The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1913-04-17
POPE Plus X,
FROM OBSCUR|TY
Great Questions Solved and
Tasks Performed Dur
ing His Reign.

pope's chambers. After chatting awhile
the pope smiled and remarked:
"You and are brothers. Your name,
Schneider means tailor My name,
'Sarto, means tailor Therefore we
are brothers in name''
His humor was shown on another
occasion when he was talking to a
famous dentist monk Of Rome.
II should like to have you pull a
tooth for me, but it is impossible" said
the pope.
"Why is it impossible, holy father?"
inquired the monk.
'Because,' said the pope, 81 have
none left to pull"
Giuseppi Sarto was born June 2,
1885, in the village Of Riese, in the
diocese of Treviso, north of Venice.
His parents were peasants, and his
early life was necessarily burdened to
some extent by poverty.
Often Knew Hunger.
Often he knew what it was to be
hungry, but Beppo, as the child was
Familiarity called, would share with
other lads, more hungry still, his food.
Later, as he had expressed a desire to
be a priest, he became student Of the
Bishops seminary at Padua. Here his
warm, genial and sympathetic nature
made him like the very sun in the COL
lege.
He always found time to help the
poor and visit the sick. He was Or
dained two years before the canonical
age. In his priesthood the only thing
he neglected was his own i'll fed and
i'll clothed body. His sister, who was
his housekeeper and only servant, had
to hide away his things under lock
and key, and when the dinner was be-
ing prepared she dared not leave the
kitchen lest the scanty meal should be
spirited away to meet some case of
poverty
In spite Of the hardships of his boy
hood he loved the simplicity Of rustic
life, and that love was not displaced
by all the grandeur of the Vatican.
Reports frequently have come from
the papal court to the effect that Pope
Plus, surrounded by all the great art
treasures of the Vatican, welding in
fuence over millions of people and re-
ceiving the homage of great people,
including temporal rulers still longed
for the simple life of the village or of
Venice.
Was a Pious Boy.
Giuseppe Santos mother saw while
he was a very young boy that his in
clinatiOns were toward the priesthood.
She let him plan his own career, how
ever, but when he told her that he
would go to the seminary and study
for the priesthood, if he could be spar
ed from the family, she took him up
in her arms and declared that her Sc
cret prayers had been answered.
After studying awhile at the village
school in REESE and under the direction
of the local priest Giuseppi Sarto went
to TrevisO and entered the seminary
Nine years later. in 1858, he was or
dained.
For the next nine years he was an
assistant priest at the church of San
Rafael. in the little town of Colombo
Here he entered into the lives Of the
people, sharing their joys and sorrows
and working earnestly for the conso-
lation and advancement of the poor
In his spare time he studied hard and
sometimes wrote poetry.
Worked Among the Poor.
In May, 1867, he was appointed to
the passionate of st. Peters church at
Salcano. There he established a con-
ciety, an organization for relief work
among the poor. and the result of this
work soon was felt through all Italy.
The administrative abilities of the
pastor of St. Peters church was rec
ognized by the church authorities. and
when he was forty years old he was
made examiner Of the clergy, chancel-
lor Of the diocese and spiritual director
of the Salcano seminary A year later
he was made vicar general.
In 1884 he was given the episcopacy
Of the diocese Of Mantua. There he
continued to work indefatigably, es-
pecially among the poor He walked
through the streets and conversed with
the people as freely as he had when
he was only Father Sarto. parish
priest. 1t has, indeed, been said of
him, "He has always been a parish
priest
The necessity Of finding a strong man
to fill the important patriarchate of
Venice came up for the consideration
of Pope Leo XIII. in 1893 The Italian
government notified the pope that il
reserved the right to make the appoint
ment, but the pontiff was firm and was
permitted to make the selection. BE
chose Bishop Sarto Of Mantua
His Independence Manifested.
| In a short time relations between the
new cardinal and the Vatican became
strained because the patriarch called
on the king of Italy, who was visiting
Venice. Cardinal Sarto, however. ha(
his own ideas as to how to deal with
any situation bearing on the 50 called
disagreement between the Vatican an(
tho Onirina] His indonondoDoo IN +b;.