Pope St Pius V

Today is the feast of a very important Pope who may be overlooked at times. In fact, before Popes St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II were canonized over a year ago, the only two Popes over the last 900 years to be Saints were Pius X and Pius V. Living in the height of so much reform in the church, Pope St Pius V was a Dominican, who helped a great deal during the Council of Trent, and he even introduced the new Roman Missal, which remained unchanged for almost 400 years, when Pope Paul VI introduced its revision.

Two important landmarks remind me of this beloved Pope. First he was a friend of the Maltese people, who were being attacked by the Turkish Empire in the 1550s and 1560s. After the Great Siege of Malta, which the Knights of Malta helped in defeating the Turks, The Grandmaster wanted to construct the city of Valletta, the capital city with all its fortifications, palaces and churches. He actually sent his own architect from Rome, Francesco Lapparelli to help construct the city of Valletta. This was completed by Lapparelli’s assistant Girolamo Cassar (possibly a distant relative,) including the massive Cathedral of St John, a gem which has just been restored.

The other interesting fact is that since Pope Pius V was a Dominican, he started using a white cassock instead of the black one that priests usually wear. All Dominican priests wear a white habit. It must have been hot during those summers, because the tradition remained that the Pope started to use a white cassock, which they still do, thanks to Pope St Pius V.

Some visitors to this blog asked about my e-mail. It is dungiljan@gmail.com  
Dun Giljan is Father Julian in my native language, Maltese.