Saint Pius V, OP
1504 - 1572

April 5

Pius V was born in a small town in Lombardy and entered the Dominican Order where he was ordained a priest at the age of twenty-five.

He combined his intellectual ability with a deep spirituality from the beginning of his life as a Dominican right through his time as Pope. As a Dominican he served as professor, prior and provincial. He was then appointed to the Office of Inquisitor in Rome and subsequently was named bishop and then a Cardinal. He continued to wear his white Dominican habit when he was a cardinal and even after he was elected pope. This became the standard dress of all subsequent popes.

As Pope, Saint Pius imposed strict standards of lifestyle on himself, the Curia and even the city of Rome. The money that was saved from the coronation and other banquets and festivities, was distributed among the poor, hospitals and needy religious houses. His personal lifestyle was simple and austere, and he continued a life of prayer and meditation. One day each month, he spent in service to the poor.

Saint Pius was Pope after the Council of Trent and was involved in implementing the decrees of the Council. He published the Roman Catechism, a revised Roman Breviary and a revised Roman Missal.

The battle of Lepanto, October 7, 1571 owed much of its success to the support of Saint Pius and to the prayer he encouraged, the rosary. October 7th is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Saint Pius’ reign as Pope was clouded by the complexities of world and church politics of that period of history. The Dominican Order celebrates him as a faithful, simple and prayerful member of the Order.