We take as our patron Blessed Pius IX, Holy Roman Pontiff from 1846 to 1878. 

Blessed Pius IX stood firm against heresy and modernism, and he was renowned for the publication of the Syllabus of Errors in 1864 which condemned many of the ideological developments of the 19th century.  

Faithful to the call of the Gospel to renounce all things for the sake of the Lord, he lost control over most of the territory of the Papal States in 1860 on account of his unwavering commitment to his fulfilment of his Christian duty to the child, Edgardo Mortara.  As a baptized Christian, Edgardo Mortara had the right to a Christian education, and Pope Pius IX incurred the wrath of the entire world by ensuring that this child could have a Christian education and the opportunity to participate in the sacramental life of the Church and attain to the Kingdom of Heaven.

For Blessed Pius IX, the soul of one child was so precious that was willing to lose his entire temporal kingdom, the Papal States, to save it.

This wonderful act of self-sacrifice should be commemorated with rejoicing.  We should rejoice that God blessed the Church so abundantly by giving her a Pope who was willing to lose everything in the service of the Gospel.  Let us pray that God may give us another Pope like Blessed Pius IX.

Jesus says: "every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting."  

Blessed Pius IX gave up a whole kingdom for the sake of our Lord.  

What will you give up for our Lord?