Today, 21 August, the liturgical feast day of St. Pius X, we remember his going to heaven which took place on 20 August 1914. Pius X, born Giuseppe Sarto, was born in Riese (TV) on 2 June 1853 and died in Rome in 1914. He was proclaimed a saint by Pope Pius XII on 29 May 1954.

From the evidence kept in the archives of the generalate house we can see the great nearness of this Pope to our Order.

Amongst the various documents in our possession I would like to share five with you that mark important stages in the history of the Great Camillian Family.

1. On 26 July 1905 Pope Pius X approved by a Bull the ‘Privilege of a Portable Altar’, a privilege by which Camillian religious were allowed to celebrate Holy Mass in the rooms of sick people ‘both sick and poor, and to give them Holy Communion’. This privilege had been requested by Fr. Francesco Vido, the Superior General of the Order, who well knew how much comfort could be given to the sick by their drawing near to the Eucharist.

2. On 26 June 1914 Pope Pius X by a letter granted indulgences during the third centenary of the death of St. Camillus de Lellis.

3. Authentic approval of the circular letter of Fr. Gioacchino Ferrini in favour of a monument to the Immaculate Mary to be erected in Rome. In a letter of 19 March 1904 the Superior General requested that an altar be dedicated to the Virgin Mother of Health in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene.

4. Authentic approval of the circular letter of Fr. Gioacchino Ferrini of 1 February

1906 in which the construction of a church in honour of St. Camillus in the neighbourhood of Ludivisi was requested. This is the present-day Camillian parish to be found in Via Sallustiana.

5. During his visit to Mantua, on 14 April 1889 Msgr. Sarto ordained Enrico Rebuschini a priest in the chapel of the Camillian religious house.

These historical documents confirm the affection that Pius X had for the Order, as well as his nearness to it and the attention he paid to it. As Fr. Angelo Brusco observed during a conference on the first centenary of the death of Pius X which was held in Venice at the Lagoon Cultural Centre, ‘In the Camillian Order, devotion to St. Pius X has remained constant, making him familiar and invocation of his intercession frequent…For Camillian religious that meek face evokes a relationship of friendship and generates a feeling of gratitude for his authoritative recognition of the validity of a ministry exercised in favour of those who experience the consequences of human frailty in  body and spirit!’

We remind you that all this material, and other material as well, can still be consulted at the Archives of the Generalate House which is open to the general public by appointment after writing to the following address: archivioagmi@gmail.com

Download here the paper of Angelo Brusco in PDF

Read here the press information