Dwyer Quentin Wedvick

This is part one of three in a series on heraldry. The next article will explain the coats of arms of six other Popes. The illustrations were especially painted for this article by the late Michael Francis McCarthy.

Conjectural Theory for the Arms of St. Pius X

Pope St. Pius X, 1903-1914, was the only canonized pope of the 20th century (Yves Chiron, St. Pius X) and the first since St. Pius V (1566-72). His Holiness Pope St. Pius X, or Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was sometimes known as Beppo to his family, friends and parishioners. The above-noted biography includes a number of photos of him and a monochrome illustration of his coat of arms, which raised my curiosity as to their source and the reasons for their choice. This will shortly become clear as described below.

St. Pius X, born June 2, 1835, in the village of Riese, Italy, was the second son of ten children to Giovanni Battista Sarto (1792-1852) and his wife Margherita Sanson (1813-94). Riese had about 500 families, mainly farmers, set in the midst of the agricultural area of the Venetian plain. Giovanni Battista was the cursore of Riese, a sort of town clerk and assistant to the mayor. In addition to his salary, the Sartos owned and farmed three fields with a total area of 2.2 acres. Additionally, Margherita had been a dressmaker before she married. They inherited the house they lived in, which was better than a peasant's cottage but definitely not middle class.

From an early age, Giuseppe displayed a predilection for holiness and great intelligence. At age eleven he was entered into the "College" of Castelfranco, which was about four miles from Riese.

He walked to and from the college every day for the four years he attended and frequently went barefoot with shoes tied around his neck to save his family the expense of shoes. The college was run by secular priests, and everyone there, classmates and teachers alike, described him as good natured to all, jovial, calm and studious. Examinations were given by the seminary of Treviso every six months and on every occasion, Giuseppe Melchiorre passed first in every subject, every time!

A year or so before graduating from the college Beppo declared his desire to become a priest, which precipitated a domestic crisis. The families of seminarians were expected to bear the cost of their priestly education and formation, and the Sarto family, with ten children, could not afford the financial burden. However, in view of St. Pius's academic record and vocational disposition, the prefect of studies at the Treviso seminary, Canon Casagrande, approached the Patriarch of Venice to see if something could be done. By good fortune, the Patriarch, Cardinal Monico, happened to come from Riese himself and a "free place" was arranged for Beppo at the seminary of Padua by a letter from the Cardinal dated August 22, 1850.

Giuseppe Sarto entered the seminary at Padua in 1850. This seminary was considered one of the best in Italy, and Giuseppe spent eight years studying and working there. On September 18, 1858, the future St. Pius X was ordained a priest. Meanwhile, both his father and Cardinal Monico had died in 1852.

Giuseppe became a curate and served from 1858-67 when he took over as parish priest of the large parish of Salzano in the town of Salzano, remaining there as pastor until 1875.

In 1875, aged 40, he was appointed canon of the cathedral of Treviso, spiritual director of the seminary, and chancellor of the Episcopal curia. Obviously, his bishop thought highly of both him and his performance in Salzano. The appointments carried a promotion to Monsignor–up to now he had been formally known as Don Sarto. Due to the age and infirmness of his Bishop, Msgr. Zinelli, and the age of the vicar general, the day-to-day running of the diocese fell largely on Msgr. Sarto's shoulders. He fulfilled his responsibilities well for the next nine years.

Late in 1884, aged 49, he was appointed Bishop of Mantua. The diocese was in sad condition, but Bishop Sarto built it up over the next few years, paying particular attention to the seminary and priestly formation. When he was a parish priest his sisters had kept house for him. As bishop, he now needed to assume arms, and he chose those at left [Note: all the arms in this article were kindly painted by the late Michael Francis McCarthy, Australian artist and author]. The blazon: Azure, a three tined anchor in pale above waves of the sea proper, a six pointed star or in chief.

In Heraldica Collegii Cardinalium, McCarthy illustrates very similar arms in monochrome (on previous page) for Cardinal Giacomo Monico, Patriarch and Archbishop of Venice, the very same gentleman who had "found" a free place for Giuseppe Sarto in the seminary of Padua in 1850. It is thought that these arms are too similar to be a matter of coincidence, and this therefore appears to be an instance of arms of admiration. The blazon for Cardinal Monico's arms is: Azure, a three pronged anchor argent, a chief azure, a six pointed star argent. If one takes out the chief of the Cardinal's shield and places the star in chief on the azure field, the only differences are the metals of the anchor and star, and the addition of waves for Bishop Sarto's shield. Indeed, why should not Bishop Sarto remember with gratitude the prelate who helped him, and pattern his arms closely after his?

After nine years of good stewardship of his diocese, "the fame, zeal and piety of the Bishop of Mantua spread beyond the bounds of his diocese. His conspicuous merit and ability had not escaped the vigilant eye of Pope Leo XIII" (Forbes, 1954). On June 12, 1893, Pope Leo XIII named Bishop Sarto, then aged 58, Cardinal and three days later Patriarch and Archbishop of Venice. His tenure as Patriarch of Venice was notable for its reforms, especially in the seminaries and in sacred music and even in his quiet relations with the civil government.

Cardinal Sarto now made a change to his arms (at left), which was really the addition of the chief of Venice. The blazon: Azure, a three tined anchor in pale above waves of the sea proper, a six pointed star or in chief, a chief of Venice: Argent, a lion passant winged and nimbed proper, holding in his right paw an open book with the words "Pax Tibi Marce Evangelista Meus."

The field of the new chief had been changed by Cardinal Sarto from gules (red) to argent (white) to make the heraldic point that this was the "religious emblem of St. Mark's Lion and not the insignia" (Martin, 1987) of the former Serenissima, the ancient maritime Republic of Venice. It may be supposed that the Or and Argent could have been picked up by the late Archbishop Bernard Bruno Heim in his book, Or and Argent, especially as he was involved in the arms design wherein the same chief was used for John XXIII and John Paul I, but no trace could be found there.

Nine years later, in 1903, after an exciting conclave, Cardinal Sarto was, at age 68, elected pope as Pius X. However, he made no changes to his arms as Pope (right), disappointing heraldic pundits who felt he ought to have dropped the Chief of Venice. The traditional elements of all papal heraldry are present: The tiara and keys symbolize the authority of the Roman Pontiff.

St. Pius X managed an effective papacy, his reforms including the encouragement of The Catholic Encyclopedia, a 16-volume set published between 1907-14. He also started and encouraged the first unified Canon Law, finally published in 1917, and set standards for priestly formation in seminaries, and in the restoration of sacred music and, most importantly, set modernism back for 60 years.

During all this time, he maintained a saintly level of personal piety and humility. He had instructed that his body should not be embalmed, and these final wishes were observed when he died on August 29, 1914, aged 79.

As part of the beatification process, exhumation and canonical examination of the remains take place at some point. The remains of St. Pius X were so examined on May 19, 1944, 40 years after his death, and found to be incorrupt. "This non-corruption is not an additional proof of sanctity, but it is a miracle which can confirm a reputation that has been otherwise established" (Chiron, 2002).

Dwyer Quentin Wedvick was born in 1940 and has been a soldier, a sometime Captain in the U.S. Army, a stockbroker, a yacht restorer, and owner of a contract delivery business. In his semi-retirement he pursues his ambition to be a student of heraldry. A Catholic and parishioner at Christ the King Church in Ridgefield, Connecticut, he is a Knight of the Constantinian of St. George (Madrid). Angelus Press is acknowledged for permission to include quotations from the biography of Pius X (Yves Chiron, 2002).

References

The Catholic Encyclopedia, XII, 137-8. Robert Appleton Company, 1911.

Chiron, Yves. Saint Pius X, Restorer of the Church. Kansas City, Mo.: Angelus Press, 2002.

Forbes, F. A. Pope St. Pius X. Rockford, Ill.: Tan Books and Publishers, 1954.

Martin, Cardinal Jacques. Heraldry in the Vatican. Gerrards Cross: Van Duren Publishers, 1987.

McCarthy, Michael Francis. Heraldica Collegii Cardinalium, 1800-2000. Darlinghurst, Australia: Thylacine Press, 2000.

Cardinal Giacomo Monico

Bishop Sarto

Cardinal Sarto

Saint Pius X: Restorer of the Church

Yves Chiron

Chiron breaks new ground by establishing an exact, fair portrait of St. Pius X, who is often portrayed as a pious pope of great Faith, but "retrograde, simplistic and close-minded to modern...ideas." In fact, he was not a pietistic simpleton, but a powerful and brilliant defender of the True Faith in the face of the Modernism that was invading the Church even in those days–the beginnings of the Liberalism that resurfaced at Vatican II. Mr. Chiron demonstrates that he was a tireless defender of the rights of the Church against secularism; a great reforming pope, restoring Gregorian chant as the sacred music of the Church, reforming the Curia, initiating the codification of Canon Law, and devoting himself especially to reforming the seminaries in order to form pious, zealous young priests, on guard against the creeping infection of Modernism.

Chiron draws from many sources, especially Italian, where this man rose from being a poor farm boy to being the Vicar of Christ. The author was also able to research the Vatican Archives.

There is no better "rags-to-riches" story, for he came from a poor but hardworking family and rose to the heights of spiritual riches.

352pp, 6" x 9" softcover, 24pp. of illustrations, STK# 6768✱ $25.00