurmountable was the want of money. The +hundred and forty-seven young men required feeding, and the seminary +was poor. The bishop sold the few fields at Riese that were all he +possessed to meet the immediate need, and others, stirred by his zeal +and eloquence, came forward to help him. + +A thorough visitation of the diocese enabled Monsignor Sarto to +understand its needs more fully. He liked to hear both sides of every +question, and asked everyone to be perfectly frank with him in +discussing both good and evil. "Joy shared is joy doubled," he would +say, "and grief imparted becomes easier to bear." An old man who came +one day was received with such kindness that, concluding he had to do +with the bishop's secretary, he talked to him at great length about a +little personal affair. "Can I believe you?" he asked wistfully, as +the kind priest assured him that all would be right. + +"What!" was the answer, "can you not trust your bishop?" + +In order that the pastoral visitation might be no burden on the +country priests, whose life was a continual struggle with poverty, he +ordered that no preparations whatever were to be made for his +reception. Nothing extra was to be provided; he would share with them +what they had. Instead of a demonstration at the station, he begged +that the people might gather in the churches for Mass and communion. +"That is the greatest honour they can do me," he said; "that will be +my greatest reward. I desire no useless pomp, but the salvation of +souls." + +One of his first acts was to write to the mayor of the city to ask +his assistance, thus holding out the right hand of fellowship to the +civil authority, and enlisting it in his behalf. "Your new bishop," +ran the letter, "poor in everything else, but rich in love for his +flock, has no other object than to work for the salvation of souls +and to form among you one family of friends and brothers." The +question of church and state, then a thorny one in Italy, had not of +late years found a happy solution in Mantua. This gracious act of the +new bishop was the first step towards a better understanding. He +interested himself much in social questions; and it was through his +efforts that the first Italian social congress was held at Piacenza +in 1890. He understood the power of the press, and started a +flourishing paper called the _Citizen of Mantua_. + +As at Tombolo, at Salzano, and at Treviso, so at Mantua was the +teaching of Christian doctrine one of the bishop's first cares. +Schools and confraternities were established everywhere throughout +the diocese, and on his pastoral visits he would catechize the +children himself to see that they were properly instructed in the +faith. Parents who would not allow their children to attend were +threatened with severe penalties; on this subject the bishop, so +gentle towards sorrow and suffering, was stern and inflexible. The +children's souls were at stake, he said, and he would not see their +birthright withheld from them. He insisted that church music should +be decorous and religious, and that the Gregorian chant should be +used when possible. + +The bishop's day was a strenuous one. At five he celebrated Mass in +his private chapel, and, his thanksgiving ended, went straight to his +confessional in the cathedral. After breakfast of black coffee and a +mouthful of bread, he began the oft-interrupted day's work, for he +would have no set hours for receiving visits. Those who wanted him +were admitted at any hour, and received with the most genial +kindness. "No matter with what faces they go in," it was said of his +visitors, "they always come out smiling--that is, unless they have +done something dreadful." On these occasions Bishop Sarto could +scorch the offender with words of fire, but at the first sign of +repentance he was ready to forgive, to lift up the sinner and set him +on the right road. Towards evening he would take a walk in the town, +speaking familiarly to all he met. At nine he said the rosary with +his household, after which he worked or studied till midnight. + +St. Anselm of Lucca, friend of Gregory VII, and, like him, inspired +with holy zeal for the reform of the clergy, is the patron saint of +Mantua. In 1886 his centenary was celebrated with great splendour in +the cathedral where he lies buried. Nor did the tercentenary of St. +Aloysius Gonzaga, whose family was one of Mantua's olden glories, +pass without special honour. A stirring address was given by the +bishop himself to the young men, of whom St. Aloysius was the special +patron. + +"Religion has no fear of science," said Monsignor Sarto, attacking +one of the most popular fallacies of the day; "Christianity does not +tremble before discussion, but before ignorance. Tertullian +proclaimed as much to the emperors of Rome. 'One thing,' he said, +'our faith demands: not to be condemned before it be known,' and it +is this that I ask of you, young men, not to condemn religion before +you have studied it." Pilgrimages were inaugurated to the birthplace +of the saint at Castiglione; a mission was preached to the boys and +young men of the district; processions were held. The celebration of +the festival did a great deal of good in the diocese, impressing as +it did upon the people the fact that the best way to honour their +saints was by following in their footsteps. + +In 1887 the sacerdotal jubilee of Pope Leo XIII was celebrated +throughout the world. The words in which the Bishop of Mantua +announced the approaching celebration to his flock found an echo in +every Catholic heart. "The moment has come," he said, "to prove to +the great Vicar of Christ our unchanging affection and fidelity. For +us Leo XIII is the guardian of the Holy Scriptures, the interpreter +of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, the supreme dispenser of the +treasures of the Church, the head of the Catholic religion, the chief +shepherd of souls, the infallible teacher, the secure guide, who +directs us on our way through a world wrapped in darkness and the +shadow of death. All the strength of the Church is in the pope; all +the foundations of our faith are based on the successor of Peter. +Those who wish her ill assault the papacy in every possible way; they +cut themselves adrift from the Church, and try their best to make the +pope an object of hatred and contempt. The more they endeavour to +weaken our faith and our attachment to the head of the Church, the +more closely let us draw to him through the public testimony of our +faith, our obedience and our veneration." + +The fame of the zeal and piety of the Bishop of Mantua soon spread +beyond the bounds of his own diocese. His conspicuous merit and +ability had not escaped the vigilant eye of Leo XIII, who had marked +him out for higher dignity still. "If the Mantuans do not love their +new bishop," he had said on the appointment of Monsignor Sarto, "they +will love no one." + +But the Mantuans were not so hard of heart, and the quarrelsome city, +in the hands of one who, like his Master, was meek and humble of +heart, had become a city of peace. + + + +IV + +PATRIARCH OF VENICE + +In the consistory of June 12, 1893, Pope Leo XIII named Bishop Sarto +cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, and three days later appointed him +archbishop and patriarch of Venice.[*] On June 7 the bishop had set +out for Rome, and on the 15th, in the presence of representatives +from Venice, Treviso, Mantua and Riese, he received the cardinal's +hat, with the title of San Bernardo alle Terme. The wisdom and +modesty of the new cardinal, added to his charm of manner, won him +many friends during his stay in Rome. For sixteen months Cardinal +Sarto was unable to take possession of his see; for the Italian +government, having claimed the right to nominate the patriarch, +refused to sanction his appointment; and the municipality of Venice, +which was largely anti-clerical, was only too glad of a pretext to +show hostility to the Church. + +[*] Patriarch is an honorary title. The only real patriarch in the +Western Church is the pope himself. + +The cardinal's first visit after his return from Rome was to his +mother at Riese. At one of the stations on the way thither he was met +by a deputation of his old friends the Tombolani, headed by their +parish priest. Quite forgetting in their joy the respect due to a +prince of the Church, the simple peasants rushed at their old curate, +shouting vociferously, "Don Giuseppe! Don Giuseppe!" The cardinal, +pleased with their enthusiasm, laughed and greeted his old friends +with much affection. + +All the bells were ringing in Riese as he entered it; all the people, +young and old, were there to meet him and to escort him, the centre +of a laughing, weeping, shouting crowd, to the church. Everyone was +at Benediction, and when old friends had been greeted and good wishes +given and received, the greatest joy of all was still to come--the +meeting in the little home of his childhood, where Margherita had her +son at last to herself. Next morning the cardinal preached to the +people, thanking them for their welcome, and speaking of all the +precious memories that centred for him round the altar where he had +made his first communion and offered his first Mass. The day was +spent in receiving visits; there was a kind word of greeting for new +friends, and a still kinder word of remembrance for the old. + +Early next day, having vested in his scarlet _cappa magna_, Cardinal +Sarto went to his mother's room and, standing beside her bed, showed +himself in all the glory of the "sacred purple." Margherita wept with +joy; but there were tears of sorrow before night. It was the last day +at Riese, and although neither of them knew it, that parting kiss was +to be the last on this side of the grave. The old mother clung to her +son with a passionate tenderness as he clasped her frail figure in +his arms. She was eighty years old, and at that age partings are +hard. A few months later the sorrowful news of her death reached the +cardinal, now back at Mantua and busy with his episcopal duties. The +joy of the last meeting and the grief of the last parting had been +too much for the old mother's heart. + +In September 1894 the government gave way at last, and the +_exequatur_ or confirmation of the papal bull arrived. A few weeks +later Cardinal Sarto pontificated for the last time in the cathedral +of Mantua, and, bidding a loving farewell to the diocese where he had +laboured so long and so strenuously, set out for Venice. + +For years a government hostile to religion had waged relentless war +on the Church in Italy. Laws had been passed forbidding religious +teaching in the schools; charitable works had been "laicized": in +other words, the goods of religious fraternities and charitable +societies had been confiscated by the state, the revenues of +bishoprics had been refused to prelates appointed by the pope, and +rights of patronage had been claimed by the government over many +sees. The result was soon to be seen in a growing materialism in all +ranks of society. + +"God is driven out of politics by this theory of the separation of +church and state," wrote the new patriarch in his first letter to his +flock. "He is driven out of learning by systematized doubt; from art +by the degrading influence of realism; from law by a morality which +is guided by the senses alone; from the schools by the abolition of +religious instruction; from Christian marriage, which they want to +deprive of the grace of the sacrament; from the cottage of the poor +peasant, who disdains the help of Him who alone can make his hard +life bearable; from the palaces of the rich, who no longer fear the +eternal Judge who will one day ask from them an account of their +stewardship. . . . We must fight this great contemporary error, the +enthronement of man in the place of God. The solution of this, as of +all other problems, lies in the Church and the teaching of the +Gospel." + +The Venetian people were determined to show their new pastor that the +representatives of the government were not the representatives of +popular feeling. Amidst the decorations which adorned the town, the +municipal buildings alone remained untouched; amongst the crowds that +gathered to meet the patriarch, the members of the municipality were +conspicuously absent. The people resolved on an ovation the like of +which had never before been seen. As the patriarch entered the launch +that had been sent to receive him, the bells of all the towers in the +City of the Sea rang out a joyous welcome; from every balcony and +bridge came bursts of cheering, while a closely packed and +enthusiastic crowd occupied every available space along the route. At +the prow of the launch stood Cardinal Sarto in all the splendour of +scarlet robes, a noble manly figure, full of dignity and sweetness, +blessing the crowd with the winning smile that was characteristic of +him. + +On the following morning in St. Mark's, having listened to the +congratulatory speeches addressed to him, the cardinal turned to the +people, and in the breathless silence that followed, his clear voice +rang out to the farthest recesses of the cathedral. + +"I should be ashamed," he said, "to be the object of such honour, did +I not know that it is offered, not to my poor person, but to Jesus +Christ, whose representative I am and in whose name I come among you. +You wish to show that you see in me your bishop, your father, and +your patriarch, and I am bound to love you in return. When Jesus +Christ gave to St. Peter the charge of His sheep and of His lambs, He +asked him three times for the assurance of his love, thus giving him +to understand that love is the greatest necessity for a shepherd of +souls. From this moment I gather you all into my heart; I love you +with a strong and supernatural love, desiring but the good of your +souls. For you are all my family--priests, citizens, great and small, +rich and poor. My heart and my love are yours, and from you I ask +nothing but the same love in return. My only desire is that you +should say of me, 'Our patriarch is a man of upright intention, who +holds high the banner of our Lord Jesus Christ, who seeks only to +defend the truth and to do good.' And since God has raised me, a son +of the people, to this high dignity, He will certainly give me the +strength and the grace necessary for so great a mission. It is the +duty of a bishop to proclaim God's truth, to interpret it to the +people; and I look upon it as a holy duty to speak frankly in its +defence. I am ready to make any sacrifice for the salvation of souls. +You who have zeal for the things of God, work with me, help me, and +God will give us the grace that is necessary to achieve our ends." + +The Venetians were deeply moved; they felt that their new patriarch +was a truly apostolic man, and the impression only gathered strength +as time went on. The doors of his house were always open to anyone, +rich or poor, who wished to speak to the patriarch; the troubles of +the least of his flock were his own. He threw himself with all his +heart into every movement for the bettering of the condition of the +poor, often settling, by his tact and zeal, bitter disputes between +capital and labour. The municipality was, as we have seen, +anti-clerical. He rallied the Catholic forces with such success that +within a year they prevailed. For he knew the way to obtain his ends; +and while throwing into the struggle the whole influence of his +forceful personality, he inaugurated throughout the diocese, before +and during the elections, a regular crusade of prayer. Wherever he +went, peace and reconciliation followed. "Possessed of much sweetness +and charm of manner," wrote one who knew him, "and uniting a certain +stateliness and dignity with a graceful address and a delightful +sense of humour, he preached the gospel of personal culture, putting +cleanliness next to godliness, and good manners next to good morals, +himself setting the example in these things." + +As at Mantua and at Treviso, he insisted strongly on religious +instruction for all classes. Ignorance of Christian teaching, he +said, was the great defect of the times, and very many evils sprang +from this alone. Many who were learned in secular sciences were +deplorably ignorant of the truths of their faith. Preachers were apt +to take too much for granted that their congregations were well +instructed, and on this account their sermons bore little fruit. + +"There is too much preaching and too little teaching," said the +patriarch; "put aside these flowery and elaborate discourses, and +preach to the people plainly and simply on the eternal truths of +faith and on the teaching of the Gospel. Think of the good of souls +rather than of the impression you are making. The people are +thirsting for truth; give them what they need for their souls' +health, for this is the first duty of a priest." + +He insisted on religious instruction for adults as well as children, +but reminded his priests that all these things require study, +preparation and prayer. As nothing pertaining to the dignity of the +priesthood was small in his eyes, he insisted that the clergy should +be tidy in dress and scrupulously clean. He mixed freely with the +people, often stopping to talk to those he met in friendly and +familiar fashion. The Venetians loved him dearly. "There goes our +dear patriarch," they would say, "intent on some good. God bless him +and the mother who bore him." His home life was as simple as ever, +and his charities as great. His two sisters and his niece kept house +for him. His steward had to put him on an allowance, so unmeasured +was his almsgiving, and it was said that the episcopal ring of the +chief pastor of Venice was more than once in pawn. + +"Times are changed," said an old friend who was visiting him, as the +cardinal pulled out a gold watch from his pocket. "Do you remember +the silver one which was always going to the pawnbroker at Tombolo?" + +The patriarch looked ruefully at the watch. "The person who gave it +me," he said, laughing, "had the unfortunate inspiration to get the +patriarchal arms engraved on the back!" + +"I am so sorry to have to send you such a wretched sum," he wrote to +a priest in Mantua who had applied to him for money for some charity; +"I was poor at Mantua, but here I am a perfect beggar. Take what I +send in the same spirit, and forgive me." + +The diocesan visitation begun soon after his arrival in Venice was no +small affair, and took several months to accomplish. "We appreciate +greatly the zeal and charity of our patriarch," said the people, "but +we are praying that he may sometimes think a little of himself; for +such men are precious, and we want to keep him as long as we can." As +at Mantua, he begged that there might be as little pomp and ceremony +as possible, and that no extraordinary preparations might be made in +the different parishes for his arrival. With quick intuition he saw +at a glance exactly what was needed in the way of reform or +development, and at the synod which followed showed a perfect +knowledge of the requirements of the archdiocese. + +The eucharistic congress in Venice which took place in August, 1898, +was prompted and carried out by the zeal and energy of Patriarch +Sarto, who spared no pains to make it a success. Inaugurated as a +reparation for the many sacrileges offered to Jesus Christ in the +Blessed Sacrament, its aim was to stimulate the faith of the people +and to arouse in them a greater love for this mystery of their faith. +Each parish was to take its part in the celebration, the whole +congress being carefully organized by the cardinal himself. "The +heart of man," he said, "is inconstant in good; it grows cold and +careless if it is not stirred up to action from time to time." +Conferences were held and missions preached in many of the Venetian +churches to prepare the people. The bells of all the city rang out to +announce the beginning of the congress, which opened with a +magnificent procession to St. Mark's. The inaugural address was +preached by Cardinal Svampa, Archbishop of Bologna; and on the +following day the patriarch himself addressed the people. + +"Jesus is our king," he said, "and we delight to honour as our king +Him whom the world dishonours and disowns. We, His true subjects, +offer our true homage to Christ the King; the warmth of our love +shall be greater than the coldness of the world. We meet around the +tabernacle where Jesus remains in our midst until the end of time; +there faith springs up anew in our hearts, while the fire of His +charity--the very fire that He came to cast upon the earth--burns +within us. The object of this eucharistic congress is to make +reparation to our Lord Jesus Christ for the insults offered to Him in +the Blessed Sacrament; to pray that His thoughts may be in our minds, +His charity in our institutions, His justice in our laws, His worship +in our religion, His life in our lives." + +On the afternoon of the third day the final procession was one of the +most magnificent of all the magnificent pageants ever seen in the +City of the Sea, even in the days when the doge went in solemn state +to wed the Adriatic. Cardinal Svampa carried the monstrance, while +before and after him went cardinals in scarlet, bishops in cope and +mitre, religious orders, the confraternities with their banners and +insignia, hierarchs and priests of the Byzantine and Armenian rites +in their vestments. "Splendid as a dream," wrote one who was present, +"it seemed as if the very Greek saints had stepped out of the mosaics +in the cathedral to be present at the solemn passage of Christ in +their midst." + +Cardinal Sarto had not been long at Venice before he determined on a +thorough reform of church music. He summoned Don Lorenzo Perosi, a +young cleric whom he had known at Mantua and a skilled musician. +Music, said the patriarch, was intended to excite the faithful to +devotion and to help them to pray: the music in vogue did neither. +The fearful and wonderful performances of string orchestras, dear to +the hearts of many, were banned, as was the use of drums, trumpets, +tambourines and whistles. No instrument but the organ was to be used +in the churches, and even that was to be subordinate. The words of +the Mass were to be sung to the Gregorian chant with solemnity and +dignity, and by men and boys alone. That the change was not +acceptable in all quarters was hardly to be wondered at. The operatic +efforts of loud-voiced ladies singing the _O Salutaris_ during Mass +to the air of the Serenade from _Faust_, or a Creed that was like the +Brigands' Chorus from an opera, still found many admirers. + +Nevertheless, when a Mass of Palestrina was sung under the leadership +of Perosi for the first time in the cathedral of St. Mark, the +Venetians realized the difference. "Enchantingly beautiful," they +said. But it was uphill work, and Don Lorenzo would have lost heart +altogether had it not been for the support and encouragement of his +holy patron. + +One of the poorest of the island parishes of Venice was Burano, which +in ancient times had been famous for its point lace. The cardinal, +moved by the misery of its inhabitants, determined to revive the +industry; but only one old woman remained who knew the art. A +benevolent lady, persuaded to interest herself in the work, got the +old woman to teach her, started a school of lace workers, and soon +had six hundred girls in training. Clubs were started for young men +and boys, not only here, but in many other parishes. There was no +difficulty, no misery for which the patriarch did not try to find a +cure. He had the art of giving without offending people whose decent +appearance covered a poverty often more bitter in that it had to be +hidden. He went one day to see a friend who had fallen on evil times, +and who was in dire need of help. "I am so sorry," said the +patriarch, "I have absolutely nothing left, but take this," giving +him an exquisite ivory crucifix which had been given him as a +present; "it is valuable, and will realize a good sum." + +Although unflinchingly firm in everything that concerned the faith +and the rights of the Church, the frank courtesy of Patriarch Sarto +and his conciliating spirit kept him always on good terms with the +government. He bade his priests and people respect all lawfully +constituted authority, recognizing that "the powers that be are +ordained of God." "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, +and unto God the things that are God's," he would often say. When +King Humbert of Italy was assassinated he ordered that a requiem +should be sung for him in St. Mark's; and when the widowed queen came +to Venice for rest and change of air, he visited and consoled her +with the most heartfelt sympathy. "The restoration of society in +Christ is the only cure for all the world's evils," he would +constantly repeat. "No good is good which is not rooted and founded +in Christ." He had the gift of inspiring others and rallying them to +his own charitable schemes, filling them with a fire and energy like +his own. + +The 14th of July, 1902, was a day of grief for Venice. The great +campanile of St. Mark's, which had stood for centuries watching over +the glories of the City of the Sea, crumbled and fell in ruins. The +universal lamentations were changed, by order of the patriarch, into +thanksgivings that no one had been injured, and that the cathedral +itself had not suffered. The reconstruction of the campanile was +immediately determined on, and on the 25th of April, 1903, the feast +day of the evangelist and patron saint of Venice, the first stone was +laid. The square of St. Mark was a sea of heads; every window and +balcony was crowded. The Duke of Turin, a prince of the house of +Savoy, was present as the representative of the king, who had +contributed generously to the reconstruction fund. The cardinal stood +opposite him. Church and state were face to face, with the memory of +all that had passed since the beginning of the Italian Revolution +between them. Was conciliation possible? It might have seemed that +day that it was--that in charity and justice lay the solution. The +cardinal's tact and courtesy on this occasion, as on so many others, +put everybody at ease, and his discourse won the admiration of all. + +"It is a good and beautiful thing," he said, "for men to ask God's +blessing on their work. The genius of man is at its highest when it +bows before the Light Eternal. I rejoice, therefore, with you, most +noble representatives of Venice, that, as faithful interpreters of +public opinion, you have decided that the rebuilding of our beloved +campanile must be inaugurated with a solemn act of religious worship. +I rejoice that you have shown yourselves worthy sons of your Venetian +forefathers, who, knowing well that 'unless the Lord build the house, +their labour is in vain that build it,' began no enterprise without +asking God's blessing and the protection of His Virgin Mother in +their work." After having shown that all the glory of medieval Venice +sprang from her faith and her religion, he turned to the Duke of +Turin and the other illustrious guests with a word of thanks for +their presence. "A man of personal fascination and splendid +presence," wrote a member of the French government who was there, +"with handsome open face and strong clear-cut features, softened by +eyes in which shines the light of perpetual youth. Nothing proud +about him, nothing obsequious, his manner with the Duke of Turin was +perfect, that of a man who is completely at his ease." + +Prince of the Church as he was, he was always ready to fulfil the +duties of a simple parish priest. He would carry holy communion to +the sick, hear confessions, give retreats in the churches of the +diocese, and visit the prisons, the hospitals and the reformatories, +preaching to their inmates and comforting all their sorrows. The +religious orders were amongst the most favoured of his children; he +was always ready to visit them on their feast days, and loved and +esteemed their work. Both saint and sinner found in him a kindly +strength and simple goodness which set them at their ease at once. +The very sight of his face was a welcome; there was no affectation of +piety or austerity which might repel or frighten anyone; no one could +feel stiff or awkward in his presence, all shyness and reserve gave +way before his gentle manner. + +An intimate friend of the cardinal, who was staying with him, asked +one day if he might celebrate Mass at an early hour next morning, as +he had to catch a train. "Why not?" was the answer, "I will see that +all is ready for you." + +What was the astonishment of the priest when he went to the +cardinal's private chapel at an early hour to find his host himself +preparing for the Mass. + +"But who will serve?" asked the celebrant. + +"I," answered the cardinal very simply. + +"Eminence!" protested his guest, quite aghast at the suggestion. + +"What!" he exclaimed, smiling, "do you imagine that a prelate of my +rank does not know how to serve Mass? A fine idea you have of the +princes of the Church!" + +He hated ostentation of any kind and would often travel about the +country incognito. He was going one day to the convent of the Sisters +of Charity at Crespano when, feeling sure that at Bassano, where he +had to get out, there would be an ovation, he wrote to a friend +telling him that two Venetian priests going to Crespano who did not +know the country would be glad if a carriage could be sent to meet +them at the station. The train arrived, and the two priests made +their way to a ramshackle little carriage which was standing outside. +The friend, who was waiting to do the honours to the cardinal's +priests, came forward eagerly, and was just about to greet the elder +of the two when he recognized the patriarch. "Your Eminence!" he +stammered, utterly taken aback; but the cardinal, finger on lips in +warning, jumped into the carriage followed by his companion, and +drove away. Little did he guess that the time was close at hand when +his desire to be unnoticed could nevermore be fulfilled, when he who +loved to take the lowest place was to be obliged to take the highest +in the world. + + + +V + +THE PAPAL ELECTION + +The news of the death of Leo XIII, on July 20, 1903, came as a blow +to the whole Catholic world. The old man of ninety-four, whose +wonderful intelligence had remained unimpaired until the very end of +his life, had guided the bark of Peter with sure and unswerving hand +during the twenty-live years of his pontificate. His blameless life, +his lofty ideas, and his indomitable moral courage have been borne +witness to by men who had small sympathy for the Catholic Church. +"The original attitude of Leo XIII towards the new social forces," +wrote the _Quarterly Review_, "will make his pontificate a memorable +epoch, not only in the history of the Roman Church, but in that of +all Christian countries. His personal conception of the duties of the +Church towards the labouring classes was catholic in the broadest and +best sense of the term. It was such a conception as befitted the +chief pastor of Christendom." And this was only one side of the +activity of the great statesman and pope who had passed away. "Pray +that God may send to His Church a shepherd after His own heart," said +Cardinal Sarto when he announced to his people at Venice the news of +the pope's death. Little did he think how that prayer was to be +answered. Yet Leo XIII himself not long before his death had said to +an intimate friend, "If the conclave chooses a cardinal not resident +in Rome, it is Cardinal Sarto who will be elected." + +The announcement of the death of Leo was sent to all the cardinals +throughout the world, with the intimation that the conclave for the +election of his successor would be held on the 31st of July. It was +not until the 26th that Cardinal Sarto was able to set out. He +laughed at the apprehensions of his sisters that he might not come +back to them. His secretary, Don Giovanni Bressan, was busy putting +together what was necessary for the journey. "Where is Don Giovanni?" +asked the cardinal of his niece Amalia. "Go and tell him that a +journey to Rome is not a journey to America." + +"Get the conclave over and come back quickly," said Amalia. + +"Sooner or later," replied the Cardinal, "it does not matter. In the +meantime you go to Possagno for a change of air and I will pick you +up on my way back." But the sisters were sad, and refused to be +comforted. + +The whole city turned out to greet the patriarch as the gondola made +its way to the station; from every balcony and bridge good wishes and +farewells followed him. At the station there was a regular ovation, +poor and rich crowded round him to kiss his ring or catch a word from +his lips. With tears in his eyes he thanked them for that +demonstration of affection, and for the love they bore him. + +"One more blessing! one more blessing!" pleaded the people, "who +knows if you will ever come back?" + +"Alive or dead, I shall come back," was the answer. + +The train began to move, and from its window Cardinal Sarto +unknowingly looked his last on his beloved Venice; it was good-bye +for ever.[*] He had written to the Lombard College for rooms, and +there he remained until the opening of the conclave. A Venetian lady +who lived at Rome, having come to see him, expressed a polite wish +that he would be the new pope. Cardinal Sarto laughed. "It is +sufficient honour," he replied, "that God should make use of such as +I to elect the pope." + +[*] The story that he had taken a return ticket does not seem to be +true but he planned to return to Venice immediately after the +coronation of the new pope. + +A French cardinal (Lecot of Bordeaux) who did not know him spoke to +him one day. "Your Eminence is an Italian archbishop?" he asked. + +"I do not speak French," replied Cardinal Sarto, in Latin; "I am the +patriarch of Venice." + +"Ah! if you do not speak French," answered his questioner, "you will +not be eligible for the papacy." + +"Thank God, no," was the answer; "I am not eligible for the papacy." + +"I think the election will be quickly over," said Cardinal Sarto to +an Italian journalist who came to visit him in Rome. "The pope will +probably be elected at the second scrutiny." + +"I venture to disagree with your Eminence," was the reply, "and on +these grounds. I hope--for I think it is permissible--for a cardinal +who resides in his diocese. Not that the cardinals of the curia are +wanting in breadth or in experience, but as a rule those prelates who +live in the provinces are in immediate contact with the people. They +have a better chance of seeing things from the inside than those who +occupy an official post in Rome, important and indispensable though +these may be. But of necessity the non-resident cardinals are less +well known in Rome than those of the curia, their candidature must +therefore be slower and the election longer." + +The election of a pope is one of the most solemn deeds of the Church, +and is safeguarded by strict regulations. On the death of the pontiff +the Cardinal Chamberlain, as representative of the Sacred College, +assumes charge of the papal household, notifying to all the cardinals +of the Church the death of the pope and the impending election. Every +cardinal has the right to vote in the conclave, but he must be +present in person to do so. Each one may take with him a secretary, +who is generally a priest, and a servant. In the meanwhile a large +portion of the Vatican palace has been walled off and divided into +apartments or cells for the conclavists. Access to it can be had +through one door alone, which is left open until the conclave begins, +when it is closed and barred from without by the Marshal of the +Conclave, and from within by the Cardinal Chamberlain. All +communication with the outside world is then at an end until the +result of the election is announced. + +The conclave opens officially (now) not later than eighteen days +after the pope's death. The cardinals assist at Mass and receive holy +communion from the hands of the Cardinal Dean, who solemnly adjures +them to elect as pope him whom they believe to be the most worthy. +They assemble in the Sistine Chapel, where the actual voting takes +place. The stall of each cardinal has a canopy overhead and a small +writing-desk in front. The door is shut and bolted and the voting +begins. Each cardinal having written the name of his candidate on the +paper provided, deposits it in a chalice on the altar, taking as he +does so the required oath: "I call to witness the Lord Christ, who +will be my judge, that I am electing the one whom before God I think +ought to be elected." The ballots are then counted and read aloud, +and if no candidate has received the necessary number of votes, they +are burnt in a little stove together with a handful of damp straw. As +the chimney of this stove extends through a window of the chapel, the +colour of the smoke or _sfumata_ can be clearly seen by those +outside. Not until the election is made are the ballots burnt without +the accompanying straw, when the clear white smoke is the first +notification to the people that the pope is elected. Voting takes +place twice a day, morning and evening, until a majority of +two-thirds of the votes has been attained. + +The _veto_ was the alleged right of certain Catholic rulers to object +to the election of a cardinal of whom they do not approve. It was +exercised rarely and has never been formally approved by the Church. +Although Pius IX had forbidden any interference by the secular power +in a papal election, an attempt was made to exercise the _veto_ at +the conclave which resulted in the election of Pius X. At the third +scrutiny, in which Cardinal Rampolla came first with twenty-nine +votes, Cardinal Puzyna, Bishop of Cracow, who had accepted the +mandate of the Austrian government in the name of the Emperor Francis +Joseph, read (it is said after signs of severe embarrassment) a +declaration excluding Cardinal Rampolla, without giving any reason +for the exclusion. + +The cardinals protested against the interference, and the votes in +Cardinal Rampolla's favour were found to have increased by one in the +evening scrutiny. But Cardinal Sarto's had been mounting steadily +from the beginning and continued to do so until they reached the +number of fifty.[*] + +[*] The opinions of those best qualified to judge seem to agree that +Cardinal Rampolla's failure to be elected was quite uninfluenced by +the Austrian action. Soon after his election Pius X definitively +abolished the exercise of the veto. + +At five o'clock on the 31st of July the Cardinals, sixty-three in +all, assembled at the Vatican. At nightfall the last door was closed +and bricked up; the conclave had begun. At the first scrutiny +Cardinal Rampolla had twenty-four votes, Cardinal Gotti seven, and +Cardinal Sarto five. There was nothing alarming in this; but when, at +the second scrutiny, the votes in favour of the Patriarch of Venice +had doubled, and at the third doubled again, it was another matter, +and his anguish was obvious to all. With trembling voice and tears in +his eyes, he spoke to the Cardinals, begging them to give up all +thought of him. "I am unworthy, I am not qualified," he pleaded, +"forget me." + +"It was that very adjuration, his grief, his profound humility and +wisdom," said Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore, "that made us think of +him all the more; we learnt to know him from his words as we could +never have known him by hearsay." The voting continued. In the +evening of the second day Cardinal Sarto, who at the last scrutiny +had obtained twenty-four votes, on returning to his room found +several of his colleagues who had come to beg him not to refuse the +burden if God should call upon him to bear it. "I was one of those +who went to visit him in his cell in the evening, to try to induce +him to accept," said the American cardinal. "Those who had gone +before had shaken his resistance, so that I almost hoped he would +resign himself to what seemed to be inevitable." On the third day the +votes for Cardinal Sarto went on increasing, until on the morning of +the fourth day fifty out of the sixty-two were in his favour, eight +more than the forty-two required for a valid election. + +They asked him if he would accept, but he had already accepted in his +heart after a most grievous inward struggle. "I accept," he said, +with tears. + +"What name will you take?" they asked him. "I will be called Pius," +he replied. + +Pale and trembling, he was clothed in the white cassock, the ring was +placed on his finger, and he was led to the throne to receive the +obedience of the cardinals. When at last the pope returned to his +cell he remained for long in prayer before the crucifix. The faithful +servant who had come with him from Venice begged him several times in +vain to take some food. At last he rose, and, turning to his +secretary, Monsignor Bressan, with something of his old serenity: +"Come," he said, "it is the will of God." + +Immediately after his election, when leaving the balcony from which +he had given his first blessing inside St. Peter's, Pius X expressed +his wish to go and visit Cardinal Herrero y Espinosa, Archbishop of +Valencia, an old man eighty years of age who was lying sick in his +cell. He had been taken ill a few days before and had received the +last sacraments. The pope blessed and prayed over him. Three days +later the man for whom the doctors had declared there was little hope +was well enough to get up. He returned soon after to Spain, cured, as +he himself always declared, by the prayer of Pius X. + +The news of the election was received with joy in Italy. Outside of +that country Pius X was little known. "What kind of a pope will he +be?" was the question on many lips. The world had not long to wait +for the answer. Two months had scarcely passed before his first +encyclical letter rang through the Catholic world. + +"It matters not to tell with what tears and earnest prayers we sought +to avoid this appalling burden of the pontifical office," he begins. +"We could not be other than disturbed at being appointed the +successor of one who, after having most wisely ruled the Church for +well-nigh six-and-twenty years, showed such power of genius and so +shone with virtue that even adversaries were constrained to admire +him." + +Going straight to the heart of the world's unrest, the pope lays bare +the cause of the disease--"the falling away from and forsaking God, +than which there is nothing more nearly allied to perdition. As, +borne up by God's might, we set our hand to the work of withstanding +this great evil, we proclaim that in bearing the pontifical office +this is our one purpose, 'to restore all things in Christ, so that +Christ may be all in all'." Beautiful words, which embody the +teaching and the work of a lifetime spent in God's service. No empty +ideal either, but the one that Giuseppe Sarto had set steadfastly +before himself from the very day of his consecration to the +priesthood, to which he had devoted himself strenuously ever since. + +He foresaw the hostile judgments that were to be expected from +certain quarters on every action of the head of the Catholic Church. +"There will be some, assuredly, who, measuring divine things by those +that are human, will study our mind to wrest it to earthly ends and +the aims of parties. To cut off this vain hope of theirs, we affirm +in all truth that in human society we desire to be nothing, and by +the help of God we will be nothing, but the minister of God whose +authority we bear. God's cause is our cause, to which we are +determined to devote all our strength and life itself Therefore, if +any ask of us a token to show forth the purpose of our mind, we shall +ever give this one alone--'to restore all things in Christ'." + +"To this, therefore," he continues later, speaking of the evils that +follow on the forsaking of God, "must we direct all our efforts, to +bring the race of men under the dominion of Christ; when once this is +done, it will have already returned to God Himself. How many are +there," he laments, "that hate Christ and abhor the Church and the +Gospel through ignorance rather than perversity, of whom you may +rightly say that 'they blaspheme whatever things they know not'; and +this is to be found not only in the common people, but among the +cultured and even those who enjoy no mean learning. It cannot be +agreed that faith is quenched by the growth of science: it is more +truly quenched by want of knowledge." Speaking of those who are +hostile to the Church, "Why may we not hope," he says, "that the fire +of Christian charity will dissipate the darkness, and bring them 'the +light and peace of God'? Charity is never wearied by waiting." + +"A 'shepherd of souls' was the verdict of the Catholic world on +reading the encyclical. 'Gentle and strong' was the judgement of a +well-known American bishop. But there was another side to the +character of the pope which later on became evident. 'Pius X,' wrote +one who had known him intimately at Venice, 'is a man of keen +intelligence, and of great culture, thoroughly well up in the +philosophy, literature, and social movements of the times'." But +first and foremost a shepherd of souls. The world was right in its +judgement. + +One of the first actions of the new pope was to order the +distribution of four thousand pounds amongst the poor of Rome, and +half that amount amongst the poor of Venice. "Is it not rather a +large sum?" suggested the almoner respectfully, "considering the +actual state of things?" + +"Where is your trust in God's Providence?" asked Pius, and the money +was given. + +He could no longer go to his beloved poor, but word was given that +they should come to him. Sunday after Sunday they were gathered, +parish by parish, in the courts of the Vatican to hear from the lips +of the pope himself a simple sermon on the gospel of the day. "Love +God, and lead good Christian lives," such was the burden of his +teaching; but there was more teaching still in the warm welcome that +awaited them, in the tender charity that shone forth in every word +and movement. "Sweet Christ on earth," was what St. Catherine of +Siena loved to call the successor of St. Peter. Surely the name must +have often come to the lips of those whose privilege it was to be +much in the presence of Pius X. + + + +VI + +THE AIMS OF PIUS X + +With a firm and sure hand the new pope had traced out the programme +of his pontificate--the restoring of all things in Christ. It was not +the first time he had used these words. We have already seen how as +parish priest, bishop and patriarch they had been ever in his +thoughts as the ideal and the aim of the sacerdotal life. The time +had come when from the chair of Peter he was to set them before the +world as the remedy for all its evils, calling on the faithful +children of the Church to help in the great work. + +Not only had he pointed out the evils to be dealt with, but the means +of dealing with them. Earnest prayer, the formation of a learned, +zealous and devout priesthood, religious instruction for the adult as +well as for the child, wise efforts to ameliorate the condition of +the poor and deal with the social question, Christian charity towards +both friends and enemies, the faithful keeping of the commandments of +God, the frequent use of the sacraments--thus was the "restoring of +all things in Christ" to be accomplished. + +All his life Pope Pius X had been a strenuous worker. At sixty-eight +he was still a hale and vigorous man. He rose early, making an hour's +meditation and reciting his Office before saying Mass, which he did +usually at six o'clock. The day's work was carefully planned so that +no time might be lost. A born organizer, the pope soon acquainted +himself thoroughly with all that concerned the administration of the +government of the Church and set on foot several necessary reforms in +the work of the different congregations. Practical, punctual and +exact in all his undertakings, he required that others should be the +same. There was not a question of the day in which his quick +intelligence did not take a lively interest. + +"He is a wonderful listener," said a French statesman who had an +audience with him in the early days of his pontificate. "He grasps +the matter under discussion quickly and completely, going straight to +the point, which he sums up in a few precise words. To my mind he +possesses the qualities of a true statesman as much as Leo XIII. He +sees in one comprehensive glance what is possible and what is not. +What struck me still more in him was his calm, steadfast courage. +There is no rashness about him; he will be slow to condemn, but when +he does he will be inflexible. If difficult circumstances arise he +will show himself both a hero and a saint." + +Pius X had been brought up in no school of diplomacy, but the same +goal may be reached by different roads. "A man born of the people," +said another writer, "who has lived among working men, a student of +the Bible and of the Fathers of the Church, of philosophy and +theology--a man rich in experience and knowledge of men and things." + +Lovers of church music in all countries had hailed with joy the news +of Cardinal Sarto's election to the papacy. The changes brought about +in Venice had not passed unnoticed in the musical world; a need for +reform was universally felt. "May we not hope that your Holiness will +do for the world what you have already done for Venice?" asked a +French musician. "It shall be done and soon," was the reply, "but it +will be a hard fight. And not the only one," added the pope +thoughtfully, musing on the work that lay before him. Leo XIII had +more than once urged on the faithful the study of the traditional +music of the Church. He had even sent to Venice for Don Lorenzo +Perosi to take charge of the music of the Sistine Chapel; but the +Italians clung to their operatic effects, and the results had not +been notable. + +On the 22nd of November, 1903, the _motu proprio_[*] on sacred music +laid down definite rules on the matter. "Nothing should have place in +the church that is unworthy of the house of prayer and the majesty of +God," said the pope. "Sacred music contributes to the fitness and +splendour of the ecclesiastical rites, and since its principal office +is to clothe with suitable melody the liturgical text proposed for +the understanding of the faithful, its proper aim is to add greater +efficacy to the words, in order that through it the people may be the +more easily moved to devotion and better disposed for the fruits of +grace belonging to the celebration of the most holy mysteries. It +must be holy, it must be true art, it must be universal; and since +these qualities are to be found in the highest degree in the +Gregorian chant . . . the more closely the composition of church +music approaches . . . to the Gregorian form, the more sacred and +liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that +supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple." + +[*] A _motu proprio_ is a document drawn up by the pope on his own +initiative. + +The _motu proprio_, however, did not exclude the use of modern music, +provided that it was suitable to be associated with the liturgy; but +theatrical music was not to be tolerated. Rules were laid down to +guarantee the dignity and solemnity of church offices; paid singers, +especially women, were not to be employed in the choir; bands and +orchestral accompaniments were forbidden. Bishops were to institute +special commissions of persons skilled in sacred music, to see that +the rules were carried out. Schools of sacred song were to be +established in those seminaries where they did not already exist, and +in town and country parishes. From his personal experiences at +Tombolo, Salzano, Treviso and Mantua, Pius X knew that this was +perfectly practicable. + +In the letter to Cardinal Respighi, cardinal-vicar of Rome, written a +few weeks later, the pope laments once more that the beautiful +musical tradition of the classical Roman school had almost totally +disappeared. "For the devout psalmody of the clergy," he writes, +alluding to the singing of Vespers, in which the people also used to +join, "there have been substituted interminable musical compositions +on the words of the Psalms, all of them modelled on theatrical works, +and most of them of such poor quality that they would not be +tolerated for a moment even in second-rate concerts. Gregorian +chant," he continues, "as it was handed down by the Fathers and is +found in the codices of the various churches, is noble, quiet, easy +to learn, and of a beauty so fresh and full of surprises that +wherever it has been introduced it has never failed to excite real +enthusiasm in the youthful singers." + +The motu proprio was received with joy by many, and with +consternation by those who believed that operatic music was an +attraction to the multitude. "We are going to have good music in +church," observed Pius X to Don Perosi. "The pope has not been slow +in carrying his words into effect," said a writer in the +_Ecclesiastical Review_. "May he live long, this lover of the +sanctuary and of the beauty of holiness; and may his kindly face +soften those hard hearts that can still bring themselves to sing +_bravura_, not to say _buffo_, boldly before the Blessed Sacrament, +with fearsome shriekings, tremblings and trills." + +Some hearts were not softened. Pius had spoken the truth when he +said, "The pleasure of a depraved taste rises in hostility to sacred +music; for it cannot be denied that profane music, so easy of +comprehension and so specially full of rhythm, finds favour in +proportion to the want of a true and good musical education among +those who listen to it." + +That reform was necessary in England may be shown by the impression +made on a serious outsider by the music in use in some of our +Catholic churches. "You have Miss A. singing duets with Miss B. to +the words, 'Domine Fili Jesu Christe' as if they were singing 'O that +we two were maying,' or 'There's Life in the Old Horse yet,' and to +music which would disgrace a tenth-rate writer of music-hall songs. +Or if it be a male choir, you hear thunderous basses without a note +in tune, and emasculated tenors . . . engaged over worrying the most +solemn words of the Creed as though they were prize dogs, and the +Creed a pack of rats." + +It was not that the pope cared for nothing but classical church music +and Gregorian chant. He was a lover of all good music, whether sacred +or secular. But he considered that operatic music, however beautiful, +was unsuited to the sanctuary. It is possible to admire the pictures +of Watteau, without desiring to see them used as altar-pieces. + +In his first encyclical Pius had already touched on the question of +Catholic social action. In his _motu proprio_ of December 1903 he +spoke still more definitely on the subject. Born and brought up in +the midst of the people, he could thoroughly understand their needs. +He foresaw also the dangers of rash and imprudent action which might +rely too strongly on popular effort and influence. It was not the +movement towards social reform itself which stood in need of being +checked, but the extravagances of some over-enthusiastic reformers. + +"Christian democracy," he declared, "must have for its basis the +principles of Catholic faith and morals, and must be free of +political parties." His great predecessor Leo XIII, having luminously +traced the rules of Christian popular action in his famous +encyclicals (continued Pius), his own desire was that those prudent +rules should be exactly and fully observed. He had therefore decided +to collect them in an abridged form that they might be for all +Catholics a constant rule of conduct. After having laid down man's +right to the use and permanent ownership of property, he passed on to +the obligations of justice between masters and men, and the utility +of aid societies and trades unions. Christian democracy, he +maintained, had for its special aim the solution of the difficulties +between labour and capital, but in order to do this effectually it +must be based on the principles of the Catholic faith and morality; +it must not be made use of for party purposes; it must be a +beneficent activity for the people founded on the natural law and the +precepts of the Gospel. Catholic writers, when upholding the cause of +the people and the poor, were to beware of using language calculated +to inspire ill-feeling between classes. Here, as in other matters, +obedience to the laws of God and of the Church was to be the means to +the solution of the many difficulties which existed. "Godliness is +profitable to all things," he had said in his first encyclical, "and +when this is whole and vigorous, in very truth the people shall sit +in the beauty of peace." + +In 1905 an apostolic letter to the Italian bishops defined still more +clearly the lines of Catholic social action. "Such," he says, "is the +power of the truth and morality taught by Jesus Christ, that even the +material well-being of individuals, of the family and of human +society receive support and protection." The civilization of the +world is Christian civilization; the more frankly Christian, the more +frankly true, the more lasting and the more productive of good fruit; +the more it withdraws from the Christian ideal, so much the feebler +does it become, to the great detriment of society. The Church has +been throughout the ages the guardian and protector of Christian +civilization. "What prosperity and happiness, what peace and concord, +what respectful submission to authority, what excellent government +would be established and maintained in the world if the perfect ideal +of Christian civilization could be everywhere realized. But given the +constant warfare of flesh with spirit, of darkness with light, of +Satan with God, so great a good in its full measure can scarcely be +hoped for. Yet this is no reason for losing courage. The Church goes +fearlessly on, and while extending the Kingdom of God in places where +it has not yet been preached, she strives by every means to repair +the losses inflicted on the Kingdom already acquired." Once more the +only means that can achieve the desired end are clearly pointed out: +"To reinstate Jesus Christ in the family, the school and society; to +re-establish the principle that human authority represents that of +God; to take closely to heart the interests of the people, especially +those of industrial and agricultural workers, to endeavour to make +laws conformable to justice, to amend or suppress those which are not +so . . . to defend and support the rights of God in everything, and +the no less sacred rights of the Church." + +"What can I do for the Church?" asked a lady of Pius X at a private +audience. + +"Teach the catechism," was the prompt and perhaps rather unexpected +reply. + +"It is manifestly impossible," said the pope, "to re-establish all +the institutions found useful in former times; instruments must be +suited to the work intended. There must be unity, co-operation in +working, suitable methods adapted to the times. In all Catholic +social work there must be submission to ecclesiastical authority. +Let everyone, therefore, strive to ameliorate . . . the economic +condition of the people, supporting and promoting institutions which +conduce to this end . . . and let all our beloved sons who are +devoting themselves to Catholic action listen again to the words +which spring so spontaneously from our heart. Amid the bitter sorrows +which daily surround us, we will say, with the apostle St. Paul, if +there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort comes to us from +your charity . . . fulfil ye our joy, that you being of one mind . . . +agreeing in sentiment, with humility and due submission, not seeking +your own convenience but the common good, and imprinting on your +hearts the mind which was in Christ Jesus our Saviour. Let Him be the +beginning of all your undertakings. 'All whatsoever you do in word or +in work, all things do ye in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,' let +Him be the end of your every work; 'for of Him, and by Him, and in +Him, are all things; to Him be glory for ever. Amen.'" + +During the whole life of Pius X the Bible had been his favourite +study. Every encyclical he issued bears witness to his intimate +knowledge and love of both the Old Testament and the New. The words +in which he insistently recommended the careful and loving study of +Holy Writ to priests and people would greatly astonish those of our +separated brethren who persist in believing that the Catholic Church +forbids the reading of the Bible by her children. When receiving +representatives of the Society of St. Jerome for the diffusion of the +Holy Scriptures, he spoke with the greatest praise of the splendid +work of this most deserving institution, which in the space of +fifteen months had been able to give out more than 200,000 copies of +the gospels: to those Catholic theologians who were engaged in +historical studies and biblical research he always gave the warmest +encouragement. "The Catholic faith has nothing to fear from +knowledge, but much from ignorance," was a truth that he more than +once averred. + +The pope, who in his youth had entered keenly into all the games and +sports of the seminary life, was a strong believer in schemes for the +physical development of youth. "I bless with all my heart your games +and amusements," he said on the occasion of a display in the Vatican +gardens by athletic clubs. "I approve of your gymnastics, your cycle, +boat, and foot races, your mountain climbing and the rest, for these +pastimes will keep you from the idleness which is the mother of every +vice; and because friendly contests will be for you the symbol of +emulation in the practice of virtue . . . . Be strong to keep and +defend your faith when so many are losing it; be strong to remain +devoted sons of the Church when so many are rebelling against her . . . +be strong to conquer the obstacles which you will meet in the practice +of the Catholic religion, for your own merit and for the good of your +brothers." + +To the pilgrimages that flocked from all parts of the world to do him +homage, Pius X addressed like words of sympathy and encouragement. "I +bless you all, great and small, rich and poor," he said to a band of +peasants from Moravia--"the good that they may remain good; those who +have strayed from the right path, that they may come back to it; +parents that they may bring up their children well; children that +they may honour the white hairs of their parents and the country that +has nourished them." + +"Tell the rich to be generous in almsgiving," he said on another +occasion; "tell the poor to be proud of being chosen as the living +representatives of Christ on earth. Bid them neither envy nor hate +others, but have resignation and patience." + +It was to those of his own province that a special tenderness was +revealed. "If I could tell you all that is in my heart," he said one +day to a pilgrimage from Treviso, "when night comes on I should be +still speaking." It was hard for him to believe that he would never +see his beloved Venice again. Walking one day in the Vatican gardens +with a friend, he heard in the distance a shrill whistle. "Hark!" he +said, wistfully, "perhaps that is the train for Venice!" But much as +he loved his own people there was no thought either in his mind or in +theirs that honours might come to them through his position. "Thank +God, we are all able to support ourselves," said one of his sisters +soon after his election, "we need trouble him for nothing. Poor +dear," she added compassionately, "he has all the poor people in the +world to think of now." They had their own places in the pope's +private chapel, and on gala days at St. Peter's. That was their only +privilege, and it was all that they asked. + +It was said of the new pope that his usual expression was one of +overwhelming sadness, and to those who only saw him in public this +might have seemed to be true. His humble spirit hated pomp and +display, and the burden of his huge responsibility lay heavy on his +soul. When borne through the crowd in the _sedia gestatoria_ he +seemed more than ever conscious of the weight of the cross laid upon +him by his divine Master. "His face amid the scene of triumph spoke +of the vanity of all earthly glory. He had ever the look of one who +is weighed down by the sins and the sorrows of mankind--a look +befitting the vicar of Him of whom we speak as the Man of Sorrows," +wrote Wilfrid Ward. In St. Peter's he would allow no outbreak of the +applause which had become customary at papal services. "It is not +fitting that the servant should be applauded in his Master's house," +he said sternly as he gave the order. So it was in silence that he +passed thenceforward amongst his people--but a silence tense and +trembling with an emotion that would occasionally break out in spite +of all attempts at restraint. + +But those who knew him intimately had another tale to tell. The +genial and merry spirit that had been his of old, though overshadowed +at first by the burden he had to bear, was by no means dead. He had +the art of making himself all things to all men; he could be gay and +merry with the young, wonderfully tender and gentle with those in +sorrow or suffering. "He had the greatest heart," said one who knew +him well, "of any man alive." + + + +VII + +PIUS X AND FRANCE + +The separation of church and state had long been the deliberate aim +of the irreligious French government. During the pontificate of Leo +XIII the following resolution had been put and carried at an assembly +of freemasons: "It is the strict duty of a freemason, if he is a +member of parliament, to vote for the suppression of the Budget des +Cultes, for the suppression of the French embassy at the Vatican, and +on all occasions to declare himself in favour of the separation of +church and state without abandoning the right of the state to police +the church." + +The Waldeck-Rousseau ministry had already brought France to the verge +of a breach with Rome. By means of a concession on the part of the +pope the difficulty had been bridged over, but all the efforts of +M. Combes were directed towards making the separation inevitable. +There was one difficulty in the way--how to make it appear that Rome +was to blame. "To denounce the concordat just now," he said in a +speech delivered in the Senate in March, 1903, "without having +sufficiently prepared men's minds for it, without having clearly +proved that the Catholic clergy themselves are provoking it and +rendering it inevitable, would be bad policy on the part of the +government, by reason of the resentment which might be caused in the +country. I do not say that the connection between church and state +will not some day be severed; I do not even say that that day is not +near. I merely say that the day has not yet come." + +The way was paved by a series of provocations designed to cast the +responsibility and odium on the pope. Pretexts for a quarrel were +soon found in the circumstances of the visit of M. Loubet to Rome; in +the discussions which arose with regard to the nomination of bishops, +and in Rome's treatment of the bishops of Dijon and Laval. The +Vatican White Book sufficiently indicated the long-suffering patience +of the pope with regard to these questions. + +There were Catholic critics who thought that Pius X was slow in +vindicating the rights of the Church. "God," said he, speaking to a +Frenchman on this subject, "could have sent us the Redeemer +immediately after the Fall. And He made the world wait thousands of +years! . . . . Yet they expect a poor priest, the vicar of that +Christ so long desired, to pronounce without reflection grave and +irrevocable words. For the moment I am passive--passive in the hands +of Him who sustains me, and in whose name--when the time comes--I +shall speak." + +On the 10th of February, 1905, the Chambre declared that the +"attitude of the Vatican" had rendered the separation of church and +state inevitable. "An historic lie," as M. Ribot, a Protestant member +of the Chambre, trenchantly described the statement. + +The Law of Separation of the Churches and the State, passed by the +French government in 1905, completely dissociated the state from the +appointment of bishops and parish priests, but, lest this might seem +to be an unalloyed blessing, it must be added that it also suppressed +the annual revenue of the Church, amounting to 42 million francs. The +departments and communes were forbidden to vote appropriations for +public worship. Life pensions equivalent to three quarters of the +former salary were granted to priests who were not less than sixty +years of age at the passing of the law, and life pensions equivalent +to half of the former salary to those under forty-five. As a matter +of fact, the state became the richer by eight million francs. The use +of Catholic buildings was to be regulated by the _Associations +Cultuelles_. Without any reference to the Holy See it was decided by +the government that these associations for religious worship should +be formed in each diocese and parish to administer church property. +Several articles in the law regarding the constitution of these +_Associations Cultuelles_ left to the Council of State--a purely lay +authority--the settlement of any dispute that might arise. In other +words it lay with the Council of State to pronounce on the orthodoxy +of any association and its conformity with the rules of public +worship. + +There was a good deal of discussion in ecclesiastical circles as to +whether the "Associations" could be formed. Pius in his encyclical +"Gravissimo," August 1906, decided the question. He had examined the +law, he declared, to see if it were at all possible to carry on under +its provisions the work of religion in France while safeguarding the +sacred principles on which the Church was constituted. After +consultation with the episcopate he had sorrowfully to declare that +no such arrangement was possible. The question at issue was whether +the associations for worship could be tolerated. His answer was that +"with reference to these associations as the law establishes them, we +decree that it is absolutely impossible for them to be formed without +a violation of the sacred rights pertaining to the very life of the +Church." As to any other "legal and canonical" associations which +might preserve the Catholics of France from the difficulties by which +they were threatened, there was no hope of them while the law +remained as it was. "We declare that it is not permissible to try any +other kind of association as long as it is not established in a sure +and legal manner that the divine constitution of the Church, the +immutable rights of the Roman Pontiff and of the bishops, as well as +their authority over the necessary property of the Church, and +particularly over sacred edifices, shall be irrevocably placed in the +said associations in full security." + +"God's law alone is of importance," said Pius at a private interview. +"We are no diplomatist, but our mission is to defend it. One truth is +at stake: was the Church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ or not? +Since it was, nothing can induce us to give up its constitutions, its +rights or its liberty." "Let it be clearly understood," said he on +another occasion, "we do not ask the members of your government to go +to Mass--although we regret that they do not. All we ask, since they +pride themselves on recognizing nothing but facts, is that they +should not ignore one very considerable fact--the existence of the +Catholic Church, its constitution, and its head, which we at present +happen to be." + +There were not wanting critics who spoke regretfully of the +wholesale sacrifice of church property. "They speak too much of the +goods of the Church and too little of her good," said the pope. +"Tell them that history repeats itself. Ages ago on a high mountain +two powers stood face to face. 'All this will I give thee,' said the +one, offering the kingdoms of the earth and their riches, 'if thou +wilt fall down and worship me.' The other refused--and is refusing +still . . . ." + +The reply of the French government was the appropriation of all that +was left of the property of the Church in France. The law of January +1907 permitted religious worship in the churches purely on sufferance +and without any legal title. This looked like a concession, but it +had its uses. The simple citizen still saw the priest in the church; +Mass was still said there. "All of which proves," said the government +to the unthinking public, "that the Church is in nowise persecuted; +if she is not as prosperous as of old, she has only the pope to +blame." + +The separation of church and state was the signal for open war on the +Church. Law after law was passed, making it more and more difficult +for the priest to minister to the people. He was forbidden to enter a +hospital unless his presence had been formally asked for by a +patient. He was forced to serve his time in the army in the hope that +his vocation might be ruined. He was forced to pay a rent for his +presbytery, although he was often poorer than the poorest of his +parishioners. Many of the beautiful old churches of France fell +gradually into ruin, or were used for other purposes than worship-- +the more degrading the purpose the better. + +The principle which underlay the attitude of Rome in the matter was +clear and consistent. The state having proclaimed its indifference, +not to say hostility, to religion, having ignored the constitution of +the Church and suppressed all means of negotiating with the pope, +claimed the right to legislate for Catholics, to control their +organization, to limit their material resources, and to decide their +differences. The men who made the law had openly declared that their +purpose was to decatholicize France. "In making his decision, has not +the pope appealed from the French parliament to the French people?" +was a thoughtful question asked at the time. + +"The apparent apathy of most French Catholics, the energy and cunning +of their adversaries," said the same writer, "deceived the world into +believing that a little faction had the strength of a whole people +behind it . . . ." + +The pope's refusal to accept the bishops proposed by the French +government had left many sees vacant. In February 1906, immediately +after the break with the government, Pius X himself consecrated +fourteen French bishops in St. Peter's. It was the act of a great and +apostolic statesman. "I have not called you to joy," said the pope, +"but to the Cross," and bearing the cross on their breasts they went +forth, without stipend, without government protection, intervention +or recognition. They went as simply apostolic men--to gain souls to +God--and the result of their labours is manifest. + +"Destroy the Church in France, and dechristianization will follow," +cried her enemies. "A short period of separation," said an orator at +the general assembly of the Grand Orient in September 1904, "will +complete the ruin of dogma, and the ruin of Church." What really +happened? + +"Our bishops, priests, and people," wrote George Fonsegrive in 1913, +"are absolutely devoted to Rome and obedient to the pope. After the +passing of the Separation Law all the orders of the pope were +immediately executed. At one word from him our bishops and priests +gave up their palaces and their presbyteries and abandoned all their +goods. Nowhere else has there been such docility and such unanimity. +Our Church is truly and absolutely Roman; therefore every attack on +its members attaches them more strongly to the source and centre of +their life. Religious life is everywhere increasing in depth and in +intensity . . . . The human mind has found the limits of science, and +has felt that they are narrow and hard; all men of culture recognize +to-day that our whole life is, as it were, wrapped in mystery. Faith +is no longer looked upon as a suspect but as a friend. Those who have +it not are seeking it, and those who have found it treasure it. Even +those who despair of finding it respect it. And all, or nearly all, +recognize that truth can only be where she declares herself, where +she is supplied with all she needs to make her accessible to man, +that is to say, in Catholicism, and finally in Rome." + + + +VIII + +THE POPE OF THE EUCHARIST + +At the beginning of the nineteenth century the last remnants of +Jansenism were still influencing Catholic teaching in many countries +of Europe. This most insidious of heresies, preached by men of +austere life and veiled by the plea of reverence for holy things, was +a danger to the lax and to the scrupulous alike. It laid down as +conditions for approaching the sacraments dispositions of soul which +for the greater part of mankind were wholly unattainable; it +presented God as the Jehovah of the Old Testament, terrible and +awe-inspiring, rather than as the Christ of the New, tender and +compassionate to sinners. "I tell you," said St. Vincent de Paul to +one of his priests, "that this new error of Jansenism is one of the +most dangerous that has ever troubled the Church." + +Perhaps the most fatal effect of Jansenist teaching was that it drove +the sinner from the sources of grace and the weak from the sources of +spiritual strength. Frequent communion, which had been the custom in +apostolic times and which had been always upheld in the teaching of +the Church, was to the Jansenist a tempting of Providence. In vain +did Catholic teachers explain to the people that the Council of Trent +"exhorts, asks and beseeches the faithful to believe and venerate +these sacred mysteries . . . with such constancy and firmness of +faith . . . that they may be able frequently to receive the +supersubstantial bread." Nothing, it was answered, had been laid down +as to the necessary dispositions for receiving communion; and how +were they to know that they had them? Theologians were divided on the +subject, some teaching that very perfect dispositions were required, +whilst others maintained that a state of grace and a right intention +were sufficient. Another controversy had arisen as to the meaning of +the term "frequent communion," some holding that weekly communion +came under this heading, others that it did not. Appeals were made +from time to time to Rome to decide the question, that the minds of +the faithful might be at rest. + +In the first encyclical of Pius X where he sets forth as the purpose +of his pontificate the restoring of all things in Christ, the +frequent use of the sacraments is mentioned as one of the four great +means to this end. We have already seen how, when visiting his +diocese as bishop, he bade the people make no preparations for his +coming save attending Mass and receiving holy communion, declaring +that this would be the best welcome they could give him. On the 20th +of December, 1906, the Decree concerning Frequent and Daily Communion +put an end to all further controversy. + +"The primary purpose of the holy Eucharist is not that the honour and +reverence due to our Lord may be safeguarded," says the decree, "not +that the sacrament may serve as a reward of virtue, but that the +faithful, being united to God by holy communion, may thence derive +strength to resist sinful desires, to cleanse themselves from daily +faults, and to avoid those serious sins to which human frailty is +liable." "Frequent and daily communion, as a thing most earnestly +desired by Christ our Lord and by the Catholic Church," runs the +first clause of the decree, "should be open to all the faithful of +whatever rank and condition of life, so that no one who is in the +state of grace, and who approaches the holy table with a right and +devout intention, can be hindered therefrom." + +Having defined a right intention as a purpose of pleasing God, of +being more closely united with Him by charity, and of seeking this +divine remedy for one's weaknesses and defects, the decree goes on to +affirm that, although freedom from venial sin is to be desired, it is +sufficient that the communicant be free from mortal sin, provided he +has a firm purpose of avoiding sin for the future. Preparation and +thanksgiving are to be according to the strength, circumstances and +duties of the individual. All priests and confessors are to exhort +the faithful frequently and zealously to "this devout and saving +action." + +There was no mistaking this. "The Divine Redeemer of mankind," wrote +a priest of the London Oratory, "is to be just as accessible to the +struggling beginner whose feet have been ensnared in the meshes of +sin, and who is struggling bravely against temptation, as He is to +the man or woman who has been purified by many years of painful +effort, but who is ever liable to fall. He is needed by the austere +religious living in solitude in her cell . . . . He is needed by the +poor dweller in the crowded slums who has so much to contend +against--squalor, misery, drink, vice in various forms, and the +depressing influences of grinding poverty. Children have need of Him +that they may be formed to habits of virtue; youths have need of Him +that they may obtain mastery over their passions; maidens have need +of Him that they may preserve their innocence untarnished; grown-up +men and women have need of Him that they may advance in virtue and +carry out faithfully the duties of their state of life; there are +none who can afford to neglect the great source of spiritual +strength, none who can do without Him." + +Rome had spoken, but to many people the news seemed almost too good +to be true, and to others so surprising and "new" as to be unwelcome. +The old idea that frequent communion was only for holy people was +hard to eradicate. Jansenist bugbears about the preparation required +and the responsibility incurred frightened the timid. Much insistence +was necessary before the objection "I am not good enough" was found +to be worthless, but when it was finally done away with the fruits +were at once apparent. + +"What a wonderful change there would be," Monsignor de Segur had +written some forty years earlier, "if frequent communion could be +established in our colleges and schools! Experience shows the +influence of communion on a young man's daily life. There is no vice +that the regular use of the sacraments will not uproot, no moral +resurrection beyond its power to effect." That dream was now on its +way to realization. "Confessions," said a Jesuit who was giving a +retreat to the students of a large public school, "are child's play +now to what they used to be. In the old days they took two or three +days--now nearly all the boys are daily communicants, and the +confessions of the whole college take little more time than an hour." + +"Yes," said a young working-girl to a Sacred Heart nun, "I go every +day. I cannot stay till the end of Mass, because I have to get to my +work. But there are several of us who are all daily communicants, who +take the same train to business, and we get into the same carriage +and make our thanksgiving on the way. And we love to think that in +that train, full of people who seldom think of God, there is one +carriage where He is being adored and worshipped. And we find it such +a help in the day's work." + +And not girls only. The author will never forget a very early morning +Mass in a big London church. The church was full of working men in +their working clothes. The procession to the altar seemed never +ending, communion was still being given after the Mass was finished. +They had come for help and comfort in their daily toil to One who on +this earth had been a working man like themselves, One who is "rich +unto all that call on Him," and they had learnt the strength of that +union. + +Was it not the "man in the street" for whom our Saviour came? Were +not the crowds who followed Him mostly composed of "men in the +street"? And did He not choose from their ranks the Apostles who were +to carry His message throughout the world? "In these days," says the +decree, "when religion and the Catholic faith are attacked on all +sides, and true love of God and genuine piety are lacking in so many +places, it is doubly necessary that the faithful should be +strengthened, and the love of God kindled in their hearts by this +saving practice of daily communion." + +"Holy communion is the shortest and surest way to Heaven," said Pius +X to the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. "There are others, +innocence, for instance, but that is for little children; penance, +but we are afraid of it; generous endurance of the trials of life, +but when they come we weep and ask to be spared. Once for all, +beloved children, the surest, easiest, shortest way is by the +Eucharist. It is so easy to approach the holy table, and there we +taste the joys of Paradise." + +A second decree was published in answer to questions regarding the +frequent communion of children who had only recently made their first +communion, and of the infirm who were suffering from some chronic +illness. The answer given was that frequent or daily communion was +for young children as well as for their elders, since it was highly +desirable that their innocence and goodness should be shielded by so +powerful a protection. As for the sick, every facility was to be +granted them to receive communion as often as possible. This was +followed four years later by a decree which fixed the age of first +communion at about the seventh year, the time at which the child +begins to use its reason. In some cases it might be earlier; in some +it would have to be later; this would depend on the intelligence of +the individual child. The pope went straight to the root of the +matter. + +"The pages of the Gospel witness to the very great affection shown by +Christ to little children when He was on earth," he begins. "It was +His delight to be in their company; He was wont to lay His hands upon +them, to embrace them, to bless them. And He was indignant at their +being turned away by His disciples, whom He rebuked in these grave +words: 'Suffer the little children to come unto Me and forbid them +not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven'." After having pointed out +that in the earliest days of the Church holy communion was given even +to babies, and that if later for good cause the age of reason or of +discretion was fixed as the time for first communion, this did not +presuppose that a fuller knowledge was required for the reception of +the holy Eucharist than for the sacrament of penance. The decree went +on to deplore the postponement of first communion until twelve, +thirteen or fourteen years of age, according to local customs. "Even +if this ensures a fuller understanding of the sacred mysteries, a +careful sacramental confession and a longer and more diligent +preparation," it continues, "the gain in no wise balances the loss. +The innocence of childhood, deprived of this most powerful +protection, is soon lost; bad habits have time to grow and become +strong. The little ones, being in the happy condition of their first +candour and innocence, stand in great need of that mystical food, on +account of the many snares and dangers of the present time." "As soon +as children begin to have a certain use of reason, so as to be able +to conceive devotion to this Sacrament," says St. Thomas Aquinas, +"then may it be given to them." + +In order that the above-mentioned abuses should be entirely removed +and that "children from their tenderest years should cling to Jesus +Christ, live His life, and find protection from the dangers of +corruption", regulations concerning their first communion were laid +down and ordered to be observed in every part of the world. + +The decree caused a certain commotion in some Catholic countries. +Once more the remnants of Jansenist teaching arose to frighten the +faithful. Would a child of seven understand the reverence due to the +Sacrament? was the question anxiously asked--children of that age are +so thoughtless. The objection had already been answered by Monsignor +de Segur: "To communicate well, it suffices to receive the Saviour +with a good will. This is found just as much in children as in +adults. The child loves Jesus Christ; it wishes to have Him; why, +then, not give Him to the child? Thoughtlessness is no obstacle to +holy communion, unless it is wilful. Children are thoughtless--yes, +but they are good and affectionate; and because of their need of +love, we must give their love its true food." + +Another objection, and one that seemed more plausible, was that +sometimes a late first communion tended to preserve children from +much that was evil; for this reason it was often delayed as long as +possible, an apparent safeguard which the new decree threatened to do +away with altogether. Experience has long since proved that here +again the good obtained far outbalances the bad. + +As for the argument that such little children cannot understand what +they are doing, those who have the task of preparing them for their +first communion have a different tale to tell. "I have found it much +easier," writes one who has had much experience, "to prepare little +children than those who are older--the preparation is so much more +objective than subjective. It is more a realization of how lovable, +how desirable, how loving our Lord is, than a preoccupation of how +they can make themselves worthy--or less unworthy--to receive +Him. . . . The actual first communion appears to the little ones as +the very loving embrace of a much-loved Father; to the older ones it +is more a welcome to a loved and honoured guest, with--if I may so +put it--the preoccupations of a hostess." + +The pope delighted in the letters he received from many little first +communicants thanking him for their joy at being admitted to the holy +table; he loved children dearly and they returned his affection, +crowding round him, speaking to him without the slightest fear or +shyness, and giving him their confidence at once. He loved to give +them communion with his own hands; there was an affinity between the +white-souled pontiff and the white-souled children who knelt at his +feet--the innocence that had fought and conquered and the innocence +that was as yet untried. All the little first communicants of Rome, +gentle or simple, were invited to the Vatican. He would give them a +short instruction suited to their understanding, ending with the hope +that their last communion would be as fervent and loving as the +first. Then he would talk to them, and they to him, simply and +without any ceremony. Unconventional sometimes were the appellations +by which they called him. "Yes, Pope," would be the answer to a +question. But the very little ones, seeing the gracious white figure +bending over them and looking up into the gentle holy face of him +that spoke, would sometimes answer softly, "Yes, Jesus." + +An Englishwoman who had a private audience with the pope brought her +little boy of four to receive his blessing. While she was talking the +child stood at a little distance looking on; but presently he crept +up to the pope, put his hands on his knees and looked up into his +face. "How old is he?" asked Pius, stroking the little head. + +"He is four," answered the mother, "and in two or three years I hope +he will make his first communion." + +The pope looked earnestly into the child's clear eyes. "Whom do you +receive in holy communion?" he asked. + +"Jesus Christ," was the prompt answer. + +"And who is Jesus Christ?" + +"Jesus Christ is God," replied the boy, no less quickly. + +"Bring him to me to-morrow," said Pius, turning to the mother, "and I +will give him holy communion myself." + +Francois Laval describes the impression made on the children of a +pilgrimage of 400 first communicants who went from France to thank +Pius X in 1912. "As soon as they had returned from Rome," he says, "I +went to see some little friends of mine to question them. There was +no need, they talked without stopping of all they had seen. +Everything had been wonderful, but most wonderful of all--wonderful +enough almost to blot out the memory of everything else--had been the +pope. They had not been a bit shy with him, they explained--it was +impossible, he was so kind. 'The tears were in his eyes--but lots of +us were crying too,' nearly all who could get near enough to speak to +him were begging him for graces. 'Cure my sister, Holy Father; +convert my father; I want to be a priest . . . and I a missionary!' +It must have been rather like that when the people came to Jesus in +Galilee." + +"It seems to me," added the writer, "that in these days, when so many +people are trying to enforce obedience, and failing signally in the +attempt, that there is only one man in the world who is really master +of the minds and hearts of others--an old man clothed in white +garments . . . ." + + + +IX + +PIUS X AND MODERNISM + +In July 1907 the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office issued the +decree "Lamentabili," which condemned sixty-five distinctive +Modernist doctrines. Two months later appeared the encyclical +"Pascendi," denouncing under the name of "Modernism" a group of +errors which struck at the very roots of the Christian faith. + +These events marked the breaking of a storm that had been threatening +for some time, of which the condemnation of certain books of the Abbe +Loisy, and other incidents, had been the warning rumblings. Loisy's +condemnation let loose an outburst in the rationalist, anti-clerical +and Modernist press. "The old shadowy images of Rome gagging her +progressive men will be revived with added venom to poison the mind +of the public," prophesied a writer in the _Ecclesiastical Review_, +and the prophecy was certainly fulfilled. In vain did the Abbe +Monchamp point out, after close analysis of Loisy's book, the +impossibility of escaping a conclusion which places the writer in +direct opposition to the authoritative teaching of the Church. The +authoritative teaching of the Church was to the minds of many a much +less important thing than the retaining of a few intelligent men +within her fold. Yet even among those outside of the Church there +were men who saw more clearly. "From the paternal standpoint of the +Church of Rome," wrote Professor Sanday, "it seems to me, if I may +say so, that the authorities have acted wisely. It is not an +insuperable barrier placed in the way of future progress, but the +intimation of a need for caution." + +The storm of abuse which had arisen at the condemnation of Loisy, +which had been increased by the publication of the decree +"Lamentabili," reached its climax at the appearance of the encyclical +"Pascendi," which tore the veil from Modernism and exposed its errors +with ruthless precision. Modernism, like Jansenism, had made up its +mind to remain in the Church and to mould her teaching to its will; +and now it was only one more of the many heresies that had fallen on +the rock of the promise and been broken in the falling. The pope and +Cardinal Merry del Val, who as secretary of state had the honour of +sharing in all the attacks that were levelled at his illustrious +chief, were denounced as intolerant fanatics. The one idea of Pius X, +cried the Modernists, was to repress by violent means every +indication of originality of thought and independence of judgement +within the Church; he had attempted to stifle a movement with which +some of the best thinkers of the age were in sympathy. He was a "good +country priest," perhaps; but utterly incapable of dealing with the +questions which were at issue. "The Modernist movement had quickened +a thousand dim dreams of reunion into enthusiastic hopes," wrote +Father Tyrrell, the leader of Modernism in England, "when lo! Pius X +comes forward with a stone in one hand and a scorpion in the other." + +To many Christians the encyclical "Pascendi" revealed a danger that +they themselves had never suspected; and the account of the Modernist +doctrines which it so lucidly gave was for them a lesson more +eloquent than any censure. It was no empty accusation, much less a +travesty, as the Modernists themselves allowed, that masterly +analysis of a system which claimed the right to substitute itself for +the Catholic conception of a teaching authority established by Jesus +Christ. "Yes or no, do you believe in the divine authority of the +Church?" asked Cardinal Mercier. "Do you accept outwardly and in the +sincerity of your heart what she commands in the name of Christ? Do +you consent to obey her? If so, she offers you her sacraments and +undertakes to guide you safely into the harbour of salvation. If not, +then you deliberately sever the tie that unites you to her, and break +the bond consecrated by her grace. Before God and your conscience you +no longer belong to her; don't remain in obstinate hypocrisy a +pretended member of her fold. You cannot honestly pass yourself off +as one of her sons; and as she cannot be a party to hypocrisy and +sacrilege, she bids you, if you force her to it, to leave her ranks. +. . . The Modernism condemned by the pope is the negation of the +Church's teaching." + +What _is_ Modernism? is a question that has been often asked. It is +not easy to put the matter in a nutshell, and various answers have +been given. For a complete analysis of Modernism we must go to the +encyclical itself. After condemning Modernism as "a meeting-ground of +all heresies," the pope denounced in it a group of errors which +included: the separation of an "historical" from a "religious" +Christ; the reversal of the Incarnation by the denial of the entering +of the Divine into the temporal sphere; the reducing of faith to a +matter of feeling; the reducing of religious authority from its +apostolic basis to a sort of "chairmanship," and the throwing over of +the Bible and revelation in favour of a personal inward +enlightenment. The encyclical proceeded to deal with the subject in +three parts, First came the analysis of Modernist teaching, with +agnosticism as the basis of its philosophy and immanence as its +positive side, thus placing the explanation of religion in man alone, +and lifting conscience to the same level as revelation. Faith and +science to the Modernist are separate, the latter being supreme, and +religious dogmas are not only inadequate but must be changeable to be +adapted to living needs. Everything must be subject to evolution, and +these principles were being applied to the deformation of history and +of apologetics. + +In the second part Modernism was traced to its causes. "The proximate +cause," said the pope, "is without any doubt an error of the mind. +The remoter causes are two: curiosity and pride. Curiosity, unless +wisely held in check, is of itself sufficient to account for all +errors. But far more effective in darkening the mind and leading it +into error is pride, which, as it were, dwells in Modernism as in its +own house. Through pride the Modernists have overestimated +themselves. They are puffed up with a vainglory which lets them see +themselves as the sole possessors of knowledge, and makes them say, +'We are not as the rest of men'; which leads them, lest they should +seem as other men, to embrace and to devise novelties of the most +absurd kind. It is pride which . . . causes them to demand a +compromise between authority and liberty. It is owing to their pride +that they seek to be the reformers of others while they forget to +reform themselves." + +"If from moral causes we pass to the intellectual, the first and most +powerful is ignorance. These very men who pose as teachers of the +Church, who speak so highly of modern philosophy and show such +contempt for Scholasticism, have embraced the one with its false +glamour precisely because their ignorance of the other has left them +without the means of recognizing the confusion of their ideas and of +refuting sophistry. Their system, full of so many errors, has been +born of the union between faith and false philosophy." "Modernism is +inclined to pantheism by its doctrine of divine immanence--i.e., of +the intimate presence of God within us," continues the pope. "Does +God declare Himself distinct from us? If so, then the position of +Modernism must not be opposed to that of Catholicism, nor exterior +revelation be rejected. But if God declares Himself not distinct from +us, the position of Modernism becomes openly pantheistic." + +In the third part are set forth the remedies for the evil, amongst +which are the study of scholastic philosophy in seminaries and by +clerics at the universities; ceaseless activity and watchfulness on +the part of the bishops by a diocesan censorship of books, and the +tendering of an oath to clergy and professors by which they were to +bind themselves to reject the errors denounced in the encyclical and +decree. + +The danger was indeed a serious one. The Modernists had put +themselves forward as the champions of science, led to the +conclusions they defended by anxiety for scientific truth. Their +movement from the point of view of many marked a religious reaction +against the materialism and positivism which had failed so signally +to satisfy longings of the human soul. It was a reaction in the right +direction which had taken the wrong road, which threatened to land +its votaries in a deeper ditch than that from which they had set out. +There was therefore an attractive side to its teaching, especially +for the young. + +The storm raged hotly for a while round the pontiff who had spoken so +fearlessly; but a deep thanksgiving was in the hearts of those who +could see the issues at stake. "In his dealings with France," wrote +one of these, "the Holy Father saved, so to speak, the body of the +Church, but now he has saved her soul." "The pope has spoken, +Modernism has ceased to be," wrote Paul Bourget a year or two later. +"Five years ago," wrote Monsignor R. H. Benson on the death of Pius +X, "it was proclaimed that by his action thought was once more thrown +back into the fetters from which it was shaking itself loose, and +that Rome henceforward must be considered as finally out of the +struggle; that once more she had feared to face the light, and held +back or cast out those of her children who honestly desired it. And +now there is practically not a Christian anywhere--a Christian, that +is to say, in the historic sense of the word, who believes that +Christ's mission lay in the revelation which He promulgated, and not +merely in the impulse which His coming gave to spiritual aspiration-- +there is not a Christian in this sense, however far his sympathies +may be from the Catholic interpretation of the contents of that +revelation, who does not acknowledge that Pius stood firm where their +religious leaders faltered or temporized; and that Rome, under his +leadership, placed herself on the side of plain Gospel truth, of the +authority of Holy Scripture and of the divinity of Christ." + + + +X + +PIUS X AND THE PRIESTHOOD + +A personal friend of Pius X was speaking to him one day with +indignation of the abuse levelled at him by a Modernist writer. The +pope's answer was as characteristic as the smile that accompanied it. +"Come," he said, "did he not allow that after all I was a good +priest? Now, of all praise, that is the only one I have ever valued." + +"A man who hid a boundless ambition under a pretence of humility," +wrote another opponent. And in one sense most certainly Pius X was a +man of ambition, an ambition that had taken shape within him as he +knelt before the altar of the cathedral of Castelfranco to receive +the priesthood with all that it entailed. Study, prayer, labour, +self-denial and unlimited self-devotion; charity, poverty and +loyal-hearted obedience--all these were part of that ambition--the +ambition to be a good and fervent priest, to walk in the footsteps of +his Master. It had been his guiding star through life; he had +sacrificed everything to it; and in a certain sense it was true that +this ambition, realized most perfectly in his holy life, had placed +him against his will on the chair of Peter. + +A noble and worthy priesthood, according to his first encyclical, was +to be one of the means towards that restoring of all things in Christ +"which was to heal the wounds of the world." "The priest is the +representative of Christ on earth," he said on one occasion to the +students of the French College in Rome; "he must think the thoughts +of Christ and speak His words. He must be tender as Christ was +tender, pure and holy like his Lord; he must shine like a star in the +world." This was not easy, he acknowledged; it needed a long +preparation of study, of self-discipline and of prayer. The spiritual +weapons must be well tempered for the combat, for the fight would be +hard and long. "A holy priest makes holy people," he said on another +occasion; "a priest who is not holy is not only useless but harmful +to the world." + +And it was not only the cultivation of virtue on which he insisted, +but the cultivation of the mind also. The man who all his life had +curtailed his hours of sleep in order to study, had done it to +perfect his priesthood, to fit himself to cope with the dangers that +were abroad, to be armed at every point against error. Although his +enemies were never tired of asserting that he was ignorant and +unlettered, and he himself was quite ready to let the world believe +it, his knowledge and the extent of his learning could not be +concealed. Those who came in contact with him and his personal work +could not be otherwise than impressed with his depth of thought, the +extent of his reading, his literary and classical training, and his +strong grasp of philosophy and theology. His wide and far-reaching +appreciation of men and things in different countries all over the +world was astonishing in a man who had not travelled, as many +statesmen often remarked after conversing with him. He read French +perfectly, although he felt shy at attempting to speak it. He was an +excellent accountant. The delicacy and nobility of his dealings with +others were unequalled. + +"In order that Christ may be formed in the faithful," said Pius in +his first encyclical, "He must first be formed in the priest," and +with this end in view he set himself to the task which lay before +him. The first six years of his pontificate were chiefly spent in +work which concerned the priesthood and sacerdotal institutions. +Uniform rules of study, discipline and ecclesiastical education were +given to all the seminaries of Italy, which were to be inspected +carefully from time to time by apostolic men, who had at heart the +perfection of the priesthood. Small seminaries in dioceses incapable +of supporting them on these lines were suppressed. Bishops were +exhorted to further the work by all the means in their power; care +was to be taken in the selection of candidates for the priesthood, +who, after a thorough training in the seminary, were to be wisely +directed in the first exercise of their ministry, safeguarded against +the errors of the day, and encouraged to keep up their studies +without detriment to their active work. The Academy of St. Thomas in +Rome and the Catholic Institute of Paris won special praise for the +excellence and thoroughness of their teaching. Special regulations +were laid down for the examination of those about to be ordained. The +study of Holy Scripture was to be pursued in the seminaries during +the four years of the theological course, while especially gifted +students were to be set apart for more advanced studies. On those who +were already, or about to be ordained, the pope enjoined constant and +fervent prayer, daily meditation on the eternal truths, the attentive +reading of good books, especially of the Bible, and diligent +examination of conscience. The priest was to stand forth as an +example to all by the integrity of his life, his deference and +obedience to legitimate authority, his patient charity with all men. +It was not by a bitter zeal that they would gain souls to God; they +must reprove, entreat, rebuke, but in all patience; their charity +must be patient and kind with all men, even with those who were their +open enemies. "Such an example," said Pius X, "will have far more +power to move hearts and to gain them than words or dissertations, +however sublime." "The renewal of the priesthood," wrote the pope a +little before the celebration of his sacerdotal jubilee in 1908, +"will be the finest and most acceptable gift that the clergy can +offer to us." + +The gift that he himself bestowed on the priesthood on this fiftieth +anniversary of his ordination was the wonderful Exhortation to the +Catholic Clergy, published on August 4th, 1908. Every word of it was +his own, embodying the wisdom and experience of a lifetime spent in +God's service. The exhortation set before the clergy of the world the +model of "the man of God"--the perfect parish priest. Its fervent and +eloquent appeal to the clergy to show themselves worthy of their high +calling, by being truly the "salt of the earth and the light of the +world," is followed by a clear and practical exposition of the means +necessary to attain this great end. His ministry must be in deed as +well as in word. He must remember that he is not only the servant but +the friend of Christ, who has chosen him that he may go and bring +forth much fruit. And as friendship consists in unity of mind and +will, it is the first duty of a priest to study the mind and will of +his Master, so as to conform himself in all things to them. Stress is +laid on the necessity of cultivating the "passive" virtues--those +which perfect the character of the man himself--as well as the more +active ones which are called forth by contact with other people. The +exhortation, written for priests, by one who was a model of all +priestly virtues, and given from the chair of the Apostle, is a +perfect rule of life for every priest who aspires to holiness. + +Once more he recommended, as he had so often done before, preaching +to the people plain and simple gospel truths rather than flowery and +rhetorical sermons. Once more, but this time as head on earth of the +Universal Church, he insisted on the necessity of clear and simple +instruction in Christian doctrine to adults and children alike, again +reiterating his conviction that the growth of unbelief was largely +due to ignorance of what Christ's teaching was. + +"It is in a time of sore stress and difficulty," he writes in his +encyclical of 1905 on this subject, "that the mysterious counsel of +divine Providence has raised up our littleness to bear the office of +chief shepherd over the whole flock of Christ . . . . It is a common +complaint . . . that in this age there are very many Christian people +who live in utter ignorance of those things, the knowledge whereof is +necessary for their eternal salvation . . . we do not only mean the +masses and those in the lower walks of life . . . but those who, +though not without talent and culture, abound in the wisdom of the +world, and are utterly reckless and foolish in matters of religion. +. . . They hardly ever think of the supreme Maker and Ruler of all +things, or of the wisdom of the Christian faith . . . they in no wise +understand the malice and foulness of sin . . . a great many . . . +fall into endless evil through ignorance of those mysteries of faith +which those who would be counted among the elect must needs know and +believe." + +"The erring will of man has need of a guide who shall show it the way +. . . this guide is the mind. But if the mind itself be lacking true +light . . . it will be a case of the blind leading the blind, and +both will fall into the ditch . . . . Only the teaching of Jesus +Christ makes us understand the true and wondrous dignity of man . . . +and is it not the teaching of Jesus Christ again that inspires in +proud man the lowliness of mind which is the origin of all true +glory? From it we learn the prudence of the spirit whereby we may +shun the prudence of the flesh, the justice whereby we may give to +everyone his due, the fortitude whereby we are made ready to endure +all things and may suffer with gladness for the sake of God and +eternal happiness; and the temperance by which we may love poverty +itself for the kingdom of God, and may even glory in the Cross, +despising the shame . . . . Since then such dire evils flow from +ignorance of religion and . . . the necessity of religious +instruction is so great, because no one can hope to fulfil the duties +of a Christian without knowing them, it remains to ask whose duty it +is to destroy this deadly ignorance in people's minds and to teach +them this necessary knowledge." + +The answer is obvious--that duty falls on the priesthood, and this +the pope clearly points out. "There is nothing nearer or dearer than +this to the heart of Jesus Christ," he continues, "who said of +Himself through the lips of Isaias, 'to preach the Gospel to the poor +He hath sent me'." + +Having laid down in urgent words the duty of the shepherds to feed +the flock committed to their care, the pope expounds the mission of +the catechist, and its power for good. He quotes the words of St. +Gregory the Great on the Apostles of Christ. "They took supreme care +to preach to the ignorant things easy and intelligible, not sublime +and arduous," ending with the saying of St. Peter, "as every man hath +received grace, ministering the same one to another, as good stewards +of the manifold grace of God." + +To Pius X the Divine Office had always been a work of predilection. +It is said that as a child he had often seen Cardinal Monico with his +Breviary in his hands, and had wondered vaguely what beautiful +stories there could be in the book that so engrossed his attention. +And when in later days he opened it for the first time himself his +childish dreams found their fulfilment. For the Breviary is the story +of the Church and her saints, and the whole Psalter enwraps it like a +glory. It was to the treasures of that great book that he went all +his life for his morning meditation until he knew it as one knows the +heart of a friend. And loving it with the love of a true friend, and +seeing faults amidst its beauties, he would let it also share in "the +restoring of all things in Christ." For over four hundred years a +redistribution of the Psalter throughout the week had been sighed +for, but every scheme had failed. Pius appointed a commission to deal +with this problem, giving certain general lines on which to base the +reform, and in a few years the new Breviary was issued. The +rearrangement secured the recitation of the whole Psalter once a +week, the length of the office on Sundays and ferias was reduced, +while the complexities of the calendar were simplified. + +"No one can fail," wrote the pope, "to be stirred by those numerous +passages of the Psalms which proclaim so loudly the immense majesty +of God, His omnipotence, His unutterable justice, His goodness and +clemency . . . . Who can fail to be inspired . . . by those +thanksgivings for God's benefits, by those lowly and trustful prayers +for benefits desired, by those cries of the penitent soul deploring +its sins? Who is not kindled with love for the picture of Christ the +Redeemer so lovingly shadowed forth, whose voice Augustine heard in +all the Psalms, praising or mourning, rejoicing in hope or longing +for accomplishment? With good reason was provision made in past ages +by decrees of the Roman pontiffs, canons of councils, and monastic +laws that both sections of the clergy should chant or recite the +whole Psalter every week." The pope spoke of the many pleas that had +reached him that the old custom might be restored, and of the work +that had been done to this effect, which was but a prelude to a +further emendation of the Breviary and the Missal. + +The reform of the Roman Curia was another undertaking, which did much +to simplify the government of the Church. The various Roman +Congregations were founded by Sixtus V to study questions submitted +to the decision of the pope and to deal with any legal questions that +might arise; and as persons of experience and mature judgement alone +should deal with these matters, various committees were formed, each +of which attended to its own particular branch of business. But the +organization of the different congregations needed to be adapted to +the requirements of the present day. Pius X, with the practical +spirit which distinguished all his undertakings, completely +remodelled the curia, fixing the number of congregations at thirteen, +and defining clearly the work of each. The constitution "Sapienti +consilio" on this matter instituted also many other important reforms +in the tribunals and offices of the curia. + +The purchase of the Palazzo Mariscotti, assigned to the Cardinal +Vicar of Rome, enabled Pius X to carry out another long-cherished +plan, for the thorough reform of his own diocese, inadequate in its +organization to the needs of the present day. Want of space, which +had been the chief difficulty in the way of reorganization, having +been thus supplied for, the necessary reforms were at once set on +foot. In many other important matters the needs of modern times +called for the simplification and amendment of methods that had +become obsolete. The reform and codification of canon law was another +laborious work carried on by the pope for eleven years, and brought +to a conclusion under his successor Benedict XV. + +With affectionate interest the pope watched the progress of +Catholicism in England. "If there is any Church in the whole +Christian world," he wrote in January 1912, on the occasion of the +founding of the two new ecclesiastical provinces of Birmingham and +Liverpool, "which merits the special care and forethought of the +Apostolic See, it is certainly the Church of the English, which, +happily founded among the Britons by St. Eleutherius[*] and still +more happily established through apostolic men by Gregory the Great, +was subsequently made famous by the numbers of its children +distinguished by the holiness of their lives or by the martyr's death +courageously suffered for Christ." + +[*] History scholars seem now agreed that the story of a mission sent +to Britain by Pope St. Eleutherius in the later second century rests +on a misunderstanding. Christianity was certainly introduced into +Britain during the Roman occupation, but the circumstances are not +known. + +"It is with the greatest pleasure that I greet you, my dear children +of Great Britain," he said at an audience given to four hundred +English pilgrims presented to him by Cardinal Bourne, Archbishop of +Westminster, "worthy descendants of your Catholic forefathers who +during ten centuries remained constantly faithful to the Church and +the Holy See, and who by the purity of their faith and by personal +holiness gave many saints to God. And although through the blind +passion of an unworthy king your country fell into schism, the Faith +is still alive in her midst, for are you not the children of those +valiant Christians . . . who gave their lives for the truth, and won +for Great Britain her title of the Island of Saints?" + +The beatification of Joan of Arc in April 1909 was one more token of +the pope's love of another country that had given so much for God, +and the presence in Rome of forty thousand of her children was a +further proof of her true spirit. And when, borne in the _sedia +gestatoria_ through the crowd, the Holy Father, leaning forward, +lifted the fold of the French flag that had been lowered at his +passage and reverently kissed it, the enthusiasm knew no bounds. That +flag had stood for much that was not noble; the memory of its origin +was still in the minds of many. But by that kiss it was consecrated +for ever. + +Monsignor Blanc, a Marist missionary in Oceania, wrote thus to his +clergy after an audience with Pius X: "My attention was completely +captivated by his expression and his eyes. I could not tell you what +the room was like nor what the Holy Father wore; I could see nothing +but those eyes, and the light of them I shall never forget. He made +me sit beside him, and I spoke of our people, our natives, the +country that I love. If the life of the missionary is sometimes hard, +let us remember that the pope has said 'the missions are my great +consolation.' He was full of interest in all I had to tell him of +your work, your zeal and your devotedness. I spoke of our schools and +he was delighted. 'Tell them to devote themselves there without +counting the cost,' he said: 'it is the most important thing of all." +With touching graciousness and cordiality he gave his blessing to +you, to our people, to all for whom I asked it." + +"You cannot go near him without loving him," said another priest, +"his kindness and sweetness are irresistible." Father Boevey Crawley, +a South American priest and an ardent apostle of devotion to the +Sacred Heart of Jesus, went to Rome to obtain the pope's blessing on +his mission. His story was a strange one. Attacked while quite young +by a serious form of heart disease, he was sent to Paris to consult a +specialist. The American doctors had told him that he had but a few +months to live; the Paris specialist confirmed their verdict. Father +Crawley had an overwhelming devotion to the Sacred Heart and to St. +Margaret Mary. He went straight to Paray-le-Monial to ask through her +intercession the grace of a holy death. Scarcely had he knelt in the +chapel when he felt himself shaken from head to foot. He was cured. +That night while kneeling in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament he +received a divine intimation that he was to go forth and conquer the +world, family by family, to love the Sacred Heart. To preach love was +henceforward to be his mission, for what is devotion to the Sacred +Heart but love of the love of Christ? The conversion of his father, +who was a Protestant, was the first fruit of his apostolate. + +Kneeling at the pope's feet, he told him the story of his life, +asking permission to begin the work to which he was called. Pius +listened with the deepest interest. Then, "No, my son," he said, "I +do not give you permission." + +Father Crawley looked up at him in consternation; the pope's eyes +were shining, and there was a little smile lurking in the corners of +his mouth. "But, Holy Father . . ." pleaded the priest. + +"No," repeated the pope, "I do not give you permission."--"I do not +give you permission," he said again. "I _order_ you to do it. You +hear? I am the pope, and I command it. It is a splendid work; let +your whole life be consecrated to it." + +"He had the greatest heart that it was possible for a human being to +have," was said of Pius X, not once but many times. Even for +treachery he had no condemnation. A betrayal of trust which had +affected him deeply came to his knowledge after the death of the +culprit. Folding his hands he prayed silently for the departed soul. +"He is dead," he said gently, "may he rest in peace." He met with a +sad smile an indignant accusation of treachery against one who was +still living, an accusation which could not be denied. "Traitor is a +hard word," he said, "let us say that he is a man of many skins--like +an onion . . . ." + +One more picture drawn from life. A young priest, tortured by doubts, +knelt shaken with sobs at the pope's feet. The white figure bent +compassionately over the kneeling man, the strong and gentle hands of +the Holy Father held the head of the suppliant closely to his heart. +"Faith, faith, faith," repeated the ringing voice over and over +again. "Faith, my son, must be your place of refuge." + + + +XI + +THE POPE OF THE SUFFERING + +As a young parish priest at Salzano, Giuseppe Sarto during the +cholera epidemic of 1873 had been the stay and comfort of his people. +Consoling the grief-stricken, nursing the sick, burying the dead, +utterly regardless of his own safety, his one thought had been for +his suffering parishioners. This compassion for every kind of pain or +sorrow was characteristic of him throughout his life. Not without +reason was it said that he had "the greatest heart of any man alive." +The very sight of suffering moved him to tears; there was no trouble +of body or soul that failed to awaken his sympathy. + +While patriarch of Venice he was walking one day through one of the +poorest quarters of the city when suddenly from a house at the end of +a mean street arose the piercing cries of a child who was being +cruelly beaten by its mother. The cardinal strode down the street and +pulled the bell vigorously. A window opened overhead and from it +appeared the head of a. woman, a regular virago, crimson with fury +"Stop beating that child at once!" was the indignant mandate. The +woman, astounded at seeing the patriarch standing on her doorstep, +shut the window in confusion. For some time there was no more beating. + +Anything like tyranny roused his instant indignation. When reports +too circumstantial to be doubted reached him about the condition of +certain Indian tribes in South America and of the atrocious treatment +to which they were forced to submit, the bishops of the country were +exhorted to do their utmost to put an end to what was nothing less +than a cruel slavery. "Every day I receive fresh news of the +persecution in Asia Minor and in Macedonia," he said one day +sorrowfully at a private audience. "How many poor Christians are +massacred! What cowardice and what barbarity are shown by this +Sultan, who trembles with fright and begs that he may not be put to +death, who is always whining 'I have never done anyone any harm!' He +had in his palace a secret room in which he himself killed his +victims, where only a week ago he put a young girl to death!" These +were some of the sorrows that wrung the heart of him "who bore the +care of all the churches." + +All the calamities that befell the world awakened his sympathy, +earthquakes, floods, fires, railway accidents . . . . The sufferers +were comforted not only with kind words but with material help. Even +the papers least favourable to the Church noticed his personal +fatherly interest in the joys and sorrows of his people. His appeal +to the charity of Catholics on the occasion of the Calabrian +earthquake in 1908, which in a few moments totally destroyed Messina, +Reggio, Sille and the surrounding villages, burying more than 100,000 +people in the ruins, met with a magnificent response. The sum of 7 +million francs which was generously offered served to supply the +immediate needs of the survivors, who in many cases were left totally +destitute. + +But it was not only to make others give that Pius exerted himself; he +gave himself to the utmost of his power. The day after the Messina +disaster he sent people to investigate and report, to search out the +victims most urgently in need of help and care and to bring them to +Rome. Trainloads of sufferers arrived daily and were taken to the +papal hospice of Santa Marta, the pope making himself responsible for +over five hundred orphans. His Christlike compassion, his grand +initiative and masterly organization of relief won a burst of praise +in which even the anti-clerical syndic of Rome joined, while the +nations of Europe expressed their admiration. "This pope, of whom it +was said that his sole policy was the Gospel and the Creed, and his +sole diplomacy the Ten Commandments, fired the imagination of the +world by his apostolic fearlessness, his humility, his simplicity and +single-minded faith." + +"Who that has seen him," wrote Monsignor Benson, "can ever forget the +extraordinary impression of his face and bearing, the kindness of his +eyes, the quick sympathy of his voice, the overwhelming fatherliness +that enabled him to bear not only his own supreme sorrows, but all +the personal sorrow which his children laid on him in such +abundance?" An irresistible impulse seemed to drive the suffering to +seek his presence and to ask his prayers, and they seldom failed to +find the help that they sought. + +Perhaps it was his ardent desire to help and comfort pain of any +kind, united with personal holiness and fervent prayer, that made the +touch of his hand or even his blessing so strangely efficacious for +healing. The wonderful graces obtained through the prayers and the +touch of _Il santo_ were the talk of Rome; men and women who had seen +the marvels with their own eyes bore witness to the facts. + +Rumours of what was happening came to the ears of Catholics in other +countries, and a young girl in England who had been reading the Acts +of the Apostles was seized with a great desire to go to Rome. Her +head and neck were covered with running sores which would not heal. +The shadow of St. Peter falling on the sick, she said, had cured +them; the shadow of his successor would cure her. Her mother took her +to Rome, where both were present at a public audience. The pope +passed slowly through the crowd, speaking a few words here and there +as he went. To the kneeling girl he said nothing, but as he blessed +her she felt that she was cured; and indeed, when on their return to +the hotel her mother removed the bandages she found that the sores +were completely healed. + +More remarkable still because more public was the case of two +Florentine nuns, both suffering from an incurable disease. They made +the journey to Rome with great difficulty, and admitted to a private +audience, they begged the pope to cure them. "Why do you want to be +cured?" he asked. + +"That we may work for God's glory," was the answer. + +The pope laid his hands upon their heads and blessed them. "Have +confidence," he said, "you will get well and will do much work for +God's glory," and at the same moment they were restored to health. +Pius bade them keep silence as to what had happened, but the facts +spoke for themselves. At their entrance, the two nuns had hardly had +strength to drag themselves along; at their exit they walked like +strong and healthy women. Their cab driver, an unimaginative man of +sturdy common sense, refused to take them back to their convent. +"No," he said, "I will take back the two I brought or their dead +bodies." + +"But we are the two you brought," they insisted. + +"No," repeated the vetturino, "the two I brought were half dead; you +are not in the least like them." + +At another public audience was a man who carried his little son, +paralysed from birth and unable to stand. "Give him to me," said +Pius; and taking the child on his knee, he began to talk to another +group of pilgrims. A few minutes later the child slipped down from +the pope's knee and began to run about the room. + +That the touch of a holy man, or the garments he has worn, or even +his shadow falling on the sick should have power to cure them, is +vouched for by Holy Scripture.[*] "Perhaps so," say some, "but the +age of miracles has passed." The age of miracles has not passed, nor +will it ever while there is faith on the earth; for faith, as Jesus +Christ Himself said, alone makes miracles possible. At Nazareth even +His almighty power could not work them, because of the unbelief of +the people. Where the age of faith has passed, the age of miracles +has passed with it, but in the Church of Christ they both endure. + +[*] Acts v 15 and vi 12; Matt. xiii 58. + +More marvellous still than the graces obtained by the touch of Pius X +were those obtained--sometimes at a great distance--by his blessing +and his prayers. + +In one of the convents of the Sacred Heart in Ireland was a young nun +suffering from disease of the hip-bone. For eight months she had not +put her left foot to the ground, as any weight on it caused acute +pain. The disease was making rapid progress. In the October of 1912 +the superioress of the convent, having heard of a cure obtained +through the prayers and blessing of the Holy Father, determined to +have recourse to him. She told a little girl of six, the daughter of +the convent carpenter, to write to the pope, asking him to bless the +dear Mother who was ill, and to pray for her. During the night of the +29th October the sick nun suddenly realized that the pain had +entirely left the injured hip--so entirely that she was able to turn +and lie on it. The next morning she sat up in bed and asked to be +allowed to try to walk. She got up, made her bed and walked to the +church, where she knelt for some time in prayer. It was then that she +was told of the letter to the pope. "I did not know what had +happened," she said, "all that I knew was that the pain was gone and +that I could walk." + +A railway worker had a boy of two who lay dangerously ill of +meningitis. The doctor, who had given up all hope, asked the priest +to break the news to the young parents, who at once cried out, "We +will write to the pope! We used to go to confession to him at Mantua +when we were children; bishop as he was, he used to hear the +confessions of the poor." A letter was written and posted, and Pius +wrote with his own hand several lines in reply, bidding the young +couple pray and hope. On the following day the child had completely +recovered. + +These are only a few of the many graces obtained in the same way. The +cure of a Redemptoristine nun in the acute stages of cancer by the +application of a piece of stuff that had been worn by Pius X was +borne witness to by Cardinal Vives y Tuto. The sudden return to life +and speech of Don Rafael Merry del Val, father of the Cardinal +Secretary of State, at the prayer of his wife who, when death was +declared imminent, tried the same remedy; a French woman dying of +heart disease, who denied the very existence of God, was not only +healed by the pope's blessing, but reconciled to the Church and was +henceforward a fervent Catholic: these are only a few more of the +marvels wrought. Pope Pius did his best to hush the matter up. "I +have nothing to do with it," he continually exclaimed; "it is the +power of the keys." + +"I hear that you are a _santo_ and work miracles," said a lady one +day, with more enthusiasm than tact. + +"You have made a mistake in a consonant," replied the pope, laughing, +"it is a 'Sarto' that I am." No less witty was his reply to a man who +came to solicit a cardinal's hat for one of his friends. "But I +cannot give your friend a cardinal's hat," said the Holy Father. "I +am not a hatter, only a tailor" (_sarto_). + +The Portuguese revolution in 1911 was a fresh heartbreak to the pope, +for the Portuguese Republic was bitterly anti-Catholic and +anti-clerical. The first action of its representatives was to expel +the religious orders and to confiscate their buildings and +belongings. This was done in the most brutal manner, nuns being +driven off to prison after their convents had been looted and some of +the inhabitants put to death. Many died of the privations endured, +while others testified to the humanity of their gaolers by going mad. +Religious instruction of any kind was prohibited in the government +schools; priests were arrested and imprisoned; the Bishop of Oporto +was driven from his diocese. The separation law of church and state +fell more heavily on the Church in Portugal than even that of France, +and its object was the elimination of the Christian faith from +Portuguese society. + +These things fell heavily on the heart of the Father of Christendom, +who sorrowed with his sorrowing children, He protested against the +injustice in his encyclical "Jamdudum in Lusitania," in which he set +forth and condemned the oppressive measures of the republic. A +touching letter of thanks expressed the gratitude of the persecuted +clergy of Portugal for the pope's courageous protest. That some of +the harshest features of the law seemed in a fair way to be relaxed +during the years that followed was some small consolation to him. + +In the spring of 1913 the health of the pope gave cause for anxiety, +an attack of influenza which had greatly weakened him being followed +by a relapse, with symptoms of bronchitis. From every part of the +world came assurances of prayers and sympathy, while in Rome the +anxiety felt by all lay like a weight on the city. But he made a +quick recovery. He was not a good patient, and his doctors had the +greatest difficulty in keeping him quiet. No sooner was he +convalescent than he accused them of being tyrants, whose only idea +was to make him waste the time that belonged to the Church. Over and +over again they would find that in their absence he had disobeyed +orders and received somebody or settled an urgent piece of business. + +"Just think of our responsibility before the world!" said Dr. Amici +one day to his recalcitrant patient. "Just think of mine before God," +was the energetic answer, "if I do not take care of His Church!" They +began to talk to him seriously, trying to make him promise to do as +he was told. "Come, come," said he with his irresistible smile, +"don't be cross; surely it is my interest to get well quite as much +as it is yours to make me so." + +During the winter before this illness Rosa Sarto, the pope's eldest +sister, died. She had been with her brother nearly all his life, +having gone at the age of seventeen to keep house for him when he was +a curate at Tombolo, afterwards accompanying him to Salzano. During +the years when he had been at Treviso and Mantua she had lived with +her mother, until her death, after which she came to Venice with her +two younger sisters and her niece. On Cardinal Sarto's election to +the papacy the little group made their home in Rome in a small +apartment not far from the Vatican, where they led a quiet life of +charity and good works. + +Those who went to pray beside the dead woman were equally struck by +the humble surroundings and the peace that prevailed there. A small +room, a common iron bedstead, a sweet, almost transparent old face +framed in a plain white cap, violets scattered here and there over +the body. The funeral took place at the church of St. +Laurence-outside-the-Walls, and all the cardinals in Rome were +present, together with a great crowd eager to do honour to one so +near and dear to the Holy Father. Her brother alone could not be +present. Following in spirit the funeral procession he knelt in his +private oratory praying for the soul of his sister. Telegrams from +every part of the world bore witness to the sympathy felt for the +sorrow of the pope who had made the sorrows of the world his own. +This demonstration of love and interest was a comfort to him in his +grief and touched him deeply. + +But a fresh blow was in store in the sufferings of his children in +Mexico. Carranza had headed a revolution against Huerta, the +president of the Mexican Republic, An ex-bandit named Villa, who was +Carranza's chief supporter, soon turned against him and started a +counter-revolution of his own, followed by a systematic persecution +of religion. Many priests were forced to flee the country, ten +bishops crossed into the United States to save their people from a +favourite trick of the insurgents, who would arrest a bishop and, +relying on the people's love of their pastor, then demand an +exorbitant ransom. Horrible outrages followed; priests were shot, +hanged or thrown into prison; churches were converted into barracks, +the sacred vessels were carried off to the bar rooms as cups. The +venerable Archbishop of Durango was compelled to sweep the streets; +religious were shot for refusing to betray the hiding places of their +brethren, while the fate of many of the nuns is not to be described. +Although the revolutionary government set up a press bureau in the +United States to deny these facts and fill the mails with calumnies +against the Church, the truth became gradually known--not in all its +entirety until after the pope's death--but enough to wring the brave +old heart with a fresh pang of anguish . . . . + +"The _sedia_ advanced," wrote one who was present about this time at +a service in St. Peter's, "bearing the pope aloft above the heads of +the people. He was in a red cope and a high golden mitre. His face +was sweet and sad; his soul, far away from all this show and +splendour, seemed lost in the contemplation of the distance that +separates the things of earth from the things of Heaven, while his +hand moved from side to side in blessing. The sadness was so deeply +engraved on that pensive face that it seemed as if no smile could +ever lighten it; truly he bore on his shoulders the weight of the +world's grief. Suddenly a movement in the crowd brought the +procession to a halt; the thoughtful face was raised as if the pope +had awakened from his contemplation; he bent forward. A smile of +infinite sweetness and kindness, like a ray of sunshine in a winter +sky, lit up for a moment those sad features, while beneath me I heard +two Italians murmur, 'O Father, dear, dear old Father!'" + + + +XII + +THE POPE OF PEACE + +At the private consistory held in May 1914, Pius X, alluding to the +consolation which had been afforded him by the celebration of the +sixteenth centenary of the Peace of Constantine the year before, +spoke words which in the light of later events might well have seemed +prophetic. + +"During these months," he said, "the Catholic world, while confirming +its own faith, has presented to the suffering human race the Cross of +Christ as the only source of peace. To-day more than ever is that +peace to be desired, when class is set against class, nation against +nation; when interior conflicts by their increasing bitterness not +infrequently end in open hostility. The wisest and most experienced +men are devoting themselves to the betterment of human society, +trying to find some means of putting an end to the terrible massacres +entailed by war, to secure for the world the benefits of lasting +peace. Yet this excellent endeavour will remain almost or wholly +barren if at the same time an attempt is not made to establish in the +hearts of men the laws of justice and charity. The peace or the +strife of civil society and of the state depend less on those who +govern than on the people themselves. When the minds of men are shut +out from divine revelation, no longer restrained by the discipline of +the Christian law, what wonder if many, with blind desire, rush +headlong down the road to ruin, persuaded by leaders who think of +nothing but their own personal interests. + +"The Church, made by her divine Founder the guardian of charity and +of truth, is the only power capable of saving the world. Would it not +then be better for the world, not only to allow her freely to fulfil +her mission, but to help her to do so? It is the contrary that +happens; the Church is too often looked upon as the enemy of the +human race, when she is in reality the mother of civilization. + +"Yet this need not surprise us; we know that after the example of her +Founder, the Church, whose mission is to do good, is also destined to +bear injustice and contempt. Divine help will never fail her, even in +her darkest moments. Christ Himself has said it, history bears +witness to the fact." + +The Catholic world was busy at this time over preparation for the +twenty-fifth national eucharistic congress, which was to be held at +Lourdes from the 22nd to the 26th of July. The pope had appointed +Cardinal Granito di Belmonte as legate to the congress, and his last +pontifical brief was written on this subject. "Never," he wrote, "has +Mary ceased to show that motherly love which till her last breath she +poured forth so fully upon the bride that her divine Son purchased +with His precious blood. It might indeed be said that her sole work +was to care for the Christian people, to lead all minds to the love +of Jesus and zeal in His service. May the divine Author and preserver +of the Church look upon that noble part of His flock, which is +afflicted to-day by so many calamities: may He stimulate the generous +virtue and willingness of the good and, pouring out the fire of His +love, revive the half-dead faith of those who now barely retain the +name of Christian. This, in our fatherly love for the French people, +we most earnestly ask of God through the Immaculate Virgin." + +The congress was one of the greatest that has ever been held. Every +country, even the furthest, could boast its representative. Never, it +was said, had men of so many nations been seen together in one place; +the confusion of tongues was like Babel. Clergy and lay folk of every +age, rank and race came flocking from every quarter, all moved by one +impulse--devotion to Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. + +It was scarcely more than three weeks before the opening of this +congress when the news of the murder at Serajevo of the Austrian +Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife came like a thunder-clap upon +the world. Serbia was at once accused by Austria of complicity in the +crime, and a drastic note, to be answered within forty-eight hours, +was presented for her acceptance. Of the policy which caused this +move, and of the powers behind it, this is not the place to speak. + +The pope, to whom the text of the Note was officially communicated by +the Austro-Hungarian government, foresaw clearly the catastrophe that +must follow. The papal nuncios received instructions to do all in +their power to avert an international conflict, but it was too late +to prevent the calamity; all efforts were in vain. By midnight on +August 4, the eleventh anniversary of the pope's election, Austria, +Serbia, Russia, Germany, Belgium, France and Great Britain were at +war. + +The blow fell crushingly on the pope, whose heart was heavy with the +thought of all the sufferings that war would bring in its train. The +representative of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy asked him in the +emperor's name to bless the armies of the dual empire. "I bless +peace, not war," was the stern reply.[*] + +[*] This story is quite in keeping with Pius X's character, but the +evidence for its factual truth is not altogether satisfactory. + +The exhortation to the Catholics of the world, published in the +_Osservatore Romano_ of the 2nd of August, was a touching expression +of the Holy Father's sorrow: "While nearly all Europe is being +dragged into the whirlpool of a most deadly war, of whose dangers, +bloodshed and consequences no one can think without grief and alarm, +we too cannot but be anxious and feel our soul rent by the most +bitter grief for the safety and lives of so many citizens and so many +peoples for whose welfare we are supremely solicitous. Amid this +tremendous upheaval and danger we deeply feel and realize that our +fatherly charity and our apostolic ministry demand that we direct +men's minds to Him from whom alone help can come, to Christ, the +Prince of Peace, and man's all-powerful Mediator with God. Therefore +we exhort the Catholics of the whole world to turn confidently to His +throne of grace and mercy; let the clergy lead the way by their +example and by appointing special prayer in their parishes, under the +order of the bishops, that God may be moved to pity, and may remove +as soon as possible the disastrous torch of war and inspire the +rulers of the nations with thoughts of peace and not of affliction." + +When the pope appeared to bless the crowds gathered in the Cortile di +San Damaso on the same day, it was noticed that an expression of the +deepest sadness replaced the usual kind smile of welcome. "My poor +children! My poor children!" he exclaimed sorrowfully as despatch +after despatch confirmed the rumours of fresh mobilizations. All +the bishops who visited him during those sad days were urged to start +a crusade of prayer in their dioceses to avert the impending +disaster. Groups of pilgrims were received during the week, but +blessed in silence; no public address was given by the pope: the +awful burden of the world's tragedy weighed too heavily on his heart. +Night and day he prayed and suffered, trying to think of some way of +bringing peace out of the conflict. + +The rumour that the pope was ill was spread about on the feast of the +Assumption. As a matter of fact, he was merely feeling indisposed, +and had suspended his usual audiences. His doctor, usually inclined +to be over-careful, and his sisters, always over-anxious, looked on +his illness as of no importance, and evinced not the slightest +anxiety. + +On Tuesday, the 17th of August, as the Cardinal Secretary of State, +himself unwell, was unable to go to his usual daily audience, the +pope sent him a message assuring him that he was all right. "_Dica al +Cardinale_," he said, "_che stia bene, perche quando sta male lui, sto +male io_!"[*] His sisters saw him on the Tuesday evening, and went +home after leaving a message for the cardinal that the Holy Father +was doing well, and would be all right in the morning. He had been at +his writing-table as usual, and had received a Franciscan friar, who +left him without any idea that he was ill. During the night of +Wednesday, the 18th, he became very much worse, and at eight o'clock +in the morning was declared to be seriously ill, though the doctor +had not given up all hope. A few hours later it was announced that +the pope was dying. + +[*] "Tell the cardinal to get well, for when he is ill I am ill too." + +Those of the cardinals who could be present, hastily summoned, knelt +around him, unable to restrain their tears. The pope lay, or rather +sat, propped up with pillows and breathing with difficulty; his +sisters were by his side, a Brother of St. John of God in attendance +as nurse. The last consecutive words he had spoken were to his +confessor; "I resign myself completely," he said, after which his +answers to the prayers grew fainter and fainter until they ceased +altogether. + +"One was not conscious of time and it was all unreal," wrote one who +was present. "Suddenly the deep notes of St. Peter's great bell +boomed out, tolling '_pro pontifice agonizzante_,' and at that signal +Exposition began in all the patriarchal basilicas, with special +prayers. The hot _scirocco_, the buzz from the Piazza San Pietro far +below, whispering prelates and attendants, the boom of the bell--how +strange it all seemed; and behind everything the catastrophe of the +present public situation and war." + +So the hours of the afternoon wore on into the night. The pope could +not speak, but he recognized those who approached him, received the +clasp of their hands with an answering pressure, raised his own to +bless them, and from time to time made slowly on his brow and breast +a long sign of the cross. At a little after 1.15 a.m., in deepest +peace and calm, Pius X passed away. + +He died as he had lived, quietly and simply; and few strangers, had +they seen the plain, austerely furnished bedroom where he lay, +majestic in death, could have believed that this was the +death-chamber of a pope. Opposite the bed, which was surrounded by +four great candles, stood an altar, where from the small hours of the +morning Mass succeeded Mass; two Noble Guard were on duty beside the +dead pontiff. The grief felt for his loss was deep and universal; +cardinals, prelates, servants, all sorts and conditions of men, wept +openly as they went about their duties. Diplomats expressed in +heartfelt accents to Cardinal Merry del Val their admiration, +veneration and love for the saintly pope who had passed away. "The +whitest soul in this blood-stained tempest-torn world has left us," +wrote an Italian prelate to a friend. "The Holy Father has died of a +broken heart," said another. + +The body of the pope lay in state in the Sala del Trono and +afterwards was carried to St. Peter's, where it was placed in the +chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, raised aloft and visible to the +crowd. A continuous stream of people passed through the basilica, +getting thicker and thicker as the day went on. Pius X had asked that +he might be buried in the crypt of St. Peter's, absolutely forbidding +the embalming of his body. His wish was carried out on the 23rd of +August. + +"The will of the Holy Father," said one of the cardinals, "is the +will of a saint." Opening with an invocation of the Blessed Trinity +and an expression of confidence in the mercy of Almighty God, it +continued thus: "I was born poor, I have lived poor, and I wish to +die poor." A sum not exceeding L12 a month was left to his sisters, +and 48s. a month to his valet, while a legacy of L400 was bequeathed +to his nephews and nieces, subject to the approval of the next pope. +The maintenance of 400 orphans, victims of the Messina earthquake of +1908 and undertaken by the Holy Father, was also provided for. + +"Pius X has left his mark on the world," wrote Monsignor Benson in +_The Tablet_ of August 29th, "perhaps more than any pontiff of the +last four centuries. That humble cry of sorrow, which, we are told, +broke from him only a few days ago when he deplored his impotence to +check the madness of Europe, indeed witnessed to the great historical +lesson that those who reject the arbitration of Christ's Vicar and +the elementary principles of Christian justice will surely +reap--indeed are already reaping--the bitter fruits of disobedience; +but along other lines he has done more than any predecessor of his +since the days of that great schism to reconcile by love those who +throw over authority; and the secret of it all lies in exactly that +which he would be the last to recognize--namely, the personal +holiness and devotion of his own character . . . . + +"It is a wonderful consolation to realize how, for the first time +perhaps for centuries, the Shepherd of the flock has succeeded in +making his voice heard, and a part, at least, of his message +intelligible among the sheep that are not of his fold. Pontiff after +pontiff has spoken that same message, and pontiff after pontiff has +been, without the confines of his own flock, little more than a voice +crying in the wilderness. Now, for the first time, partly no doubt +through the breaking down of obstinate prejudice, but chiefly through +the particular accents of the voice that spoke and the marvellous +personality of the speaker, that message has become audible, and Pius +X has succeeded where diplomacy and even sanctity of another +complexion have failed. Men have recognized the transparent love of +the Pastor where they have been deaf to the definitions of the +Pontiff; they have at any rate paused to listen to the appeals of +their Father, when they have turned away from the authority of the +_Rector mundi_." + +Nor was it the Catholic press alone that paid tribute to the holy +life and noble aims of the dead pope. "All men who hold sincere and +personal holiness in honour," said _The Times_, "will join with the +Roman Catholic Church in her mourning for the Pontiff she has lost. +The policy of Pius X has had many critics, not all of them outside +the Church he ruled, but none has ever questioned the transparent +honesty of his convictions or refused admiration for his priestly +virtues. Sprung from the people, he loved and understood them as only +a good parish priest can do. That was the secret of the love which he +won amongst them from the first, and which at Venice made him a great +popular power. Not that he ever courted popularity; he taught them as +one having authority and could insist upon obedience. But the Roman +Church mourns in him something more than a saintly priest and a great +bishop; in him she also deplores a great pope. In the spheres of +church politics his reign has witnessed grievous disasters. It has +seen the separation of church and state in France and in Portugal, +and the whole process of 'dechristianizing' national and social life, +of which that measure was the symbol. Unprejudiced judges cannot +blame a pope for rejecting all compromise with a policy which, on the +admission of its authors, was deliberately aimed at the destruction +of the faith which it was his mission to uphold. Compromise, it has +been said, ought to have been possible, but there are principles +which Rome cannot waive or abate. Pius X conceived that such +principles were jeopardized in all the accommodations with the new +system which were suggested to him. It was no light thing for him to +impose upon the faithful clergy of France and of Portugal a course +which brought to them the loss of their revenues, their homes, and +even of all legal right in their churches. But his decision was to +him not a question of expediency, but of right and wrong. He gave it +in accordance with the dictates of his conscience, and the wonderful +obedience which the priests whom it impoverished have shown to his +commands has filled with a just pride his children throughout the +world . . . . His reform of church music was in the main a return to +the pure and noble manner of the best masters of the sixteenth +century . . . . His zeal for establishing the true text of the +Vulgate--the 'authorized version' of Latin Christianity--illustrates +in yet another field the plain practical nature of his mind . . . . +The sweeping condemnation of 'Modernism' was the most conspicuous act +of his pontificate within the domain of dogma. It was a consequence +of his position and of his character as inevitable as his repudiation +of compromise with the secularism of M. Combe or M. Briand. Few +persons familiar with the elementary doctrines of the Roman Church +could suppose that the tendencies of the new school were compatible +with them. To the downright plain sense of the pope the desperate +efforts of men who had explained away the content of historical +Christianity to present themselves as orthodox Roman Catholics were +simply disingenuous .... The elevation of Giuseppe Sarto to the most +ancient and most venerable throne in Europe is a striking +illustration of the democratic side of the Roman Church to which she +has largely owed her power . . . . The story is not without its +lessons for statesmen and for educationists. The Church did not +attempt universal education, but by her monastic schools, her +bursaries and her seminaries she set up a ladder leading to the most +exalted of all her dignities for the most fit. It was long since a +peasant's son had won the Triple Crown. In this, as in so much +besides, the reign of Pope Pius X was a return to the past." + +In the crypt of St. Peter's the then last pope, who was a peasant, +was laid close to the sepulchre of the First, who was a fisherman. +This was the inscription on his tomb: + + PIVS PAPA X + PAVPER ET DIVES + MITIS ET HVMILIS CORDE + REIQVE CATHOLICAE VINDEX FORTIS + INSTAVRARE OMNIA IN CHRISTO + SATAGENS PIE OBIIT + DIE XX AVG A.D. MCMXIV + + POPE PIUS X + POOR YET RICH + MEEK AND HUMBLE OF HEART + UNDAUNTED CHAMPION OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH + TO RESTORE ALL THINGS IN CHRIST + HAVING DONE SO MUCH + DIED HOLILY AUGUST 20, A.D. 1914 + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pope Pius the Tenth, by +F. A. 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