St. Pius V, May 5
from Dom Gueranger's Liturgical Year
Today, there comes before us a holy Pope, who governed the
Church in these latter times; he is worthy to stand amidst the Easter group of
Pontiffs. Like Leo, Pius the Fifth was zealous in combating heresy; like Leo, he
saved his people from the Barbarian yoke. The whole life of Pius the Fifth was
a combat. His Pontificate fell during those troubled times, when Protestantism
was leading whole countries into apostasy. Italy was not a prey that could be
taken by violence: artifice was therefore used, in order to undermine the
Apostolic See, and thus envelop the whole Christian world in the darkness of
heresy. Pius, with untiring devotedness, defended the Peninsula from the danger
that threatened her. Even before he was raised to the Papal Throne, he frequently
exposed his life by his zeal in opposing the preaching of false doctrines. Like
Peter the Martyr, he braved every danger, and was the dread of the emissaries
of heresy. Placed upon the Chair of Peter, he kept the innovators in check by
fear, he roused the sovereigns of Italy to energy, and by measures of moderate
severity, he drove back beyond the Alps the torrent that would have swept
Christianity from Europe, had not the Southern States thus opposed it. From
that time forward, Protestantism has never made any further progress: it has
been wearing itself out by intestine anarchy of doctrines. We repeat it: this
heresy would have laid all Europe waste, had it not been for the vigilance of
the Pastor, who animated the defenders of Truth to resist it where it already
existed, and who set himself as a wall of brass against its invasion in the
country where he himself was the Master.
Another enemy, taking advantage of the confusion caused in
the West by Protestantism, organized an expedition against Europe. Italy was to
be its first prey. The Ottoman fleet started from the Bosporus. Here again, there
would have been the ruin of Christendom, but for the energy of the Roman
Pontiff, our Saint. He gave the alarm, and called the Christian Princes to
arms. Germany and France, torn by domestic factions that had been caused by
heresy, turned a deaf ear to the call. Spain alone, together with Venice and
the little Papal fleet, answered the Pontiff’s summons. The Cross and Crescent
were soon face to face in the Gulf of Lepanto. The prayers of Pius the Fifth
decided the victory in favor of the Christians, whose forces were much inferior
to those of the Turks. We shall have to return to this important event when we
come to the Feast of the Rosary, in October. But we cannot omit mentioning, today,
the prediction uttered by the holy Pope, on the evening of the great day of
October 7th, 1571. The battle between the Christian and Turkish fleets lasted
from six o’clock in the morning till late in the afternoon. Towards evening,
the Pontiff suddenly looked up towards heaven, and gazed upon it, in silence,
for a few seconds. Then turning to his attendants, he exclaimed: “Let us give
thanks to God l The Christians have gained the victory I” The news soon arrived
at Rome; and thus, Europe once more owed her salvation to a Pope! The defeat at
Lepanto was a blow to the Ottoman Empire, from which it has never recovered:
its fall dates from that glorious day.
Prayer
Pontiff of the living God! Thou wast, whilst on earth, the
pillar of iron and wall of brass, spoken of by the Prophet. ‘Thine unflinching
firmness preserved the flock entrusted to thee from the violence and snares of
its many enemies. Far from desponding at the sight of the dangers, thy courage
redoubled, just as men raise the embankments higher, when they see the torrent
swell. By thee was the spread of Heresy checked; by thee was the Muslim
invasion repelled, and the haughty Crescent humbled. God honored thee, by
choosing thee as the avenger of his glory, and the deliverer of the Christian
people: receive our thanks, and the homage of our humble praise! By thee were
repaired the injuries done to the Church during a period of unusual trial. The
true reform,—the reform that is wrought by authority,—was vigorously applied by
thy strong and holy hand. To thee is due the restoration of the Divine,
Service, by the publication of the Books of holy Liturgy. And all these
glorious deeds were done in the six short years of thy laborious Pontificate!
Hear, now, the prayers addressed to thee by the Church
Militant, whose destinies were once in thy hands. When dying, thou didst
beseech our Risen Jesus to grant her protection against the dangers which were
then threatening her: oh I see the state to which licentious error has now
reduced almost the whole Christian world! The Church has nothing left to her,
wherewith to make head against her countless enemies, save the promises of her
Divine Founder; all visible support is withdrawn from her; she has been
deprived of everything except the merit of suffering and the power of prayer.
Unite, O holy Pontiff, thy prayers to hers, and show how unchanged is thy love
of the Flock of Christ. Protect, in Rome. The Chair of thy Successor, attacked
as it now is by open violence and astute hypocrisy. Princes and Peoples seem to
have conspired against God and his Christ:—disconcert the schemes of
sacrilegious ambition, and the plots of impiety which would fain give the lie
to the word of God. Avert, by thine intercession, the scourges which are
threatening Europe, which has become ungrateful to the Church, and indifferent
to the attempts made against her to whom they owe all they have. Pray that the
blind may see, and the wicked be confounded. Pray that the True Faith may
enlighten those numberless souls that call error truth, and darkness light. In
the midst of this dark and menacing night, thine eyes, O holy Pontiff, discern
them that are the faithful sheep of Christ: bless them, aid them, and increase
their number. Engraft them to the venerable Tree which dieth not, that so they
may not be drifted by the storm. Get them docility to the Faith and traditions
of holy Church; it is their only stay amidst the tide of error, which is now
threatening to deluge the whole world. Preserve to the Church the holy Order,
in which thou wast trained for the high mission destined for thee; keep up
within her that race of men, powerful in work and word, zealous for the Faith
and sanctification of souls, of which we read in her Annals, and which has
yielded Saints such as thyself. And lastly, O Pius, remember that thou wast
once the Father of the Faithful: continue to be so, by thy powerful intercession,
till the number of the elect be filled up!
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