"Lord, increase my pain, but increase also my patience." ~ The death of Pope Saint Pius V

Pope Saint Pius V is saved from assassination by a miraculous crucifix.
Detail from an early 18th century anonymous painter of the Roman School.

May 1 marks the anniversary of the death of Pope Saint Pius V (1504-1572), one of my favorite Popes, as well as being one of the most consequential Pontiffs of history. During his relatively short six year reign, from AD 1566 through AD 1572, Pope Pius V: 

• assembled the Holy League which successfully defended Christendom against the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto; 
• excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I, calling her "the pretended queen of England and servant of crime"; 
• issued Quo Primum which regularized the Tridentine form of the liturgy and made it valid in perpetuity; 
• issued Horrendum illud scelus which decreed that clergy caught in "that horrible crime, for which corrupt and obscene cities were destroyed by fire through divine condemnation" be stripped of their clerical protections and punished severely by the civil authority.
• declared Saint Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church and commissioned a new edition of his works.
• put into effect the decrees and teachings of the recently concluded Council of Trent.

Pope Saint Pius V's feast day is celebrated on May 5 on the traditional calendar, and April 30 on the new calendar.

A solid, short biography of St. Pius V was published in 1895 by the Catholic Truth Society at Oxford, UK. I found several of the anecdotes in this bio to be of uncommon interest and revelatory about the type of man St. Pius V was. The first is a description of St. Pius's character written in part by St. John Henry Newman:

"I do not deny that St Pius was stern and severe as far as a heart burning within and melted with the fulness of divine love could be so, and this was the reason why the Conclave was so slow in electing him. Yet such energy and vigour as his was necessary for his times. He was emphatically a soldier of Christ in a time of insurrection and rebellion when in a spiritual sense martial law was proclaimed. St. Philip, a private priest, might follow his bent as he expressed it in casting his net for souls and enticing them to the truth, but the Vicar of Christ had to right and to steer the vessel when it was in rough waters and among breakers.

A Protestant historian on this point does justice to him: 'When Pope,' writes Ranke, 'he lived in all the austerity of his monastic life, fasted with the utmost rigour and punctuality, would wear no finer garments than before...arose at an extremely early hour in the morning, and took no siesta....The people were excited to enthusiasm when they saw him walking in procession barefooted and bare headed with the expression of unaffected piety in his countenance, and with his long snow white beard falling on his breast. They thought there never had been so pious a Pope they told each other how his very look had converted heretics. Pius was kind too, and affable; his intercourse with his old servants was of the most confidential kind. At a former time, before he was Pope, the Conte della Trinità had threatened to have him thrown into a well and he had replied that it must be as God pleased. How beautiful was his greeting to this same Conte who was now sent as ambassador to his court: "See," said he, "how God preserves the innocent!" This was the only way in which he made the Count feel that he recollected his enmity. He had ever been most charitable and bounteous; he kept a list of the poor of Rome whom he regularly assisted according to their station and their wants." [Wilberforce, St. Pius V, p. 9-10]

While excommunicating Elizabeth I as an implacable enemy of the Catholic Church, Pius V sympathized with Mary Stuart (aka, Mary, Queen of Scots) who was forced to abdicate her throne and was jailed in 1567. He wrote to her, and granted her a special privilege:

The heart of the Father of Christendom was full of deep compassion for the suffering Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. He wrote to her letters full of sympathy comfort and encouragement, and when she was imprisoned by her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, the Pope, unable to rescue her, bestowed upon her an inestimable privilege which reminds us of the times of the early persecutions. As no priest was allowed to visit her, Pius permitted her to administer Holy Communion to herself with consecrated Hosts brought to her by a faithful attendant. 'Most dear daughter in Christ,' he wrote in one letter to the suffering Queen, 'ever since information has reached us of the troubles in your kingdom caused by your enemies and those of the true faith, we have never ceased to offer prayers for you to God and to secure those of others. Willingly would we assist you if we could even at the cost of life itself.'" [Wilberforce, St. Pius V, p. 14]

The banner Pius V presented to Don John
of Austria prior to Lepanto, badly
damaged during World War II.

As mentioned in a previous post, Pope St. Pius V believed that, when absolutely necessary, it was the proper role of the Roman Pontiff to call the nations to war in defense of Christendom as he did when assembling the Holy League to oppose militant Islam. Of course, the Holy Father understood that for a such a war to come to a happy and beneficial outcome, it must be just and ordained by God. To bolster this hope for the expedition of the Holy League, he declared a jubilee year, encouraged processions begging for divine favor, and invoked Our Lady's intercession on the campaign. He bestowed upon the admiral of the fleet, Don John of Austria, a beautiful red banner emblazoned with the figure of Christ Crucified, Saints Peter and Paul, and the words "In Hoc Signo Vinces." Again borrowing from the account of St. John Henry Newman: 

[The Holy Father] assured the general in chief and the armament that if relying on divine rather than on human help they attacked the enemy, God would not be wanting to His own cause. He augured a prosperous and happy issue not on any light or random hope but on a divine guidance and by the anticipations of many holy men. Moreover he enjoined the officers to look to the good conduct of their troops to repress swearing, gaming, riot, and plunder, and thereby to render them more worthy of victory. Accordingly a fast of three days was proclaimed for the fleet beginning with the Nativity of Our Lady; all the men went to Confession and Communion and appropriated to themselves the plentiful indulgences which the Pope attached to the expedition." [Wilberforce, St. Pius V, p. 15]

Of course, as with all great men, St. Pius V had no shortage of enemies. On one famous occasion, his life was threatened by a secret assassin who attempted to use his pious habits against him:  

Turning from the stirring events of his public life to the personal character of St. Pius, we find him all the time cultivating with unremitting energy the interior spirit of contemplation and union with God. Conspicuous among his other virtues was the heroic patience he displayed, especially in the grievous illness that afflicted him for many years and of which he ultimately died. He suffered agonies from stone. His refuge in pain was the foot of his crucifix and his constant prayer was this aspiration revealing the heroic patience of his soul: "Lord, increase my pain, but increase also my patience."

In spite of all he suffered he persevered in the austerity of his life. The strength to endure his pains amidst his incessant labour was drawn from continual meditation on the passion of our Lord. Before him on his table a large crucifix always stood at the foot of which were written the words of St. Paul: "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," and before this cross he spent silent hours in prayer. His custom was to kiss the feet of the image of Christ crucified whenever he left or entered the room. On one occasion a dastardly attempt was made to take his life by poison placed on the feet of this crucifix. When the Pope bowed his head to kiss the feet he was astounded to see them move away on one side. At first he imagined that he must have offended his Lord, but on examination the poison was discovered and he saw that his life had been miraculously preserved. In thanksgiving he determined to spend himself more generously than ever in the service of his loving Master. [Wilberforce, St. Pius V, p. 18]

During the public Paschal celebrations of 1572, it was clear to all that Pius V's health was failing. He insisted on visiting the Seven Churches on foot on Holy Thursday, but his steps faltered and he had to be supported by his attendants. From the crowd, the commander of the Papal forces at Lepanto—Marcantonio Colonna—stepped forward and begged the Holy Father to enter a litter and allow himself to be carried. In response, Pius dismissed the plea and instead suggested that Admiral Colonna should renew the campaign against the Turks while they were still reeling from defeat.

A month later found Pius V on his deathbed:

Four days before his death he received Holy Communion and Extreme Unction on the day before his departure. He answered the prayers himself and then making a supreme effort knelt down and prayed for the needs of Holy Church. He then spoke to a number of Cardinals who surrounded his bed with something of the old fire exhorting them to do all in their power to carry on the crusade against the Turks and thus to secure to the full the advantage gained at Lepanto. "Give me a successor full of zeal for God's glory, and desirous of nothing but the good of the Church and the honour of the Apostolic See." Shortly after he again kissed the crucifix and then devoutly crossing his hands breathed forth his soul to God. [Wilberforce, St. Pius V, p. 24]

Pius V would be canonized in AD 1711 by Pope Clement XI.

Let's face it: A Pope like Pius V is very unlikely to be elected in the modern Church, and if elected, would be viciously attacked on all sides, both within and outside the Church. Even a soft-spoken moderate like Benedict XVI was not acceptable to those with worldly political power.

Let us offer a prayer that the current Holy Father, Leo XIV, will find an intercessor in Heaven in the person of Pope St. Pius V. May Pope Leo be protected by God from the machinations of those who desire the his downfall and the downfall of the Church. 

And may he be kept safe from the spiritual deceits and temptations of the Prince of Lies who prowls the world seeking the ruin of souls. May he be inspired with the divine courage necessary to do what must be done to restore the Church and bring the whole of suffering humanity out of error and to the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Pope Saint Pius V, pray for us.