Saint Pius V
Pope
- Feast Day
- April 30
- Life
- 1504–1572
- Canonized
- 1712
- Order
- Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
- Born
- Bosco Marengo, Duchy of Milan
Antonio Ghislieri was born on January 17, 1504, at Bosco (now Bosco Marengo) near Alessandria in the Duchy of Milan. At age fourteen he entered the Order of Preachers at Voghera, taking the name Michele. Ordained priest in 1528, he served as professor of philosophy and theology and as prior of several Dominican houses.
His reputation for orthodoxy and austerity led to his appointment as inquisitor at Como (1543), commissary general of the Roman Inquisition (1551) under Pope Julius III, Bishop of Sutri and Nepi (1556), and Cardinal in 1557 by Pope Paul IV. As Grand Inquisitor under Pope Pius IV, he opposed laxity in matters of doctrine. He was elected Pope on January 7, 1566, and took the name Pius V.
His pontificate was dedicated to the implementation of the Council of Trent, which had concluded in 1563. He promulgated the Roman Catechism (1566), the Roman Breviary (1568), and the Roman Missal (1570) by the bull Quo Primum, the latter establishing the form of the Mass that, with limited modifications, remained the Latin Church's standard until the reforms following the Second Vatican Council. He raised Saint Thomas Aquinas to the rank of Doctor of the Universal Church in 1567 and ordered the publication of his complete works.
In 1571 he organized the Holy League with Spain and Venice against Ottoman expansion. The Christian fleet under Don John of Austria defeated the Ottoman navy at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. Pius V attributed the victory to the rosaries prayed by the Confraternities of the Rosary throughout Christendom and instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory, later renamed Our Lady of the Rosary, on that date.
He died at Rome on May 1, 1572. He was beatified by Pope Clement X in 1672 and canonized by Pope Clement XI on May 22, 1712. His memorial was set on April 30 in the calendar reform of 1969.
Saint Pius V is the principal pope of the Catholic Reformation. By promulgating the Roman Catechism, Breviary, and Missal as ordered by the Council of Trent, he gave the Latin Church the liturgical and catechetical framework that would shape it for four centuries. His attribution of the victory at Lepanto to the rosary established the universal liturgical commemoration of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7, drawing the Church's gratitude for that deliverance from Ottoman naval power into permanent prayer.
Catholic Churches Named After Saint Pius V
15 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint Pius V's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- St. Pius V Church — Pasadena, TX
- St. Pius V — New Salem, ND
- St Pius V Church — Cannon Falls, MN
- Saint Pius V Roman Catholic Church — New York, NY
- St. Pius V — Walsh, IL
- Saint Pius V Chapel — Mandaue City
- St. Pius V — Troy, IN
- Saint Pius V Catholic Church — Buena Park, CA
- St. Pius V — Providence, RI
- Saint Pius V Catholic Church — Pasadena, TX
- Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus- St. Pius V — Chicago, IL
- St. Pius V Church — Providence, RI
- St. Pius V — Chicago, IL
- St. Pius V — Lynn, MA
- St. Pius V — Saint Louis, MO
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