POPE ST. PIUS X

This Catholic stained glass window is centered on St. Pius X. Pope St. Pius X (June 2, 1835 – August 20, 1914), born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914, succeeding Pope Leo XIII (1878–1903). He was the first pope since Pope Pius V (1566–72) to be canonized. Pius X codified Catholic doctrines to inspire conformity in the church and rejected modernism. His most important reform codified Church law in a central fashion. He was a pastoral pope, encouraging personal piety and a lifestyle reflecting Christian values. He was born in the pastoral town of Riese.

Pope Pius was a Marian Pope, whose encyclical Ad Diem Illum expresses his desire through Mary to renew all things in Christ, which he had defined as his motto in his first encyclical. Pius believed that there is no surer or more direct road than by Mary to achieve this goal. Pius X was the only Pope in the 20th century with extensive pastoral experience at the parish level, and pastoral concerns permeated his papacy; he favored the use of the vernacular in catechesis. Frequent communion was a lasting innovation of his papacy. Pius X defended the Catholic faith against popular 19th century views such as indifferentism and relativism, which his predecessors had warned against as well. Pius opposed the theological school of thought known as modernism, which claimed that Catholic dogma itself should be modernized and blended with nineteenth century philosophies. He viewed modernism as an import of secular errors affecting three areas of Roman Catholic belief: theology, philosophy and dogma.

Personally, Pius combined within himself a strong sense of compassion, benevolence, and poverty. He wanted to be pastor and was the only pope in the 20th century who gave Sunday sermons every week. His charity was extraordinary, filling the Vatican with refugees from the 1908 Messina quake, long before the Italian government began to act on its own. He rejected any kind of favors for his family, his brother remained a postal clerk, his favorite nephew stayed on as village priest, and his three sisters lived together close to poverty in Rome. He often referred to his own humble origins, taking up the causes of poor people. I was born poor, I have lived poor, and I wish to die poor. Considered a holy person by many, public veneration of Pope Pius began soon after his death. Numerous petitions resulted in an early process of beatification

At the top of the window is a dove surrounded by tongues of fire. The dove represents the Holy Spirit and the tongues of fire represent the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, which St. Pius X made fruitful use of. Below the central image are three ovals. The one on the left contains his coat of arms. The one on the right contains the Holy Eucharist. The central oval contains the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On top of the outer frame are seven fire-like winged shapes that represent the seven spirits (angels) of God that surround his throne in the book of Revelation.  The twenty light blue circles in the border around the window represent the twenty mysteries of the rosary, which is a contemplative prayer of the life of Jesus, Mary. The eighteen yellow, orange, red diamond like shapes in between the rosary beads represent the angels assigned to help St. Pius X in his priestly and papal ministry