Pope Pius IX: hero of the 19th century.

The Lord has given the church many heroes down through the centuries, and each person he gives us is for a specific reason for a specific time, but not only for that time. The 19th century is a perfect example of that. The church suffered greatly during that century, but the Lord knew we needed him to be at our sides to assure us that he would keep his promise that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church.

We have an expression which you may have read in any one of our books: In times of crisis, God sends us special grace. This grace may come from Eucharistic miracles, apparitions by Our Lady, or saints and other powerful men and women in the church. It may come in the form of angelic intercession. It will come from anywhere the Lord deems necessary. There is only one thing of which we can be assured; it will come. He will use whatever or whoever it takes, whenever it is needed, to protect us from anything or anyone who would bring us anywhere near the brink of hell. Very often, even if it means protecting us from ourselves.

The signal grace we want to focus on in this book, the special powerful man in our church we want to share with you, is Blessed Pope Pius IX. He was elected pope at one of the most crucial periods in the history of the church and remained at the helm of the ship of the church longer than any pope before or since - 32 years.

He is responsible for many great things during his papacy, including but not limited to the dogma of papal infallibility, the dogma of the immaculate conception of Our Lady, the short-lived Vatican I, and his ongoing battle against the elements who were out to destroy the church, namely the beginnings of the New Age movement and the liberals all over Europe, but especially Victor Emmanuel in Italy, who not only plotted to steal the papal lands, but ultimately forced our Pope to end his pontificate as a self-imposed prisoner inside the Vatican walls.

These and many other attacks made against Pope Pius IX, lovingly called Pio Nonno, caused him much grief throughout his papacy, but the Lord kept him in charge for for 32 years for a good reason; there was a job to be done! God knew Pius IX could get the job done!