The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-09-12

| theorem of geometry through the eff
cient assistance of his bishop, while the
next one would hear him discourse
gracefully and cleVerly on a speech OF
/ cicero, and others find him equally well
! informed on Greek and history But the
| goodness of his heart was superior even
! to his erudition. He was notoriously
/ poor; yet somehow, when Pope Leo
AlI1 (for whom he cherished a deep
Veneration) suggested and recommend
! cd to the students of theology care
| fu! study of St Thomas Aquinas- he
managed to scrape from his limited al
lCwance the money with which to buy
and bestow upon the poorer students of
the class the fourteen expensive vol
umes of the "Summa Theological"
The vast range of his general knowl-
edge was made more apparent when,
the teacher Of moral theology in the
seminary having died suddenly, he
undertook to substitute for him, and
explained to the great satisfaction of
his pupils the difficult canonical theo-
ries. DE justitia eft jure ct de con-
tractibus And yet some people insist
in questioning, as | said, his knowledge;
also on the ground that he always
speaks Italian. and preferably the soft
bright, expressive Venetian dialect, and
that his Venetian birth is always clear
ly felt in his use of the language, it is
discussed whether his knowledge of
French, English and German-which is
not entirely denied-is satisfactory.
There is one thing. however. about
the new pope which is not questioned.
either by friend or foe, and that is his
amiable disposition, his kindness of
heart and manner, and his really
&c ny-.t 1rrr,o
iIy. Two more characteristics will en-
dear him to all Anglo -SaxOns-he is =
born fighter, whose spirit is restrained,
though not always quite efficiently
tanned, by consciousness of the duties
which become a Catholic priest; and
he has a curiously acute sense of hu-
NOR. Two or three little stories will
serve 10 illustrate the assertion. The
following shows his humor: Don Giu-
seppe Sarto tsuch was his title them
having received from the pope his nom
ination 10 the episcopal see of Mantua,
decided just before leaving Freviso
that he would go and pay his respects
to his former bishop, Monsignor Gale
gari. But as his train took him to
Mantua at an hour too early for pas
toral calls, he betook himself to the
Church of Santa Giustina. and there
informed the rector of his desire to
celebrate mass. without, however, stat
ing his new episcopal dignity. His
clothes happened to be, or rather were
as always, quite modest, and the rector
thought it well to inquire further into
the conditions of the unknown priest
Where do you come from?"
From Treviso.'
What is your business in Treviso?"
None"
why, do you mean to say that you
are no curate, no chaplain, not even
assistant to the chapel; in short, moth
ing?"
Just so. your reverence"
We'll, Treviso needs priests badly
enough, and you claim that you do
nothing. l will speak to your bishop +
in regard to that; meanwhile, you may |
celebrate mass"
Yes, your reverence"
And Don Giuseppe Sarto went and |
celebrated mass with great devotion |
and humility of behavior quite eXem-
plary, under the suspicious eye of a /
sacristan whom the unsatisfied rector |
had ordered to watch the unknown !
priest. The celebration ended, very |
humbly. the priest was asked to sign
the register of foreign offlciators ac-
cording to the custom, and he signed
thus: Giuseppe Sarto. bishop-eIect OF
Mantua." 1t is not stated What the
rector had to say when he saw the
ominous line. /