St. Pius X

St. Pius X was born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto on 2 June 1835 at Riese in the Veneto, the son of a village postman, and died on 20 August 1914 as the First World War began, a conflict he had striven and prayed to prevent. Rising from humble beginnings through parish ministry to become Patriarch of Venice and a cardinal, he was elected pope in 1903 and took as his motto "to restore all things in Christ."

A pastor at heart even on the throne of Peter, he is best remembered for encouraging frequent and even daily Communion and for admitting young children to the Eucharist once they had reached the age of reason, earning him the title "the Pope of the Eucharist." He also reformed sacred music and the Breviary, promoted the catechism and sound religious instruction, began the great work of codifying canon law, and firmly resisted the errors he called Modernism. Renowned for his personal simplicity and holiness, he was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1954.