#pius v

THE DESCRIPTION OF POPE SAINT PIUS V The Pope of the Holy Rosary Feast Day: April 30

"Utinam dirigantur viæ meæ ad custodiendas justificationes tuas (O that my ways may be directed to keep thy justifications.)" -Papal motto of Pius V based on Psalms 119:5

The pope who is the initiator of the feast of the Holy Rosary, was born Antonio Ghislieri, on January 17, 1504 in Bosco in the Duchy of Milan. At the age of 14, he entered the Dominican order and taking the name Michele, passing from the monastery of Voghera to that of Vigevano, and thence to Bologna. Ordained a priest at Genoa in 1528, he was sent by his order to Pavia, where he lectured for sixteen years. At Parma he advanced thirty propositions in support of the papal chair and against the Protestant Reformation.

Elected as pope on January 8, 1566, through the influential backing of Charles Borromeo, he was crowned ten days later, on his 62nd birthday by the protodeacon.

This zealous Dominican pope vigorously implemented the reform of the Church. Following the decrees of the Council of Trent, he instructed the bishops to reside in their diocese, and parish priests to teach catechism to the youth. After removing corruption and nepotism from the Roman Curia, he cleansed the Papal States from brigands and prostitutes. His disciplinary penalties were so severe, that he was accused of transforming Rome into a monastery. It was during his pontificate, that the new breviary, missal and catechism, were published.

His papal bull, Regnans in Excelsis (Reigning on High), is issued on February 1570, and that bull results in the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth I.

The Pope's greatest success was the Battle of Lepanto, fought off the coast of Greece on October 7, 1571, and it was the first major defeat of the Ottoman Empire. The victory was attributed to the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose aid was invoked through praying the rosary. In commemoration of that event, he instituted the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary on October 7, and inserted the titled Mary, Help of Christians in the Litany of the Blessed Mother.

Furthermore, by these presents [this law], in virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We grant and concede in perpetuity that, for the chanting or reading of the Mass in any church whatsoever, this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment, or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used. Nor are superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than as enjoined by Us. We likewise declare and ordain that no one whosoever is forced or coerced to alter this Missal, and that this present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remain always valid and retain its full force.

“St. Pius V and St. Charles Borromeo defending Catholicism against Islam and the Protestant Heresy”

We mark the feast of Pope St. Pius V.

A Dominican who become a Pope, and is notable for his role in the Counter-Reformation, the Council of Trent, and the standardization of the Roman rite within the Latin Church. He is also the Pope who declared St. Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church.