The feast of Saint Pius X, titular patron of the Society, occurs on September 3 and is specially honored in chapels of the SSPX as a 1st Class Feast.
Thus the Feast is celebrated with a commemoration of the Sunday, according to the rubrics of the Roman Missal. St. Pius X was canonized by Pope Pius XII on May 29, 1954 and a special Mass (Extuli electum) was composed in his honor.
“I have exalted one chosen from among My people; with My holy oil I have anointed him and My arm will ever make him strong” (Introit). It was Christ who chose St. Peter, and it is Christ who speaks in this Introit of His choice of Giuseppe Sarto to be St. Peter’s successor. The saint’s motto, to renew all things in Christ, is woven into the Collect petition; his humble, childlike, and loving spirit as he furthered the cause of the Gospel is brought to our attention in the Epistle: “We became like little ones in the midst of you, like a mother cherishing her children … not only would we gladly impart God’s Gospel to you, but even our very soul, because you are become most dear to us.”
There is more than a veiled reference to his stand against Modernism in the Gradual, “Thy justice I did not hide in my heart,” or to his efforts on behalf of early and frequent holy Communion in the Alleluia, Offertory, and Communion antiphons: “Come children, listen to me… My Flesh is meat indeed… Thou hast spread a table in my presence.” Foremost in our minds is his great work on behalf of the sacred liturgy as we hear Jesus bid him, “Feed My lambs, feed My lambs, feed My sheep” (Gospel).
Source: Rev. Fr. P. Parsch, 1958, adapted and abridged.
