May 5th - Pope St. Pius V

[Stone]

The Sword of Saint Michael, Saint Pius V
by Lillian Browne-Olf, 1943

As a humble novice in a Dominican cloister, the future Saint and Pontiff (Pius V.) had selected for his patron in Religion the great Archangel Saint Michael, leader of the hosts of heaven and defender of Christ's Church on earth. Fitting, indeed, and prophetic of events to come, that choice must appear to us now. Nor is it a mere idle figure of speech when the author presents the consecrated hero of this book under the bold image of "The Sword of Saint Michael," that fiery weapon forged in the armory of God. In Italy, Spain, the Lowlands; in Germany, France, and England; in Poland, Scotland, and elsewhere, there was seething unrest involving the Church and leaving her no peace. Across the stage of history moved challenging personalities: Mary of Scotland, Elizabeth of England, Catherine de Medici, Cardinal Borromeo, Philip II of Spain, Suleyman the Turk, and Don John of Austria! These, and hosts of others, were friends or foes to be taken into account. But to picture comprehensively the scenes presented to us here we best can describe them as a gigantic encounter on three fronts.

The first front, then, was no other than Reform from within. As we must understand from Christ's infallible promise, error could never take possession of the Church He was to build on Peter, for the gates of hell were never to prevail against her. But it is quite another thing to say that iniquity and unworthiness could never be found in her. We have definitely Christ's own parables of the cockle growing up with the wheat and the bad fish taken together with the good in one single net. The day of judgment will set all things right. Yet holiness must always remain a mark of God's Church, and always she has had her legions of saints. Not unto death but unto life was the Sword of Saint Michael raised up here by the hand of God.

That brings us to the second front, the Lutheran Revolt. If now over Europe and beyond the bruit of discord rose bitter and unintermittent, the cause, as we well know and as all have reason deeply to deplore, was no other than the baneful division caused by the apostate German monk, false to his most sacredly pledged vows, but backed in his fatal step by temporal princes eager for the loot of churches and of monasteries. The cruelties practised against Catholics, where their adversaries prevailed, made clear the seriousness of the conflict and its terrible social and civic consequences. In judging the defensive actions taken against like evils and for the preservation of the Faith, we must be careful not to project our twentieth century back into the sixteenth. It was the ardent and heroic zeal of Pius V, aided by the steady advance of Catholic Reformation, that stayed the course of destruction.

Yet there was still a third front, the menace of the Moslem. This was the most sinister of all. "Crusade" was a thought uppermost in the Pontiff's mind, and here now was the opportunity forced upon him. All Western civilization was in imminent and most deadly danger. All efforts of appeasement could only end in still more tragic results. It was not long before the infidel was battering at the defenses of Europe, while his galleys, propelled by Christian slaves under the Mohammedan lash, were proudly riding the high seas. Victory followed the crescent, as later it perched on the swastika banners at the outset of the Nazi invasion. Yet the complete defeat of the Moor, through the Pontiff's supreme effort and the benign aid of Mary, Help of Christians, to whom the people cried for succor, was to be the triumphant event that climaxed the heroic career of Pope Saint Pius V. --from the Preface.





CONTENTS

PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR . . . . . . . . .1

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1. THE ELECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Candidates for the Papacy; The Conclave; Bor-romeo's Influence; Cardinal Alessandrino's Election

2. MICHELE GHISLIERI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
His Antecedents and Humble Home; Early Dominican Influence; Sword of Saint Michael: Dominican Inquisitor; Consistent Character As Dominican, Cardinal, Pontiff

3. THE RULER OF CHRISTENDOM . . . . . . . . . . 44
The Pope Continues His Monastic Habits; The Reforms of Pius V; His Threefold Program; Estimates of the New Pontiff; Salutary Results of Papal Reforms

4. LUTHER AND His WORKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Personality of Luther — His Doctrine of "Justification"; The Miinster Madness; The Peasants' Revolt; Religious Wars in Germany; The Peace of Augsburg; Commendone: The Ideal Papal Legate; The Diet of Augsburg Reconvened; The Jesuits Come to Commendone's Assistance; Maximilian's Army Against the Turks; Suleyman's Death; Biglia As Papal Nuncio; Commendone Is Recalled to Vienna; Papal Concessions to Germany; Catholic Restoration in Germany; Canisius' Labors and His Devotion to Catholic Unity

5. CAESAR'S CONFLICTS WITH CHRIST'S VICAR . . . . . . . 93
The Spanish King, Philip II; Strained Relations Between Pius V and Philip II; The Carranza Affair; The Papal Bull: In Coena Domini; The Monarchia Sicula; Character of Philip II: His Dynastic Ambidons; Papal Concessions to Spain; Papal Problems Regarding Borromeo's Reforms in Milan; Bor-romeo Is Attacked by the Umiliati; Zuniga Succeeds de Requesens As Philip's Ambassador in Rome; Arrest and Death of Don Carlos; Pius Continues to Urge Catholic Unity; Further Concessions to the Spanish King

6. REBELLION IN THE LOWLANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Seeds of Dissension Planted at Louvain: Baianism; Pius' Cross: The Gueux; Pius' Pleadings With Philip II; Alba Is Sent to Quell the Revolt; William of Orange's Allies: Lutherans, Huguenots, Calvinists; Alba's Victory Over William of Orange and Louis of Nassau; The Bishops' Plea for Leniency; The Papal Dilemma

7. Pius V WRESTLES WITH RECALCITRANT FRANCE . . . . . . . 148
The Huguenot Intrigue; The Tumult of Amboise; The Edict of Toleration; The Huguenot Movement Is Political; The Pope Sends Delia Torre to the French Court; Pius' Letters to Catherine, Charles, and the Bishops; The Huguenots Turn to England and the Prince of Orange; The Peace of Longjumeau; Catherine and Charles Shift Their Allegiance; The Religious War Is Renewed With Fury; The Victory of Jarnac; Pius Urges Charles Not to Lose the Fruits of Victory; The "Shameful" Peace of St. Germain; Dynastic Ambitions Continue to Guide French Royal Policy; The Catholics of France Are Aroused; The Mighty Labor of French Jesuits; The Catholic Revival in France

8. Pius V. EXAMINES APOSTATE ENGLAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Brief Review of Catholic England; Results of Henry VIII's Divorce From Katherine; Edward's Brief Reign Under Lord Seymour's Regency; Mary Tudor's Succession; The Restoration of Catholic Worship; Results of Mary's Marriage to Philip II; Mary's Death and Elizabeth's Accession; Elizabeth Shows Her True Colors to the Pope; The Thistle of Scotland: Mary Stuart; Her Defiance of the "Treaty of Edinburgh"; Mary Stuart and Tudor Elizabeth; Mary's Checkered Career; Pius V Appeals to the Scottish Queen; Mary's Catholic Loyalty Under Persecution; Elizabeth's Treachery and Mary's Ruin; Catholic Persecution; Papal Confidence in Mary Restored; The Northern Uprising; Pius V Excommunicates the Queen of England; Effects of His Bull: Regnans in Excelsis

9. Pius V's POLICIES IN POLAND . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Condition of Poland in the Sixteenth Century; The Diet of Lubin; Labors of the Dominicans and Jesuits in Poland; Cardinal Hosius's Untiring Catholic Efforts; Commendone Is Sent to Poland by Pius V; The Queen's Death Settles the King's Divorce; Poland's Refusal to Join the League Against the Turks; The Death of Sigismund Augustus

10. Pius V's MISSIONARY LABORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Pius V's Practical Grasp of the Missionary Field; The Jesuits Are Sent to South America; Azavedo's Report to Francis Borgia Concerning Brazil; Pius V Anticipates Pius XI; Cooperation of Sebastian and of Philip in the New World; Pius V's Careful Instructions to the Missioners; His Exhortation to the Spanish and Portuguese Rulers; Jesuit Achievements in the New World; Pius V Institutes the First Propagation of the Faith

11. Pius V As CRUSADER AGAINST THE INFIDELS . . . . . . 240
The Moors in Spain; Christian Slaves; The Island of Malta: Outpost of Catholic Europe; Philip II Grooms Don Juan for the Christian Crusade; The Papal Task in Urging the Rulers to Join the League; The Turks Raze Chios and Murder Its Inhabitants; Suleyman's Death and the Accession of Selim II; Pius Answers Venice's Appeal for Help; The Pope Sends de Torres to Madrid; The Terrible Fate of Cyprus and Its Cities; The Cause of the Failure of the Initial Crusade; The Valiant Pope Fights On!

12. VICTORY AND DEATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
The Battle of Lepanto; Preparation for the Battle; Pius Sends Granvelle to Present the Papal Banner; Don Juan Is Universally Acclaimed As Generalissimo; Precise Alignment of the Vessels; The Moslem Fleet Is Formidable; The Desperate Conflict; Maneuvers of the Galleys; The Tide of Battle Wavers; Victory! for the Christians; The Price of Victory; The Pope's Vision; Te Deum Laudamus; The Papal Vision Confirmed!; Pius' Admonition to Give the Glory to God; Pius V's Achievements; The Warrior-Pontiff's Dream of a Crusade to Rescue Jerusalem; Pius V's Lingering Illness; Journey's End; Pius V's Death Is the World's Loss; His Canonization

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

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