JULY 11TH, COMMEMORATION OF ST. PIUS I., POPE & MARTYR

Month in honor of the Most Precious Blood of OLJC.

From the Roman Breviary —

Pius, the first of that name, was the son of a certain Rufinus from Aquilia, and was a Priest of the holy Roman Church when he was made Supreme Pontiff. He ruled the Church of Rome under the Emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, and he held five ordinations in the month of December, wherein he ordained twelve Bishops and eighteen Priests. There remain several eminent ordinances of his, notably that which lays down the rule that the Resurrection of the Lord be not observed upon any day of the week save the Lord's Day. He turned the house of Pudens into a church, and on account of its eminence above the other churches, as being that where the Bishop of Rome dwelt, he dedicated it under the name of "the Shepherd". Here he often celebrated the Sacrificeand baptized and numbered among the faithful many converts to the Faith. While he strove to do the work of a good shepherd, he shed his blood for his sheep and for the chief Shepherd, Christ. He was crowned with martyrdom upon the 11th day of July, in the year of Salvation 157, and buried upon the Vatican Hill.