"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 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. 

"Men Are by No Means Wont to Wage War According to the Judgment of their Enemies." ~ Belisarius rejects Gothic surrender terms, March AD 537

"Whoever of you has hopes of setting foot in Rome without a fight is mistaken in his judgment. For as long as Belisarius lives, it is impossible for him to relinquish this city."
~Belisarius to the Gothic envoys in AD 537.

The above quote is taken from The History of the Wars by the late-Roman historian, Procopius of Caesarea. To set the scene, envision the grand Gothic army of over 100,000 mail-clad warriors newly arrived at their camps about the walls of Rome. Within the walls, Belisarius and his paltry force of less than 6,000 men could barely defend a fraction of the total circumference of the immense circuit. The Gothic King, Vitiges, felt that victory was assured. But in order to increase the discomfiture of his opponent, the Goths sent an embassy into the city, hoping to gauge the morale of the Roman citizens, and perhaps turn some of the nobles against Belisarius. They also hold out terms for an armistice if Belisarius would only withdraw his hopelessly outnumbered army from the city.

Procopius writes:

Click here for more info.

Vittigis, King of the Goths, hearing all this from the deserters and desiring to embroil [the Romans] with one another still more, and thinking that in this way the affairs of the Romans would be thrown into great confusion, sent to Belisarius some envoys, among whom was Albis. And when these men came before Belisarius, they spoke as follows in the presence of the Roman senators and all the commanders of the army:

"From of old, general, mankind has made true and proper distinctions in the names they give to things; and one of these distinctions is this—rashness is different from bravery. For rashness, when it takes possession of a man, brings him into danger with discredit, but bravery bestows upon him an adequate prize in reputation for valor. Now one of these two has brought you against us, but which it is you will straightway make clear. For if, on the one hand, you placed your confidence in bravery when you took the field against the Goths, there is ample opportunity, noble sir, for you to do the deeds of a brave man, since you have only to look down from your wall to see the army of the enemy. But if, on the other hand, it was because you were possessed by rashness that you came to attack us, certainly you now repent you of the reckless undertaking. For the opinions of those who have made a desperate venture are wont to undergo a change whenever they find themselves in serious straits. 

"Now, therefore, do not cause the sufferings of these Romans to be prolonged any further, men whom Theoderic fostered in a life not only of soft luxury but also of freedom, and cease your resistance to him who is the master both of the Goths and of the Italians. Is it not monstrous that you should sit in Rome hemmed in as you are and in abject terror of the enemy, while the king of this city passes his time in a fortified camp and inflicts the evils of war upon his own subjects? But we shall give both you and your followers an opportunity to take your departure forthwith in security, retaining all your possessions. For to trample upon those who have learned to take a new view of prudence we consider neither holy nor worthy of the ways of men. And, further, we should gladly ask these Romans what complaints they could have had against the Goths that they betrayed both us and themselves, seeing that up to this time they have enjoyed our kindness, and now are acquainted by experience with the assistance to be expected from you."

The response of Belisarius was, perhaps, not exactly what the Gothic envoys were expecting: 

Thus spoke the envoys. And Belisarius replied as follows: "It is not to rest with you to choose the moment for conference. For men are by no means wont to wage war according to the judgment of their enemies, but it is customary for each one to arrange his own affairs for himself, in whatever manner seems to him best. But I say to you that there will come a time when you will want to hide your heads under the thistles but will find no shelter anywhere. 

"As for Rome, moreover, which we have captured, in holding it we hold nothing which belongs to others, but it was you who trespassed upon this city in former times, though it did not belong to you at all, and now you have given it back, however unwillingly, to its ancient possessors. And whoever of you has hopes of setting foot in Rome without a fight is mistaken in his judgment. For as long as Belisarius lives, it is impossible for him to relinquish this city." 

Such were the words of Belisarius." 

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In Belisarius, Book III: Rome the Eternal, I opted to put this scene into the mouth of Albis, the Gothic envoy, as he described to his king the type of man who opposed them. He concludes his assessment of Belisarius, declaring: "In my opinion, O King, only iron and fire will serve to evict him from Rome." 

To which Vitiges replies: "Then iron and fire is what he will get."

At this early stage of the siege, Vitiges is still brimming with confidence, sure of his ultimate victory but hoping to convince Belisarius to capitulate with a modicum of effort and bloodshed. 

But within a year, the situation had completely turned around.

Though mentioned only once by Procopius, Albis plays a large role in Rome the Eternal as one of the primary strategists of Vitiges, occasionally butting heads but more frequently conspiring with Cassiodorus.

“Constantine can not be overcome!” ~ Constantine enters Rome in triumph after the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, October 28, AD 312

Ruben's fanciful rendering of Maxentius plunging to his death at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. 

When Constantine entered Rome on October 28, AD 312 after crushing the superior forces of Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, it marked the end of one era and the beginning of another. There are several accounts of the battle and its aftermath recorded in ancient times, and two in particular stand out as being written by immediate contemporaries who certainly spoke with the participants. One of those who recorded the battle was Lactantius, a scholar who had served at the court of Diocletian and later became the tutor of Constantine’s son, Crispus.

Here is his account as drawn from his invaluable work, On the Deaths of the Persecutors (Chapter XLIV):

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And now a civil war broke out between Constantine and Maxentius. Although Maxentius kept himself within Rome, because the soothsayers had foretold that if he went out of it he should perish, yet he conducted the military operations by able generals. In forces he exceeded his adversary, for he had not only his father’s army which deserted from Severus, but also his own which he had lately drawn together out of Mauritania and Italy.

They fought and the troops of Maxentius prevailed.

Other ancient accounts give additional details. Zosimus, a pagan historian hostile to Constantine writing in the early 6th century, indicates in his New History that the forces of Maxentius at the start of the campaign numbered some 170,000, while those of Constantine were about 98,000. Eusebius, writing in Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine, says that Maxentius positioned his forces throughout Italy to ambush the army of Constantine as it made its way south. An anonymous panegyricist who wrote soon after Constantine’s victory says that Constantine was able to successfully fight through these ambushes, winning battles at the towns of Susa, Turin and Verona before approaching Rome. 

However, when he reached Rome, Constantine was faced with the task of besieging the huge city with an army still likely inferior in numbers to his opponent – a losing proposition when facing an entrenched enemy. Thus, he stood outside the city stymied. It is in this sense that we should understand Lactantius’s claim above that the forces of Maxentius prevailed, at least at first. Considering the situation from a military perspective, the prospects of Constantine were indeed grim upon reaching Rome. It should be recalled that Maxentius had easily defeated the previous attempts by Severus and Galerius to remove him from Rome. In both cases, Maxentius was able to bribe the soldiers of his opponents and his efforts were so successful that both emperors were to forced to flee in successive campaigns. In the case of Severus, his whole army defected to Maxentius and he was ignominiously captured and put to death. No doubt, Maxentius hoped to thwart Constantine’s attack using similar tactics while remaining safely ensconced in the Eternal City.

It was then that something wholly unexpected and incredible happened. Lactantius continues:

At length, Constantine with steady courage and a mind prepared for every event, led his whole forces to the neighborhood of Rome and encamped them opposite to the Milvian bridge. The anniversary of the reign of Maxentius approached—that is, the sixth of the kalends of November—and the fifth year of his reign was drawing to an end. 

Constantine was directed in a dream to cause the heavenly sign to be delineated on the shields of his soldiers and so to proceed to battle. He did as he had been commanded, and he marked on their shields the letter X, with a perpendicular line drawn through it and turned round thus at the top, being the cipher of Christ. Having this sign, his troops stood to arms. 

A bronze follis of Constantine showing the labarum or Christian standard
topped by the chi-rho on the reverse side.

This is, of course, the chi-rho symbol indicating the first two letters of the word "Christ" in Greek. Here Lactantius is describing the theophany experienced by Constantine and this account is certainly the earliest to record the event. It should be noted that this telling of the story is less detailed than the account of Eusebius of Constantine's vision of a cross in the heavens. However, the accounts do not conflict. Eusebius also records the dream, saying that Constantine experienced the dream on the night following the vision and that the dream served to explain what he had seen in the heavens—a cross with the words, “By this sign, thou wilt conquer.” 

Lactantius describes what happened next:

The enemies advanced but without their emperor [Maxentius], and they crossed the bridge. The armies met and fought with the utmost exertions of valor, “neither this side or that marked by flight.”

In the meantime a sedition arose at Rome and Maxentius was reviled as one who had abandoned all concern for the safety of the commonweal. And suddenly, while he exhibited the Circensian games on the anniversary of his reign, the people cried with one voice, “ Constantine cannot be overcome!” Dismayed at this, Maxentius burst from the assembly, and having called some senators together, ordered the Sibylline books to be searched. In them it was found that:

“On the same day the enemy of the Romans should perish.”

Led by this response to the hopes of victory, he went to the field. The bridge in his rear was broken down. At sight of that the battle grew hotter. The hand of the Lord prevailed, and the forces of Maxentius were routed. He fled towards the broken bridge, but the multitude pressing on him, he was driven headlong into the Tiber.

Drawing from earlier sources, Zosimus provides some additional details, claiming that Maxentius had erected a pontoon bridge over the Tiber which was divided into two parts held together by pins. This structure was purposely built as part of a stratagem to lure the Constantinian army over the bridge, as the pins were meant to be withdrawn once the enemy was on the bridge, precipitating the whole into the river. Both Aurelius Victor and Eusebius confirm that this stratagem had been put into place in the hopes of destroying all or part of Constantine’s army. However, the “engine of destruction” ended up being turned on Maxentius when Constantine refused to cross the pontoon bridge and offered battle on the far side of the Tiber.

Zosimus also mentions a most peculiar prodigy that took place before the battle, saying that Constantine’s decision to hold his ground was made because a great flock of owls had suddenly descended upon the walls of Rome. Seeing that Constantine refused to cross the river, Maxentius advanced and set his army in ranks to give battle. But his formations had hardly been arranged when Constantine’s cavalry attacked and a furious fight ensued. At this moment, Zosimus says that the morale of Maxentius’s troops failed because few among them were willing to risk their lives for a man they considered a tyrant. (See Zosimus, New History, Book II, Chapter 16.)

Lactantius concludes his account as follows:

This destructive war being ended, Constantine was acknowledged as emperor with great rejoicings by the senate and people of Rome. And now he came to know the perfidy of [Maximin] Daia, for he found the letters written to Maxentius and saw the statues and portraits of the two associates which had been set up together. The senate, in reward of the valor of Constantine, decreed to him the title of Maximus (the Greatest), a title which Daia had always arrogated to himself.

We can reconstruct some of what happened in Rome after the defeat of Maxentius from other sources. The anonymous panegyricist mentioned above says that the body of Maxentius was retrieved from the Tiber and hacked to pieces, his head placed on a spear and paraded around the city. Constantine then made a triumphal procession through Rome, concluding with a visit to the imperial palace and a speech in which he restored to the Senate their former privileges. Eusebius tells us that Constantine embellished Rome with monuments and inscriptions celebrating his victory, including a statue of himself with the cross beneath his hand which bore an inscription in Latin, saying: 

“By virtue of this salutary sign, which is the true symbol of valor, I have preserved and liberated your city from the yoke of tyranny. I have also set at liberty the Roman senate and people, and restored them to their ancient greatness and splendor.” [see Eusebius: Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine, Book I, Chapter 40]

One can imagine that for the people of Rome, jaded by centuries of imperial superlatives making similar claims of liberation, change, glorious restoration and perpetual felicity, these words may have rung somewhat hollow. But for Rome and the Romans, the events of October 28, AD 312 were truly revolutionary. Nothing would ever be the same again.

For more posts on the reign of Constantine, see:

• Constantine — Military Hero and Christian Emperor
• Constantine's Vision of the Cross ~ Early Accounts and Backstory
• September 18, AD 324 -- Constantine defeats Licinius at the Battle of Chrysopolis
• Maxentius and His Ill-Fated Reign ~ The last pagan emperor to rule from Rome or a usurper and "inhuman beast"?