Father Pio of Pietrelcina was a Holy Priest to whom God gave the gift of the stigmata. His feast is celebrated on September 23!
Biography
Father Pio was born on May 25, 1887, in Pietrelcina, southern Italy, and entered the novitiate of the Capuchin Friars at the age of 15. When he was 31 years old, Father Pio received the stigmata (the five wounds of Christ’s passion on his body). A few years later, Father Pio founded the “Home for the Relief of Suffering”, a 300-bed center funded by the small, sincere, and spontaneous donations and prayers of his followers.
Pio of Pietrelcina was called to his eternal rest on September 23, 1968, and many testify to the spiritual and temporal graces received when visiting his tomb in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. (San Pio Foundation)
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One of the famous phrases of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina is:
“Kneel down and pay tribute with your presence and devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Entrust all your needs to Him, along with those of others. Speak to Him with filial abandonment, give free rein to your heart and allow Him to act in you as He sees fit “.
Padre Pio is venerated as a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church, and I believe all Catholics should know about him and his legacy!
Today, Pio of Pietrelcina is the patron saint of teenagers, stress relief, and civil defense volunteers.
In addition, Padre Pio wrote many letters that can help you deepen your faith.
Letter from Padre Pio
This is a letter written by Padre Pio of Pietrelcina:
May the grace of the Lord abound in your hearts, transforming them totally in Him!
I receive with unspeakable consolation your letter overflowing with filial affection, and it encourages me to always be sincere with you and not cease to frankly admonish you in what I see as defective. May God be blessed, dearest children, for the most holy goodness He lavishes on your souls, which my heart truly and incomparably loves as myself. First of all, I must congratulate you on your constancy in the service of the Lord.
This constancy of yours makes me hope that, recognizing your defects, which you habitually fall into without determined and deliberate will, you will resolve to uproot them with the assistance of divine grace that abounds in you. What, then, are the defects that you recognize and that have taken root in some of you, though not in all? I do not hold back in notifying you of them.
I know that among you there are those who have quickly forgotten the great esteem due to those who have immediate direction over them. This direction is responded to with arrogance and, worse still, one pretends to be deaf when reprimanded for some mischief. Regarding this, I have to complain strongly to those at fault. To those, I remind nothing else, nor do I reprimand them, except for the solemn promise they made to me moments before parting from me.
I hope they will not fall into such faults again. Everything makes me hope for the total confidence I have in God and the great esteem these dear boys have for me. Apart from what I have communicated to you, I have no reason but to congratulate you. I see that your hearts are always full of good desires, and this makes me hope that you will devote yourselves with all your strength to correcting what I have expressed in this letter and also everything I told you while I was your director.
I know that you will be saddened because you will not be able to correct your imperfections effectively. Still, you must become strong, dear children, and remember what I have so often repeated to you on this subject: You must also work on the practice of fidelity to God to renew your resolutions as often as you transgress them and be on the alert to recognize your misery and thus not transgress them.
Take great care of your hearts to purify and strengthen them according to the number and magnitude of the inspirations you receive. Frequently elevate your souls to God; read good books as often as possible, but with great devotion; be assiduous in meditation, in prayers, and in examining your conscience several times a day.
Love my soul, which perfectly loves yours; and always commend me to divine mercy as I ceaselessly do for you. Never think, my dearest children, that the distance of place separates souls that God has united with the bond of His love.
The children of the world are all separated because they have their hearts in different places, but the children of God, having their hearts where they have their treasure, and all having but one treasure, which is the same God, are therefore always united…
Let us pray together
This is a prayer that Pius of Pietrelcina prayed when he wanted to pray for someone:
O my Jesus, who said: “Truly I tell you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you”. Behold, trusting in your holy words, I knock, seek, and ask for the grace…
(Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be).
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I hope and trust in You.O my Jesus, who said: “Truly I tell you, the heavens and the earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away“…” That is why I, trusting in the infallibility of your holy words, ask for grace…
(Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be).
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I hope and trust in You.O my Jesus, who said: “Truly I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in my Name, He will give you”. Behold, to the Eternal Father and in your name I ask for the grace…
(Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be).
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I hope and trust in You.O Sacred Heart of Jesus, to whom it is impossible not to feel compassion for the unhappy, have mercy on us, poor sinners, and grant us the graces we ask in the name of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our tender Mother. St. Joseph, adoptive father of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.
Amen.
You can use the Catholic Mass Times app to find the nearest Catholic church with Mass, Confession, and Adoration schedules. It will surely help you! Download it now.
What miracles does Padre Pio perform?
Padre Pio is known for numerous miracles attributed to his intercession, both during his life and after his death. He was recognized for extraordinary gifts, such as bilocation, the ability to read hearts in confession, and healing the sick. There have also been testimonies of inexplicable cures and sudden conversions through his intercession. One of the miracles recognized by the Church for his canonization was the healing of Matteo Pio Colella, a boy with fulminant meningitis who inexplicably recovered after prayers directed to the saint.
Why did Padre Pio receive the stigmata?
Padre Pio received the stigmata on September 20, 1918, while praying in the church of his convent in San Giovanni Rotondo. According to his testimony, he had a mystical vision of Christ crucified, after which the five wounds of the Passion appeared on his body. For 50 years, these stigmata remained open, bleeding without infection and were a source of intense suffering. The Church interpreted this phenomenon as a sign of his union with Christ and his sacrifice for the conversion of souls.
Who declared Padre Pio a saint?
Pope John Paul II was the one who canonized Padre Pio on June 16, 2002, recognizing him as a saint of the Catholic Church. The relationship between the two dated back to the 1940s when the young Karol Wojtyła wrote to him asking for prayers for a sick friend. In his canonization homily, the Pope highlighted Padre Pio’s deep life of prayer, his love for confession and the Eucharist, and his total dedication to God and others.
Where is Padre Pio's body located?
The body of Padre Pio is located in the Sanctuary of San Giovanni Rotondo, in Italy, where he spent much of his priestly life. In 2008, it was exhumed and found to be in a good state of preservation, which allowed for its display to the faithful. Since then, his body rests in a glass urn in the lower church of the sanctuary, where thousands of pilgrims come each year to venerate him and ask for his intercession.
