Pope St. Pius X Tribute
Pauly Fongemie
Nothing in the Saint's decree on Holy Communion for children dictates that the Sacrament of Confirmation was to be changed in any way.
"More than anything else, it was Pius X’s reforms on the Eucharist which had the greatest impact on the daily lives of Catholics. At that time, many people only received Communion three or four times a year." [Traditional web site biography of the Saint] With his decree Sacra Tridentina Synodus (1905), Pius finished off what remained of Jansenism, by promoting frequent and daily Communion. "He stated that Holy Communion was not a reward for good behavior but, as the Council of Trent noted, it is 'the antidote whereby we may be freed from daily faults and be preserved from mortal sins.' In his decree Quam singulari (1910), the pope laid out guidelines on the age of children who are to be admitted to Holy Communion. Pius said, “The age of discretion for receiving Holy Communion is that at which the child knows the difference between the Eucharistic Bread and ordinary, material bread, and can therefore approach the altar with proper devotion.” In the past children, or better adolescents, received their first communion when they were between the ages of 12-14; now they might be as young as 7." [Ibid.] Nothing about Confirmation.
The Catechism that is derived from the dogmatic Council of Trent, says this about the Sacrament of Confirmation and the suitable age for reception: Note that the Sacramental order is after Baptism and says nothing about First Communion in relation to Confirmation. [Emphasis in bold added.]
THE PROPER AGE FOR CONFIRMATION
Here it is to be observed, that, after Baptism, the Sacrament of Confirmation may indeed be administered to all; but that, until children shall have attained the use of reason, its administration is inexpedient. If it does not seem well to defer (Confirmation) to the age of twelve, it is most proper to postpone this Sacrament at least to that of seven years.
Confirmation has not been instituted as necessary to salvation, but that by virtue thereof we may be found very well armed and prepared when called upon to fight for the faith of Christ; and for this conflict no one assuredly will consider children who as yet lack the use of reason to be qualified.
Confirmation is Distinct from Baptism
Although said by Melchiades to have a most intimate connection with Baptism, Confirmation is still not to be regarded as the same, but as a very different Sacrament; for the variety of the grace which each of the Sacraments confers, and of the sensible sign employed to signify that grace, evidently render them distinct and different Sacraments.
Since, then, by the grace of Baptism we are begotten unto newness of life, whereas by that of Confirmation we grow to full maturity, having put away the things of a child, we can sufficiently understand that the same difference that exists in the natural life between birth and growth exists also between Baptism, which regenerates, and Confirmation, by virtue of which growth and perfect spiritual strength are imparted to the faithful.
Besides, as there should be a new and distinct kind of Sacrament when the soul has to encounter any new difficulty, it may easily be perceived that as we require the grace of Baptism to form the mind unto faith, so is it also of the utmost advantage that the souls of the faithful be strengthened by a different grace, to the end that they be deterred by no danger, or fear of pains, tortures or death, from the confession of the true faith. This, then, being accomplished by the sacred chrism of Confirmation, it is hence clearly inferred, that the nature of this Sacrament is different from Baptism.
Hence Pope Melchiades accurately evolves the difference between them, writing as follows: In Baptism man is enlisted into the service, in Confirmation he is equipped for battle; at the baptismal font the Holy Ghost imparts fullness to acomplish innocence, but in Confirmation he ministers perfection to grace; in Baptism we are regenerated unto life, after Baptism we are fortified for the combat; in Baptism we are cleansed, after Baptism we are strengthened; regeneration of itself saves those who receive Baptism in time of peace, Confirmation arms and makes ready for conflicts.
These are truths not only already recorded by other Councils, but specially defined by the holy Council of Trent; so that we are therefore no longer at liberty not only to think otherwise, but even to entertain the least doubt concerning them.
Query for this benighted, brash priest:
How do you know what was in the Pontiff's mind and that he made a mistake when he issued his decree, Quam singulari? How can you possibly know what he forgot or did not forget?
You yourself said that the order of the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Confirmation has changed. This means this order by Divine mandate is permitted to change since the change of order is from Tradition, which you ironically referred to in so many words.
Father, if you are interested in important matters that the updated but unofficial Church - no authority can bind in conscience what deviates from Tradition, a de fide truth - has forgotten I have several citations from this illustrious Pope and others. You keep praising Pope Francis while denigrating this great Saint by telling us he erred, and almost in the same breath citing Pope Francis and the changes he is making and that we ought to follow him. I will, indeed, Father, so long as he follows Tradition and not the circular reasoning of modernism and or the profound and profuse confusion of modern Churchmen who received poor seminary training and impart the odious impression that some doctrine can change.
For starters just let me remind you that one of the qualities of the virtue of humility is that one who possesses this virtue and practices it cannot by definition make statements such as "I have the humility to ......." He who is humble does not know he is. He does not have to make a display of it, he simply is humble. No Saint has ever declared such a startling claim, "I have the humility to ...."
Quotations to ponder and remember:
"I was born poor, I have lived poor, I wish to die poor." - Pope St. Pius X's last will, as quoted in an obituary in The Maine Catholic Historical Magazine (1914) Volumes 3-6, p. 17
"But since the Modernists (as they are commonly and rightly called) employ a very clever artifice, namely, to present their doctrines without order and systematic arrangement into one whole, scattered and disjointed one from another, so as to appear to be in doubt and uncertainty, while they are in reality firm and steadfast, it will be of advantage, Venerable Brethren, to bring their teachings together here into one group, and to point out the connexion between them, and thus to pass to an examination of the sources of the errors, and to prescribe remedies for averting the evil.
Papal encyclical letter "Pascendi dominici gregis" ("Feeding the Lord's Flock") promulgated by Pope Pius X on 8 September 1907.
"Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven. There are others: innocence, but that is for little children; penance, but we are afraid of it; generous endurance of trials of life, but when they come we weep and ask to be. The surest, easiest, shortest way is the Eucharist."
Indeed, the true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries, nor innovators: they are traditionalists. - Pope St. Pius X, Our Apostolic Mandate
Catholic doctrine tells us that the primary duty of charity does not lie in the toleration of false ideas, however sincere they may be, nor in the theoretical or practical indifference towards the errors and vices in which we see our brethren plunged but in the zeal for their intellectual and moral improvement as well as for their material well-being ...
True, Jesus has loved us with an immense, infinite love, and He came on earth to suffer and die so that, gathered around Him in justice and love, motivated by the same sentiments of mutual charity, all men might live in peace and happiness. But for the realization of this temporal and eternal happiness, He has laid down with supreme authority the condition that we must belong to His Flock, that we must accept His doctrine, that we must practice virtue, and that we must accept the teaching and guidance of Peter and his successors.
Further, whilst Jesus was kind to sinners and to those who went astray, He did not respect their false ideas, however sincere they might have appeared. He loved them all, but He instructed them in order to convert them and save them. Whilst He called to Himself in order to comfort them, those who toiled and suffered, it was not to preach to them the jealousy of a chimerical equality. Whilst He lifted up the lowly, it was not to instill in them the sentiment of a dignity independent from, and rebellious against, the duty of obedience. Whilst His heart overflowed with gentleness for the souls of good-will, He could also arm Himself with holy indignation against the profaners of the House of God, against the wretched men who scandalized the little ones, against the authorities who crush the people with the weight of heavy burdens without putting out a hand to lift them.
He was as strong as he was gentle. He reproved, threatened, chastised, knowing, and teaching us that fear is the beginning of wisdom, and that it is sometimes proper for a man to cut off an offending limb to save his body. Finally, He did not announce for future society the reign of an ideal happiness from which suffering would be banished; but, by His lessons and by His example, He traced the path of the happiness which is possible on earth and of the perfect happiness in Heaven: the royal way of the Cross. These are teachings that it would be wrong to apply only to one's personal life in order to win eternal salvation; these are eminently social teachings, and they show in Our Lord Jesus Christ something quite different from an inconsistent and impotent humanitarianism. - Pope St. Pius X, Our Apostolic Mandate
"... a great movement of apostasy being organized in every country for the establishment of a One-World Church which shall have neither dogmas, nor hierarchy, nor discipline for the mind, nor curb for the passions, and which, under the pretext of freedom and human dignity, would bring back to the world the reign of legalized cunning and force, the oppression of the weak, and of those who toil and suffer." - Pope St. Pius X, Our Apostolic Mandate
"Obviously the need of this Christian instruction is accentuated by the decline of our times and morals. It is even more demanded by the existence of those public schools, lacking all religion, where everything holy is ridiculed and scorned. There both teachers' lips and students' ears are inclined to godlessness. We are referring to those schools which are unjustly called neutral or lay. In reality, they are nothing more than the stronghold of the powers of darkness. - Pope St. Pius X, Editae Saepe
"Venerable brethren, there is only one piece of advice that I offer to you: watch over your seminaries and over candidates for the priesthood.
"As you yourselves know, an air of independence which is fatal for souls is widely diffused in the world, and has found its way even within the sanctuary; it shows itself not only in relation to authority but also in regard to doctrine.
Because of it, some of our young clerics, animated by that spirit of unbridled criticism which holds sway at the present day, have come to lose all respect for the learning which comes from our great teachers, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, the interpreters of revealed doctrine.
"If ever you have in your seminary one of those new-style savants, get rid of him without delay; on no account impose hands upon him. You will always regret having ordained even one such person: never will you regret having excluded him." -Pope St. Pius X, Allocution to the Bishops, December 12, 1904
"Our Apostolic Mandate requires from Us that We watch over the purity of the Faith and the integrity of Catholic discipline. It requires from Us that We protect the faithful from evil and error; especially so when evil and error are presented in dynamic language which, concealing vague notions and ambiguous expressions with emotional and high-sounding words, is likely to set ablaze the hearts of men in pursuit of ideals which, whilst attractive, are nonetheless nefarious. Such were not so long ago the doctrines of the so-called philosophers of the 18th century, the doctrines of the Revolution and Liberalism which have been so often condemned." - Pope St. Pius X, Our Apostolic Mandate
"That the State must be separated from the Church is a thesis absolutely false, a most pernicious error. Based, as it is, on the principle that the State must not recognize any religious cult, it is in the first place guilty of a great injustice to God; for the Creator of man is also the Founder of human societies, and preserves their existence as He preserves our own. We owe Him, therefore, not only a private cult, but a public and social worship to honor Him. Besides, this thesis is an obvious negation of the supernatural order. It limits the action of the State to the pursuit of public prosperity during this life only, which is but the proximate object of political societies; and it occupies itself in no fashion (on the plea that this is foreign to it) with their ultimate object which is man's eternal happiness after this short life shall have run its course. But as the present order of things is temporary and subordinated to the conquest of man's supreme and absolute welfare, it follows that the civil power must not only place no obstacle in the way of this conquest, but must aid us in effecting it." -Pope St. Pius X, Vehementor Nos
" ... Further, whilst Jesus was kind to sinners and to those who went astray, He did not respect their false ideas, however sincere they might have appeared. He loved them all, but He instructed them in order to convert them and save them. Whilst He called to Himself in order to comfort them, those who toiled and suffered, it was not to preach to them the jealousy of a chimerical equality. Whilst He lifted up the lowly, it was not to instill in them the sentiment of a dignity independent from, and rebellious against, the duty of obedience. Whilst His heart overflowed with gentleness for the souls of good-will, He could also arm Himself with holy indignation against the profaners of the House of God, against the wretched men who scandalized the little ones, against the authorities who crush the people with the weight of heavy burdens without putting out a hand to lift them.
"He was as strong as he was gentle. He reproved, threatened, chastised, knowing, and teaching us that fear is the beginning of wisdom, and that it is sometimes proper for a man to cut off an offending limb to save his body. Finally, He did not announce for future society the reign of an ideal happiness from which suffering would be banished; but, by His lessons and by His example, He traced the path of the happiness which is possible on earth and of the perfect happiness in Heaven: the royal way of the Cross. These are teachings that it would be wrong to apply only to one's personal life in order to win eternal salvation; these are eminently social teachings, and they show in Our Lord Jesus Christ something quite different from an inconsistent and impotent humanitarianism." - Pope St. Pius X, Our Apostolic Mandate
“Progress” of dogmas is, in reality, nothing but corruption of dogmas … I absolutely reject the heretical doctrine of the evolution of dogma, as passing from one meaning to another, and different from the sense in which the Church originally held it. And likewise, I condemn every error by which philosophical inventions, or creations of the human mind, or products elaborated by human effort and destined to indefinite progress in the future are substituted for that Divine Deposit given by Christ to the faithful custody of the Church . . . Condemned and proscribed is the error that dogmas are nothing but interpretations and evolutions of Christian intelligence which have increased and perfected the little seed hidden in the Gospel." - LAMENTABILI SANE, Pius X, July 3, 1907
More citations from Pope St. Pius X:
Absolute truth must be unchangeable!
It is an error to believe that Christ did not teach a determined body of doctrine applicable to all times and to all men, but rather that He inaugurated a religious movement adapted, or to be adapted, to different times and different places.
For, since it is the will of Divine Providence that we should have the God-Man through Mary, there is no other way for us to receive Christ except from her hands.
The Child is not found without Mary, His Mother . . . If, then, it is impossible to separate what God has united, it is also certain that you cannot find Jesus except with Mary and through Mary.
From Bl. Pope Pius IX: NOTE: All the statements listed below are condemned:
The best theory of civil society requires that popular schools open to children of every class of the people, and, generally, all public institutes intended for instruction in letters and philosophical sciences and for carrying on the education of youth, should be freed from all ecclesiastical authority, control and interference, and should be fully subjected to the civil and political power at the pleasure of the rulers, and according to the standard of the prevalent opinions of the age. - Epistle to the Archbishop of Freiburg, Cum Non Sine, July 14, 1864.
Catholics may approve of the system of educating youth unconnected with Catholic faith and the power of the Church, and which regards the knowledge of merely natural things, and only, or at least primarily, the ends of earthly social life.- Ibid.
The Syllabus of Errors by Bl. Pope Pius IX: NOTE: All the statements listed below are condemned:
III. INDIFFERENTISM, LATITUDINARIANISM
15. Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true. - Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862; Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.
16. Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation, and arrive at eternal salvation. - Encyclical "Qui pluribus," Nov. 9, 1846.
17. Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ. - Encyclical "Quanto conficiamur," Aug. 10, 1863, etc.
18. Protestantism is nothing more than another form of the same true Christian religion, in which form it is given to please God equally as in the Catholic Church. - Encyclical "Noscitis," Dec. 8, 1849.
IV. SOCIALISM, COMMUNISM, SECRET SOCIETIES, BIBLICAL SOCIETIES, CLERICO-LIBERAL SOCIETIES Pests of this kind are frequently reprobated in the severest terms in the Encyclical "Qui pluribus," Nov. 9, 1846, Allocution "Quibus quantisque," April 20, 1849, Encyclical "Noscitis et nobiscum," Dec. 8, 1849, Allocution "Singulari quadam," Dec. 9, 1854, Encyclical "Quanto conficiamur," Aug. 10, 1863.
X. ERRORS HAVING REFERENCE TO MODERN LIBERALISM
77. In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship. -- Allocution "Nemo vestrum," July 26, 1855.
67. ... But these advantages can be attained only if private wealth is not drained away by crushing taxes of every kind. For since the right of possessing goods privately has been conferred not by man's law, but by nature, public authority cannot abolish it, but can only control its exercise and bring it into conformity with the commonweal. Public authority therefore would act unjustly and inhumanly, if in the name of taxes it should appropriate from the property of private individuals more than is equitable. - Pope Leo XII, Rerum Novarum, May 19, 1891
These are but a small number of available Catholic truths that are eternal. For his contribution to the handing down of the entire Catholic Faith without confusion or adulteration, I salute this great great Saint and acknowledge him as my guide in all things along with the Martyr, St. Paul. May they both look down on Holy Mother Church in grave peril from those who are in the midst of destroying the Faith from within and those who assail from without, whether they subjectively intend to do so or not; may these two remarkable Saints be of avail in our petitions to Heaven that the Barque of Peter will aright itself through the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as requested by Her of the Pontiff and all the Bishops united with him.
The desperate state of the world and of the Church is the result of the Popes' continual failure to do the Consecration since She made the request at Fatima. In this regard Pope St. Pius X had two visions that were similar to the Fatima Vision of Sister Lucy. In 1909, eight years before the first appearances at Fatima, during an audience with members of the Franciscan Order, St. Pius X had a vision of a future pope fleeing Rome. He said:
“What
I have seen is terrifying! Will I
be the one, or will it be a
successor? What is certain is that the Pope will leave Rome and, in
leaving the Vatican, he will have to pass over the dead bodies of his
priests!”
Just before he died Pope St. Pius X had another similar vision,
in
which he saw a future pope of the same name fleeing over the
bodies of his brethren, before being killed himself.
“I
have seen one of my successors, of the same name
who was fleeing over the bodies of his brethren. He will take refuge in
some hiding place; but after a brief respite, he will die a cruel
death”.
The name being referred to is not the papal name –
Pius or Benedict – but rather the given name of the man who was then –
and now still is – pope emeritus. Pope St. Pius X’s given name is
Giuseppe,
which is Joseph in English. Similarly, Pope Benedict XVI’s given name
is Joseph. Hence the pope fleeing in this papal prophecy is likely that
of the "bishop in white", Benedict XVI, who as pope emeritus still wears
white robes. This will happen when there is a communist
revolution in Italy it is thought. Note, the Fatima prophecy says
"Bishop in white", not "Pope in White."Our Lady of Fatima,
St. Paul,
St. Pius X, ora pro nobis