Pope St. Pius V (1504-72)

Feast Day: April 30
Canonized: May 22, 1712
Declared October 7 the Feast of Our Lady of Victory

Pope St. Pius V, known as “the pope of the rosary,” was born as Michele Ghislieri in Bosco, Italy in 1504, and became a Dominican priest at 26.

The Dominicans named him an Inquisitor to combat Protestant errors, and later he became bishop and cardinal of Nepi and Sutri, a diocese near Rome. Devoted to prayer and personal penance, he was known especially for his humility. As cardinal and pope, Pius continued to wear the simple white Dominican habit, beginning the tradition of popes wearing white.

Elected pope in 1566, he enforced Church law and morality and rooted out corruption and heresy. Undertaking the Council of Trent’s reforms, he oversaw completion of the Catechism of the Council of Trent, and revision of the Roman Breviary and Missal.

His greatest feat came late in his pontificate when he persuaded European leaders to lay aside rivalries and join in a Holy Alliance against the Muslim Turks, whose imminent invasion greatly threatened Europe. Europe’s unified fasting and prayer, including the rosary, resulted in the Christians’ decisive victory over the Muslims in the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. Pius declared October 7 the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, memorializing triumph through the Blessed Mother.