Fr. Romanus Cessario, O.P. gave the following homily on April 30, 1991 on the Feast of Pope St. Pius at St. John's Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts.

The Reform of Pius V:
Our Lady, The Jesuits, & A Racetrack

Michael Gishlieri was both born and baptized on 17 January 1504 in the tiny village of Bosco, then part of the Dutchy of Milan. Sixteen years later in 1520, when he was about to receive the habit of our Order, the Prior told him that nobody had ever heard of Bosco and therefore he was to be known as Michael Alexandrin-the name of the largest town in his native region. As a first assignment, Fra Michael taught theology within the Order. "He taught the divine sciences divinely," we are told, "ever mingling with the thorns of learning the thorns of Calvary, and always leading his pupils to the foot of the Cross." In addition to his teaching, Fra Michael, it seems, continually held the office of Prior. And the same chronicler assures us that Dominican convents waited with impatience for their turn to secure him as their head. In any event, God surely prepared this Dominican for a work of exceptional importance.

The Catholic world had undergone significant changes by the time Fra Michael was created a cardinal in 1557. And Cardinal Alexandrin accepted the responsibility of supervising these developments. So when the Pope accorded him the title, Supreme Inquisitor, it was felt by many Romans that the Holy Father simply followed a certain instinct by turning to the Dominicans in order to safeguard the "truth of the Catholic religion" from foreign, i.e., English and German, threats. But Alexandrin surprised even some of his supporters, for he also turned his attention to those Renaissance clerical styles which earlier had so disedified the young Martin Luther. Thus in 1566 shortly after St. Charles Borromeo announced the election of Pius V to the See of Peter, astute observers correctly saw in the new Pope a promise of true reform.

The chief dangers which menaced the Church during the third quarter of the 16th century seem strangely contemporary to us: First, the clear menace of Islamic aggression, secondly, the swift expansion of serious misunderstandings concerning the faith, and thirdly, the unyielding apathy of many Catholics with respect to these perils. In response to Turkish expansionism, Pius turned directly to the Mother of God, Mary Help of Christians. And his confidence was rewarded by the celebrated victory at Lepanto in 1571. Even the Turks recognized Pius's strength. "I fear the prayers of the Pope," declared Soliman the Magnificent, "more than I do the arms of his soldiers." As an answer to transalpine misconceptions, Pius turned, yes, to the newly-founded Jesuits. As a result, these soldiers of Christ were sent to preach the Catholic reformation in those regions of Europe where the Protestant Reform had taken the deepest root. However, Pius only partially grasped the genius of St. Ignatius's religious movement. Because he was a true son of St. Dominic, Pius told the Society of Jesus that unless they undertook the obligations of the choral office they would be no better than chimney-sweepers. And if Pius had not died just weeks before he was about to legislate this practice for the Society, Jesuit life would look considerably different than it does today.

More than any other disorder in the Church, this zealous Dominican Pope lamented apathy among Catholics. And he readily took decisive action against every form of spiritual torpor. We see one manifestation of this intensity when in 1570 he finally signed the Bull, Regnans in Excelsis, which excommunicated Elizabeth I of England. But a more personal experience better demonstrates Pius's singlemindedness. One of his nephews who had fought at Lepanto subsequently behaved badly in the position of trust confided to him in tribute to his bravery. St. Pius sent for him during the late evening, and once the negligent nephew entered the room, Pius lit a taper. "You will leave Rome," said the Pope, "before that candle is burnt out." And the record shows that the young man was wise enough to obey!

Cardinal Newman wrote: "I do not deny that St. Pius was stern and severe, as far as a heart burning and melted with Divine Love could be so. . . ." Still, this Dominican Pope could also demonstrate a compassionate understanding for the human condition of the Church. For example, when 16th-century urban renewal removed the racing grounds frequented by the Roman populace, Pius ordered the construction of the first Roman race track, the Corso, thereby inadvertantly becoming the patron saint of countless clerics who throughout the ages. . . ."

Pius V died on May 1, 1572. Before his death, he expressed a single concern: that the Cardinals would secure the reforms he had accomplished. And he died kissing the wounds of Christ. Throughout his long Dominican apostolate, Pius never really left the foot of the cross. He had also asked to be buried back in obscure Bosco, but his successor decided instead to bury Pius V in Santa Maria Maggiore as a testimony for all the Church to his confidence in the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today Pius V invites us to renew our devotion to the truth of the Catholic faith, so that we might experience anew the inexpressible graces which come to us only as a result of a living union with Jesus and Mary.