THE SCHOOL NAME

About this time 150 years ago, a young Italian boy was changing from his local primary school to the secondary school of his choice.

His name was Guiseppe Melchiorre Sarto. He was called Bepi for short. He was a village boy, born in June 1835, the son of a local postman.

Bepi Sarto studied to become a priest. Later he became a Cardinal and in August 1903, when Pope Leo XIII died Bepi was chosen as the new Pope. He took the name Pius X.

Pope Pius changed the rules regarding the Eucharist. He allowed children to make their First Holy Communion at seven years of age instead of thirteen or fourteen.

Pope Pius X died in 1914 of bronchitis. Many people recognised him as a very Holy man. Others claimed that through their prayers to him, after his death, that many miracles had been worked. It was because of this that on the 29th May 1952 Pope Pius X was canonised a saint. His feast day is on August 21st.

In our school prayers we often say "St Pius X Pray for Us".