Pio of Pietrelcina: a priest with stigmata

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina was a holy priest to whom God gave the gift of the stigmata. His feast is celebrated on September 23!

Biography

Padre 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, Padre Pio received the stigmata (the five wounds of Christ’s passion on his body). A few years later, Padre Pio founded the “Home for the Relief of Suffering,” a 300-bed facility funded by his followers’ small, sincere, spontaneous donations and prayers.

Pio of Pietrelcina was called to his eternal rest on September 23, 1968, and many testify to the spiritual and temporal graces received by visiting his tomb in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. (St. Pio Foundation)

One of the famous phrases of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina is:

“Kneel down and pay the tribute of 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 abandon, give free rein to your heart and allow Him to act in you as He thinks best. “.

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 your letter overflowing with filial affection with unspeakable consolation. It encourages me to always be sincere with you and never to cease admonishing you frankly for what I see as your faults. May God be blessed, my dear children, for the most holy goodness he lavishes on your souls, which my heart loves truly and incomparably as it loves me. First of all, I must congratulate you on your constancy in the service of the Lord.

Your constancy makes me hope that recognizing your defects, in which you habitually fall without a determined and deliberate will, you will resolve to extirpate them with the assistance of the divine grace that abounds in you. What are the defects you recognize that have taken root in some of you, though not in all of you? I do not restrain myself in notifying them to us.

I know that among you, some have quickly forgotten their high esteem due to the one who has immediate direction over them. One responds arrogantly to this direction, and, what is worse, one turns a deaf ear when one is reprimanded for some mischief. In this regard, I have to mourn deeply with the culprits. I do not remind them of anything else or reprove them other than the solemn promise they made to me moments before they parted.

I hope that they will not fall into such faults again. Everything makes me hope for my total confidence in God and the great esteem these dear boys hold me. Apart from what I have told you, I have no other reason than to congratulate you. I see that your hearts are always full of good wishes, which makes me hope that you will give yourselves all your strength to correct what I have told you in this letter and all that 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. Elevate your souls frequently to God; read good books as often as possible but with great devotion; be diligent in meditation, prayers, and examining conscience several times a day.

Love my soul, which perfectly loves yours, and always entrust me to divine mercy as I unceasingly do for you. Never think, my dearest children, that the distance of place will separate the 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 it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” Behold, trusting in your holy words, I knock, I seek, and I 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, 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, you said: “Truly I tell you, whatever you ask my Father in my Name, it will be granted to you“. Behold, I, to the Eternal Father and in your name, I ask for 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 for in the name of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our tender Mother, St. Joseph, foster father of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.
Amen.