Saint Pius was born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto on June 2, 1835 in the village of Riese Italy. He was son of the Village Tax Collector and Postman, Giovanni B. Sarto and Margherita Sanson. He earned a scholarship to a Seminary in Padua in 1850 and was ordained a priest on September 18, 1858 at the age of 23 with a Papal dispensation. He served as an assistant priest at Tombolo for nine years and then received his first pastorate at Salzano. Pope Leo XIII named him Bishop of Manuta in November 1884. In June, 1893 he was made the Patriarch of Venice, which was a very difficult task. On August 4, 1903 he was elected Pope and took the title of Pius X.
His pontificate of eleven years and sixteen days was most remarkable for many reasons. On December 20, 1905 he issued the decree for frequent and daily Communion. In August 1910 he issued the decree for early communion for children. During his reign the Roman Breviary was reformed and he restored to the Liturgy the Sacred Chant for the Church. On August 20, 1914 on the Eve of the World War I which he so desperately tried to prevent, the 79 year old Pontiff died. By special permission Beatification of Pius X took place only 37 years after his death and he was Canonized 40 years after his death. He was Beatified on June 3, 1951 and Canonized May 29, 1954. His feast day is observed on August 21st. The inscription on Pope Pius X’s tomb in the crypt of the basilica of St. Peter’s give the most eloquent testimony to a life spent in the service of God;