Description:

Religious Relics



Pope St. Pius X Personally Owned Zuccetto (Head Cap), With Vatican Provenance

 

A truly extraordinary Vatican relic: Pope St. Pius X's (1835-1914) personally owned and used zucchetto. Designed and crafted by the Pope's personal tailor Gammarelli, in Rome, Italy.

 

Condition: Excellent, used condition; four minor scuffs; somewhat yellowed inside. Accompanied by the original Vatican certificate of authenticity which hand-sewn on the zucchetto, and dated 1911.  Provenance: Private Collection, Italy. Certification of authenticity from the Vatican, dated Mars 1911: "Used calotte by His Holiness Pius X." (original: “Calotte portèe par Sa Saintetè Pie X.”, in French”.

 

Pope St. Pius X was one of the most influential Popes in history, born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was head of the Catholic Church from August 1903 to his death in 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting liturgical reforms and orthodox theology. He advanced the Liturgical Movement as the only Pope to favor the use of the vernacular language in teaching catechesis and encouraged frequent reception of holy communion by relaxing the fasting requirements and lowering the age for First Communion, which became a lasting innovation of his papacy. In addition, he strongly defended the Catholic religion against indifferentism and relativism. Like his predecessors, he promoted Thomism as the principal philosophical method to be taught in Catholic institutions. As Roman Pontiff, he vehemently opposed modernism and various nineteenth-century philosophies, which he viewed as an import of secular errors incompatible with Catholic dogma. Pius X was known for his overall rigid demeanor and sense of personal poverty. He frequently gave homily sermons in the pulpit every week, a rare practice at the time. After the 1908 Messina earthquake he filled the Apostolic Palace with refugees, long before the Italian government acted. He rejected any kind of favours for his family, to which his close relatives chose to remain in poverty living near Rome

 

After his death, a strong cult of devotion followed his reputation of piety and holiness. He was beatified in 1951 and was canonized as a Catholic saint on 29 May 1954.

 

A Pope is often defined by his white outfit; a tradition started by Pope Innocent V in 1276. The single most iconic and significant part of the clothing is the small white hat, also known as a zucchetto or a calotte. From the moment he wakes up, until the moment he falls asleep, the white zucchetto is placed on the head of the Pope. A zucchetto is a private property of the Pope and it’s extremely uncommon to actually for a private person to own a zucchetto that’s been personally owned and used by a Pope.


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