In a short biographical sketch such as this, it is impossible to
mention the names of persons, places, incidents, and events that
filled the comparatively short reign of this remarkable and saintly
Pope. Above all, his holiness shone forth conspicuously. From St.
Pius X we learn again that “the folly of the Cross,” simplicity of
life, and humility of heart, are still the highest wisdom and the
indispensable conditions of a perfect Christian life, while they are
the very source of all apostolic fruitfulness.

His last will and testament bears the striking sentence: “I was
born poor, I have lived in poverty, and I wish to die poor.”

Perhaps nowhere in the history of the Church is there a better
example of a man possessed of so many of the saintly virtues—
piety, charity, deep humility, pastoral zeal, and simplicity—than in
one of the newest of God’s elect, St. Pius X. Yet the parish priest of
Tombolo, who remained a country priest at heart throughout his
life, faced the problems and evils of a strife-torn world with the
spiritual fervor of a crusader. The inscription on his tomb in the
basilica of St. Peter’s gives the most eloquent testimony to a life
spent in the service of God:

“Born poor and humble of heart,
Undaunted champion of the Catholic faith,
Zealous to restore all things in Christ,
Crowned a holy life with a holy death.”

PRAYER: O God, Who, in order to preserve the Catholic Faith
and to restore all things in Christ, have filled Saint Pius, Thy
Supreme Pontiff, with heavenly wisdom and apostolic zeal: grant,
we beseech Thee, that we, who follow his precepts and examples,
may attain eternal rewards. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Lives of the Saints, pages 349-350, and newadvent.org