September 23
Saints of the Day
 

Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, 1887-1968, Francesco Forgione
Italian Capuchin with stigmata for 50 years... a great Saint of our days!

    Father Pio, born in Pietrelcina (in the Province of Benevent, Italy), joined the Capuchin Order in 1902 and became a member of the Capuchin community of the monastery San Giovanni Rotondo (Province of Foggia) in 1918.
    He is the first stigmatized priest of church history... for 50 years!.
    His celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was a moving experience for thousands, his greatest glory!.
    His Confessions were often a divine experience for many, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back.
    Each morning after a 5 a.m. Mass in a crowded church, he heard confessions until noon. He took a mid-morning break to bless the sick and all who came to see him. Every afternoon he also heard confessions. In time his confessional ministry would take 10 hours a day; penitents had to take a number so that the situation could be handled. Many of them have said that Padre Pio knew details of their lives that they had never mentioned.
    Father Pio prayed up to 30 Rosaries every day.
    Founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital that serves 60,000 a year.
    In the 1920's he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.
    Padre Pio also suffered the attacks of the devil. http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=1021

    Miracle Worker:
    Reportedly able to bilocate, levitate, and heal by touch.
    Many people have turned to the Italian Capuchin Franciscan to intercede with God on their behalf; among them was the future Pope John Paul II. In 1962, when he was still an archbishop in Poland, he wrote to Padre Pio and asked him to pray for a Polish woman with throat cancer. Within two weeks, she had been cured of her life-threatening disease. She is still officially blind in Italy with clouds in her pupils... but she can see!.
    The miracle of Gemma: She was blind from birth. At age 9 her grandmother wrote to Padre Pio to pray for her and when Gemma was in a train with her grandmother to see Padre Pio suddenly started to see.  In the Video you can see her eyes of a blind... Saint Pio, one hour Video
    I have the scarf Padre Pio always used because I went to San Giovanni to get a good picture of the eyes of Gemma, who is now a nun, but she was in Sicily in Christmas and the Father who took care of us could not locate her. I was a bit disappointed, because I wanted to go to Sicily immediately, so the Father gave his old scarf. Many laymen and priests appreciate just a string from the scarf.

    The stigmata:
    While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on 20 September 1918, the first priest ever to be so blessed. He had the stigmata in his hands, feet and chest, and continued for 50 years, often bleeding profusely. As word spread, especially after American soldiers brought home stories of Padre Pio following WWII, the priest himself became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious.
    Life became more complicated after that. Medical doctors, Church authorities and curiosity seekers came to see Padre Pio who rarely left the friary after he received the stigmata, but busloads of people soon began coming to see him.
    In 1924 and again in 1931, the authenticity of the stigmata was questioned; Padre Pio was not permitted to celebrate Mass publicly or to hear confessions or to write letters for 10 years. He did not complain of these decisions, which were soon reversed. However, he wrote no letters after 1924.

    Yes, one of the greatest Saints of our times, with Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Father Josemaria Escriva founder of the Opus Dei, Maximilian Kolbe, Edith Stein...