PRAYERS TO OUR LADY

The beatification and canonization of Pope Saint Pius X

The following two articles about Pope Pius X were Archbishop Muench’s monthly columns for the Catholic Action News [CAN]. The first one was written on the occasion of the pope’s beatification (CAN, volume 14, number 7, July 1951, pages 1 – 4); the second on his canonization (CAN, volume 17, number 7, July 1954, pages 2 and 4). Archbishop Muench attended both events in Rome. A few minor typographical errors have been corrected.

CHURCH LISTS PIUS X, HOLY REFORMER, AMONG BLESSED

ARCHBISHOP MUENCH SUMMARIZES WORK
OF FIRST BEATIFIED POPE IN 400 YEARS

By Archbishop Muench

Pope Pius X

PILGRIMS FROM ALL PARTS of the world had come to the Eternal City for the beatification ceremonies of Pope Pius X, Sunday, June 3. Among them, privileged to have a share in the joys and blessings of this day, were Bishop Dworschak and I. For us it was another of those unforgettable experiences such as one can have only in the Eternal City.

The basilica of St. Peter that had seen and heard the saintly Pontiff often during the eleven years of his pontificate was dressed in festive garb. Rich red hangings and thousands of lights that sparkled from the crystal chandeliers gave an air of glad festivity to the most magnificent church in Christendom.

For the first time in almost four hundred years another Pope has been raised to the glories of the altar. The last one was also a Pius—Pope Pius V who occupied the Chair of St. Peter from 1565 to 1572.

In the retrospect of nearly fifty years one can see how truly great Pius X was. Indeed, his greatness looms bigger and bigger as the rich spiritual fruits of his many reforms ripen for the harvest with each passing year.

FAR-SIGHTED LAW-MAKER

Theologians will remember him best for having set up a strong bulwark against the inroads of modernism that in the name of a false modern science attempted to undermine the very foundations of Christianity. They will remember him also for having set up a commission for the codification of the Law of the Church. After years of research and hundreds of conferences with the best minds in ecclesiastical jurisprudence the commission finished its work only under his successor Pope Benedict XV. But Pius X is the author of the Codex of Canon Law. Indeed, our Holy Father, himself a brilliant canonist, did not hesitate to declare in his eloquent discourse held on the afternoon of the day of beatification in the Square of St. Peter before a throng of some 300,000 persons, that the Codex is the masterpiece of his pontificate.

SCHOLAR OF SCRIPTURE

Pope Pius pictured at a desk in the Vatican Gardens

Pope Pius X in the
Vatican Gardens

Another monumental work was started when in a decree of May 7, 1909, Pius X established the Biblical Institute for research and studies bearing on the Sacred Scriptures; the work is far from completed. Volume upon volume appears, results of much laborious work, that enrich the libraries of students and scholars of the Bible, Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Pius X reorganized the various departments of administration of the Church, called the Roman Curia. As Bishop of the Diocese of Rome, after an official visitation undertaken by his Vicar, he sat up a new order and program of action for priests and people. For this he drew on his rich experiences gathered as chancellor, vicar general, and administrator of the Diocese of Treviso, and later as Bishop of Mantua, and before his election to the Chair of St. Peter as Cardinal Patriarch of Venice.

At the outset of his pontificate he announced to the Catholic world in his first encyclical letter of October 4, 1903, that his pontificate would be guided by the aim “to renew all things in Christ,” a motto that he took from the third chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians. This purpose had dominated all his works as priest and bishop. Primarily it meant a renewal of the spiritual life. For this reason he has been called the Pope of the Spiritual Life. We all have been touched, and are still touched, by his spiritual reforms.

ZEALOUS CATECHIST

The program of Catholic education and religious instruction of youths and adults in our Diocese is inspired by the directives he laid down in his apostolic letter of April 15, 1905. As assistant in the parish of Saint Andrew at Tombolo and as pastor of Saint Bartholomew in Salzano his priestly heart was moved to deepest pity when he saw the starved minds of his flock for want of good religious instruction. He bent every effort personally to give to his flock the spiritual food they needed, but also trained lay catechists to help him in his work. His zeal made him inventive. As bishop in later years he set up in the diocese of Mantua and Venice effective programs of religious education.

These experiences in the field of religious education stood him in good stead as Supreme Shepherd of the flock of Christ. Frequently on Sundays he would give catechetical sermons to the people of the parishes of the city of Rome as they gathered about the lonely prisoner in the Vatican. These meetings brought him unspeakable joy and consolation, reminders of years of pastoral instructions as priest and bishop.

Knowledge alone, however, does not make good Catholics. No one knew that better than he. Neither intellectuals nor illiterates can be the Catholics they should be if they do not keep themselves close to the one source of spiritual life, Christ Jesus our Lord. In the knowledge of that simple truth Plus X issued his decree on frequent communion, December 20, 1905, and his decree on early communion five years later, August 8, 1910.

These decrees have touched the spiritual lives of millions upon millions of Catholics everywhere in the world. Through them above all Pius X brought about a renewal in Christ, and with it a flowering of the spiritual life such as Catholicism has not witnessed since early Christian days. They have been the instruments in the hands of Divine Providence of making actuality of the promise of Christ: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.” John 6:57. From Christ is drawn a strong, healthy spiritual life.

SHEPHERD OF THE SICK AND THE POOR

Love of a shepherd for his flock characterized the pastoral work of Don Giuseppe Sarto as priest and later as Bishop Sarto in Mantua and Venice. He spent much of his time among the sick and the aged, but especially among the poor. He knew their needs and their problems; for all he had a kind word and a helping hand. Poor as to the goods of this earth, they were made rich with the holy gifts of heaven. Crude in their manners and rough in their speech, the cattle raisers of Tombolo, the farmers of Salzano, the textile workers of Mantua, the fishermen of Venice revered and loved him with sincere affection. He in turn knew their sterling qualities of mind and heart. He trusted them, and trusting them, organized their spirit of self-help in various works of Catholic Action: clubs for young men and women, rural savings and credit unions, lecture programs for the educated, working men societies, parish Vincent de Paul conferences for the poor, working men societies for factory workers. His zeal knew no limits. His works of social charity burned brightly with the fires of his own heart of charity—love of God and love of neighbor.

APOSTLE TO THE WORKER

Persuaded that in these modern times the laity must be found in the front ranks of the activities of the Church, Pius X as Sovereign Pontiff issued directives for Catholic Action in his encyclical letter of June 11, 1905. Of this our Holy Father said in his aforementioned address in the Square of St. Peter that what we admire today in the vast field of Catholic Action, in Italy as well as in the rest of the Catholic world, derives from the providential instructions and exhortations of Pius X on the subject. He may be called the author of our present-day works of Catholic Action. Through them our Catholic laity is bound with close ties to the pastors and their bishops. Catholic Action is, namely, participation of the laity in the apostolate of the hierarchy.

REFORMER OF CHURCH MUSIC

Catholic Action will remain sterile if it is not constantly watered and fructified by the graces of supernatural life. These are drawn chiefly from the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar and the Sacraments of Christ. Throughout the years of his pastoral work as assistant, pastor, and bishop he strove to bring his people close to the altar and the sacraments. His interest in beautifying the divine services of the Church and in sacred music has its source in this pastoral aim. Himself a musician, he organized a choir of men and boys when he was pastor of Salzano. He became the patron of a poor boy in whom he recognized musical talent, gave him every encouragement, and finally sent him to the Academy of Music in Regensburg, Germany. Don Lorenzo Perosi who has become famous in modern Church music, was the fortunate beneficiary of his fatherly patronage. In Rome Pius X gave Perosi every opportunity for developing his talents and enriching the Church with his compositions. This interest of Pius X in good Church music gave the impulse to issuing a Decree on Church Music within three months of his election to the papacy and the setting up of an Institute of Church Music in Rome. At this point it is interesting to note that our Cathedral choir sings one of Perosi’s Masses.

CHILD OF MARY

Another means for bringing his flock, especially its youthful members close to Christ was the inculcation of devotion to Mary the Immaculate Virgin Mother. In his early boyhood days Guiseppe imbibed devotion to the Blessed Mother in a home in which every evening the rosary was recited. Near their little farm of about seven acres just outside the village of Riesi was a shrine in honor of our Blessed Mother. Giovanni Battista Sarto often took his little Bepi, as Giusseppe was lovingly called in the family and by the townspeople of Riesi, to this shrine of Mary of Cendrole. When thoughts of the priesthood, or problems began to weigh on him, Giusseppe placed them into the loving hands of his heavenly Mother at Cendrole. The filial devotion to Mary the Mother of God he took with him into the Vatican. His three sisters, Rosa, Teresa, and Maria visited him in his apartments each week, and before leaving him went to his chapel to recite with him the rosary. His deep piety to the Virgin Mary is reflected repeatedly in his papal statements as well as in the solemn festivities that were held in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary and of the apparition of the Immaculate Virgin at Lourdes.

FATHER OF PRIESTS

Sanctification of the lives of those committed to his care was the aim of all his pastoral, episcopal, and pontifical work. But above all was the solicitude of Pius X centered on his priests. “The priest,” he said, “obliged as he is by his office to form Christ in the lives of others, must first of all form Christ in his own life.” Toward this end he reorganized seminaries; raised the program of studies to higher levels, especially in philosophy and theology; and gave new incentives to postgraduate studies, although he himself neither had pursued them nor had ever obtained a doctorate in the theological sciences. In order to stimulate the piety of priests he reformed the Breviary, the official prayerbook for daily use by a priest.

The memorable letter on the priesthood that Pius X sent on the golden jubilee of his ordination in 1908 to the priests of the Catholic world is the fruit of both the lectures that he gave for nine years as spiritual director in the Seminary of Treviso and of his intimate knowledge of the spiritual needs of a priest. The renewal of all things in Christ would not succeed, he was convinced, unless it was founded in the renewal of the inner life of those who are privileged to have a share in the priesthood of the eternal high-priest Jesus Christ.

HUMBLE AND SAINTLY IN YOUTH

Pius X had laid the foundations of the spiritual life deep in his own inmost soul. This work started in early boyhood days. His parents were poor, but they were rich in their Catholic faith. His father earned a living for his large family as a janitor of the village courthouse, acting, too, as messenger for the mayor, and practicing his trade as a cobbler to supplement his meager earnings. The mother, Margareth, was a seamstress. This stood her in good stead, for the family was large. She was the mother of ten children: four boys and six girls. The first-born, also a Giusseppe, died a week after his birth so that Bepi was really the oldest in the family. When his father died unexpectedly in his second year as a seminarian, he seriously considered giving up his studies to help his widowed mother provide for the family. He was then seventeen years old. But she would not hear of it; nor would the pastor. The Lord will provide, was their answer. To the priests of Riesi Giuseppe Sarto owed much. One of the assistants gave him his first Latin lessons. Don Fusarini, the pastor, arranged for his high school studies in Castelfranco, about five miles from Riesi. As a day student Giuseppe made the way on foot twice a day—no autos, buses, streetcars, or railways. The pastor likewise obtained a scholarship for him in the Seminary at Padua through Cardinal Monico, Patriarch of Venice, who also was a native of Riesi and son of poor parents. The confidence of the good pastor in the talents and character of his protégé were fully justified. At the end of his first year in the Seminary Giuseppe was at the head of his class. The public citation read: “In conduct second to none: highest talents; an extraordinary memory. Hopes for the future: the greatest.”

HUMBLE AND SAINTLY IN NOBILITY

The rise from a plain, humble family to the highest position in the Church makes fascinating reading. Poverty was not an obstacle. On the contrary, it was a school in which were trained a strong character, absolute trust in Divine Providence, and social charity in its varied forms: kindness toward others, sympathy for the poor and sick, mutual helpfulness, and cooperation in common projects. From his humble home he took with him his love for humility to whatever posts of honor that came to him—to the very Chair of Peter. Humility curbed all ambitions. When word reached him that he was designated Patriarch of Venice he attempted to turn down the new honor. Cardinal Rampolla, Secretary of State of Pope Leo XIII, personally intervened, writing him to say that the Holy Father would be highly displeased if he did not accept the appointment. At the Conclave in 1903, when the fifth and sixth balloting made it evident that he would be elected pope, with tears streaming down his cheeks he pleaded with the Cardinals not to elect him; he did not hold himself up for or worthy of the high office. Among other Cardinal Gibbons had to persuade him not to refuse what was plainly a manifestation of the will of God.

The events of his eleven years as Pope, 1903-191 have given proof of this. Eight volumes of decrees and acts show with what pastoral vision, tact, firmness and tenacity of purpose he ruled the Church. So deep, far-reaching, and enduring are his reforms that a scholar of the papacy wrote in 1934 that Pius X is the greatest reform Pope since Pope St. Pius V.

Bishop Dworschak and I shall never forget the jubilation that resounded in the Te Deum as it echoed through St. Peter’s when the painting of Blessed Pins X was unveiled in the famous “Gloria of Heaven” by Bernini over the altar of the Chair of St. Peter. For Bishop Dworschak the beatification proved to be a memorable occasion. A few days before, on May 29, the anniversary date of his ordination, he was privileged to offer Holy Mass on the altar over the tomb of St. Peter. That forenoon our Holy Father graciously received him in private audience.

The events that we witnessed overwhelm one with the beauty and majesty, the vitality and permanence of the Catholic Church. How true the words of her Divine Founder: “Behold I am with you all days, even to the end of the world.”

+ Aloisius Muench
(signed)

Archbishop, Bishop of Fargo
Apostolic Nuncio in Germany

Bad Godesberg-Bonn
June 10, 1951

ARCHBISHOP MUENCH DESCRIBES ST. PIUS X’s CANONIZATION

The country boy of Riese, Joseph Melchior Sarto, was raised to the honors of the altar in the solemn, colorful ceremony of canonization of the Church held in the famous Square of the Basilica of St. Peter on Saturday, May 29. It was the second outdoor canonization in the eventful 2,000 year old history of the Church. The first one took place three years ago when the youthful Italian martyr Maria Goretti, who gave up her life rather than yield to a lustful fiend, was canonized.

The function in honor of St. Pius X was surrounded with all the brilliant pageantry of the Church. It marked the culmination of the wishes of the faithful throughout the world that the name of their beloved Pope Pius X be enscrolled on the illustrious list of the saints of the Church. Of him one may say in a certain sense that he was proclaimed a saint by popular acclamation. The ceremony of canonization was but the official seal of the Church impressed on what was the ardent desire of the faithful of every nation.

THE HUMBLE SAINT

St. Pius X lived as a saint and died as a saint. Born on June 2, 1835, of John and Margareth Sarto in the rural village of Riese near Venice in northeastern Italy, the eldest in a family of eight children, Giuseppe experienced all the hardships of poverty. The father tilled a few acres of land on the outskirts of the town, supplementing the income with fees received as postman of the community. His wife, who as a girl had learned to be a seamstress, took in sewing in order to help provide for the growing family.

The pastor and assistant of the parish helped Giuseppe in his first lessons preparatory to the required studies for the priesthood. Kind benefactors provided the necessary funds. When he entered high school at nearby Castelfranco he walked barefooted nine miles each day, slinging his shoes over the shoulders so as to save them for wear when he reached the town. A scholarship at the Seminary of Padua gave him the opportunity to complete his studies in philosophy and theology.

Pope Pius X
on his death bed

After his ordination at the age of twenty three in 1858 he was appointed assistant to the country pastor at Tombolo, and after nine years, pastor of the parish in the country town of Salzano. He loved the plain, simple-hearted rural folk. All his life as Bishop of Mantua and Patriarch of Venice, even as Pope, he spoke of his years of pastoral work among farm folk with sincere and touching affection, and often during his pontificate referred to himself as “the country pastor.”

“He was a simple man” said his niece, Giuseppina Parolin, who at 81 years, had the happiness of being in Rome for his canonization. To give proof to her words she pointed to an aftershave cologne bottle worth about ten cents, which had served him many years, and picked up a straight, old bone-handled razor, nothing fancy, no gold trimmings, that he used down to the days of his last illness. “What had little value he kept,” she added, “giving away or selling precious things in order to have something for the poor.” The old lady prized especially a handkerchief with which she wiped his brow in the last hours of his life. He died of a broken heart on August 20, 1914, a few weeks after the outbreak of the war; unsuccessfully he had tried to prevent it. In his last will and testament he declared: “I was born poor, I have lived poor, and I wish to die poor.” His ordinary, unaffected life endeared him to the faithful throughout the world.

JOYFUL CEREMONIES

For our Holy Father, Pius XII, the ceremony was personally a touching event. As a young priest he had served under Pius X in the papal offices of the Secretariate of State. In other ways the canonization of the new Saint was for him a memorable one. Not since the canonization of Pope St. Celestine V, who was proclaimed a saint only seventeen years after his death in 1296, had anyone been canonized in so brief a space of time. Pius X had been dead only 37 years when he was beatified two years ago; normally, no one may be proclaimed blessed until at least 50 years have elapsed. But in the case of the humble, saintly Pontiff, a man of the people, their voice prevailed: “vox populi, vox Dei—the voice of the people is the voice of God” is truly verified in this case.

When then our Holy Father, Pius XII, spoke the words of proclamation of sainthood as the declining sun began to cast its long and cooling shadows over the throng of 500,000 people crowded into the Square of St. Peter, one could sense the jubilation that filled his heart as he decreed and defined:

“For the honor of the Holy Trinity, for the exaltation of the Catholic faith and for the growth of the Christian religion, by authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul and by our own authority. We decree and define saint and inscribe in the book of saints the blessed Pope Pius X, and order that his memory be celebrated in all years to come on August 20 with pious devotion in the universal Church.”

When he had finished, the hushed silence that had lain over the vast outdoor congregation was broken by a mighty wave of applause and cheers. The bells of St. Peter’s boomed out their joy in their own way as the magnificent portrait of the new Saint hanging high up on the balcony of the facade of the basilica was unveiled. Throughout Rome the bells of the hundreds of its churches took up and reechoed the jubilation.

The sun had set. The rich azure sky was fading into a delicate blue, and far on the horizon a large, lone star appeared, sending out rays of purest gold: a symbol of the new star in the radiant galaxy of saints in the Lord’s heavens.

The rejoicing of the people knew no bounds when Pius XII was carried through their midst to the Apostolic Palace on the golden portable chair, held aloft by four chamberlains in scarlet damask coats and knee breeches. It marked his third public appearance since his illness in January. The first one was on Easter when he addressed his plea for peace to the 250,000 persons in St. Peter’s Square, and the second one on May 3 when he gave a mass audience in St. Peter’s. Every day at noon, again at six o’clock in the evening, and several times even late at night before retiring he greets from the window of his apartments the thousands of pilgrims gathered in the Square, and gives them his blessing. On three different occasions Bishop Dworschak, Father Weber, and I were among the privileged throng.

HONORED SPECTATORS

For the canonization of St. Pius X the faithful had come from every continent of the globe, sharing once again in a visible manner in the unity and catholicity of the Catholic Church. But on this occasion both the holiness and apostolicity of the Church were emphasized in a striking manner: holiness in the saintly life of Pius X who, faithful to his motto to restore all things in Christ, had opened wide the channels of grace that make possible holiness of life, especially through his decrees on frequent communion, and apostolicity in the fact that the new Saint is a glorious link in the un’ broken chain of succession that leads back to the apostles.

Several thousand Americans had made the pilgrimage to Rome to share in the graces and blessings of the canonization of the Saint they loved. Among them were 40 members of the American hierarchy. Both Cardinal Spellman of New York and Cardinal Stritch of Chicago, who had been students in Rome during the pontificate of Pius X, had come for this extraordinary event. The Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Amieto G. Cicognani, also was present; ordained during the pontificate of Pius X, he served as a young priest in the curial offices of the Sovereign Pontiff. Consecrated by Cardinal Rossi, his episcopal lineage goes back through Cardinal De Lai to St. Pius X. Since Bishop Dworschak and I were consecrated by Archbishop Cicognani it is also our singular and proud privilege to trace our lineage back to St. Pius X.

Forty-four Cardinals and 463 Archbishops and Bishops had come to pay their homage of veneration to St. Pius X. Among the Cardinals who voted for his canonization in the consistory held according to the law of the Church prior to the event were two who had been created Bishops by Pope Pius X, the 88 year old Archbishop of Santiago, Chile, Jose Maria Cardinal Caro Rodriguez;, and Ignatius Gabriel Cardinal Tappouni, Patriarch of Antioch for the Syrian Catholics.

FARGOANS ATTEND

For Bishop Dworschak the day of canonization of St. Pius X will ever remain a memorable one: it took place on the twenty-eighth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. A few days later on the feast of St. Eugene, the nameday of Pius XII, Father Gerald Weber had the joy of celebrating his third anniversary of ordination. Besides him three other of our Fargo priests could share in the joys of the glorious event. Father John Cullen, Michigan, Father Alex Jene, Pernbina, and Father John Wanzek, Edgeley.

The next day, Sunday, May 30, we were together again in the Basilica of St. Peter for the Pontifical High Mass celebrated at the papal altar by Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, Dean of the College of Cardinals. Pope Pius XII assisted in his papal, pontifical robes at the throne. Needless to say this first Mass in honor of the new Saint evoked the deepest emotions of all who were privileged to be present. In the congregation were also the two persons who were miraculously cured through the intercession of St. Pius X: the lawyer of Naples, Francesco Belsani, who on August 26, 1951, was instantaneously cured of a mortal lung abscess, according to the sworn testimony of doctors, and the Sicilian Vincentian Sister, Maria Luisa Scorcia who on May 14, 1951, was likewise instantaneously cured of a grave attack of meningitis.

RITES OF SAINTHOOD

These two of many other reported miracles were accepted by the Commission appointed to conduct the process of canonization. This is most exacting. All available writings of the person whose cause for beatification and canonization is taken up are gathered and studied with most conscientious care, such as books, sermons, articles, even letters and other privately written matter. Then testimony is taken regarding the reputation for holiness, the heroic practice of virtues, and reported miracles. The fact also that no public veneration has ever been permitted in any place by any Bishop must be established; this precaution is taken lest through unwarranted pressure holiness of life be credited to a person that in fact did not exist.

The process of canonization evolved from a practice of centuries going back to the early days of Christianity. The history of the papal decrees that were issued over the centuries in regard to the beatification and canonization of a person that died in the odor of sanctity shows with what scrupulous care the Church has thrown safeguards around the whole process lest even the slightest taint of error mar the record of holiness of the Church. It is clear at once that it is a serious matter, for the Sovereign Pontiff solemnly to declare that a person may be honored as a saint at the altar of Holy Sacrifice and that public veneration may be rendered through the official prayers of the Church.

Such public veneration was accorded St. Pius X at the papal altar in St. Peter’s, and then in the procession that took his body clad in pontifical robes of scarlet and gold to St. Mary Major, the oldest church in Christendom dedicated to the Blessed Mother of God. Constructed of a richly ornamented golden frame with sides and top of crystal glass, the casket-shrine was placed on a rather simple wagon adorned with calla lilies, white carnations, fern and oak leaves, and drawn by six white horses along the three-mile route from St. Peter’s to St. Mary’s. Mounted noble papal guards led the procession. Some 16,000 men, including street sweepers, gas workers, electricians, masons, bricklayers, and so on, formed the cortege of honor. Behind them came boy scouts and representatives of youth organizations of the various religious orders in Rome, prelates and bishops.

Immediately before the wagon marched the Knights of Malta garbed in a large white mantle with a bright red cross. Mounted carabinieri, and behind them police on motorcycles formed the rear guard. It is estimated that more than a million people lined the curbs or were at the windows of the houses along the route of procession. Costly tapestries and colored rugs hung from windows to do honor to the “Saint of the People”. A newspaper correspondent wrote to his paper: “Not since the triumphal return of Caesar’s brave legions or the victorious Constantine has Rome enjoyed a spectacle equal to Sunday’s trip of Pius X from the Basilica of St. Peter to that of St. Mary Major.”

Before leaving Rome Father Weber and I had the highly prized privilege of offering Holy Mass at his casket-shrine in St. Mary Major. It was an opportunity of grace for both of us, but also for our dear ones in the Diocese, and for our relations and friends whom we remembered in particular in the Mass. Bishop Dworschak and I enjoyed the rare privilege of offering Holy Mass at the tomb of St. Peter in the crypt of the Basilica. This sacred spot has taken on new meaning in view of the finds made in the excavations underneath the Basilica. The historical value of the discoveries made cannot yet be fully appraised since the excavations have not yet been completed.

On the third day of the series of ceremonies connected with the canonization Pope Pius received in general audience the cardinals, archbishops, and bishops who had gathered in Rome from all parts of the world. While his recovery is amazing, to have received each one of the more than 400 in the city would have overtaxed his strength. From his throne in the Hall of Benediction over the portals of St. Peter he addressed the assembled group in Latin on the scope and responsibilities of the teaching office of the shepherds of Christ’s Church.

In his discourse on the evening of the canonization our Holy Father, Pius XII, gave expression to his joy remarking:

“This day is blessed and memorable, not only for us, who count it among the happiest days of our pontificate, to which providence has allotted so many sorrows and cares, but also for the entire church, which, gathered around us in spirit, rejoices all together in a great thrill of religious feeling.”

So it was indeed for us all who had the joy and grace to be present—it was a blessed and memorable day, a day of rejoicing in a great thrill of religious feeling.