Blessed Pope Pius IX

 There is a great statue of Pope Pius IX in the Confessio of St. Mary Major. Pope Pius commissioned the Confessio during his papacy to house the reliquary of the Holy Crib. This crystal reliquary decorated with silver bas reliefs holds five pieces of sycamore from the manger of Bethlehem. The statue of Pope Pius IX is an oversized kneeling figure with his eyes raised toward the apse mosaic of the coronation of Our Lady.

Pius was born in Italy in 1792 as Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti. He was elected to the Papacy in 1846, when he was just 54 years old. He reigned as pope for 32 years, the second longest papacy in history after St. Peter (reported to have been 37 years). 

Pius IX was not only Pope, but until 1870, he was also the ruler of the Papal States. The army of the recently unified Kingdon of Italy captured Rome and annexed the Papal States in that year. Pope Pius IX refused to recognize the new Italian kingdom and considered himself to be a prisoner of the Vatican. He preferred to live there as a prisoner rather than flee to one of the countries that offered him asylum. The Italian authorities left him free to perform his spiritual duties as head of the Church.

Pope Pius IX dies in 1878 at the age of 85. He was beatified in 2000 by Pope St. John Paul II. His Feast Day is February 7.

Blessed Pius IX, pray for us.