St. Pius V

Saint Pius V (1504-1572) was the Dominican pope who carried the reforms of the Council of Trent into the daily life of the Church and whose devotion to the Rosary is forever linked with the victory of Lepanto. Born Antonio Ghislieri on January 17, 1504, at Bosco in northern Italy, he entered the Dominican Order at fourteen, taking the name Michele. He taught theology and philosophy, served as prior of several houses, and became known for austere discipline and personal poverty long before high office found him. His learning and integrity drew him into the service of the Roman Inquisition, and he was made bishop, then cardinal in 1557, and grand inquisitor. Elected pope in January 1566 with the support of Saint Charles Borromeo, he kept his white Dominican habit, a custom by which popes are said to have worn white ever since, and continued his monastic simplicity of life while governing the universal Church. As pope, Pius V devoted himself to implementing the Council of Trent. He published the Roman Catechism (1566), reformed the Breviary (1568), and in 1570 promulgated the revised Roman Missal, standardizing the celebration of Mass in the Latin Church for the following four centuries. He enforced clerical residence and discipline, reformed the papal court, cared generously for the poor of Rome, and declared Saint Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church. His pontificate also saw grave political conflicts, including his 1570 excommunication of Queen Elizabeth I of England, a measure with lasting historical consequences. Facing the advance of the Ottoman fleet, Pius V organized the Holy League, whose forces won the decisive naval battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. Attributing the victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, invoked through the Rosary, he instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory, soon renamed Our Lady of the Rosary, which the Church still celebrates on October 7. For this reason he is honored as a patron of the Rosary. Pius V died in Rome on May 1, 1572. He was beatified in 1672 by Pope Clement X and canonized in 1712 by Pope Clement XI. His feast is kept on April 30, and his tomb may be visited in the Sistine Chapel of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome.