Devotion to St. Padre
Pio
God has shown His love for
our time in many ways. He gave us leaders such as Pope St. Pius X and Cardinal
Mindszenty, and the steadfastness of countless martyrs. He also sent His Mother
to us at Fatima. Another of the many extraordinary graces God granted to the
20th Century was St. Padre Pio.
Padre Pio was born of simple,
hardworking farming people on May 25, 1887, in Pietrelcina in southern Italy.
He was tutored privately until his entry into the novitiate of the Capuchin
Friars at the age of 15. Of feeble health but strong will, with the help of
grace he completed the required studies and was ordained a priest in on August
10, 1910.
On September 20, 1918, the
five wounds of Our Lord’s Passion appeared on his body, making him the
first priest with the stigmata in the history of the Church. Many saints have
been granted some of the following extraordinary gifts, such as miracles,
bilocation, reading of hearts, perfume, the stigmata and prophecy. Padre Pio
possessed not one, but all of these gifts. Countless people were attracted to
his confessional and many more received his saintly counsel and spiritual
guidance through correspondence.
His whole life was marked by
long hours of prayer and continual austerity. His letters to his spiritual
directors reveal the ineffable sufferings, physical and spiritual, which
accompanied him all through life. They also reveal his very deep union with God
and his burning love for the Blessed Eucharist and Our Blessed Lady.
Worn out by over half a
century of intense suffering and constant apostolic activity in San Giovanni
Rotondo, where his monastery was located, he was called to his heavenly reward
on September 23, 1968. After a public funeral that attracted 100,000, his body
was entombed in the crypt of Our Lady of Grace Church. Increasing numbers flock
to his tomb from all parts of the world and many testify to spiritual and
temporal graces received.
The Diocesan Process for
Padre Pio’s Beatification was concluded on January 21, 1990. His Holiness
Pope John Paul II beatified Padre Pio on May 2, 1999 and canonized him on June
16, 2002. That God would send such a great Saint to us is an unequivocal sign
of His love for our time, and a call to imitate and emulate this holy man,
thereby coming closer to God.
Saint Padre Pio and Our Lady
Padre Pio’s love for and
devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is legendary. Indeed, he spent much of his
ministry extolling Her virtues and urging all Catholics to confidently appeal
to Her merciful intercession. One well-known writer has suggested that "behind
all the marvelous gifts of Padre Pio, his extraordinary guidance of souls, his
gift of bilocation and his camaraderie with the angels, was Our Lady, who
cherished him as a mother would a child, even to the point that, after he had
been beaten by the devils one night in his room, She came and put a cushion
under his head, in order to relieve his suffering."
Padre Pio wrote often of his
love for the Mother of God, reminding us to "rest your ear on Her maternal
heart and listen to Her suggestions, and then you will feel all the best
desires for perfection being born in you." He considered Our Lady to be the
great harmonizing and directing force behind the Holy Sacrament of Penance and
said that "to understand and to make the sacrament more fruitful, you must
confide yourself to the inspirations and guidance of the Blessed Virgin."
As a true son of Our Lady,
Padre Pio loved the Rosary and is reputed to have said a 15-decade Rosary as
many as 35 times per day. In many photographs, he is shown with his right hand
hidden within the pocket where he always kept his Rosary beads. Indeed, he
urged all Catholics to "love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for the Rosary is
the weapon against the evils of the world."
When asked about the role of
Our Lady in God’s plan for salvation, Padre Pio responded by saying that
"all graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother." It was with that
understanding that he almost daily offered the Mass of the Immaculate
Conception in the last decade of his life on earth. He is quoted as saying of
Our Lady that She "accompanies me to the altar and remains at my side while I
offer up the Holy Mass."
Padre Pio and Our Lady of Fatima
Padre Pio daily expressed his
special devotion to Our Lady of Fatima as he knelt and prayed at Her shrine
within the monastery, before a large picture surrounded by burning candles.
Indeed, he credited the Virgin of Fatima with saving his life.
In 1959, the Pilgrim Statue
of Our Lady of Fatima visited Italy. At the same time Padre Pio became very ill
and was diagnosed with a fatal, cancerous tumor. On August 6, the statue of Our
Lady arrived in San Giovanni Rotondo. Rising from his sick bed, Padre Pio
prayed before the statue and kissed Her feet. As the statue left by helicopter,
he said: "O Mother of mine, when you came to Italy, you found me with this
sickness. You came to visit me here in San Giovanni and found me still
suffering from it. Now you are leaving and I am not delivered from my
illness!"
As Padre Pio spoke this
prayer, a miracle occurred. High above the monastery, the helicopter with Our
Lady’s statue suddenly circled the building three times. The pilot would
later say that he could not explain why. At the same time, Padre Pio felt a
shudder immediately run through him. His body was penetrated by a flow of light
and he felt the tumor burst. He cried out, "I am healed! Our Lady has healed
me!"
"Thank the Virgin of Fatima
for me," he subsequently wrote. "On the very day She left here, I felt well
again. I have been back to celebrate Mass since three days ago."
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