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 St. Pope Pius V: 5th Centenary of Birth Scott 1258-1259 (2004) The Feast of Pope Saint Pius V is celebrated on April 30, one day before the anniversary of his death on May 1, 1572. The two-stamp set shown above was issued in 2004 by Vatican City to commemorate the fifth centenary of his birth. The stamps show images from an altarpiece by Grazio Cossoli showing Pope Pius V honoring Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, following the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, a major event during his papacy. The altarpiece, shown at the bottom of this article, is located at the Chapel of the Rosary at the Chiesa di Santa Croce in Bosco Marengo. The future pope was born Antonio Ghislieri on January 17, 1504, in Bosco in the Duchy of Milan. In 1518, he entered the Dominican Order and took the name “Michele”. Following his ordination in 1528, he was sent to Pavia, where he served as a lecturer in theology and philosophy for sixteen years. Pope Paul IV created him a cardinal in 1557 and inquisitor general in 1558. He gained a reputation as a reformer during the Reformation era and a strict adherent to the dictates of the Council of Trent. He was elected Pope in 1566 and took the name Pius V. In the areas of clerical and Church doctrine, the pope was a strict follower of Church orthodoxy and worked to standardize the liturgy of the Roman Rite. He opposed simony and nepotism, in particular the practice followed by past popes of making family members cardinals (“nephew-cardinals” were common, including young boys in their early teens). He issued a series of decrees on blasphemy and public immorality in Rome, and began a systematic review of religious orders, abolishing some which did not perform up to the mark. He published a catechism in 1567, a revised breviary in 1568, a Roman missal in 1570, and set up a commission to revise the Vulgate Bible. He also visited Roman basilicas to ensure that the reforms of the Council of Trent were being carried out. Historian J. N. D. Kelly writes that Pius V: "made it his avowed objective to put into effect, in every sphere, the decrees of the Council of Trent (the concluding session of which ended in 1563) and was a man who always thought and acted from a spiritual viewpoint [and] made no change in his mortified style of life, continuing to wear a monk’s rough undergarments beneath his papal robes.”  "Pope Pius V Credits Our Lady of the Rosary with the Victory at the Battle of Lepanto", by Grazio Cossali From Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain Pope Pius V also had an impact on foreign affairs. Two events stand out in this regard. By means of the papal bull “Regnans in Excelsis”, in 1570 he excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England for heresy and persecution of English Catholics during her reign. In 1571, he arranged for the formation of the Holy League, an alliance of Catholic states to combat the advancement of the Ottoman Empire in Eastern Europe. In a stunning victory, the Holy League famously defeated the Ottomans at the Battle of Lepanto that same year. The pope attributed the victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and in tribute instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory, or Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (which is celebrated on the anniversary of the battle on October 7). Pope Pius V died on May 1, 1572, perhaps due to bladder stones. He was first buried at the Vatican, but his remains were later transferred to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in 1588. As efforts to canonize Pope Pius V were initiated, it was determined that a new tomb be created at the Basilica, and in 1698 he was moved to his current resting place in the Sistine Chapel in Saint Mary Major. He was beatified by Pope Clement X in 1672 and canonized by Pope Clement XI on May 22, 1712. REFERENCES: |
