POPE PIUS X.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 43, 22 October 1903, Page 3

POPE PIUS X.

FURTHER INTERESTING PARTICULARS In addition to those which have already appeared in our columns regarding Pope Pius X., the following further particulars, taken from an article in the September number of the ' Contemporary Review,' will be read with interest :— ' Guiseppe Sarto is now 68 years of age, as was Cardinal Pecci when he first donned the tiara, having been born on June 2 1835, in liiese, a little village of about 4000 inhabitants in the district of Treviso, and the province o*f Venice. The house in which he was born was an unpretentious building •which may be seen in 'Kiese, , where it beats the number 5. In one of the rooms still stand the bed, the chest of drawers, the pnedieu, and the washstand, and in the chamber in which Pius X first saw the light of the world there are the benches and a few religious prints. It may ha\c been the lecollection of that modest dwelling which inspired the Sovereign Pontifi, when lately giving his instructions to the architects and upholsterers who were about to fit up his apartments in the Vatican, to say ; " Abo\e all things, do:i't male

them too beautiful, and let there be no mirrors ' " As a boy he was distinguished for a lively, cheerful, and even playful disposition, which never left him in after years. These qualities, and the broad sympathy which underlay them rendered him a favorite alike with his playfellows and his teacheis, with whom he first came into contact in the place of his birth. His father found it uncommonly difficult to make both ends meet, and his mother was obliged to take" in work as a seamstress in order to help to keep the bodies and souls of the ten members of the family together. Sarto senior was a man of a Religious Turn of Mind, who devoted to his favorite child, Joe, as he was called (Beppo), all the time and care he could spare from his daily avocations. When Beppo was twelve years old, his parents moved to the district town of Castelfranco in order to give the boy, who was as yet scarcely capable of expressing himself in grammatical Italian, a chance of obtaining instruction. There a parish priest •named Fusorini, who chanced to make the lad's acquaintance, taught him the elements of Latin, as disinterested priests in Italy and .Spain /still do. Beppo was a boy of more than average intelligence, and if he was not, like his predecessor, first in all his classes, he was certainly one of the most promising of the pupils. For a long time, too, he was the fun-purveyor of his comrades, his boisterous spirits, ready wit, and practical but harmless jokes endearing him to everyone. It was no easy matter for his parents to provide the ■wherewithal to pay for his education, and^ a story is

the lid T?p faC T V Or fiction ' is characteristic of rZr-rS f f f an ; His mother was obliged at some period of his studies to sell a strip of land belonging to * a.h n V In p Order ,°P a y for his tuition and hit keep. If on i, BB t e^' si ?f n said - " h °w shall we manage to get on without it ? " « Don't despond, mother, God will protection of the Cardinal Patriarch of Venice, Jacob Momco, he was enabled to continue his studies being sent to the Seminary of Padua, and told to don the clerical soutane (1850-1851). Here he obtained The Chief Prize of his Classes ng hi h rJ? rSt> H Be^ n 'i' and thlrd ? ears - In September, 1858 he received, the degree* in,, the* theolpgica faculty, and to the delight of his sisters and brothers who stood around him in the picturesque ,garb of peasants their faces wreathed in smiles, he was ordained priest by the Bishop of Treviso. His first Mass was a great event for the little village of Riese. Under such auspices Sarto entered the ministry, and Tombolo was his first parish— a tranquil spot containing some 3000 inhabitants, nestling among green hills and far removed from the dm and turmoil of the world By the peasants of the district the young and zealous priest was

ill' ,o t iidrve.!, for he took a sympathetic interest in fie r v, oil., had halm for their soirows, and fu'ely shared then ij !>()<•. Nt ]O} s. Ibe moial '-tatv.s of his' flock v a.-, giad'Mlly but perceptibly raised, his superiors appricii.W\.l his efforts and finally rewarded them with pro-ixotir-n t <j the post of Vicar of the diocese of Tmiso rnj V Canon's Stall in the Cathedral. P.'atly one autumn morni-no; of the year 1881, Sarto en-U-iri tie (i-.uihng of tho Bishop to' discharge lus duties as was his wort, and was in'ciracd by his superior that the Bishop ff Mantua had Hist been tiansfeued to the ai ' hicpiscopal See of I dine, " and now I defy you to P'C-s the name of his successor," he added. " I give it up, ' replied the \iear. " Well, come v.ith me and I will confide it to you," and taking him into an inner ai'ai tnicnt he laid before him the Papal buef, nominating Sarto himself to the episcopal See. The shock which the unsuspecting \icar received at this signal mark of confidence was severe, and as soon as ho had mastered h>s emotions he earnestly besought his friend to help him to withdraw from the great responsibility. But entreaties weie bootless : Sarto was obliged to accept the nntie, and to set out for his diocese, which he goierned with admirable results for a period of nine years He then received the Cardinal's- hat, and was appointed three days later to the patriarchal See of Venice, where he soon gained the hip.h esteem and popularity of all classes, especially the poor, by whom he was idolized.